Daily Blog - TheQuiltShow.com

Vikki Pignatelli is in the Chat Room Today

Join Vikki Pignatelli and the rest of us in the "Quilt Police Free Zone" at 2:00pm Pacific/5:00pm Eastern today. Vikki will be chatting with us about her recent show "Sacred Threads" as well as giving tips on her technique for creating stunning quilts as seen in Episode 102. So grab your favorite cup of hot brew and visit a spell. Please remember, this is not an open forum chat for you to visit with friends, keep comments and questions directed to Vikki. She will reply as best she can to all comments and questions, but realize it can be challenging. Come enjoy the chat.

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New Contest - Win Alex and Ricky!

Do you really want these two troublemakers to come to your town? Well, if your favorite shop or guild gets the most sign ups- we'll come! The new contest is an incentive campaign to grow our World Wide Community! All the details are listed on the link to the right where it says "Win a Visit from Alex and Ricky." - Let the games begin.

Oh yeah - this is our first blog video - enjoy! What d'ya think?

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Virginia Tech Quilt Project Goal Met

A round of applause for all those who contributed to the Virginia Tech Quilt Project!! Angelina Kendra says that as of Friday June 15 "I officially met the original goal of collecting 396 blocks, exactly enough for 33 quilts." Because of the generous donations from our members and others in the quilt world she has expanded the goal to collect 324 more blocks to make quilts for the 27 injured survivors. We know she can do it. If you are not able to donate blocks she needs fabric (colors that co-ordinate with orange and maroon) as well as batting. To see the progress and quilts Click here

“Thank you so much for The Quilt Show's continuing interest in and help with this project - I am so grateful for all that you do.”

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Back in La Veta

PART TWO: Season ONE. I am back in my office and ready to rock and roll. The trip to CO was blissfully uneventful (got to finish a book on the plane). We are looking forward to these next six shows and thank you for you ideas and comments. Ricky and I have today to get "settled" - tomorrow the gang starts rolling in. ALSO: John will be making his first trip to La Veta this weekend, I am sure he will be put to work! Hey, maybe he will do a segment on feeding cats and birds when your wife is out of town or mind over matter when searching for the remote.

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Let's Talk Thread Tonight-with Bob Purcell

Has this ever happened to you? You’re at a retreat in a town you don’t know and while you are working on a project you run out of thread. You heard that there is a quilt shop in town, so you go to buy more thread. The only spool in the color you need is a brand you’ve never heard of. Should you sew with this “mystery thread”? Well, Bob Purcell (The Thread Guy) will be in the “Thread Spools” chat room tonight from 6:00-7:00pm Pacific/9:00-10:00pm Eastern to talk about all of your thread needs and questions. He can tell you why you should/shouldn’t sew with the “mystery thread”.

Please keep in mind that there may be many voices in the chat room (last week we had 55 at any given time), so please stay on topic with your questions or comments directed only to Bob. If you prefer open chat, please use another room during this time.

I am sure that Bob is going to share lots of tips and tricks with us. He might even let us in on the new Ricky Tims’ thread coming out soon.

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DH CLEANING

Alex left for La Veta today, and no surprise to anyone, she left me with a to do list. My main job was to clean off the bookshelves above the garage door. We are replacing the old broken door with a new rollup style. These doors cannot have a book shelf above them. While putting books aside for the library or the trash, I found an interesting item. It had an inlaid wooden book cover. Inside was the following:

Alex, do you remember what this was?

Okay, I cleaned off the bookshelf, I didn't throw out the wooden book and I fed the cat,

so where did you hide the remote?

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Enhance Your Summer Vacation with a Quilt Seminar!

Richmond, VA July 19-21, 2007
Omaha, NE August 16-18, 2007
Knoxville, TN Sept 13-15, 2007

There are three great opportunities this summer to add a great adventure to your "What I Did This Summer" journal. I would love to have you join us for a super seminar in one of the cities listed above. In this two and a half day event, held in beautiful, comfortable facilities, you'll learn a multitude of tips, techniques and tricks.

Alex Anderson, Libby Lehman and myself are dedicated to giving you the best quilting lessons we possibly can. The Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminar is geared to ALL quilters regardless of level or personal style. The supply list only requires that you bring an open mind, a bit of laughter, and your "learning seatbelt" because you'll have to hold on for the ride!

Details are available at rickytims.com , Be sure to browse the items in the green topic bar across the top of the Seminar page. Try to fit us in - you won't be sorry, we promise! As a matter of fact we're so convinced that you'll find this experience rich, rewarding and worth attending that if you don't think it was worth it, you can exchance your syllabus for a full refund immediatly folllowing the last session of the seminar.

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Mending Fences with Sunbonnet Sue

If you only knew the history, I know you would be on my side. You see...... in high school I thought we were best friends, but alas, behind my back she stole my boyfriend. I know this happens all the time, but just one week before prom?! Both Sam and I were up for king and queen, but that didn't stop Sue. No, she went after him using all her charm squares and swept him out of my safe and loving arms. I think she is ashamed of the incident herself, which would explain why you never see her face. You would think it was yesterday the way it conjures up feelings. But, negative thoughts are never in anyone's favor. Recently at the Groveland Outdoor quilt show, I took the opportunity to meet with Sue and discuss the historic hostile takeover. I realize now, that it was just a highschool crush and that in reality, had she never "gone after him" I would not be with John today. There would be no ARJJ Corp. Alas - NO www.thequiltshow.com Perhaps I would be living on the prairie scrubbing clothes in a wash tub. So, thank you Sue, for reaching out to me in the kindest way. Perhaps we can swap tips and start to hang out once again.

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TQS Member Has Harrowing Trip To Retreat

Story Submitted by: TQSWizard

On Tuesday May 15, 2007 Don Davidson got in his Toyota Tundra heading to La Veta, Colorado to attend the Ricky Tims’ quilt retreat. He was also anticipating being one of only 4 students for Justin’s pre-retreat dye class. Leaving his home of Marlin, Texas (30 miles SE of Waco, Texas) the truck was loaded with all of the things he felt was needed. The camper had his luggage, fabrics and an ice chest filled with beverages. On the back seat were boxes of assorted threads, cutting mats and his Bernina sewing machine that had been packed in its foam traveling case. He was ready for a relaxing and creative vacation. The trip to Colorado was without event. The weather was great, traffic wasn’t a problem, and he had the vehicle on cruise control (75 MPH), and was making great time. Sixty miles outside of LaVeta, Don was distracted by the scenery (it is quite breathtaking to see the mountains set so starkly against the open prairie) when suddenly he noticed a truck in front of him pulling a flatbed trailer traveling at a much slower speed. Reality check (or should I say “brake check”)! Unable to react Don’s truck drove up and onto the flatbed trailer ramp, then rolled over and fell back down onto the driver’s side. It all happened in an instant. There had not been time to get out of the way to avoid the accident. Thank goodness Don was wearing his seatbelt. After the initial realization of what happened he checked to make sure he was ok. Everything seemed in order other than his shoulder was in considerable pain, and the fact that he was unable to get out of the truck. Within a few minutes the Highway Patrol and EMS team had arrived on the scene. Due to the extensive damage they were not going to be able to have him just get up and out of the vehicle. Don used the cover of his thread box to shield his eyes from the flying glass as they broke the window. He then used his cutting mat to shield his entire body as the team broke out the windshield. Don was then removed from the truck, strapped to a backboard and transported to a nearby hospital in Trinidad, Colorado. Treated for a broken shoulder and admitted for observation Don knew he would definitely miss the dye class and probably the entire retreat as well. Needless to say the truck was totaled and towed into town. So much for a nice creative vacation! With no usable vehicle and unable to return home Don decided to make the best of his recovery time by “hanging out” with the retreat quilters. Upon his release from the hospital, friends from Pueblo helped him sort through what was left in the truck that now sat parked at a salvage yard. All of the fabric was wet due to the ice chest falling over. Most of his thread was scattered around and ruined by glass shards. The cutting mats were no longer usable due to glass shards as well. His Bernina looked intact, but it was a mystery at this point as to whether or not it would function. Don arrived a day into the retreat battered and sore but in good spirits. You can’t keep a Texan down for long. Justin was great and helped set up a table and chair that would allow Don to work while wearing his new arm sling fashion accessory. Talk about challenging yourself when you sew, this man was on a mission. But the question still remained, would his Bernina work after going through that horrific accident? The machine was plugged in and ---drum roll please---hummed into action. Way to go Bernina! You would have never known that it had withstood such tremendous impact. So, the next time you travel with your machine to a retreat, class, or lecture you can rest easy knowing this piece of equipment will withstand a lot. Pack it well and it will give you many hours of sewing pleasure. In case you’re wondering Don is recovering quite well, still a bit sore from internal bruising from the seat belt, but otherwise getting back to normal. Don is a retired Occupational Therapist who enjoys spending his time quilting in his studio (converted former childhood home of his wife) and participating in local town activities. His quilt interests lean mostly towards traditional friendship quilts, but he does enjoy art quilts as well.

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A Creative Moment

As you can imagine the past 6 months have been over the top, a sort of sensory overload. Though I think of myself as an innovative traditionalist - deep in inside is a lurking art quilter. Which probably explains my love of just about all quilts! This past spring I finally bit the bullet and purchased some Cherry Wood Fabrics (www.cherrywoodfabrics.com). Every show, my mouth would water when passing by their booth, but I just never opened up my pocket book (in fact I usually don't purchase at big shows as I am usually working in a booth) The amount of $$ I spent in 10 minutes was staggering - LOL! Ordinarily, these colors would not be my first pick I am not saying I don't like them, because I love them, just not my first choice. Something called them to me, and thank goodness I listened. After a retreat, co-teaching with Jean Wells in Sister's OR(www.stitchinpost.com), I came home and this quilt took life. I will machine quilt it and plan to take my time. By the way, the circles are pieced in (thank you to Dale Flemming for her technique). So whacha think - Does it look like me?

Working title: Sticks and Stones

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