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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

Join Alex and Ricky, in Episode 701: Animal Magnetism, as they meet quilt artist Nancy S. Brown on location in the Oak Barrel room at Northern California’s Wente Vineyards. Nancy, best known for her amazing, award-winning, hand-appliquéd animal portraits, explains how childhood outings to the zoo inspired her choice of subject matter, and reveals a surprising secret about her wedding dress. She also shares the thought process that goes into each design, the various techniques she employs to translate the design to fabric, and some of her favorite hand-appliqué tips... and wait ‘til you see the gifts exchanged between guest and hosts!  

WATCH THIS EPISODE FREE UNTIL 12/31/2012!

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Have you ever been inspired by wildlife to create a quilt?  Here is an exciting chance encounter with a troop of wild mountain gorillas near Bwindi National Park, Uganda where one of the men in the camp unintentionally becomes a member of the gorilla family. 

This family of gorillas looks amazingly like Nancy Brown's quilt, Gorilla, Gorilla. Nancy is an award-winning quilter (Episode 701) who creates wonderful designs with animals, and even some with people.

Watch the gorillas and then check out her slideshow below.

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The American Quilter's Society has ten copies of Mary Buvia's book, Santa's Loading Dock Quilt, to give away to some lucky TQS members.  The giveaway starts today, December 24, 2012 and ends at Midnight on December 31st, PST. Winners will be chosen at random.

Recreate this masterpiece or any of its parts (90 patterns) to celebrate the holiday season! These darling patterns can be used separately to decorate stockings, tote bags, sweaters-the possibilities are endless! 

Alex recently spoke with Mary about her book and her latest work.

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Alex visits with quilter and author, Mary Buvia, in her first Skype interview.  They talk about Mary's quilts and how she creates them. They also talk about her new book from AQS, The Loading Dock Quilt.

Mary uses both hand techniques and her BERNINA 730 (that survived a lightning strike) to complete her quilts and tries to create one new technique with every quilt she makes.

Mary also shares a sneak peek of her latest quilt which she began working on over two years ago and has just completed.  She also tells you about her least favorite part of quilting and her favorite part.

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This week's puzzle isn't a quilt.  It's a pillow created by Mary Buvia called Rudy...It's a Christmas pillow, bet you can't guess who Rudy is...

The pillow is 18" x 18" and was created in 2009.

Puzzle hint:  the pillow is set against a white background.

Rudy - 36 pieces non-rotating

Rudy - 100 pieces non-rotating

Rudy - 100 pieces rotating

Rudy - 289 pieces non-rotating

Rudy - 289 pieces rotating

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Wondering what this is?  It is the 2 Peaks in 1 Multi-Size Triangle ruler from Creative Grids^®_.

Now, are you wondering what it does? Designed by Rachel Cross, it allows you to cut triangles with a ratio of 2-to-1 to create a 2 Peaks in 1 block from blocks from 1" to 6."  The ruler markings show the finished size as well as the cut size of the strip.

This ruler would be great for use with the following books, Three Patterns Book 1 - 2 Peaks in 1 Triangle Ruler - Softcover by Lintott, Pam & Lintott, Nicky - Published by The Quilt Room - Pam & Nicky Lintott or Travels with Peaky and Spike by Doreen Speckmann - available from C&T Publishing.

Watch the video to learn more about the 2 Peaks in 1 Multi-Size Triangle ruler or, click here to go to Creative Grids^®.

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At the AQS Grand Rapids show in August 2012, Mary exhibited a collection of many of her beautiful quilts. Many of these quilts have won multiple awards at previous AQS and other quilt shows.

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Susan and Kay talk about Bernina's new and exclusive embroidery collections and coordinating graphics which can be transferred to fabric.  These are great for mixed media quilts.  They also demonstrate Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) from C&T Publishing.

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Me Time. That seems like a funny thing for a person who lives alone, and is retired, to need. Isn't all her time 'me time?' Well, in one way, it is. But most days I am doing a lot of things that "must be done." Once in a great while I will mark a day on the calendar to do just exactly what I want to do--"me time." Sometimes it turns out that what I most want to do is my laundry, and in between sit in my chair with my dogs on my lap. That's mostly what I did on my recent 'me day.' Other days I let myself go to the gym and spend as much time as I want working out, followed by a nice session at Starbucks. And some days, of course, it is quilting from morning until night. Sometimes I let myself start a brand new project or just play with fabric and colors without feeling guilty about the myriad of unfinished projects waiting in the wings.

I know that most of you quilters have lots of responsibilities and wear many hats. But try to take a little 'me time' now and again. It does wonders for your soul. The people closest to you will thank you for the new and improved you.

For more of my thoughts on living a whole and healthy life, visit my blog Debby Weighs In.

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Today's TQS Zoom Quilt is Jazz by Megumi Mizuno of Japan.  Jazz won First Place Embellished at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2012.