Circles Everywhere - QuiltCon Prep

Phew. Finished my QuiltCon prep with less than 48 hours to spare. It might not have been that stressful if I hadn't decided to make all new samples for my class. If you're in my class be prepared to be overrun with circle blocks! Despite the work tossed around and in between school, dance classes, naps, and swimming lessons I had a lot of fun. Circles are just awesome. I may have mentioned that before.

It was great to just get in my fabric and play. Some wonderful colour combinations, finally using up some of my treasured text prints., and even cutting into my Indian cottons. I do hope that the students in my class appreciate the effort.

My QuiltCon schedule looks something like this:

Wednesday - Leave ridiculously early for the airport so we don't get stuck in customs like we did when we went to Spring Market. Fly. Eat BBQ, compare to Kansas City.
Thursday - Teach Perfect Circles. Drink Beer. MQG Leaders Meet-up. See the bats at the bridge.
Friday - Teach Perfect Circles. Convince my husband to wear the Adidas track suit I got him for the 80s party.
Saturday - Yoshiko Jinzenji pillow class. Lunch and catch part of the show and lectures. Lotta Jansdotter Printing class. Drink beer. Hang with my SIL and her Mom too.
Sunday - Denyse Schmidt Improv class. Book signing in the Stash Books booth 1 pm. Back to class. Drink Beer.

Of course, this schedule, particularly the beer drinking part, is highly dependent on my husband. Despite his terrible experience at Market he is coming to another major quilting event with me. I know it's because he loved everyone he met so much, and not the possibility of beer, BBQ, and visiting the new F1 track. Or because we are travelling without our kids.

If you see me in Austin feel free to accost me and say hello. I am loud and brash, but very friendly.

Under This Unbroken Sky (Weekend Reads)

About the only time I read is right before bed. I snuggle under the quilts, a cup of warm almond milk with honey in hand and the book that generally lives beside the bed. Some nights I manage to make it through more than 2 pages before falling asleep. But if I don't grab those two pages I usually can't sleep. The next night I inevitably need to read one of those pages over to remind myself what happened.

You can see why it takes me a while to get through a book, at least since having my baby boy. Either through some miracle or because of good books, I've managed to get through two novels already this year! Two! The latest finish is Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell.

A friend loaned me this book solely on the premise that the story is about Ukrainian immigrants settling on the Prairies. Why, that's my background! No, I wasn't a settler, but my Dad was, after WWII. The setting, the descriptions of the home, the land, the people hit quite close to home for me. I saw my Baba in the women of the novel, both my Dad and my Dido in the men. I imagined the joy of a heart shaped rock in the children in the one room school house located uphill in both directions. I felt the dirt of the frozen floor.

I wonder if it was Mitchell's writing or my own experiences clouding the read. I mean, I've been on the farm my Dad's family settled and the quiet, tiny, drafty "cabin" they lived in. It was nestled on the edge of some trees, with a view to a massive stack of wood (for the stove), a slough, and the start of the farmland. Oh, how I hated going to that farm as a kid. So backwards, so scary. Now, however, I totally appreciate the labour, the hardship, the opportunity that cabin and farm provided. It only took me 25 years to get there.

This is also a story that goes beyond the hardship of settlement and tackles the struggles of family - abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, and sibling relationships. Or maybe that is still the story of settlement? There are painful, cringeworthy and heartbreaking scenes in the book that literally make you gasp and hold your stomach. There are joyous and beautiful moments of love that make you want to get up and dance.

Mitchell's writing is haunting. She captures turns of phrases familiar to this Ukrainian, she describes the farm in a way that has you digging out the dirt under your fingernails. And she captures the emotions of the characters so well too - one day you love one, the next day you want to smack the petulant child, and the day after that you desperately want to correct his confusion.

I'm a sucker for good storytelling, and this novel is it. Is it any wonder I managed to finish it in less that a month with my bedtime routine?

The Secret is Out

"Mama, are you a famous quilt writer person?" So asked The Monster at dinner tonight.

"To some people," she then added.

Sigh.

Well, maybe...

My next book is coming out this summer! It doesn't come out until August, but the monolith that is Amazon has it available for pre-order. A Month of Sundays focuses on my obsession with low-volume fabrics. It includes quilts and more, so much more. It demonstrates the trust my publisher, Stash Books, had in me to include more writing than your standard quilt book. It includes the phenomenal photography of Kate Inglis.  It celebrates the joy of the lazy Sunday, from sleeping in under a glorious quilt to shopping for flowers to dessert at Sunday dinner.

I am beyond excited to share this book with you. It's been an intense experience, coming on the heels of Sunday Morning Quilts, and written in conjunction with the pregnancy and birth of my baby boy.

I can't wait for you to see it all.

In other book news, Sunday Morning Quilts has been nominated for a 2013 Golden Quilter Award. How cool is that? I'm not a fan of shilling for votes, but if you've got a minute we'd love yours. Check out the other awards too, it is a veritable who's who of quilting. Thank-you to our anonymous nominee. And thank-you, faithful readers and supporters.

Wine Gums

Winegums

40'' by 55''

Look, I finished something!

This is my version of Amanda's quilt from our book, Sunday Morning Quilts. Such a fun piece. Little scraps, some raw edge appliqué, and really casual quilting. And look at that Washi fabric from Rashida on the back! Because of that I went with a grey and white dotty binding, instead of a harsher contrast with black and white.

I started this quilt off on the wrong foot, when I didn't read Amanda's actual pattern in the book. That left me to come up with a different way to stabilize my little pieces. It wasn't a big deal and I'd happily use glue again. But I did follow her directions for quilting the piece. One straight stitch underneath each row to keep it all in place and make the rest of the quilting easier. Then free motion stitching following each arc - over, back, and over again. If you don't love little frayed edges after washing then this might be a challenge to your sensibilities, but it is worth it. Think of it as another layer of texture.

Pre-washing above, post-washing below.

There is a part of me that wishes I had made it bigger, like my original plan. That will just have to be another quilt. I'm sure I'll have scraps enough!

Considering that I never made my son a baby quilt I think he may lay claim on this one, if he ever stops his commando crawl long enough to savour it.

(PS Sorry about those top two photos, they get all blurry when I put them here... working on it.)