Well Quilters,
It was bound to happen. I arrived in Houston yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful time hanging out with Texas pals Pat and Jean. We went to our favorite place to eat in Houston, Black Eyed Pea, and later that evening… IT HIT ME.

I’ve had all of the typical flu symptoms combined with, ummm… how do I say this gently… the typical food poisoning symptoms.
I am so upset that this is happening in the middle of my roadtrip. But on the positive side, I’m so glad I have these two angels, Pat and Jean to take such good care of me.

I’m thinking that I will need to sit-out today and (hopefully) start to feel better. The plan is to continue my trip tomorrow. That will bring me to North Carolina on Friday instead of Thursday.

If I’m feeling a little better today, I’ll check-in with Webguy and see if I can get a podcast out to you.

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I left Fort Stockton Sunday morning to find more of this:

I rolled into San Antonio town as the shadows were getting long. There I met my friend Tracy Ward where she entertained me in town.

First we went over to the Alamo.

At the Alamo, I saw ANOTHER idea for an applique quilt. What do you think:

These fish are in a cement ditch that surrounds the Alamo. It’s pretty cool.

Driving around I found yet ANOTHER idea for an applique quilt — on the side of a highway retaining wall. Is someone trying to tell me something?

We ate at the County Line BBQ Restaurant on the Riverwalk. That place is good eats! I’d recommend it to anyone who likes barbeque.

We also visited Seventh Heaven Quilt Shop.

It’s a cute shop inside and out with a HUGE amount of fabric. I would consider the store fully stocked by anyone’s standards. I spoke with the shop owner, Dixie, and she made us feel right at home — even on a Sunday late afternoon/early evening! That’s Texas hospitality.

Please note: This post is delayed. It is the post from Saturday, January 19. A new post for today (Sunday) should appear late tonight or early tomorrow. -Webguy

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The desert is always desolate and barren but it always seems beautiful to me. I got into New Mexico in the early afternoon and I crossed the continental divide.

Today I traveled through New Mexico and found a darling little quilt store in Los Cruces. Organ Mountain Quilt Shop!

Later that day, I passed this sign:

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I hate driving at night. As it got darker and I was still miles away from my stop for the evening in Fort Stockton, I could feel the good wishes and prayers from all of you coming my way. I think I was blessed just a little bit last night by this:

Later I found out from Webguy that the moon truly was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons last night. For more information about this phenomenon, go HERE.

Thanks to everyone for all of your comments and phone messages. Please keep those encouraging words coming!

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Friday brought me nearly more than I bargained for. When I left the California coast, I was worried about rain and snow. Out here in the desert I got SAND. In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds were kicking up all kinds of sand and tumbleweed as I careened down the highway.

Along the way, I still thought about quilts and quilting. I don’t know what goes through my mind sometimes:

I see this…

…and I think THIS!

One Oasis in the desert is the local WalMart.

(No, I get no compensation for talking about WalMart. I wish I did for all of the times I’ve mentioned this store in my blogs, dang it!)

It seems like WalMart is a place where I can safely stop and stretch my legs and pick-up something I forgot for my trip. I guess that’s why I pack my suitcase only half full on the trip out, so I can add all the stuff I end-up getting along the way.

But take a look at what’s sitting next to me. What else could I need?!

Oh yeah, I also had to stop at the Fry’s Electronics store in Phoenix to pick-up a cable for my laptop – which I ended-up not having to use. But I’m still thinking about quilt designs! Look at the designs in the floor at this store! I gotta do something with these:

Travel took longer than I expected and I didn’t arrive at my rest stop until well after dark. But my host, Beth Hawkins, was so gracious and took such good care of me! When I got to my bed last night, Beth had a gift bag filled with assorted cookies and chocolate – in true LizzieB style!

I am so glad that I could stop and visit with Beth for this short time. I’d really LOVE to come back and have her show me her town, Tucson, with an eye on home design and creativity.

In the meantime, if you want to keep-up with what she and her sister-in-law, Liz are up to, CLICK HERE.

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Greetings Quilters from Los Angeles! It’s day TWO of my trip and today I headed-off down the California coast. On my way, I stopped in at The Creation Station in Buellton, California. I had such a good time looking through all of their $6.00-per-yard fabric and talking to the store owner, Dawn Farrier, that I immediately fell behind schedule moving on to my next stop — just up the road — in Solvang, California.

I finally rolled into Burbank and downtown Los Angeles right in the middle of rush hour traffic. When isn’t there traffic in LA? I was a little late getting to Gina Halladay’s shop but I did get the grand tour of Gina’s store, Cranberry Quiltworks, and Threaded Pear Studio. I musn’t forget Gina also writes the ever popular blog QuiltersBuzz, which you MUST visit.

Gina is such a down-home gal. Everyone in the business knows her as a real go-getter and when Gina comes home, she doesn’t stop. She’s usually picking-up kids from or dropping-off kids to various activities. Tonight she went to her son’s church basketball game and I tagged right along. It’s so fun to get to know these wonderful people in such a non-work setting!

Tomorrow, I’m traveling to Tucson, Arizona where I will get a chance to visit Beth Hawkins of LizzieBCreative. That’s going to be another stop that will be hard for me to break away from and continue my journey.

I have my hands full doing all of my own driving, taking pictures, doing podcasts, etc. What with everything I want to accomplish and do on this huge trip — I just remembered that my phone has a built-in camera and I can send pictures to Webguy and include them in these updates. I’m hoping that maybe tomorrow, I will start send us more pictures.

Please continue to send comments and ideas for things to do and places to see along her way. Check the map a few posts below this one to see her travel route. You guys are doing really well providing comments so far. Keep it going. Show me your support. I feed on it!

Day one of Annie’s epic road trip across the United States. Today she traveled south to Morro Bay, California and spoke at the Gold Coast Quilt Guild.

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Tomorrow Annie travels to Yorba Linda, California where she will visit Gina Halladay of QuiltersBuzz.
When Annie can get online, she will upload more pictures and information about the podcast.

You never know when a Bucket List wish will be fulfilled, even in a lop-sided way!

I have always wanted to take a road trip from coast to coast, visiting quilt shops and meeting quilters, and it really is on my to-do list before I pass through the pearly gates – but I never thought that it would happen in quite this way!

Ryan and Karen are moved in with nearly a glitsch. Nearly, I say, because her car that they sent out to NC on transport arrived with a broken Drive Shaft. Because you must sign a Waiver, which absolves the transport company from damage that may happen to your car, there is no recourse for the damage — which is taking a week to fix and $400.

Ridiculous.

Now how to get Ryan’s car out there, which he left with us so the transport company could pick it up after the holidays, namely no sooner than today. Luckily the car didn’t go on the transport before Karen’s car was delivered and we could make some alternative plans. Those plans? QuilterMommy to the rescue!!

In pondering about how this trip could be exciting rather than druggery, WebGuy, as cute as he is brilliant, had the idea to do podcasts for the trip. You know, it was WebGuy’s idea for me to do a podcast and that’s how I started Quilting Stash.

I thought you, my listeners, could benefit by turning this event (and quite an EVENT this is – how better to kick-off the new year?!) into something quilty. I want to get recommendations for quilt shops and stores anywhere within a few miles of the route I’m taking — the Southern route — you can check out the map below to see —  and so you will know who to suggest I can meet with.

View Larger Map

ANYONE can host me in ANY of the towns across the US that my route will take me. All suggestions are welcome. I would really appreciate anyone who would suggest notable quilters, quilt guild people or shop people who’d be interested in meeting up with me along the way to talk about quilting.

I also want to meet YOU and INTERVIEW you for my podcast. Putting names, faces, and voices of listeners together on this Coast to Coast show. This is an effort to bring a more national focus to my podcast – I mean, how many of you have asked me to talk about areas other than Northern California?!

Listeners (aka YOU) will track my progress in blog entries and podcast updates all through the trip. It’ll be a wonderful experience for everyone!

The Trip Itinerary:

• Morro Bay, CA
• Los Angeles
• Tucson, AZ
• somewhere between El Paso and San Antonio where there is a cool quilt shop or quilter
• a stop in San Antonio
• Houston
• Baton Rouge
• Atlanta
• Apex, NC
• Kitty Hawk is the final stop with a dip in the ocean (don’t get too excited — only my tootsies will get in ; )

Here is the info that I need* from you:

First, I don’t want to drive after it gets dark, and I don’t want to veer too far off of the main highways that I will travel on – so keep that in mind when you email me. I want to visit a local quilt shop in each city and feature them in a podcast, with pictures.

• I am looking for a listener who wouldn’t mind providing a bed and a shower for the night – oh, which needs to be non-smoking with no rodent/reptile pets. Be prepared to do a podcast interview with me. I have the following stays covered; Tucson, Houston and Atlanta. I am looking for stays in the L.A. area, the San Antonio area and the Baton Rouge area.
• I need to find a place to stop/visit between El Paso and San Antonio and there is nothing really obvious that I can see on the map. I would rather not drive from Tucson to San Antonio in one day, if I don’t have to.
• There are several quilt shops in Baton Rouge, and I would like to know which you prefer.
• Which of the shops in San Antonio do you pefer?
• Which of the shops in the Atlanta area do you  prefer?
• Which shops in the RTP/NC area do you prefer?
• Does anyone know if there are any quilt shops at Kitty Hawk – my final destination?

Please email me your recommendations as soon as possible, because I will be heading out from Morro Bay on Thursday, yes – THIS Thursday, January 8th.

Email: annie@simplearts.com !!

*and lots of prayers for a safe trip!

The spirit of the season, now past, I promised to share quilts that were made for gift-giving.

The following quilts, and their makers/owners with their stories are listed below. Please leave a comment to vote for the quilt of your choice (BY NUMBER) by Saturday, January 10th, and the winner will be announced on Sunday, January 11th.

(p.s. Participants in the contest may not vote ; )

The most favorite quilt, by number of votes, will receive a wonderful prize from me, which I will reveal when I announce the winner.

Good luck!!!

Quilt #1

Carole Doyle – This is a picture of the quilt I made my brother and his wife and gave to them for Christmas this year.  It was the RCTQ (newsgroup – recreation.crafts.textiles.quilting) 2007-2008 BOM and the blocks were from many sources, with a lot being from Quilter’s Cache.  I did the machine quilting on my domestic machine, an Elna Quilter’s Dream.  My album on Webshots tells the source of each individual block in the comments under the pictures.

Carole’s webshots link

Quilt #2

Cindy Larson – This is a wall hanging I did for my group’s exchange.

Quilt #3

Cindy Larson #2 – Here is a picture of my quilty Christmas gift from my good friend 🙂  It is even hand quilted!  I just LOVE it.

Quilt #4

Claire Graham-Smith – After complaining out loud (in email) about being in a slump, it must have lit a fire under my butt! In the 10 days I’ve been on a quilting marathon. I succumbed to making gifts again for in-laws who don’t ‘get’ hand-made. Thinking ‘green’, I made shopping bags out of home dec samples. Sort of convergence piecing. They even have list and cell phone pockets. I made 6 altogether and had wished I had a serger…  I’ll be looking into that too. Xmas day I made my husband another smaller beer/vine carboy cozy. (The big ones I made last year.) Then, I made a ‘mat sack’ for my yoga mat. My son Noah made lovely bowls for everyone, so I made one for us to keep. Xmas fabric cut into random width strips became a hexagonal table topper.

But my biggest project, a 50th birthday quilt for my brother-in-law.  A New Year’s day birthday! It was a fun piece. I started designing it last Saturday night and mailed it off Tuesday.

Quilt #5

Gail Brown – Here is a picture of a quilt I made my son-in-law for Christmas.  The elephant blocks were hand applique’d in Sri Lanka by a group of women that do this as a cottage industry.  I paper pieced the rest of the quilt and put it together.  It is too bad you cannot see the exquisite quilting done by a friend of mine.  She did McTavishing around the elephants.

Quilt #6

Jan Shipley – Here is my quilt I made for Dave for Christmas.  Finally he can’t complain that I haven’t made him quilt and everyone else has one.  The pattern is called Flannel Jack but I don’t know the authors name.  It was a class project at the Salinas Adult School.  I have one golf flannel fabric in each square.  I really surprised him so that was great.

Quilt #7

Jennifer Ruvalcaba – Here is a pic of my family tree quilt I gave to my parents.  I sent all relatives fusibles to trace their hands, and organized Mom’s side on the left, Dad’s side on the right.  The “blood” (not married-into) of the family is on the top of the hands that are together, signifying marriage or serious together-ism. Siblings are closest to the trunk, and  branches indicate kids and then grandkids.  The four clouds signify the parents of my parents (angels in the sky) that have passed. All hands and clouds have the names of the owner, and all has been satin stitched.  The two “leaves” at the bottom of the trunk are their dogs (yes, they traced their paws).

Quilt #8

Kimberly Mason #1 – “Out of the Darkness…”
Advent 2008, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church
29″ x 54″, Hand Pieced & Embroidered, Machine Quilted, Cotton Fabrics & Batting

Quilt #9

Kimberly Mason #2 – This quilt should at least get a vote for the Most Obnoxious!  😉  I gave this to my 17 year old son, Shane, for Christmas. He calls it the “Buddha Panda Party on a Quilt.”

Quilt #10

Lisa Currie – This is a quilt I made and gave to my older brother for Christmas this year.

Quilt #11

Loretta Ivison – I made this Quilt for my good friend Rosie. It is from a stained glass pattern she drew.  She is very good with glass. She has been asking me for 8 years or more to make one of her patterns. So I wanted to give it to her.

Quilt #12

Marie Bryant – Here is the quilt I made for my 86 year old mother for xmas…….she has macular degeneration, so while the pattern is simple, the colors are bright contrast and very large squares so she could see it…she was thrilled.

That’s it! I think they are all beautiful and would have a difficult time choosing my favorite if I was able to vote (which I never do ; )

Remember, the deadline for voting is Saturday, January 10th. And… don’t forget to get your ideas for how to use your stash in 2009, and pictures of your stash to me by the 15th to be included in the podcast #141 Quilt-y goodness drawing for fabulous prizes!!

©2009    Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

RIGHT-CLICK THE PODCAST ICON BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST – SELECT, “Save Link As…” to SAVE THE PODCAST TO YOUR COMPUTER

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“Tick Tock” is the first song by Robin’s band, Sleepwell

Dalton, Joe, Jonathon, Robin and Craig — aren’t they sweet boys?!

The Matelasse quilt… (pronounced matt- la- ZAY)

An overall view

A close-up so you can see the backing fabric, Mary Rose by Quilt Gate

Thank you, Mark, for emailing me and the comment today that reminded me that I wanted to share your story. It was perfect timing. Send me pictures so I can add them <<HERE>>

Onto Quilt-y goodness:

Kay MacKenzie – two Quilt Puppy books
Home – a Heartfelt nap quilt

Teapots 2 to Applique

Kay’s 2 blogs All About Applique and Quilt Puppy

Jillily Studio– Appliglue

See the demonstration video on Jill’s website and visit Jill’s blog

Hand and Machine Applique — the Karen Kay Buckley way

Visit Karen Kay’s website for a short demo and more info

Julie Popa ‘s  books

Cindy Lammon’s website and blog and book:

Sheri White of White Robin Designs and Nautilus tool:

Marcus Brothers fabrics

Faye Burgos’s Elements — nifty neutrals

Floorquilts!
Ellen Highsmith Silver

Aneda Phillips and YoYo Stitches

Have you caught on yet? Every product that I’ve reviewed for this podcast is a part of a drawing for these fabulous prizes.

To Enter, and you have your name entered three times by:

Email – send me an email
Name and address
Tell me how you are going to bust your stash for the new year

Call

Tell me your idea how you are going to bust your stash for the new year for the podcast on my Skype phone at 408-849-4882, or quiltingstash (my skype address). Don’t forget to say where you’re from!

Send a picture of your stash

In addition, if you send me a picture of your stash along with your email, I will enter your name again.

Deadline for entries is January 15th. Don’t forget to come up with a really creative idea for busting your stash. Winners will be chosen at random for prizes and announced on Jan 19th.

We’re extending the one time offer of a free DVD of shows 1-141 with a donation of $30 or more for an unlimited time due to the overwhelming response.

Sleepwell again… “New song in E” , and is an instrumental version of “Streetlights and Long Nights” – my favorite song of theirs. I love this one because it showcases the talent of the band without vocals. Available on iTunes.

Until 2009, Happy Quilting!!

©2008 Annie Smith  All Rights Reserved

RIGHT-CLICK THE PODCAST ICON BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST – SELECT, “Save Link As…” to SAVE THE PODCAST TO YOUR COMPUTER

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Here is Piper the wonder dog to say “Merry Christmas to you” in all of her finery, with that look of “Ok, Kirsten, when are you going to get this silly thing off me?”

The family Smith made our annual holiday-time trek to Oakland to see the lights at Temple Hill and Fenton’s – the treat we all look forward to…

Alisha (Robin’s girlfriend), Robin, Kirsten, Karen, Ryan, Annie & WebGuy

And now, on to Fenton’s:

Does this tempt you?

Fenton’s was hopping, as usual, so it took FOREVER for our orders to be done. In the meantime, this is what our creative family did to pass the time:

Alisha’s plate

Guy’s plate

Ryan’s Robot Headphones plate, the name of his blog

Karen’s plate

Kirsten’s plate – she chose the Fenton’s logo

Robin’s plate, complete with lettuce mustache

As you can see, we have fun when we’re together!

One last Fenton’s pic that I couldn’t resist:

Hmmm, what a coincidence — all of my gifts for my family were made by hand, too!

Although the kids didn’t want to model their PJ pants for you, I did get a couple of pictures of the flannel quilts that broke my walking foot:

Karen’s quilt woodland quilt and Ryan’s Pirate quilt

Ry’s quilt was made with Michael Miller, Goth Baby, flannel. I originally got the fabric for a future grandchild, but when I needed to make a quilt for Ry, I just knew that I couldn’t wait to use this fabric — so Pirate-y!

and here is the broken washing machine at the laundromat…

In honor of handmade gifts  and the quilts we made or received, let’s have a contest!!

EMAIL me a picture of the quilt or quilts that you either made or received by  Jan. 3rd, and I will create a gallery of your quilts. Then, we’ll vote for our favorite, and the winner will receive a lovely prize from me!

• Email your quilt pictures by Jan. 3rd.
• Pictures will be posted January 4th
• Vote on them until January 10th
• The winner will be announced on the January 11th podcast.

Winners for the book giveaway from podcast #139:

• Barb Pindel and Colleen1990 each won a Beth Ferrier book
• Ellyn from Allen, Texas won Karen’s book
• Paulathequilter won Pat Sloan’s book
• Cathy Fay won Philippa’s book

Here’s a little sneak peek of the Quilting Stash block of the month for 2009:

Cool internet finds, blogs mostly:

Do you know who this man, uh, vampire is?

Robert Pattinson, who play Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, or most recently the heart-stopping heartthrob vampire of Twilight fame. And, author Stephenie Meyer to keep my finger on the pulse of all things Twilight.

Kansas City Star – prints by Julia Icenogle.

Julia’s website and Julia’s blog

The French General blog and store

the small object stenopad
Angela Cartwright of “Make Room for Daddy” and “Lost in Space” has her own blogs!!

Said and Done

Sketching the itch

Turkey Feathers

Mint Basil

and podcasts:

Jennifer Ruvalcaba’s Patchwork and Pacifiers podcast
Alison Rosen’s Within a Quarter Inch podcast
And hey – when are YOU going to do a podcast?!!

So I’m off to play Guitar Hero World Tour with my family!! I’ll be right back!

©2008  Annie Smith  All Rights Reserved