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Over the next several days you will see many blocks from folks on the Baltic Cruise. They are all winners but tell us which one strikes your fancy and why. The blocks are numbered from 1-6 and the car tells you when number one starts.
You vote by simply submitting a comment.
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Arriving in Oslo by ship was breath taking. This wonderful capital of Norway is edged by fabulous small islands and light houses. After a great breakfast we took off on a ferry to see the Kon-Tiki boat and Viking vessels. The exhibits were truly breath taking, exact opposite of what we are enjoying on our ship. After a beverage in Oslo, we headed off to see the local church – we were surprised to find it both closed and covered in shrink wrap! It was John who spotted the local Bernina dealer, so we back tracked to meet the owner. He was a very nice gentleman who we enjoyed chatting with. The weather cooperated and now it is nap time, until dinner. The quilters are having a blast and enjoying the native textiles (we loved the clothing store with native garb) and folk crafts.
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As you know Alex and John have headed to the Baltics on a ten day cruise. If you have ever traveled “over the pond” and especially from the west coast, you know the rule of thumb is to STAY UP until local bedtime. So, we hit public transportation with our friends and discovered the city of Rotterdam. First we met a young woman on the bus who cross stitched and embroidered her bag. She was incredibly “hip” and thrilled that we took notice of her bag. She pointed out that her mother had embroidered the duckies on the bag about 30 years ago. We also ran across a wood carver working on wooden shoes. He was very talented and his designs carved in the wood were very quilterly. The windmills were awesome and we were pleased to have discovered them right in the middle of town. After eleven hours of sleep, we took to the ship and met up with the other teachers who include Joen, Elly, Velda, Jane, Chris and myself. Today we taught at sea – tomorrow Oslo.
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This quilt won a Grand Prize for Alex, but there was a problem. If you get a chance to come to one of Alex´s lectures you will hear the story. Let´s just say that it is generally a good idea to read the rules of a contest, before you make the quilt. In the end things worked out. (She did get the State right).
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Alex has been on a creative journey these past two years. It all started with an Artist Way workshop at Asilomar. Although Alex was a part of the teaching staff - this experience jump started her journey. Here is a look at a piece she created as her teachng tool. It took 4 hours to complete from start to finish. If you think about it, we are all on a crative journey - what was your last "aha" moment?
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If you have not yet watched show 302, you are in for a treat! This show is loaded with information and techniques by Alex, Ricky and Sally Dutko. You will be surprised how each person solved the challenge. The theme was "It´s a New Day!" Alex teaches the strippy technique used for the pillow below to solve her challenge. To watch, go here.
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Yesterday I got back home (Ricky is in the sky as I write), from Consumer BU. It is safe to say that the guests were pretty much Bernina lovers who wanted to see first hand what all the veiled secrecy has been about regarding the new machine. Not only did they get to see the machine first hand (it has over 70 exclusive features) but they also got to meet the heartbeat of the company. Far left to right: Mr Dryer (he is currently running the whole show in Switzerland), Mr. Ueltschi (he is Mr. Bernina himself), myself and Mr. Favre(he is President of Bernina USA - and the person who said yes to underwriting the jump start of the Quilt Show). We learned that it took 6 years to build this machine and over 100 engineers. Bernina listened to us and built a machine designed by us - for us - very cool! To learn more about the 8 series, go here. Also, it was GREAT meeting so many TQS members - Thank you for coming!
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(Scroll Down to see Ricky´s Kaleidescope Video--It´s Great)
This is one of my favorites of Alex´s Quilts. Yellow is seldom a predominate color in a quilt. It is the cover Quilt for "Simply Stars--Quilts that Sparkle". I think the colors of this quilt really do sparkle. This book really solidified Alex as a Star Enthusiast.
It contains 13 12" Split Le Moyne Star blocks and the quilt is 67" x 67". It is machine quilted by Susanne M. Rasmussen. The book is out of print, but Alex has a hand full left. If you want one of the last copies, click here.
By the way, check out the airplane blocks by GrannyFran in the quilt gallery.
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Night of 100 Stars
This is the first quilt of Alex´s that made it into a book. It is in that wonderful book by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts". This is the start of why Alex is known for Stars. Tomorrow you will see more stars. It was a pivotal moment in Alex´s quilting. Alex was struggling to be called an "art quilter". There was a unspoken war going on between traditional and art quilting. After doing this quilt, Alex realized that you have to do what makes your heart sing. Do you feel you are labeled or are you open to the entire quilting experience?
This quilt was hand quilted. Watch for the corner turn Alex makes. Remember to learn how to hand quilt and draw quilting patterns in Alex´s Classroom.
By the way, you need to hide the camera once the cat realizes it can take a self-portrait at arms length.
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The Dresden Plate was a very popular quilt in the early 1900´s. This quilt dates to the 1930´s. Alex´s Great Great Aunt Kate made the quilt. Her first love was playing Bridge. Alex´s mother, Dorothy, does not remember Kate being a big quilter, but she did make this one. In her later life, she came to live with Dorothy´s mom and the quilt was handed down the generations. Alex sent the quilt out to be repaired and realized 5 years later that it had not been returned. She then tracked it down and found that it still hadn´t been fixed.
Do you have a Dresden Plate Quilt in the family?
(In order to see the fabrics, I slowed down the animation a little).
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