Article coming up... soon!

Last week was a crazy deadline.  Well, the deadline wasn't crazy, I was.

A while back I was asked to write an article for Machine Quilting Unlimited.  Sure, why not, sounds great. Meanwhile, I got back from Houston/Quilt Festival, managed to survive through Thanksgiving without gaining 12 pounds, and began writing.  Writing and quilting and writing, oh, and a little more quilting.  Well, I managed to not only be on time with my article, I was actually one day early... whew!

I can't share too much, you'll have to wait for the article to publish, but it will be well worth it.  It is a fantastic magazine and if you aren't already a subscriber, you should be!  It is everything machine quilting -- hmm, maybe that's how they got the name?!!  My article is scheduled to be in the May 2013 issue -- make sure you watch for it!  You can buy single and back issues here (if you remember, Clouds in My Latte was in the September 2012 issue).

Until then, here are just a couple of tiny peeks to keep you on the edge of your seat:

Flies and Weeds (detail)

Flies and Weeds (detail of back)

Flies and Weeds (detail of back)

Okay, now that you've seen the pretty, let me share the horror...

Yes, that is a 4" tuck in my backing.  Now to fix it!

All the stitches in and around the tuck get removed.  And then some fabric manipulation occurs.  Then the area gets re-quilted matching up all the stitching lines.  Fixed!  And yes, I am human (pinch myself every morning just to double check)  I make mistakes, things go wrong, and I share these things to let you know it happens to the best of us!  Don't ever get discouraged, almost everything that goes wrong can be fixed... almost!

And just to keep it fun... here was my Gammill on Christmas night -- it is kind of dressed up for the holiday wouldn't you say?!!  Yes, with deadlines comes quilting on Christmas!

Journeys 2013

Most of you know I belong to an art group -- Journeys Thru Art.  The project theme for this year is H2O-8 -- what is that you ask?  Well H2O is water - we all have known that since like 6th grade science, right?  I bet you're wondering what the heck is the 8 -- simple, there are 8 members of our group.  Let me rephrase, there are 8 amazingly talented members of our group.

I've been throwing around ideas for my project for a couple months now... ever since we decided on the theme.  My original thought was a walrus.  Oh, the walrus quilt will happen, just not this year.  A quilt like that needs more hours that I can spare between now and the deadline.

Then I went to a photo I had taken after Tropical Storm Fay when the flood waters were up to the Beware of Alligator sign -- another awesome picture.  At this point this was the photo I was going to use. 

BUT (there it is)... as much as I love that picture and it was all mine (no need for permissions), I still wasn't thrilled.  I didn't have that excited feeling of getting started on the project.  It felt very forced.  So for the past week I've been mulling around on the internet looking for inspiration and ideas.  I started a Board on Pinterest just to keep all my ideas in one place -- don't you just love Pinterest?  I found pictures of eyes with tears, gators (yes, one day), shadows on water, and just water itself.  Such a vast topic there were so many ways I could go with this topic.  Looking at all of these pictures was pushing me into project confusion... too many creative thoughts flying around in my head.

So yesterday morning I again found myself on Pinterest... it goes great with coffee!  And I peeked around at all my friends boards.  Then I landed on Gammill Quilting and out of the corner of my eye I saw water -- little drops on a leaf.  There was a board titled Quilt This.  When I opened the board, there it was.  A picture that instantly grabbed me.  I want to make this quilt -- now!  So I spent the next hour or so tracking down the owner of the photograph -- it wasn't too hard, thank goodness!  I typed up an email requesting permission for use.  And waited, and looked at the picture a million more times.  And then there it was.  The reply... YES!  Along with the reply was a wonderful little blessing -- my only requirement was to share pictures and a link back to the photographer.  Awesome, totally made my day.   

Here is the photograph:

"Rain" by Adam Hart Davis

I can not wait to get started on this quilt -- my deadline is mid September... ready, set, go!