Last Thursday (just in time for the long weekend with kids at home to be loud and distracting) the page layout version of the book (printed off the office printer at AQS) arrived on the midday FedEx truck for my review!  Basically, I get three big whacks at the book:  when I write it, once the text is edited (that was a few weeks ago), and then a page-layout version that is what the book will look like in print.  I had to have the entire thing reviewed, edited, and back to FedEx by Tuesday for arrival in Paducah by Wednesday!  EEEEK!  Time to work FAST!!!!   Here is what came in the envelope:

I caught a number of small typos–the sort of thing that you never see if you are looking at something you’ve worked on but that jumps out at fresh eyes (in this case mine), two larger “OOPS!!!!” things that became evident only when the pictures were added and are being fixed.  The good news is the OOPS moments provided the opportunity to sneak in one more quilt (yeah!), a few minor word-fiddles on my part, and a last-minute change to one of the patterns — an improvement that needed minor changes in text.

I was surprised at how SMALL the envelope was…. after three YEARS of work!   But I really like the font of the text, captions and headers…nice and clean.  The layout is good…easy to read and not fussy or cluttered.  Plus, I am thrilled that I’ve been able to include so many wonderful quilts from other artists!   I was absolutely giddy that both Jane Sassaman and Hollis Chatelain, who is one of my quilting idols, were kind and generous enough to allow me to include their work in the book…can you imagine?!!! WOWIE ZOWIE!   And many other artists famous and not so…. I’ll tell you more when the time comes (how’s that for a tease?!).

And the last fun bit…. you see that green mini-quilt/classroom sample on the title page…. that’s THE BACK of the sample!  The front has the lime green on half and a busy batik on the other half…. so they used the plain back…. can you imagine the BOBBIN side on the title page?  Thank heavens the one stray thread tail on it is covered by the title…. I’m so glad it looks good enough for them to use…still chuckling!

Goodness….. how time flies!   I can’t believe I have been so busy I’ve only had two posts in how long?????

Well the thing that went bump was me…yesterday…. I was printing out a photo for my younger son for his Social Studies homework, and it fell on the floor–this was up in my studio, the printer is up there and I was sitting on chair I use at the sewing machine.  I bent over to pick  up the photo and before I knew it, I was slamming my head into the corner of the fourposter bed,  and the chair pictured in this photo:  

was in TWO parts….base (still stable on the floor) and top!  Usually when the screws come loose (yes, this provided great mirth in my family, once they realized I was OK–I kept insisting it was the CHAIR that had loose screws…..I failed to convince them it was the ONLY thing that rattled), I can tell, the chair wobbles, and I get out the screwdriver.

Here’s a picture of the studio… you can see the lovely 200+ year old bed behind my worktable.  That tall post…the one with the SHARP corner…was the one that put the little cut in my head.

Basically, I’m fine, have a doozy of a bruise on the back of my leg from banging onto the front corner of the chair, and promptly returned to photo-printing and working on a sample for a “tester” workshop I’m offering to Coastal Quilters tomorrow.  I actually have photos ready to go for at least seven blogposts, and just haven’t had time to write.

One reason for my absence…I’m prepping kits and supplies for teaching in Houston.  The other main one:  my book has received its FINAL edits!     All in all, I am THRILLED!   Stay tuned… I’ve got more to share……now, back to prepping for tomorrow’s workshop.

OH MY GOSH……….. I am in near disbelief, but I have the message on my machine and I talked to Houston just now…

I HAVE WON A CASH AWARD for Fields of Gold, and you better believe I’m SHOUTING!!!!!!   And yes, I am also in orbit and gaining speed.  (PS–I forgot to mention earlier that this is absolutely my first, major, national-mega-show award!) Here’s the quilt:

Thanks of course go to Lisa Walton of Dyed and Gone to Heaven in Sydney, Australia;  she sent me the metre of her glorious fabric as a gift (AND tells me that if you join her monthly fabric club, this is the sort of delectable goodie that comes in the mail!  and yes…she ships internationally and easily to those of us in the US, Europe, wherever!).  It was on my design wall along with the center window of the quilt while I was trying to decide what to do with the latter.  Then I realized that one portion of the rust-yellow-green fabric PERFECTLY matched the sky and ground……

While deciding how to quilt it, I gave my husband “Fields of Gold” by Sting for Valentine’s on his iPod, and was listening to it…..  that led to the stalks of wheat waving in the foreground.  WOOOOHOOO!  Guess I’ll spring for a more expensive haircut than the usual $14 with no wash at the barbershop!

I won’t know until Festival what I won, but since it is cash (and not one of the top prizes), it will be 3rd, 2nd or 1st in its category.  I *think* I entered it in small art quilts (it is 18 1/4″ wide by 20 3/4″ long)…which makes this all the more astonishing as that is usually a very competitive group and size.  Who ME??????!!!!!!!!!!!!  Shaking head, thoroughly enjoying the rattling!

OK….enough talk…I’m going back to floating around the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Please join me in a raucous, really LOUD WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!

Download is available here: Windows and Sketches PDF.

The September issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited is now hitting mailboxes, so I thought I’d share the cover:

My article this month is about texture:  both literal and visual texture in machine quilting.  Quilts can be old-timey puckery like the 1930s quilts we know and love, but they can also be (literally) flat, like the fabric postcards made on Timtex or Peltex (a rigid stabilizer sometimes used in cap brims).  But there is also visual texture…what the eye thinks it sees depending on the type of line created by the quilting.

One fun exercise is to give yourself 30 minutes (at most!) to fill the 12 small boxes on a page.  Fill each square with a different “something” from around your house and garden; for a change of pace, take your sheet (or another one!) into town, walk in a park or look at the downtown buildings, and look for images that might make good quilting designs.  Check out the article for more information!  It is in the September Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine (ask your local quilt shop to carry it!) or order an issue / subscribe at www.mqumag.com.

Here’s the Windows and Sketches workpage I shared in the magazine:

You can download a blank template of this form using the link at the top of this post or here: Windows and Sketches PDF.  This is what the blank looks like:

No, I haven’t died this time either….just distracted by summer!   I had thought that if I didn’t schedule anything for most of August, I’d be OK.  Wrong…..  here’s the list:

• clean up messes from making Be Inspired
• send entry to Houston
• send quilts to AQS for photography
• do all final edits on book, send to AQS
• paint plywood piece that serves as a coffee table top on the back porch
• calculate yardage to make cushion covers for back porch settee and 2 rockers, but decide not enough disposable income yet to pay for the fabric….
• exchange sometimes five e-mails a day with editor (by the way, things are going very well!)
• prepare entries for local gallery show (and got accepted!)
• exercise regularly and continue to diet
• go on a ten mile bike ride–the longest since before I was pregnant with Eli who is now 11–and it wasn’t bad!!!! Reward:  ice cream! (SMALL cone)
• pay bills
• order supplies / items to sell when teaching in Houston
• help Joshua make a totebag/purse for his girlfriend…it was HIS idea!  (pictures and blogpost to come I hope)
• take Eli to buy binders etc. on school supply list
• take Joshua, Eli and J’s girlfriend to an amusement park (UGH) that is 2 1/2+ hours drive south of us; the good news:  it was SO HOT that after 3 hours, looking at looming thunderclouds, the kids asked “mom, can we leave and go to the Mall and do school clothes shopping instead.”  So we did… air conditioning, and three long road-trips (the only really big, really good mall in Maine–which would qualify as an average everday mall in the DC suburbs where I used to live–is near Portland and a 2+ hour drive from our house) turned into just one!
• prepare for dyeing fabric day with Frayed Edges (pictures and blogpost to come)
• have dyeing day with Frayed Edges and celebrate Kath’s birthday, dye shirts with Joshua and his girlfriend
• next day:  more fabric dyeing, including tie-dye with the teens and Eli
• massive house cleaning, including dragooning the entire family into the process.  House is somewhat less cat- and dog-hairy.  Sigh.
• start prepping kits for teaching classes in Houston
• start thinking about a few new samples for teaching in Houston
• prepare invoices for wholesale pattern sales to local store and for Middle school / Be Inspired quilt
• meeting with Middle School principal, who fortunately LOVES the Be Inspired, Panel 1, and is now all excited about fundraising again for the project, and (from previous efforts) can pay me some of the price on the first panel….hooray!  What a concept…getting paid!
• do all the paperwork (well, it was online but it is still paperwork) to be able to accept credit cards in Houston when I teach, order knucklebasher machine and credit card slips and metal imprint plate
• eat lunch with mom every week; she is still in assisted living, but her confusion grows weekly.  She is having an increasingly difficult time recalling names of things (including my kids…but she still asks about them every time…. sometimes every five minutes….), so sometimes it is a challenge to sit for an entire lunch that repeats the same few minutes of   conversation / answers to questions every few minutes, again and again.  I just remind myself the questions are new to her, even though she just asked them.  She can’t help it if she doesn’t remember…..I PRAY I take after my dad instead….
• take some time for myself, read Melanie Testa’s Inspired to Quilt (hope that will be a blogpost/review too)… it is excellent!
• try to keep up on e-mail; accept that I will never read all the blogs I would like to, or keep up with the news as well as I would like
• Revise “resources” section of the book
• List subjects for an index to the book

And that’s just the past two weeks or so….so that’s my excuse for no new blogposts!!!! Anyone wanna take a nap with me?

To do SOON:

• write next article for Machine Quilting Unlimited (www.mqumag.com) on Color / thread color
• prep more kits
• finish kids’ school clothes shopping, mostly locally
• prepare entry for Mancuso / PIQF show
• prepare entry for the Eye of the Quilter, a photography exhibit at Quilt Festival in Houston
• contact MORE magazines to see if they will accept an article proposal that will help promote the book
• think about book promotion… it should be out in late October/early November
• today:  lunch with Ma, grocery shopping, take Eli to Game Stop and WalMart, buy assorted stuff for house (like light bulbs and toilet paper!!!!!)
• clean house, again
• maybe another long bike ride when the heat wave breaks later this week…..
• get Nourish pattern prepped for printing, contact printer (hi Barbara!), and all that stuff so it is ready to take to Houston
• start some “slide show” stuff to use for class demonstrations for Houston classes
• prep more samples for Bindings class
• make pattern out of Little Brown Bird…send to Kay T. for testing, use for kits for Chunk and Jigsaw class in Houston….
• another nap sounds good; sipping a cup of tea and reading a novel sounds even better…sitting   on the settee on the back porch