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Kathleen Rountree's 44" x 44" quilt, Annabelle's Wedding Feast, made it into several AQS shows and Road to California. It is a gem, using free-motion quilting on a stationary machine, linen, embroidery, and beading. Beautiful work Kathleen.

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Watch Alex and Joe on Simply Quilts below. Here is our quick summation

of a life well lived.

Joseph F. Sladky

Born July 19th, 1923, WWII Navy Lt JG Joe Sladky spent his 94 years living life to the fullest. Joe cherished his wife Dorothy for 70 years and worked hard to build and rebuild many homes for his family, including the Wilder Cottage in downtown. Joe came to Livermore as Sandia's 22nd employee and later was a plant manager at Hexel Livermore. Living a life full of giving, Joe became a school board member who helped open Jackson Avenue Elementary School, participated in the planning and opening of Valley Care Hospital, and served as Santa at the Senior Center. As an avid boat lover, Joe's many boats were used to teach his children and grandchildren to navigate, ski, tube, and fish. In his spare time, he would carve boats, build quilt frames, read, and help anyone who needed a hand. Joe was a positive force who wanted everyone to live life to the fullest and to not "sweat the small stuff." He taught us what a man and husband should be. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you have a cocktail at 5 PM with someone you love- Joe always did.
 

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This is Pat's daughter Carol's dog, Bailey--looking hopeful.

The image is painted with fabric paints on white cotton. The next step was to stitch the fur with many different colors of thread free-motion style. Then she sandwiched it with batting and quilted the rest. It is a fun technique and effective for that furry look.

Star Members can watch Pat in Show 2103: Easy Mosaic Techniques and Adding Detail & Depth to Your Quilts.

Original Photo: Mary Kay Davis

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Find out how a comic book influenced Cheryl Sleboda's quilt in this Go Tell It at the Quilt Show video from the Quilt Alliance.
 

I’m a fiber artist who loves to manipulate fabric and also light up my work with LED lights.

Whether it’s heirloom dimensional fabric manipulations like smocking, pleating, or tucking, or cutting edge technology like LEDs, microprocessors, or circuitry, my work combines design and innovation for unique fabric art.

 

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Victoria is giving you a peek at her exhibit at the Festival of Quilts 2017 in Birmingham, England. She is exhibiting her Wedding Ring quilts as well as new work based on a seemingly complex Herringbone pattern from her soon to be released book, "Modern Quilt Magic" (C&T Publishing Sept 2018).
 
 
 

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Annie Smith of SimpleArts.com shares some “warm-up” free-motion exercise tips at WeAllSew.com.
 
Star Members can watch Annie in Show 209: Fabric Detective.

 

 
 

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In Houston 2014, there was an exhibit of 500 Traditional quilts. Amazing quilts were displayed and collected into a book by Karey Bresenhan. We are going to show you several quilts from the exhibition but all 500 are in a beautifully photographed book. The book "500 Traditional Quilts" can now be found at crazy low prices (click here). TQS has no financial association with the book. We just like it.

The quilt "Crazy About Ballet" by Linda Steele incorporates crazy quilting, embroidery, fun piecing, and wonderful design. Linda ended up with four quilts in the book. Congratulations and well deserved.

 

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Noriko Kido's quilt "Promise" was displayed in the Traditional Quilts Exhibit at Houston 2014. It is beautifully done (see the techniques in the sign below) and we loved the color and format.

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Have you always wanted to have a quilt hang in Houston? Look what they are doing at Quilt Festival this year!
 
Here's the information from Quilt Festival. Click here to go their website.
 

We love sharing the work of talented quilters from around the world at Quilt Festival each year. But we know that quilters are a humble lot, and there’s much more talent out there. We want to see it! So, we’re introducing a fun, new opportunity for quilters to see their work at our Houston show…in the form of a photo!

We will display photos of traditional-style quilts in a special “You’ve Got Talent” display at this year’s International Quilt Festival in Houston. Entering couldn’t be easier—simply email us a photo of a finished quilt or quilt top using the guidelines below.

STEP 1. Take a photo of your finished traditional-style quilt or quilt top.

  • The entire quilt must be visible in the photo. There should be no people, pets, or background
    objects in the photo.
  • Please do not drape your quilt over furniture or on a bed. Hang the quilt or lie it flat to take
    the photograph.
  • Take the photograph at your camera’s highest resolution setting. Photos need to be high quality,
    and able to be printed at 8” x 10."
  • Please include “You’ve Got Talent” in the subject line of your email.
  • Include both your name and the title of your quilt or quilt top.

We look forward to seeing all of the photo submissions and sharing them with visitors at this year’s show!



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I can hear a collective groan at the mention of DIET...let alone a Quilter's Diet. And no, I am not suggesting restricting anything...either chocolate or fabric, LOL. But, I am going to share with you one of the adjustments I have made in my quilting life. I love Block of the Month (BOM) programs, kits...and quilts of all kinds and sizes. But, the reality for me is our current house has huge windows on nature and limited wall space. This means any BOM that I signed up for and intended to make had no wall space on which to display my accomplishments. That is when I decided that no one is the boss of me and my BOMs...I'll just make them smaller!!! Hence the Quilter's Diet was born. Twelve block BOMs became nine block BOMs because I had one wall that could display a quilt that size. And with the remaining blocks I can make pillows, table runners or mini quilts.

Then I thought... "Why do I only have to make big quilts to satisfy a quilter's itch?" Maybe the Quilter's Diet could mean a turn back to my history of miniature quilts!! If I see a sweet fabric line that I must have, it doesn't mean I have to always make a big quilt...I can get a taste by making a smaller quilt. Besides, learning new techniques or trying out new tools on smaller quilts is a great way to develop the skills for larger quilts. And after all...diets...all kinds of diets, including a Quilter's Diet, are more successful when followed daily and with the support of those around you. 

So, what to do with all those Quilt Diet quilts???



I hang them in groupings! Then I get to enjoy the different techniques that I have successfully executed, the lines of fabric I love, and most of all, I can honestly say...I have been very successful on this diet!!!