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The new studio is huge, but we hope to fill it with creativity and imagination!  Taping for the new seasion begins Saturday.

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COMING SOON-The New Online-DVD Starting at TQS October 1, 2014

View It All Online At TheQuiltShow.com

 

TQS is bringing you another "Online-DVD" to help you perfect your quilting skills. Renae Allen is your teacher and there is even an easy way to practice your lessons.

 

The lessons begin October 1 and Star members get full Online Viewing access for FREE until December 31, 2014. For the price of 1 class elsewhere, you get this class and over 200 quilts shows.

 

Join or Renew Now to be ready when it kicks off October 1.

 

To Really Learn Takes Knowledge AND Practice!   Renae Allen helps you get the skills to quilt your next quilt. SkillBuilder Studio Volume 1 is a wonderful introduction to the tools and skills needed to create your own beautiful quilts. Through simple step-by-step instructions, Renae demonstrates the knowledge and techniques needed to become a proficient machine quilter.   You can view it at your convenience online at TheQuiltShow.com starting October 1, 2014.   Whether you want to follow patterns and lines or learn to freehand, Skillbuilder Studio is the way to explore fabulous possibilities. Discover invaluable tips and quilting secrets that make the process easy and effective.       But, knowledge is only half the battle. You need practice. Here's how.....     Practice To Complete Your Learning Renae has created a preprinted fabric panel so you can practice the quilting designs. NO Pressure and NO ruining your heirloom quilt.   As you know we have a shaky record for having enough inventory. So PLEASE order now to get your Skillbuilder Practice Fabric for just $12 plus shipping. This is the kind of aid that makes learning happen fast as you trace the outlines over and over to gain the confidence. In Episode 406, David Taylor recommends plenty of practice before going to your actual quilt.

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It was a very warm (HOT) welcome in Iowa.  The first day was 103 degrees Farenheit.  But the weather changed this evening.  Watch for the lightning strike at the end.

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We are so excited to share that we have a fantastic new sponsor on  board, Mancuso Show Management.  Welcome to TheQuiltShow.com family!  Many of you may already be familiar with Mancuso, as they have brought  quilting and textile arts shows across the country for more than 20  years.  The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Virginia was the beginning  of it all, and 22 years later brothers David and Peter Mancuso have  expanded to seven annual shows in New Jersey, Colorado, New Hampshire,  Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, and Florida.

The festivals serve up over 230 workshops and lecture presentations  each year.  If you've had the good fortune to attend a Mancuso show,  you know that they are filled with amazing quilts, inspiring vendors,  and well-organized classes and presentations.  We are thrilled to have  Mancuso Show Management in our TQS family, and we look forward to  sharing more about them in the coming months.  You might even want to  keep your eye out for some free show admission and workshop certificates! 

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Ricky and Alex are in Sacramento to tape a few shows on location - which means, not in studio, not with an audience, but rather in fun settings out and about. Five shows will be taped in three days. Four of those shows will post in 2011, but one of the shows is the 2010 TQS Quilt Legend - our last show of the year

Our first quilt legend was Virginia Avery

Our second legend was Jinny Beyer

Last year we featured Libby Lehman

and this year it is... 

As you know, we don't kiss and tell - but it's always fun to let you guess who you think will get this year's honor.

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Haven't visited TQS for a while?  Here are a few things you might have missed.

For you more traditional folks:

Blue Skies Over California - an exhibit from Long Beach Featuring antique indigo & white quilts.

For the Love of Turkey Red - an article about the introduction of red fabrics into the quilting palette when it was so difficult to produce.

And let's not forget Alex' classes on Machine & Hand Applique in the Classrooms.

For you in the digital world:

Printing on Fabric - in the classroom and the Forum with Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero as she teaches members about printing on fabric.

Digital Imagery - with Lura Schwarz Smith and Kerby Smith - a delightful slideshow featuring stunning quilts.

What's Ahead?

TQS is always forging ahead and coming up you'll see advanced machine quilting videos with Patsy Thompson and piecing classes from Alex.    There will be new shows featuring Frieda Anderson, Judy Mathieson, and Marcia Stein.  Stay tuned.  It's a New Day! Every Day! at TQS.

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Sue Garman has asked US to give her some input regarding next years BOM - So please take a moment and fill out the survey above, simply click on the BOM button and have at it - we want to know what YOU think!!

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The show in the tutorial will appear jerky because it is a video of a video, but the information is good.

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March 2007--This picture was taken by Gregory Case and marks an important point in our history. This is Alex and Ricky just before they went down the stairs to tape the very first show.  Ricky had just told Alex not to worry but that as far as he could figure it out, it would take over $300,000 to get the videos to play on the internet.  Alex was worried.  She only had $20 on her and she was hoping to have a nice dinner after taping.

Fast forward.  Ricky found a company out of Germany that had just started 3 months before with a product that just might do the job for less than 1/10 the cost.   By April 2, 2007 the program had been installed and the first show premiered.  Whew!!!

The big question in electronics is, When do you jump in?  There is always a new innovation around the corner and prices are always coming down.  

That brings us to the new bigger player.

The original idea was to get a video that could be seen by slower internets.  We tested the player with our viewers in Australia and New Zealand.  (They are really nice people!!) What we found was that the slower internet people were unhappy but the faster internet people were thrilled.  So we tested with a wider sample of viewers.  The same result:  Faster internets were happy and slower were not.  Our results showed that 90% said go and 10% said nice try, don't change.

We decided it was time to jump in, but not leave anyone behind.  There is a screen for both internet speeds.

There is more to this story and we are going to put together some quick tutorials, but first I have a hot date with a quilter.

Capt'n John