OK, it’s a difficult choice. Would you rather celebrate the holidays here
with Santa and his friends in Cozumel, Mexico and the temperatures are in the 80’s
(Tree at the airport in Charlotte, NC)
or here in snow covered Pennsylvania where shall we say it is not 80 degrees?
I think the answer is that as long as you celebrate with the ones you love it does not matter how or where you celebrate.
Enjoy the holidays.
My husband set up a trip for us at a time share called the Mayan Palace. It is close to Playa de Carmen. The compound, as I call it, is truly amazing. There are numerous pools or you can go to the beach. It had 6 different restaurants and we tried most of them while we were there. It also had a very well furnished fitness center which I did use every day. It made eating at the excellent restaurants a little easier on the waist line. The gardens in the compound were simply amazing. I think landscapers must think something like a quilter. By using different colors and different textures of plant leaves the gardens become so much more interesting. I am in the process of working on a quilt with a Mexican theme. I had several blocks sewn before I left for this trip but was hoping that I would get some more ideas while we were on this week long journey.
What I was looking for when I viewed the gardens were ideas for leaf shapes, colors and how the veins go through the leafs. When I am quilting the leaves on my projects I am often trying to come up with some different ideas on how to quilt the veins and what color or colors of thread to use. All of these leaves gave me inspiration.
Just as I found on many plants, using a variety of different fabrics on one area of my quilts makes them far more interesting than if I just used one fabric for all of the leaves on a project. 
The leaves on this plant were incredibly interesting. The colors, the shapes, the vein lines……
What an inspiration.
One of the things I don’t think to do when I am adding the quilting on my projects is to use a very light thread to quilt the veins on the leaves. Well, if it looks great in real life it should certainly look great in my quilts. 
And what about quilting the veins with pink thread?
This was growing along the bottom of a small tree. I love to sew circles so this inspired me. And I love the orange with the dark purple. How can you not be inspired?
Stay tuned for the next blog for more inspirational ideas…flowers, decorations, critters …. .
In my book “Earthly Delights: The Perfect Finish” and during all of my border workshops and lectures I always talk about how much I like using a 120″ tape measure when I am preparing to add the borders to my quilts. I recently found these cute tins which hold a 120″ long tape measure. In addition to being cute the price is great also. You’ll find them in the store section under “Tools for Designing”. These cute tins with the tape measure inside would be a great little gift for your quilt buddies.
Over the past several years I have told my students about a compass I use. The compass point and pencil point are two separate pieces that attach to a 1″ x 12″ Onmigrid ruler or you could attach them to a yardstick. I usually don’t need to draw circles any larger than what my 1″ x 12″ Omnigrid ruler allows but if you needed to draw a larger circle you could attach these points to your yardstick. It allows me to draw perfect circles, which is a shape I often use in my designs. On my website, under “Tools for Designing” you will find both the 1″ x 12″ Omnigrid ruler and the Yardstick Compass. I love tools that make my life a little easier.
One of my new finds is this wonderful little light weight travel light. I have been using it for about 3 months. Whenever I am on the road traveling I take it with me. If any of you have ever tired to hand sew in a hotel room I know you’ll agree…..the lighting is awful. This light has 6 led bulbs and throws off a nice amount of light making hand sewing much, much easier. It has a hinge to allow you to adjust the direction of the light. Love that. It takes 4 AA batteries and they seem to last a long time considering how much I’ve used mine in the past 3 months and the batteries are doing just fine.
This would also be great for those of you who take classes. It does not weigh much, hangs around your neck and provides light right where you need it. I gave one to my friend Wanda yesterday as she is going traveling in her travel trailer and likes to hand stitch while her husband drives. I’m thinking this light is going to find its way on a lot of road trips. If you decide to use this in a classroom be sure not to shine the light in the teachers face! Thank you on behalf of your teacher.
You can find these for sale on my website under the “Store” section, “More recommended notions”.
Last week I flew to Des Moines, Iowa for the 2nd annual American Quilter’s Society show. They have a great facility in downtown Des Moines which is perfect for this type of show. Show coordinator, Bonnie Browning suggested I attend the awards ceremony on Wednesday morning. I usually like to exercise in the morning and since the awards ceremony was being held right before the start of the show it meant I had to get up really early if I wanted to go to the gym first. Since it is a habit of mine to go to the gym first thing in the morning I got up at o’dark thirty to get on the treadmill. Once showered and dressed I walked over to the show area. Downtown Des Moines is all connected via a skywalk. It’s great when the weather is bad or when you have to take several suitcases from the hotel to your classroom. I will say that if you are not from Des Moines and you get in the skywalk it is not marked well and you can get turned around easily. Don’t be afraid to ask for directions. I had to ask a couple of times. One thing is for sure….the people is Des Moines are very friendly and helpful. I had traveled in Iowa on three other occasions. Every trip to Iowa has been enjoyable. This time was even more enjoyable because when I listened as the names of the winners were called I heard my name called for “Best of Show”. I had tears in my eyes. I thought….did I just hear them correctly? It was a rather large monetary award and I was certain there had been a mistake. (I still think there might have been a mistake!) My quilt Arabesque was awarded “Best of Show”. Some of you who know me know that I have won some other “Best of Show” awards over the years. But, each and every one of them is very special to me. I put a lot of myself into each of my quilts but Arabesque has more of me in it then any other quilt I have made. I worked on this quilt for three years. I have never made a quilt this intense or so time consuming. So, getting this recognition means a lot. It’s the reward for many, many, many long hours hand appliqueing and machine quilting. To view all the winners from the show go to http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/desmoines/2009/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php
Here are some of my favorite quilts and exhibits from the show.
The name of this quilt is “Alpha”baa”t Sampler and was made by Janet Stone of Overland Park, Kansas. One of my other most favorite quilts in the show was also made by Janet. The name of the quilt is “Alphabet Alchemy”. The detail work, beading and stitching, on this quilt is truly incredible. I remember seeing this quilt for the first time at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA in July. I really liked the quilt when I saw it in Hershey and liked it just as much when I saw it in Des Moines. If Janet ever decides she does not want this quilt I will gladly take it off of her hands. Thanks for sharing your quilts Janet.
My favorite exhibit at the show was called “Artful Bras”. These are one-of-a-kind bras created for Breast Cancer awareness. Each artist started with a 36C underwire bra. The creativity and workmanship on these bras was eye catching.
This one is called 
“Support Your Favorite Boob” It made me laugh.
The one to the left is called “Hooters”. You figure it out.
Another quilt that caught my eye was made by Carol Taylor from Pittsford, NY. The name of her quilt is “Silhouettes”. I love the clean lines of her design.
And then finally, this quilt was perfect for the time of year. It was made by Laurie Tigner from Rapid City, South Dakota. The name of the quilt is “Boonina”.
There are lots more quilts to view on the AQS web site. I hate just picking so few when there were so many I liked but this gives you a taste. In addition to the AQS show the Des Moines guild had their show in the hall beside the AQS show. They had several hundred quilts on display and both halls had lots of great vendors. And yes, I did spend some of my money at the vendors. How could I not?
I grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania. At the time I did not appreciate the beauty of this small town. When I was in high school and then home during the summer from collage I could hardly wait to get out and do something. Anything other than living in a town with nothing to do. Today however I can appreciate living in a small town. I went to see my mom today and took her driving through the town where my mother still lives and I grew up. I’m sorry I did not appreciate it when I was younger. My mom and I laughed a lot while we drove through the surrounding area.
Here are some of the things my mother and I saw today.
Today I appreciated it all…especially the time with my mom.
If you have never attended Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas this is something you should put on your bucket list of things to do before you die. It is the largest quilt show in the United States. It is the most amazing quilting event I have ever attended. For those of you who live in Texas you already know this but everything is bigger in Texas! The show is held at the George Brown Convention center. Prior to Quilt Festival the Quilt Market is held for quilt shop owners and vendors who sell quilt related items. Hundreds of vendors bring their products to show to perspective shop owners who then pick and choose what they will bring into their shops for you, their customers. Many of these new products are then sold during Quilt Festival. There are lots of new books, patterns, notions and fabrics introduced during these shows. I just love seeing what’s new. Here are some photos of what the isles look like.
During Quilt Festival there are hundreds of workshops and classes offered. It is the largest selection of classes offered at any quilting related show. When you get the brochure of class offerings in the mail it takes a day or two to read through all of them. There are also lectures held at lunch, in the evenings, etc. So much to do and so little time. On the show floor in addition to the more than 400 vendors there are special exhibits of quilts. More than 1,500 quilts are exhibited. Probably the most importanat part of this show is the “Quilts: A World of Beauty” show. The quilts for this show are first juried and then later judged. There are around 400 quilts judged and hanging on the showroom floor. The prize money is some of the highest awarded at any quilt event. This years Best of Show award went to Caryl Bryer Fallert for her quilt “On the Wings of a Dream”. See Caryls quilt below.
And a close-up shot. What an amazing quilt.
There were so many quilts to see. I’ve decided to show you my top five favortie quilts. Just so you know…that does not mean I did not like the other quilts. There are just too many to show you here on my blog. You can go to www.quilts.org to see all of the prize winning quilts. It was really hard for me to only pick 5, but here goes.
I loved “Garden of Dreams” by Fusake Takido from Japan. This quilt won the Founders Award.
Two of my favorite quilts were in the Art-Nature Scapes category. One of them is “Crossing Over” by Cookie Warner from Colorado. It won first place in its catagory.
Another one of my favorite quilts in the same category was called “Puzzled”. I loved this concept. Maybe it’s because I love to do puzzles. The idea of leaving some of the puzzle pieces along the lower edge was excellent. This quilt was made by Ruth Bloomfield from Australia. This quilt won 2nd place is its catagory.
The quilt that put the biggest smile on my face was “The Great Crate Escape” by Pauline Salzman from Florida. So cute. I thinky my two dogs could pull this off.
I don’ want to think I am biased about this choice, but I am. Vicki Jenkin from Australia made my “Magical Medallions” pattern. Awesome. Well done Vicki. I know how much work it took to complete this project. Vicki won an Honorable Mention in the Traditional Quilt catagory.
While I was in Houston for the week I taught five different workshops and met some truly wonderful students. Their enthusiam was contagious. This is one of the few shows that asks the students to evaluate the teachers by completing an evaluation form. Based on the comments on the forms I received the students had a fantastic time and learned a lot. The comments were glowing. Thanks to all of my students for allowing me the opportunity to share my applique techniques and border ideas with you. It really was my pleasure.
And finally, I always find time to volunteer in the booth with Ami. Attendees can purchase a small quilt at this booth, coordinated by Ami Simms, with funds going toward Alzheimer’s research. The two goals are to raise awareness and to fund research so that a cure for Alzheimer’s can be found. When I was in the booth on Saturday morning they were up to $30,000.00 in money raised during the show. Way to go Ami. For more information go to www.alzquilts.org
Recently I received my copy of the 2010 calendar from That Patchwork Place. I was anxious to see it as they told me my quilt, Arabesque, was going to be on the cover. I spent three years working on this quilt and have never done anything as detailed. I was concerned that a distance shot of the quilt would never show all the intricate workmanship. But, when I saw the cover I was blown away. The close-up shot of the quilt gave me goose bumps. I actually jumped up and down I was so excited.
My quilt was selected from the award winning quilts hung at the International Quilt Association show,Quilts A World of Beauty, Houston, TX in 2008.
You can order the calendar on my website under the “DVD, books and patterns setion”.
ms Maasdam
A couple of years ago if you had asked me if cruising and quilting went together I might have said “no”. Today I would have to say that I would have been wrong. In fact the two combined are awesome. A couple of years ago I had the great good fortune to be asked to join the Quilt Seminar at Sea group to teach on a Caribbean cruise. I loved it. One of the things that makes it so great is the people from www.quiltcruises.com. On this trip I worked with Lisa and Kim. Not only were they supper nice but they were very well organzied which makes my life and the students very enjoyable.
Prior to cruising we had some issues. Our flight was delayed out of Harrisburg, PA due to bad weather. Fortunately we had made arrangements to fly into Montreal, the start of the cruise, a day early. We ended up on an Air Canada flight and even though they were able to get us to Montreal they were not able to get our luggage to Montreal. So, now we are ready to cruise and….no luggage. I was not really concerned about wearing the same clothing everyday, with some washing in between, but how was I going to teach my classes with all my class stuff in my luggage. We set sail on Saturday with pretty much just the clothing on our backs. My husband, Joe, and my best friend, Barb, were in the same boat….no luggage either.
Day one of the cruise we went to Quebec City. We made the decision to purchase one or two outfits in case our luggage did not arrive. When we returned to the ship our luggage was there. We where all very excited. Our next day, with clean clothing and class supplies in hand we were in good shape. I taught “Floral Bouquet” where the students make lots of different dimensional flowers. As we worked on the class project we could see out of our windows as we cruised through senic Saguenay Fjord. It does not get much better than that. Nice people, great view and sewing.
The next day took us to a quaint little town on Prince Edward Island called Charlottetown. A few blocks from where the ship docked we found this wonderful quilt shop called, Quilting B & More. www.quiltingb.ca And who should I meet on the steps to the shop but Elly Sienkiewicz. Elly was also teaching on this cruise.
Elly Sienkiewicz, me and the owners and employees at Quilting B & More
Also teaching on this cruise was Velda Newman. You can find out more about Velda at http://www.veldanewman.com/gallery.html Velda and I had crossed paths at another seminar a few years ago. I really like Velda and her quilts. You need to check out her site. Her quilts are magical.
The other teacher on this cruise, Christine Porter, I had never met before. You can find out more about Christine at http://www.christineporterquilts.com/ One of the best things about this cruise was meeting Christine. What a lovely person. I feel certain our paths will cross again and I look forward to it.
We next went to Sydney, Nova Scotia and then on to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Here are a few of the sites.
I have to tell you it was difficult to just select a few of the photos. The landscape was exquisit.
Then we arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. One reason that I was excited to be in Halifax was because I was born and raised in Halifax, Pennsylvania. When I was in college and someone would ask where I was from I would tell them Halifax and often people would say “Nova Scotia?”. It was fun to see the other Halifax.
While we were in Halifax we found the Public Gardens. Here are a few things we saw.
Our final day of the cruise we stopped in Bar Harbor, Maine. Now this town has a special place in my heart as this is where my huband and I honeymooned some 28 years ago. So, we decided to stop and visit the B & B where we stayed. 
I think Bar Harbor is a beauriful place to visit. There are fantastic little shops along the main streets and the surrounding area is something you really should see.
I think this is one of the most photographed light houses in the world. It is a breath taking part of the United States. There is one beautiful view after another.
We disembarked in Boston, MA to end an incredible week. If you are ever thinking about a quilting cruise, stop thinking about it and just do it. My next quilting-cruising adventure will be in February 2010 in the Caribbean. I’m already thinking how nice and warm it will be in the Caribbean in February compared to Pennsylvanias ice and snow.
For more information on quilting and cruising go to www.quiltcruises.com