Starting NOV 9th on TheQuiltShow.com

Hiya... check out http://www.thequiltshow.com which on Monday next will launch a segment featuring MUAH! They posted a pic teaser and trailer on their newsletter also posted on thequiltshow.com website.. Not so bad in this picture but in their slideshow viewable at thequiltshow.com website, one thing I've already noticed... I may need a necklift soon! eek!

Beautiful in Mt. Baldy, Ca

How much better than this could it get? I love nature and it surrounds me. This shot is from the canyon road just off our steps.... the walking bridge goes over a stream than runs under the road. How glorious! Fall is so lovely!

Almost a finished church

The thing I was worried about the most turned out to be the easiest! Go figure! How to quilt the tall marble columns was wayyyyy more fun than the repetitious bricks. I used 4 colors of thread on this large column.... Each thread "locked" or keyed in to the adjacent so as to allow for a smooth visual transition. It takes a little planning... i.e. leaving space for the next thread color to lock in to the currently sewn one... but it's not all that big a deal once you get started. Click on any photo for enlarged view.
This lock and key idea came from a long ago painting instructor encouraging painters to link one element of a painting to another. It makes the overall result less fragmented. I think this will do the trick.

It's almost there.... this is admittedly a partial view of this St Antimo's Church Quilt.

Hoe DOES one quilt marble columns?

I am STILL working ( third week now) on the Church at St Antimo in Tuscany. I've quilted walls and floors of the 900 year old stone church.... but wasn't ready til now to work on the marble columns. Here's the unquilted crest top of one column.
A fine cotton seemed to work well in the crevices of the carved stone.
Bottom line, I think this will look okay.... 1 column crest down... 8 to go.

True or False...is quilting messy?

The answer is soooooo false... at least it is today. Cake decorating is so much more messy I could scream...between cleaning counters, bowls, mixers, spatulas, etc etc. I'd planned to make a cake today...actually I planned for my hubby to make a cake as he loves to bake, but at 70 years old, he is going to college for his 3rd degree for FUN... and today he had algebra class....a.k.a. self-inflicted pain. I decided I would be the baker and use one of his favorite recipes. It's not hard to thumb thru his cookbooks and tell which recipes he really likes. Favorites have notes all over the recipe page.

Tomorrow is my quilting friendship groups 20th birthday. So we need a birthday cake for each member. I now know why we don't see alot of individual serving birthday cakes at the bakery. They are hard to ice. I bought one of Wilton's brownie pans... sectioned for 12 good size brownies. It worked great for my little cakes. A piece of parchment in the bottom well, and these little cakes popped right out.

These look pretty cool in the end... but transporting them to the monthly meeting some 35 miles will be a trick.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my "Wanabe Quilter" friends!

Slow goin' on ancient Architecture

I've had this painted for a few months, and now am on a quest for quilting closure. I have about 3 days into the quilting of this piece, likely 3 more.... but I want it done... and I am surprised how much I am enjoying the quilting process. This piece is for a pastor that has requested it. Someone who serves so many deserves a fulfilled wish. At least by Christmas. :-)
I quilted much of the stonework with blendable 30 and 12 wt.... on my Juki TL98E. The tension spring sprung on the Juki. Coincidence? dunnoh.... but am moving forward on a Bernina.
I most often 'draw' with 40 wt thread. Machines are pretty forgiving about slow quilting with a skinnier thread like a 40 wt.

A little R and R in Lake Tahoe

Well, dang...somebody needed to be in this beautiful lodge in South Lake Tahoe. 'Sure glad it was me.... and well 38 others from all over the the U.S. I flew straight from Houston International to this annual week long retreat of long time and new friends. Really fun and productive too. Click on photo for closeup view. Reading Left to right at my sewing table, Paula from Tennesee, Karon Cornell (Yorba Linda Ca), Barbara Cohen (Ft. Collins, Co), Phyllis Reddish (Anaheim Hills Ca.),hands only - Hilary Field (Orange Ca.), Carol Pankow( Fullerton, Ca)