Quilting...for the Rest of Us

I'm going to divide my reflections on my experience at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last weekend into a couple of different episodes or they'd be too long to upload! In this "Part 1" episode, I talk about why you should go to such events, and a few tips if you do. I also share a few tidbits of my experience along the way--such as meeting a very helpful Australian and a pretty neat person who grew up an hour from me! There are also just a few listener comments at the end--I'm dividing those up among the episodes I post this week. Part 2 will be posted in another couple of days.

I'm going to divide my reflections on my experience at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last weekend into a couple of different episodes or they'd be too long to upload! In this "Part 1" episode, I talk about why you should go to such events, and a few tips if you do. I also share a few tidbits of my experience along the way--such as meeting a very helpful Australian and a pretty neat person who grew up an hour from me! There are also just a few listener comments at the end--I'm dividing those up among the episodes I post this week. Part 2 will be posted in another couple of days.

As a follow-up to last week's episode and my journey with my family quilts, in this episode I share my very strong opinion that y'all ought to be documenting your quilts! I give some thoughts about the whys, whats, and hows of documentation, and a very important tip about quilt labels. Don't forget about the holiday challenge!

As a follow-up to last week's episode and my journey with my family quilts, in this episode I share my very strong opinion that y'all ought to be documenting your quilts! I give some thoughts about the whys, whats, and hows of documentation, and a very important tip about quilt labels. Don't forget about the holiday challenge!

Welcome to episode 26, in which I talk about the antique quilts I inherited from my mother, and what it taught me about fabric and family. For photos of the quilts discussed in this episode, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/39296555@N06/sets/72157625099928783/with/5108190746/

Welcome to episode 26, in which I talk about the antique quilts I inherited from my mother, and what it taught me about fabric and family. For photos of the quilts discussed in this episode, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/39296555@N06/sets/72157625099928783/with/5108190746/

There it is, sitting in your sewing box...or perhaps in a drawer in your sewing cabinet...or maybe under the couch after a kid or pet got at it...your thimble. Have you thought much about the august heritage of this mundane tool? In this episode, we discuss the history of thimbles, some tips for collecting, information about using thimbles (including listeners' favorites), and how to find a thimble that fits. Plus, "quilters like the rest of us" interview with Fran, listener comments, and a Sandy update. My family heritage in thimbles, displayed in the printer's drawer from my BFF/BQF Kate: For a couple of additional pictures, visit my blog. (I like Podbean for so many things, but hate the way it deals with multiple pictures!)

There it is, sitting in your sewing box...or perhaps in a drawer in your sewing cabinet...or maybe under the couch after a kid or pet got at it...your thimble. Have you thought much about the august heritage of this mundane tool? In this episode, we discuss the history of thimbles, some tips for collecting, information about using thimbles (including listeners' favorites), and how to find a thimble that fits. Plus, "quilters like the rest of us" interview with Fran, listener comments, and a Sandy update. My family heritage in thimbles, displayed in the printer's drawer from my BFF/BQF Kate: For a couple of additional pictures, visit my blog. (I like Podbean for so many things, but hate the way it deals with multiple pictures!)

Welcome to episode 24 and my interview with Patricia Smith, a member of my guild and all around history buff. Pat is self-educated in the world of quilts and quilt history, and serves as a consultant with her Civil War reenactment group to make sure they have quilts representing the right period of history on their cots. Pat and I also talk about her Dear Jane quilt progress, and her theories about the underground railroad quilts. Have fun listening in on the conversation! Pat's Quilt (taken with my cell phone while it was laid out on the floor at our retreat--sorry about the quality!) Mentioned in the episode: Batavia Quilt Guild's "Stitches in Time" Show, Oct. 15 and 16, featuring George Siciliano: http://museumquiltguild.blogspot.com for more information.

Welcome to episode 24 and my interview with Patricia Smith, a member of my guild and all around history buff. Pat is self-educated in the world of quilts and quilt history, and serves as a consultant with her Civil War reenactment group to make sure they have quilts representing the right period of history on their cots. Pat and I also talk about her Dear Jane quilt progress, and her theories about the underground railroad quilts. Have fun listening in on the conversation! Pat's Quilt (taken with my cell phone while it was laid out on the floor at our retreat--sorry about the quality!) Mentioned in the episode: Batavia Quilt Guild's "Stitches in Time" Show, Oct. 15 and 16, featuring George Siciliano: http://museumquiltguild.blogspot.com for more information.

This is the video version of episode 23. In episode 23, I share the process and learnings from the folks who have participated in both of my creativity challenges to date: Frances, Virginia, Lynn, Jackie, Jill, and Darla. If you are listening to the audio version, you will want to visit the Quilting…for the Rest of Us Flickr group to see the photos from both challenges. (The link is in the menu on the right-hand side of this page.)

This is the video version of episode 23. In episode 23, I share the process and learnings from the folks who have participated in both of my creativity challenges to date: Frances, Virginia, Lynn, Jackie, Jill, and Darla. If you are listening to the audio version, you will want to visit the Quilting…for the Rest of Us Flickr group to see the photos from both challenges. (The link is in the menu on the right-hand side of this page.)

This is the audio-only version of this episode. In episode 23, I share the process and learnings from the folks who have participated in both of my creativity challenges to date: Frances, Virginia, Lynn, Jackie, Jill, and Darla. If you are listening to the audio version, you will want to visit the Quilting...for the Rest of Us Flickr group to see the photos from both challenges. (The link is in the menu on the right-hand side of this page.)

This is the audio-only version of this episode. In episode 23, I share the process and learnings from the folks who have participated in both of my creativity challenges to date: Frances, Virginia, Lynn, Jackie, Jill, and Darla. If you are listening to the audio version, you will want to visit the Quilting...for the Rest of Us Flickr group to see the photos from both challenges. (The link is in the menu on the right-hand side of this page.)

Our topic for this episode is teaching kids how to quilt. We have two interviews and all sorts of input from listeners--great stuff! Our first interview is another installment in the "quilters like the rest of us" interview series. Last May, I interviewed Jan from my guild, and we ended up talking about kids n' quilting, so I had already earmarked it for this episode. The second interview is with Lynn, a long-time listener, about "Aunt Lynn's Sewing School." Lynn had responded to my question in BigTent about teaching kids to quilt with a great email all about Aunt Lynn's Sewing School, and I just had to follow that up with a conversation. (Thanks, Lynn!) In this episode, I also share other great input from listeners about their experiences in teaching kids to quilt plus some resources you might want to check out. Mentioned in this episode: Kids Start Quilting with Alex Anderson(C&T Publishing, 2002) "Quilting with Kids" at  http://www.thecraftstudio.com/qwc/index.htm Maria Peagler,  http://quiltsandcreativity.com/summer-sewing-camp (Thanks, Darla!)