Category: Uncategorized

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:29:12 Size: 6.9MB

Suzanne’s website

This incredible quilt was chosen as one of the “Twentieth Century’s Best American Quilts” by Mary Leman Austin. You can find the book on Amazon.com by visiting this link Twentieth Century Quilts book.

When I visited with Suzanne for this interview, I had a chance to also interview Suzanne’s wonderful husband, Garland. He is such an integral part of her quilting and support — and it was a great interview. Unfortunately, the background noise overcame Garland’s voice, so we couldn’t use it for the podcast — much to my dismay.

Here is Suzanne and me — at the end of a busy day ; )

Don’t forget to look for Suzanne’s show on Alex and Ricky’s “The Quilt Show”, coming up in early 2008. You will be amazed!

I’ve been terrible about updating you lately and this is my first effort to deliver new shows.

Fasten your seat belts. I have a lot stored-up for you. That means lots of podcast episodes in a very short time.

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:42:29 Size: 9.9MB

First up are two interviews I did while I was on the east coast late this summer. The first is with the owner of Old City Quilts, Judy Nicoll from Burlington, New Jersey. Judy talks about how and why she opened her incredible shop, and the first annual outdoor quilt show on the East Coast! There is actually a date for the next one, which is in conjunction with the Burlington Day celebration, the third weekend in May, 2008 — so mark your calendars. I’m sure Judy is planning all kinds of cool quilty things for the next outdoor quilt show event.

Second is a very special interview with Alice Waldeck, a long-time quilter and mental health nurse. She will talk about using quilts to preserve your mental health and stress related issues.

Enjoy the pictures below, of Judy’s fabulous quilt shop and the quilts that Alice uses in her lecture, “Life is a Patchwork Quilt”.

Judy and Rob, recently married — aren’t they cute?!

Take a sneak peek into Olde City Quilts. I LOVE this store!



This is one of my favorite things in Judy’s store. Ice cold sodas and tasty refreshments for the weary shopper who forgot to eat because shopping is more important, or to tame our sweet savage beasts while our fabric is being cut. What a smart cookie, Judy!

Can you believe that this is Judy’s first quilt? She made this entirely by hand and talks about it in the interview.

Alice adds the explanation of her quilts below the pictures. I would personally love to hear Alice give this lecture, which she does on the East Coast. If you would like to have Alice come and present at your guild, or to find out where Alice will be speaking next, you can contact her at aawaldeck@msn.com.

“Jewels of the Sea,” was inspired by my daughter, Molly, and allowed me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone. This piece was a combination of machine applique ,hand embellishments, and hand quilting. Layers of netting helped create the illusion of depth. The silver fish at the top of the quilt had to be glued on as there was no way my machine would sew through the silver fabric. Sequins added a little more sparkle.

“Growth Potential,” was a quilt I designed specifically to discuss qualities needed for positive change. The spiral serves to suggest movement and growth which are illustrated visually with the increasing number of leaves, their larger size, leaves, fruits, and finally a bird. Words listed on the spiral are some qualities needed for personal growth. This piece was machine appliqued and quilted.

“Drunkard’s Path,” by Helen Jemison, is the setting which allows me to discuss addictive behaviors. Piecing and quilting were done by hand, and embellishments were then added.

“Nature Nurtures,” is used to promote the healing qualities of being with nature. It is nature printed using the last leaves of summer, and machine pieced and quilted.

This watercolor quilt titled, “Lost Garden Gloves,” was set out three times before the final setting was determined. This was largely due to the family cat, Gus, who dive bombs loose fabric on the floor! This quilt was machine pieced and quilted.

“Space Funk” was one of those projects I just had to do! It was done with raw edge applique and machine quilting. The best way to view this quilt is in semi darkness with a low light source. It allows the silver beads, Austrian crystals, and antique buttons to glow as if in a night sky.

Last but not least, a picture with listener Jeanette Ivie, who came to my lecture for the outdoor quilt show.

I love to meet listeners, especially those who email me about the show. So, email me already! Just click on the email address in the sidebar, right there —————————————————->

Happy Quilting!!

Whew! We’re finally back home after 12 whirlwind days at Quilt Market and Quilt Festival in Houston. What a fabulous time we had – and we have the aching feet to prove it!

I can’t tell you how marvelous it is to be able to sleep in my own bed, eat in the kitchen (not at a restaurant or in the car), shower in my own shower, and not have to be up and working. Not to complain at all, the work was fun, meeting wonderful quilters and Quilting Stash listeners, and the magic of actually being at Quilt Festival was a dream-come-true for me. I had the opportunity to walk the quilt exhibit and was profoundly aware that I was finally in the place where I have always dreamed to be able to go. I took lots of pictures, and we have lots of fun experiences to share in an all-new podcast. We just have to get it recorded!

I tried like crazy to be able to get some interviews with my favorite quilters, and to do some podcasts while I was there. I should have known better than to try to schedule podcasts while I was setting up booths, taking down booths, meeting with contacts, and all that goes with having a booth at both places. I did manage to get one great interview with Jenny Wilding Cardon, mom-to-be, that will be up shortly. A cool thing that I got to do was meet with vendors who provided prizes for future Talking Stash drawings — which will be forthcoming.
I can hardly wait to begin sewing again – I came with all kinds of inspiration for new quilts. The “Pickle Road Garden” quilt that is made with Mark Lipinski’s new “Katmandu” fabric will be featured in “Quilt” magazine after the first of the year, among other exciting opportunities that we’ll be talking about in the podcast.

So stay tuned… And in the meantime, Happy Quilting!

That’s right! When I got together with Alex Anderson to interview her for my podcast (scroll down to show #100), she took a turn and interviewed ME for HER podcast too! You can listen to her podcast (#69) by clicking HERE.

We had such a fun time that day at her home.

I can’t wait until the Quilt Show runs my appearance early in 2008!

Happy Quilting!

Annie

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:55:03 Size: 12.9MB

Highlights from the 2007 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

I ran into my friend, and listener, Marisa. You’ll remember Marisa from the great Japanese bag she made me that I take my notions in when I work on yo-yo’s when I fly. You can check out her blog at Quilt Otaku. Her husband, Jamie, is also a listener and contributor to a past show. What a cutie their son is, whose favorite song is “the birthday song” – he sang it for me!

Quilts

Hi all.
Yesterday we experienced a problem with the server that manages our SimpleArts blog and podcast. Late last night — in the middle of the night it appears — our host provider fixed the problem and rebooted our SQL server bringing life back to SimpleArts.

We apologize for the inconvenience and will take measures to avoid this problem in the future.

If you ever come to our site and see an error message or something that you don’t expect is the typical experience at our site, please send me an EMAIL and I’ll try and attend to it as soon as possible!

WebGuy

For Broadband Users (Hi-Fi)

Running time: 00:32:04 Size: 15.1MB

For Dial-Up Users (Lo-Fi)

Running time: 00:32:04 Size: 5.9MB

You know it

The Dozen Dazzling Delicious Desserts Blog-able Feast has reached its’ last posting with .Amanda’s blog. I loved hearing about her Runaway Quilting retreat. This has been such a fun project — I hope you have enjoyed it too.

Our venerable hostess with the most-estHolly Holderman has decided to sweeten the pot, as it were, and has decided to pick winners from comments added to her website. For all of the details, and to add a comment for a chance to win fabulous prizes, visit Holly’s website by clicking on her name above. The winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to Williams Sonoma, a pattern for the LakeHouse Dry Goods “Big Pocket Apron”, the LakeHouse fabric of your choice & rick rack embellishment (from Holly’s private stash) to make it — so you can really enjoy making any of the delectable desserts that were offered in our Blog-able Feast. What could be more fun than to win?!

So hurry and visit Holly’s site — the lucky winners will be chosen on October 5th. Also, don’t forget to sign up for my eNewsletter for a chance to win a LakeHouse Sweet Retreats kit, winners chosen on October 1st.

I just got my “Mom’s Apron Strings” quilt back from my most favorite machine quilter, Melodee, and it turned out to be just darling. All I have to do now is add the ruffled border and take some pretty pictures for the pattern cover. I will give you a sneak preview of it once the photos are taken.

I guess there is some confusion about whether I’m still going to do podcasts or not, now that I’m doing a regular blog… the answer is, How could I stop doing podcasts?! Of course I will!! I still have three interviews that need to be uploaded for upcoming shows and I’m doing productions notes for more new shows, and we’re going to begin taping Quilting Stash TV this weekend along with the advent of the all-new Talking ‘Stash eNewsletter.

Whew !! Lots to do! My aim is to bring you lots more fun and exciting quilting content on my website, not to diminish it in any way. We have lots of good changes in the works, and hope that you’ll enjoy seeing the changes unfold.

I always love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to send me an email at annie@simplearts.com.

So, until next time, Happy Quilting!

I don’t know about you, but my favorite daily exercise is pushing myself away from the sewing machine long enough to stand at the ironing board for a minute to press that pesky seam allowance…

The older you get, the more you have to be aware of swelling ankles, not that I’m a day over 25 myself ; ) I found this out a few summers ago, when I was stitching a quilt top for my good friend Sue Nickels. The top is done using Sue’s brilliant method of machine applique and the entire design for “Jessi’s Holly Basket” is meticulously blanket-stitched in different colors of thread. All in all, it took twenty hours to complete over several days and a severely swollen left ankle (I use my right foot on the pedal).

As much as I love to sit at my sewing center and do anything having to do with quilting, I have to get up and keep the circulation flowing. With Quilt Market, new quilt samples, and new patterns ominously looming, I need to have my nose to the quilting grind stone. No time for even a diversionary old Jimmy Stewart movie to keep me company – I’ve got to work, work, work! I set up my sewing center in a U-shape so the ironing board is on my right and the cutting mat is on the left, with the machine in the middle to be as efficient as possible. I just forgot one thing — swelling ankles and tootsies.

Yesterday I spent six hours at the machine, and today, well, today isn’t over yet and it’s dinner time. WebGuy came in to see how I was coming along, and to show me the layout for my eNewsletter, that will premiere on October 1st (way cool, by the way!). Along with him came our little shadow, Piper, the fat quarter retriever — with her leash in her mouth and a come-hither look in her eyes.
She was so darn cute that I had to take her for a walk, and came back with a new appreciation for a little exercise. I think Piper’s out to save me from myself.

Not only was it hard to get the clog back on my right foot, but my blood sugar was up from too much sitting. A little walk around the block helped the swelling and brought my blood sugar down 30 points. I gotta remember that – especially when all I can think about is the next element to the quilt that I have to get done. So beginning tomorrow, my self-imposed Doctor’s orders will be to set a timer for one hour and will take princess Piper for a walk around the block, and repeat that as long as I am sitting at the sewing center. It’ll make her happy, and save my circulation. You know that old adage, “If your dog is overweight, you’re not walking enough.” It applies to circulation too, so don’t forget to take a break, especially with all of the holiday gift-making coming up.

So, until next time, Happy Quilting!

Quilting Stash Tones Down and SimpleArts Bulks Up

I’ve had requests from potential listeners who don’t have high-speed capability to somehow make the file size of our podcast smaller. I am listening to you! Today, beginning with Quilting Stash podcast #100, we are offering a program that is modem/dialup friendly. The only difference is that it’s not as high fidelity. You can decide which you want to listen to.

All you need to do is click on the correct Podcast icon, and voila!, the magic of podcast technology will stream onto your computer, or be downloadable to your MP3 player. Just scroll down to program 100 below. Cool, huh?

Also — people who don’t have high band-width capability (and just plain fans of the show) have requested the ability to purchase Quilting Stash shows on CD. For the first time, the SimpleArts store will offer three “Best of Quilting Stash” CD’s beginning on October 1st and will be announced along with the winners of the
LakeHouse Dry Goods’ Sweet Retreats kits. To have a chance to win, visit the SimpleArts store and register for the eNewsletter that will premier on the 1st as well.

SimpleArts will now “bulk up” with a blog in-between podcasts. I began with a blog when my website first saw the light of day, back in August 2004 (just eight months before Quiltng Stash was born!). Consider that all of my podcasts are done in a blog format already — it just makes sense to continue to do a blog.

With all of the program show notes, I add links and pictures and have recently been adding additional facts and fun info. I always find cool little things to offer that I’d like to add to a podcast that I sometimes forget by the time I do production notes, or don’t go with the particular show that I’m offering at that time. So, here I go, and I hope you’ll tune in to the blog as well as the podcast. I may even invite some friends to be guest contributors — any takers?

A subscription service for the blog (not just the podcast) will be available shortly, WebGuy is working on the details, and we’ll let you know as soon as we have all of the kinks worked out. Until then, just come back to the site for regular updates.

Remember, if you’d like to give me feedback, suggestions or make a comment, please send me an email to annie@simplearts.com . I have the comments disabled because of the avalanche of would-be retailers of “stuff” that we really don’t want to see ; )

And so, until next time — Happy Quilting!