I've been out!

Sorry, everyone, I have been away from my blog for much too long. I have just returned from a quilt retreat and have been gone for about a week, plus my due dates on my Market quilts have been quickly approaching. I have lots of pics to share with you, however, I also left my camera in my friend, Kellys, truck from the retreat so will have to wait to post the newest pics for you of what I've been up to! In the spirit of sharing anyway, I decided to post some pictures from past retreats so you can see where I've been and some of the beautiful country I've been enjoying in Utah. This is the barn we stay in at Loa, Utah, where Marsha Chappel has been holding a retreat for what is now the 5th year. These are some shots of the barn and the view from the barn too, across the fields. It is so peaceful and quiet out there, that is, until you get in a room with 20+ women!! We had a great time though, and I want to save more info until I have my camera back so I can share what we were up to!!!

The red and white quilt above is one I made for Benartex last Spring Market, and I am so excited to tell you that it will be in the next issue (Nov/Dec) of Fons and Porter magazine!!! So keep your eyes out for that issue. I have no idea how they will show the quilt, but they had it in their possesion for some time, so I am really anxious to see. The line is Victory Garden by Eleanor Burns.

The next quilt, I call Victorian Christmas Star. I designed it also, and it is another line called Splendid Holiday by Benartex. I am so thrilled to also tell you that it will be in the Fall issue of Fabric Trends as a "photo finish"!!!! I can hardly wait to see that one too!!! I am actually making one of these for myself as well, and plan to teach a retreat from this quilt.

My little Roxy is frequently a holy terror, and my husband is now calling her Roxilla, as in Godzilla, when she gets so hyper and onery! LOL!! But we love her to death and she makes us laugh all the time. I just got a tip from my friend, Darlene, to give her some soup bones, raw, to keep her mind on those instead of pulling up my marigolds by the roots!!! Darlene has a company called Quilters Quarters, which is a studio in her home, and I am teaching class there today. We will be working on the Redwork Snowman quilt I showed you in past posts.

Please be patient with me for a while longer, I will definitely try to get more posts on here soon, and when Market is past I will have tons of more free time! I am presently still working on 4 more tops to piece, and longarming 6 quilts between now and the middle of Oct. I getting tired just thinking about it!!!

Talk to you soon!

Diane

New projects, class and longarming jobs done!

I have so much to share this time. I was teaching a quilt class last week, we made the New Years Quilt, a kit from Jennifer Chiaverini's book with the same name. I always learn from my students, and sometimes they have something wonderful to share with me and the class. My friend Debbie Peterson is a great heirloom sewer and look what she made for a new grandchild on it's way soon to the world. She has pintucked, entrudeaux stitching and embroidery, not to mention the beautiful batiste fabric and delicate sewing. She's a huge fan of Martha Pullen and is really doing beautiful work, don't you think? Here's a close up of the christening gown.

These are the last two of the Elm Creek series of books and I've ready every single one she's written. We started an Elm Creek Series of quilts at Nancys Quilt Shop and it is alot of fun.

You can see part of the quilt and some of the fabrics in that line. I still have to quilt mine, but I will have time for my own quilting later this year. Right now I am really under the gun with work for customers and companies!

Here's a close up of the block.
I wanted to show you some of the longarm work I have been doing lately. I just finished up this one for Mary Bittle, she did such a great job on all the applique, and I learned how to do McTavishing when I took Karens class last May in Salt Lake. I love this quilt---she's lucky she got it back! LOL!!

My husband held it up for me so you could get the idea of it's size. It measures 84"x84" and he's back there somewhere!! It is from the"Quilting in the Garden" book by Barb Adams, Alma Allen and Ricki Creamer. It's an awesome book.

Now this one I did for Quiltique, a beautiful quilt shop in Henderson, recently and it was a really unusual design and fabric, but lots of fun to work on.

Here'a close up of the center.

Thanks to all of you who offered advice about the coyote problem. We have since closed the doggie door at night and I go out with Roxy if she needs it. Last night we were out around 3 am, and within 10 mins I heard the coyotes yipping again, not too far away. Play time was over for her, I scooped her up and we went back inside!!

You never know who is going to greet you on your blog! When I wrote back to someone that looked really familiar in his pic and had left an unusual post, I asked if I knew him, that he looked VERY familiar. He wrote me back to say that yes, I knew him, he took me to the 1967 Prom!!! I was so shocked, I haven't seen or heard from him in over 40 yrs! So fun to touch bases with old friends and get that connection back again!! You just never know!!!!

Ok, I have been reading the Twilight series, like I mentioned in my last post, and now I have finished the second book too. This is really tough, I can hardly put them down and I have work to do for Pete's sake!!! I am hooked for sure, will be finding the next in the series as soon as I can. These stories are awesome and you can bet that I will be at the movies to see the first one in November!! I have so many more things to share but it will have to wait for now. Talk to u soon......keep quilting.

Diane

Coyotes in the neighborhood

Ok, so we had a little scare last night. We had the doors and windows open, enjoying the cooler evenings when my husband, John, said he heard coyotes outside. He went out front to investigate and there was a coyote barking and howling right in front of our house! Now mind you, I am an animal lover all the way, but we live on a mountain on the southwest end of the city and our neighbors have been telling us about friends losing their pets to the coyotes here. My little Roxy goes into the courtyard out front, and through the doggy door to the back yard, where all the fencing is wrought iron and it's only 3 ft high! We don't want to loose our sweet puppy to the coyotes! Until we actually saw him, we really weren't too concerned. But now, we watch our puppy like crazy at night and don't let her go into the yard alone. The housing here has invaded the coyote's territory, so I can't blame them, but sure don't want to offer up my puppy as a meal either!! I have a pic to share with you of a family heirloom quilt that I was unaware of being in the family. My aunt told me that my Grandmother passed this quilt on to her and it was made by my Great, Great Great Grandmother at the age of 15. My Aunt Judy let me borrow it so I could figure out a pattern for it, and so far no luck in the EQ6. I am so busy with market quilts right now that I will have to wait until Nov to really work on this pattern. I want to make a reproduction quilt that copies the design perfectly. I have to give my Grandmother credit, this is a difficult pattern for a 15 year old! It is a feathered star with a twist! Has anybody seen this before? I think I will have to hand draw the block in EQ. It is very worn, but I love the colors.

We had some major thunderstorms last week, and here is a shot from my back patio of the incoming rain. You can tell by the pic that we are high up on the mountain above Las Vegas. I don't have a view of the city, but these are the mountains to the southwest of us. It just poured that day and I was able to turn off the air conditioning and enjoy the relief from the heat. The nights are starting to cool down so I know fall is coming soon, yippee!

Here is a panel and border to a new line I'm working on for Benartex. It is called Gotham. I will have a quilt made from it soon. When it gets closer to Market I can start sharing my designs with you all. I must be crazy, but I am doing 10 quilts for market this fall. I have .....let's see.....hmmm.... 7 weeks to get 7 more quilts done. Yikes! I love it though!!!

Here's the panel, neat isn't it?

My girlfriend is sharing some books with me I hadn't heard about before. They are best sellers so I'm sure some of you know about them. The first in a series is called Twilight, by Stephanie Meyers. I hear a movie is coming soon. Can hardly put this book down, but I only allow myself to read it before bed. Too many quilts to make right now!! If anyone is reading these let me know!!!

Until next time, keep quilting!

Diane