Franchesca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is another Butterfly I have added to my pattern line.
It's name is Franchesca.
The butterfly was made several months ago and I used it as a sample for the Stained Glass Applique class I teach. It was made on a bright red background. Hopefully, I will get all my samples made into quilts. The quilt is 41x43 and the price of the Butterfly plus the flower is $8.00 plus $l.35 for postage.

WHY??????

Last night I went to see Julia & Julia and afterwards I began to ask myself (WHY)
Just in case you haven't heard about the movie, it is about a young girl that starts a blog, and cooks her way thru Julia Childs cookbook she wrote while living in Paris. It is a split story flipping back and forth between the two women.

I guess we all need something that lends itself to our natural talents, and feels satisfying when it is concluded. But why do we continue to quilt even though we have more quilts than we can ever possibly show or sell?
When I get ready to start a new quilt, and I am going thru the process, trying to decide what to do next, I find it a very disconcerning time. I have no problem coming up with ideas but my problem is narrowing them down to one, or perhaps two ideas and then deciding which one I want to spend the next few weeks or months working on. Sometimes I don't sleep very well, and my mind is not always on the subject it should be on. I work very hard to get past this point because I know when I have finally decided which direction to go in, the excitement will finally set it! That is a great feeling!!! So, that is what I am striving for, that and the moment when I can show it finished to my piers. That sort of validates the time I spent putting it together.

So, where am I going with all this? Nowhere, I think I just wanted to get my thoughts down on paper and in doing that, sort out those feelings in my own mind. If along the way someone reads this and feels like I do, perhaps it can help to validate your feelings also.

Quilt Extravaganza

The best part about the reception was that my commission piece was on display in the window, and Dave and JoAnn Palmer brought Lovey, in person to meet everybody. She was so well behaved and just charmed everybody . It was so much fun to get to see the two of them together. This piece was made as a Christmas present for JoAnn.

It was a wonderful show this year, but I must end on a sad note, because someone stole three small pieces. These were small works of birds and sadly, two of Pat Jennings pieces were ones that were taken. The other one I don't know who it belonged to.

Berea Quilt Extravaganza

I had no more than returned from Knoxville and had to teach a workshop on Stained Glass Applique.

Then on Friday the 31st of July, the Quilt Extravaganza was held in Berea, Kentucky. There were lots of activities all over the town, and on that evening we had a reception for the artists.

I was very proud to see Paige Hoogerheide, who is a friend and former student had finished her lions. This quilt was made from a picture she actually took in Africa and she used the Stained Glass Applique technique.

Knoxville, Tennessee

Here is a picture of Eight Belles hanging in the Knoxville show last week. I had a really great time, and enjoyed seeing some of Knoxville for the very first time. This was the first time the quilt show was held in Knoxville , having been in Nashville for as long as I have been attending. For those of us from Lexington, Ky. it is a very easy trip of about 2hours 30 min. Parking was a bit of a problem, but we managed. We also visited the Art Museum, which was very nice. Truthfully, I wasn't overwhelmed by the winners, but there were plenty of venders and lots of fabric to buy.