The Machine Quilting Unlimited April 2013 E-News is showing the cover of the May/June issue which features my “Prairie Fire” quilt and my article. This issue will be available  in late April.

I have resisted getting involved with social media, because I feel like I am stressed to keep up with everything as it is! But Studio Art Quilts Assoc. has a Pinterest page for the SAQA Benefit Auction and they have posted my donation, “Northern Cardinal” along with others there. And IQA has posted “Who, Me?” on their Facebook page about “Celebrate Spring”. When I looked last week there were over 600 hits! People love puppies!! Celebrate Spring debuts in Cincinnati April 11-13.

Last night was First Friday at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery and the presentation for awards for the judged show that is up right now, “My Earth, My Art”. This is predominately paintings, a few photography works and my quilt art. One of my entries, “Bignonia” won the second place cash award!

It’s a great show, if you are in the area be sure and check it out before the end of May. My “Colorado Kids” is also there on display.

Also in the area this weekend is the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild Quilt show at the Toyota dealership on Hwy 59 (Iowa St) in Lawrence, KS. It’s always a great show and three of my pieces will be there, “Merchants House”, “Mon Grand Pere” and “What’s Up at the 4-H Fair?”.

I will be there late Sunday to see the show and pick up my things.

Empty Spools at Asilomar has posted the teachers for the 2014 workshops, including ME in the first session; not sure when it is open for enrollment, as the current 2013 offerings are going on now.

I finally finished the quilting on the dogs quilt – oh, dear – I really do need a name for it! I still need to block, trim and bind it though. I am looking forward to starting the next one!!

When I posted those last pictures, I noticed right away a change that needed to be made at the upper right.

It was a quick fix and I got the layering done and the quilting started. I’ve had a few days to work on it and it’s coming right along. Those are white tipped pins in the eyes to help me decide where the sparkles go.  The eyes don’t come alive til they get some sparkle.

Yesterday I taught a hand quilting class so did not work on it at all and today I finished up the tax prep so will not work on it today either, as it is getting late and I am tired of sitting!

We’ve been getting rain and the snow is all gone. For the first time in 8 or 9 months there is water in the farm ponds. Just a big puddle but what an improvement. Imagine the mud that two big dogs can track in with these big hairy feet. The Kom is 145 lbs and the Shepard mix is 165 lbs! They are loving this weather!

So this is what it looked like the last time I posted. I was working with fabric that was not exactly what I wanted and was not happy with the results.

I liked the idea of the large scale white on blue leaf print for the foregound, but the reality of it was not so good. It was too busy, too demanding of your attention.

Saturday I taught an Intro to Picture Piecing class at a local shop and found a batik with possibilities. It was one that I had rejected earlier because It was a clearer blue than I wanted and it had muddy brownish areas. Since that time, I had added some browns around the dogs’ feet, so that became a possible asset and I purchased a half yard which cost more than a full yard did back when I started his crazy journey!

I used the new fabric to replace the large leaf print and I like it much better. I finished the sewing yesterday and spent a couple of hours watching “The Way We Were” and removing all of the hundreds of little bits of paper. Today I hope to put away the fabric and begin the layering and quilting process. This piece has already taken way too long!

Saturday I was away all day  so didn’t get to work on my project.  I was teaching hand quilting at a shop about an hour away from here. It is gratifying to see that there are still people who want to do it by hand! We had a fun day!  I love the drive to Emporia through the Flint Hills as there is a quiet beauty there in any season,  but Fall, when the grasses turn pink and gold and the sky is so blue is especially pretty.

I was anxious to get home and see the new fabric that was supposed to arrive, but was disappointed to discover that it did not. Surely Monday it will get here!

I’m safely home from my trip to Maryland; it was great fun in spite of the torrential rain. I even brought a little home with me as we had an inch here, which was much needed, after my return!

A special thank you to everyone at Nimble Fingers who made my visit special. The workshop was fun and lots of lovely new coneflowers pieces were started. I hope I get to see photos when they are finished!

Now I need to concentrate on catching up, unpacking and getting back to the routine of my daily life, with the priority of finishing that elk!

Really, I thought by now the elk would be finished. but I am putting SO much quilting on it, it is going very slowly, And I am only working sporadically between other things, so there is not a lot of progress to report. I’ve been busy shipping things out, getting things back and catching up on the entries as well as sorting and packing for the next trip. I can’t believe it is September already!

This time tomorrow I will be at the airport waiting for my flight to Maryland and my visit to the Nimble Fingers Quilt Guild for a lecture and workshop. I see from the weather channel that it will probably be raining the whole time I am there! Here in Kansas we could really use some rain.  At least the weather is cooler at 53 this morning.

Driving to Springfield, MO on Monday, the skies were at times threatening with dark clouds and at times sunny with blue skies – you never know in the mid west! I only encountered a few raindrops though.  This was my first trip in the new car and it was quite comfortable, I’m still getting used to the differences from my old one which I think I like better, but this one is gaining favor!

Could this be the spot that inspired the “Longhorn Splashdown” quilt? There were no longhorns visible this day.

Roadside wildflowers are beautiful this time of the year.

My time at the Ozark Piecemakers Guild for two lectures and a Coneflowers workshop was delightful! Had a bit of an equipment malfunction but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. My hostess and everyone I met there at the meetings and in my workshop couldn’t have been nicer!  If I lived closer that would be a guild to join!

When I tried to take workshop pictures I discovered that my camera batteries were dead. Again.  I had packed the charger but it was in the bag that got left at the venue, not the bag that went with me to my lodging. I guess  I need to start making packing lists!

I arrived safely home yesterday (Thursday) afternoon to a huge backlog of email and stuff to put away so  today will be spent catching up and hopefully tomorrow I can get back to quilting on the elk!

This morning I will begin my drive to Springfield, Mo for my visit with the Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild, where tomorrow I will do two lectures and Wednesday, a workshop on Introduction to Picture Piecing. Looks like a good day for a drive and yesterday I got most everything packed so the hard part is done!  I probably will not post here until my return on Thursday.

YES!! There was NO spam this morning, just real messages from real friends! What a relief…… Loretta, all three of yours came through fine.

Yesterday I had a machine quilting class at Stitching Traditions in Topeka, what a fun group of ladies. Makes me want to get sewing again and I am nearly ready to get started.

What’s up next? I’m planning to do an Elk.

Photo by Tammy Patterson © 2009 all rights reserved.

The photo was taken by the same photographer that took last year’s Mountain Goat Kids and it needs to be finished by fall for another “Inspirations” exhibit. That’s the collaborative one where the artist interprets a photographer’s work and I am so lucky to be working with Tammy again!

The workshop finished today and everyone did such a good job! I am always amazed at the beautiful coneflowers in all different colors, and the variety of wonderful fabrics that are piled on the tables. Everyone did Coneflowers except one–she had already taken that workshop and so wanted to do the bluebird instead. I hope to see many finished projects soon as they really got a good start!

It took two shots to get everyone in, there were so many participants!

I have been busy putting away and getting ready to take off early in the morning for Denver and the SAQA Conference. Doubt very much that I will post during the trip, technologically challenged as I am!