Even though you belong to online quilting and fabric art groups, most quilters enjoy getting together in person with a local group periodically.  My daughter Beth finds these bi-weekly Friday gatherings a break in her schedule and a source of inspiration.
They share, they try different techniques, they enjoy refreshments, and they sometimes go on day trips.  These are something like the old time quilting bees when women gathered at one another’s homes for quilting and socializing.
Beth often discusses her group’s gatherings in her Meandering Threads blog: 
*Check out her December 3, 2007 entry which describes a workshop at Sue’s house where …read more

If you don’t want to miss any of Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilter’s novels, check out the latest…The New Year’s Quilt.  I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my “must read” list.   It’s also on my Christmas list!
Another novel, The Winding Ways Quilt, has not yet been released.  Although in some stores you can pre-order it.
What is your favorite Elm Creek Quilts novel?  I find it’s so difficult to choose just one. 

Quilting poems and stories have great appeal.  Why not write some of your own?  Or share those you write?  I often work with youngsters in poetry writing.  We find the acrostic form frequently is easiest for them to start with. 
What about an Acrostic Quilting Poem?  This can rhyme, be unrhymed, tell a story, give random facts, relate a family’s quilting history. You can use a word, phrases or complete sentences.  That’s why they’re so much fun…you can set your own rules.
 Mine is sort of a random list of acrostic facts.  But it has me thinking about one that tells a story or …read more

I discovered J’s Quilting Blog, an interesting one with projects you might enjoy.  Perhaps they’ll inspire you with your quilting and fabric art.
Warming Up consists of quilting with words!  Joyce Marden added a little house midst a collection of winter words in a piece she has referred to as Winter Words. 
I couldn’t keep on with such a cold quilt so I added a nice cosy house to get warm in, explained Joyce.  She also added a few more words to the winter collage type work. 
This blog entry, Winter Words, shows Joyce’s quilt before adding the little house.  I do like it better with …read more

 If you’re trying to finish some quilting projects, start new ones, organize for a quilt show, or get some writing done, you may find you have many interruptions from your youngsters during this Thanksgiving weekend.
Laura at Work from Home Momma has just the solution!  Check out her post, Twenty-five Thanksgiving Activities and Puzzles for Kids. 
Ah!  Now to get some work done while the youngsters are occupied with Laura’s suggestions or checking out activities in books you may find. 

As we ponder on what to get the quilter in our family (or hint that they should get for us), why not look at some of the jigsaw puzzles available with a quiting theme?
These are just two I’ve come across.
 Quilts for Sale, a 1000 piece puzzle.
Autumn Quilts, 1000 piece puzzle.
Also, with puzzles, you can save them for framing by using puzzle glue on front and back.

 If you are following the b5media Business Channel “Apprentice” type contest, you may like to know that the PROS were announced the winners in Week#2 entries.  The post, If You Handle “Made in China” Items in Your Home Business, with the accompanying sample press release,  Get the Lead Out of Toys Day, (posted at Home Biz Notes) were the winning entries.  (I co-author Home Biz Notes with Yvonne Russell.)
This “Apprentice” type contest, continues through December.  If you’ve become a Business “Apprentice” follower, you can check out weekly results at Home Biz Notes regularly.)
See the ACES entry at: Greener Assets in the post, Facing the Lead …read more

Cyndi’s art quilts continue to entrall me.  (I must take time in my busy days to try some of her techniques with my scraps.)  Over at Layers Upon Layers, Cyndi has two posts you’ll want to check out. 
Making an Art Quilt compares techniques used in two similar quilts.  A technique she used in the beige colored piece consisted of staining with coffee.  (My daughter has used tea to dye some of her fabrics, lace, and other accessories.  I don’t think she’s tried it with coffee.)
Making a Monochromatic Art Quilt with the coffee stained pieces results in a lovely antique type …read more

I carry with me an envelope containing pieces of old fabric from a quilt my mom and dad received as a wedding gift in 1934.  If Mother ever told me who made it, I don’t recall now and wish I could.  I think it was someone in her family.
The quilt contained many pieces and was hand stitched.  Mother used it on the guest room bed.  In later years it must have been used for “every day” because when I found it, after Mother became ill with Alzheimer’s, the quilt was tattered, worn, and torn.  My daughter and I can salvage …read more

Old-time patchwork can be turned into Christmas gifts and decorations.  Yo-yo’s, which once were very popular with quilters, seem to evoke a great deal of interest when I write about them.  Some quilters contact me concerning their memories making these as children and with their children.  Other quilters want to know how to make yo-yo’s.
These decorative shirred circles can be used by themselves…with loop of yarn or trim attached…as decorations for your tree.  They can be sewn together in a chain.  Or they can be stitched to other items…such as pillows, tote bags, vests (see Noreen’s ideas), scarves, hats, headbands for …read more