Daily Blog - TheQuiltShow.com

Setting Up for Series 4 Taping in La Veta

The setup for the taping has begun. Brian Day and the crew from Daylight Productions are bringing in the equipment and installing it in the Tims Retreat Center. It is like old home week. We love these guys and they go out of their way to make our show a special event. Angel (Producer), Beverly (Producer), Celia ( producer) Bruce (director) have had their first meeting this morning at breakfast. I (Capt'n John) directed some tourists to a local diner--oh my gosh, I'm a local!

Stay tuned for the fun.

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New Pattern Revised - Your Thoughts PLease!

Designing a pattern is not as easy as one might think. Here's why.

First, you should create something that is representative of your style. While my 'rhapsody' style is becoming popular due to my book, my 'rhapsody album' style is something that is new - although related in some respects. The 'rhapsody album' includes blocks that are designed on a diagonal - generally with applique - and set in such a way to create a medallion style effect - see Episode 304. The only quilt I have designed that has been published is Reverie Rhapsody Album. So, there is most likely to be a short series of quilts utilzing that formula. This quilt is in that style - a quilt made from blocks. As a designer, it is important to establish a style - and that's not that easy to begin with. Mi Cabina is one of the easiest and funnest quilts to make that I've ever designed, but because it does not 'look like Ricky', it has been a slow seller. In addition, if the quilt is too complicated it scares folks away - so it has to be manageable - know what I mean? So these are the things that one juggles when designing for publication.

In preparing for Series 4 tapings, I had the new Rhapsody Album quilt (seen above) on the design wall, but not sewn together. I had to move on to preparations for a Rhapsody quilt I will be showing in Series 4 - so I just started creating the new quilt on top of the quilt that was on the design wall (seen below). Suddenly, serendipity showed up and the center of this new rhapsody seemed to beg to be included in the Rhapsody Album quilt. So - I'll leave it up to you. Do you think the new center is should stay or go? Has it gotten too complicated or is it just enough extra to increase the challenge, but not run the consumer off?

Also, help me name the quilt and the winner will get a comp pattern with it is released.

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Production Files Series 4

It is less than 48 hours until we tape the first show in Series 4. The production crew is arriving in Colorado and curently en route to La Veta. Skippy has been living in La Veta for the last few months so he was the first to take a seat at the Production Table - he's become such a major part of the TQS production team. Tomorrow this table will be filled. Lights, camera, action - we'll keep you updated every day!

P.S. Helen G., Rest assured Skippy's roo poo problem seems to be over once and for all - he's such a big boy now!

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Quilt World Loses Helen Kelly

The quilting world has suffered a tremendous loss. Helen Kelly, known for her amazing quilting, teaching, and writing talent has died. Among her many accomplisments, Helen was well-known for her long-running humor column in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. Please don't hesitate to comment here about how Helen touched your life. No doubt her family will be able to find comfort in your words. Here is the obiturary from her local paper:

I want to let you know about the death of one of our authors and a NE Minneapolis resident, Helen Kelley, who passed away on Sunday evening. In August, Helen was inducted into the Quilting Hall of Fame as the 38th Honoree to receive this prestigious award. Helen was known throughout the national quilting community through the column she wrote since 1983 for Quilters Newsletter Magazine, the oldest continuously published magazine dedicated to quilt-making and quilt history. In addition, she wrote seven books including three compilations of her columns, Every Quilt Tells a Story, Joy of Quilting and Loose Threads, all published by Voyageur Press, an imprint of the Quayside Publishing Group.

Helen started using a sewing machine when she was a child and taught herself to quilt as an about-to-be bride. In 1972, the Minneapolis Tribune featured a story about a family quilt she had made from quilt blocks garnered from friends around the world for her daughter’s wedding. The unexpected news coverage brought Helen local interest and opportunities to teach quilting in the Minneapolis community. In 1978 Helen was a founding member of the Minnesota Quilters and served as its founding president. Today, the Minnesota Quilters have over 1500 members. Helen taught quilting all over the world and was known not only for her skills as a teacher, artist and quilter, but as much for her warmth and humor and the joy she brought to the quilting community.

The list of honors that Helen has received throughout her career in quilting and service to her community are long and impressive: 1995 – Artist of Distinction, Fiber/Metal Arts of Minnesota; 1998 – Minnesota Quilter of the Year; 1999 – Renaissance Quilt was selected by a prestigious national committee of quilt-makers and quilt historians organized by the International Quilt Association as one of the 100 best quilts of the 20th century; 2000 – Minnesota Textile Center’s Spun Gold Award.

Until her death, Helen continued to lecture, teach, and exhibit. A 30-year retrospective of her work was on exhibit in Marion, Indiana, at The Quilters Hall of Fame during her induction and her work was also on display at the Minnesota Quilters show in Rochester in June.

More information about Helen can be found on her website at: http://www.helenkelley-patchworks.com.

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Series 4

John and I are in the airport waiting to get on the plane. We are really excited about the next round of guests - something for everyone! Want a hint?

SN,ES,EC,DW,VW,JF........just to name a few..............oh I can be so mean! LOL

If you are going to be at one of the tapings - time to raise your hand!

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New Life for an Old Quilt

Story Submitted by: linmcquilter

I was visiting an old friend I hadn't seen in years. After I shared my relatively new interest in quilting (about 5 years worth), she said, "Maybe you'd like to see my mother's quilt. It's nothing fancy, but it needs repair. Perhaps you could tell me what could be done with it." I love old quilts, and was anxious to see it and give some advice! My friend brought out a bed-size quilt that her mother had made. Her family was Mennonite (akin to the Amish), but this was the only quilt her mother had made. And her mother died early, when my friend was a little girl, of pancreatic cancer. This was the only thing she had left from her mother, as her father had re-married and everything else had been disposed of. I examined the quilt carefully, and this is what I found: The background fabric was white, and looked like cotton dish towels, seamed together. Each block had an embroidered flower in it (all the same design.) in pink and green. The embroidery was frayed in places. The outer border, a light green, had deteriorated in places. The hand-quilting, which was a simple channel design on the diagonal, was missing in several places. As I examined the quilting closely, I could see it was not particularly skillful, but nevertheless beautiful in its own way. The thread was pink. I laughed when I noticed one of the channel lines got "lost," and actually diverted into an adjoining line! I imagined this mother wanting to make a quilt but probably feeling the effects of her illness. Perhaps it was going to be cross-hatched, but she didn't have the energy to do that. The binding was also in poor shape, and my friend shared with me that her stepmother had tried to repair the first binding, but didn't do a very good job. It was simply stitched onto the edge with the sewing machine, and was uneven and unsightly. I decided the back of the quilt was OK, as my friend told me the quilt would not be used as a bed quilt, but would simply be displayed. I wanted to leave as much of the original as possible. Needless to say, I brought the quilt home to work on it. I was thrilled to find a matching hand-quilting thread, and set to work. I picked out old, frayed stitches and re-stitched, trying to match the original quilting. I did the same with the embroidery stitches, using matching floss. Then came the border. With today's vintage fabric reproductions, I was able to find the exact solid green! I was thrilled. I removed the tattered parts and inserted new borders where necessary. The binding? I totally removed the binding that was there and put on new, again using a matching vintage reproduction. Nothing was more rewarding than being able to return this quilt to its owner, now refurbished and ready to display! I trust it will be a comforting reminder of the mother she lost, the love they shared, and also our friendship. I was so happy to be able to help.

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And then there are more....

Our Cyber Bee continues! I would have LOVED to post them all, but our animation program would not accept some of them - so DO take the time to surf the site to see what the TQS family is working on!

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WELCOME MOUNTAIN MIST

Please join us in welcoming MOUNTAIN MIST as our newest TQS Site Sponsor. Mountain Mist is the oldest batting company and has a broad variety of batting to fit every quilting and crafting need. Their newest product is EcoCraft, a soft durable batting made from corn and cotton...all environmentally kind! Please take a moment to email Vicki Pallus and welcome Mountain Mist to The Quilt Show. To learn more about their complete line of products and where you can find them near you, click on the Mountain Mist banner to the left.

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Show 305 -Eleanor Burns

Join us for an hour of quilting and fun with the effervescent Eleanor Burns. Eleanor, creator of Quilt in a Day, has the audience and the hosts in stitches as she teaches blocks from her newest venture. But what Eleanor does not know is that Alex and Ricky also have a little surprise up their sleeve for her. In addition, Ricky shares a little stripping action of his own - it's TQS on the wild side! Have your notepad out, because between the laughs Eleanor does a lot of teaching.

Photo by Gregory Case

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Making A New List

Story Submitted by: ajclapp

I am a planner, list maker, and organizer, but most of all I enjoy precision piecing quilts using modern timesaving techniques. Like many quilters, I get ideas for new quilts faster than I can process them so my list is quite long. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with Stage 0 breast cancer and my concentration level went to near zero, but I discovered I could still make quilts. Sewing is like walking for me. It's just one stitch in front of another. It doesn't take much concentration but you do have to watch where you're going. Those of you who have been sewing for a long time know what I mean. When our quilt guild asked for more Susan G. Komen miniature silent auction quilts for our quilt show last May, I spent a weekend piecing this Sunshine and Shadow quilt while waiting for test results. The squares are 3/8" finished, it was machine quilted diagonally, and a ribbon design was quilted in the border. I haven't been able to locate the photo of the finished quilt. It received a member's choice and honorable mention award at the quilt show, even with its imperfections. Since then I've pieced several more quilts that weren't on my list, finished one work in progress, and purchased fabric for two new quilts this week, one of which is already in progress. These quilts have extra blocks or cut-off triangles that will inspire my next miniature or donation quilts. My energy level has remained high and life is good. Soon my treatments will be over, my life will be back on a new schedule, and I will be making a new list. I may not finish much on that list this year, but am thankful for the doctors, nurses, and medical technicians who work together to make it possible for me to continue to make my lists, and for the prayer and support of family and friends. You do not have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Listen to your doctor if he says you have calcifications and don't skip your mammograms. If it's caught at an early stage treatment can be minimal. Don't assume you won't be the one because no one in your family has had it. Only 20% are family related, the other 80% could be anyone. Take time to make a miniature donation quilt. All it takes is a weekend and the leftover scraps from another quilt. It doesn't have to be fancy or even a prize winner. It may remind someone of a quilt from their past and make their day. If your quilt guild doesn't have a silent auction, help them start one, or check on line for other ways to donate your quilts. Every little bit helps. You can make a difference. Every day is a new day!

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