No…make that a double-double drawing!  Several years ago, Susan Brubaker Knapp (website here) and I met online through the QuiltArt list and became internet friends.  We FINALLY got to meet in Houston at Market this year.

Our quilty careers have been moving forward (a good direction) on parallel tracks, and we both were published this year for the first time!   So we are having a doubly-fun giveaway:

Over on Susan’s Blue Moon River Blog, she is giving away a copy of my book ThreadWork Unraveled AND my Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul pattern, and here I’ll be doing a drawing for her beautiful Applique Petal Party pattern booklet AND her Pinata Purse pattern!   I’ll draw a winner at random from those who post by noon on Monday (oops) Wednesday, Dec. 16.  Read on for more enticing details!

Here’s Susan’s full quilt:

Applique Petal Party is an interesting new hybrid:  pattern plus booklet with detailed instructions.  Inside there are nine fold-open full sized patterns for all 16 blocks and the border, all with clear lines and notes.  There is also an 8-page booklet (8 1/2 x 11 inches) including:

• Needle-turn applique basics, with sharp photos clearly illustrating tricky bits such as getting sharp points for stars and leaves
• Making Bias Vines
• Fabric Requirements for the 73 x 73 inch quilt
• Cutting instructions
• Sashings
• Constructing the quilt
• Borders
• Finishing and Quilting
• Binding and labeling; here there are three brilliantly well done photos to illustrate how to do a double-fold bias binding on the ever-challenging scallops.  Well, they won’t be challenging any more, because they show clearly how to do them!

Here are two detail photos:

I love that on the back cover there are four small quilts made from a single block in this pattern, but in totally different colorways.  If you love the pattern but just aren’t a pink person, these will give you an idea of how versatile and beautiful this pattern is.

Susan’s publisher, C&T, is really leading the pack with innovative publishing and support options.  Even on the pattern they invite teachers to use the pattern for classes, and offer support via the C&T website.  Here’s a link to Susan’s pattern at www.ctpub.com ; click on the “google preview” for a tease of what’s inside.

Pinata Purse is a fun one to feature a favorite fabric— and you get lots of look. Just like a Mexican Pinata is covered in fringes of paper, this purse is covered in fringes of fabric.  I could see doing a rainbow thing with the fringe, or a colorwash from light to dark…LOTS of fun possibilities.  Plus it’s a great shape with a nice, useful pocket across the entire back.

Susan is a quilter and graphic designer who lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. You can purchase Applique Petal Party, or any of her wonderful patterns (be sure to check out the Round Red Barn!), at Susan’s website.

To be entered in the drawing to win Susan’s Applique Petal Party OR her Pinata Purse pattern, visit Susan’s website and blog.  THEN Come back here and leave a comment here on my blog telling me something you like over at Susan’s!   On December 16th, we’ll both do drawings:  Over here, the first number (comment number) drawn will win Susan’s Applique Petal Party , the second her pinata purse pattern!  Thanks for joining in the fun,

Cheers, Sarah

At the end of our sleepover (see earlier posts), we all went to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens.  We had been there once before, and dream of someday getting enough work together that we can have a show, perhaps with the majority of the pieces done based on what there is to see in the gardens.  Warning:  TONS of photos!

The gardens opened maybe 2 years (?) ago, so are still settling in; there is a birch allee which we didn’t see this time but has about 25 different varieties of birch.  Maybe I’ll get there in early autumn next year and see all the golden leaves!  There are also beautiful outdoor sculptures throughout the garden.  This magnificent piece greets you as you arrive:

and a different view of the two:

There are some lovely kitchen gardens and ponds near the visitors’ center:

Aren’t the vertical walls of lettuce and herbs cool?

Here are another pond and a close-up of some lettuce of some sort…great visual texture for a quilting pattern, eh?

Then, the small bunny sculpture nestled amongst the kitchen garden, hoping there is no Farmer MacGregor nearby:

The pond was SO still you can scarcely see the glassy surface of the watery shallows; yes, the river rocks are under the water:

Then of course there is me taking a picture of Deborah taking (or checking?) a picture:

and another set-the-timer-and-dash-and-try-not-to-gasp-moment (L to R:  me, Kathy, Hannah, Kate and Deborah):

There was this cool sculpture where you stick your head inside a hole and make a sound and listen to the reverberations of the rock.  Deborah kindly demonstrates using the lower of the two holes:

and here is Hannah checking HER photos!

There were some cool dried leaves–Solomon’s Seal I think –that would also make a great quilting pattern or stencil / screen:

A porcupine sculpture:

and a view of the gardens:

Here are two views of the same plant—the yellow leaves in the shade, the read in the sun!

Then we have Kathy in the woods by the water:

and Deborah in the woods, not by the water, but by the glass ball sculpture–standing to be the bottom part of the “i” to the ball’s “dot” of the “i”:

I love the waving grasses…these too would make a lovely screen for printing:

And Deborah and Hannah in front of them:

We still look happy, I’ll note…tho a bit tired!  Kate…how the heck do I not have a photo of you?  You must have been climbing about!

Finally, it was time to lunch before we dispersed to various corners of the state and the States.  Kate had found a WONDERFUL spot (a small neighborhood “grocer”) with awesome lobster rolls (think tuna salad except with lobster instead, in a hotdog bun) and equally good (being thrifty I went for spending less) popcorn shrimp.

Ah, lunch, an outing with friends, tons of photos, art to be made!  Life is GOOD!

Wow…a week has evaporated.  At least I have the excuse that it was Thanksgiving!  Ours was small–just the four of us–but wonderful and tasty and there was lots of gravy!

Back to what now seems like a thousand years ago…the last Frayed Edges get together at Kathy’s house, when Deborah came from Texas to visit!  For some reason, I woke up even though I had the chance to sleep in.  Sunrise was about 7:00 am, so I woke to see this when I went downstairs:

and

WOW!

Kathy always decorates her home for the season, and this was no exception.  She changes the artwork (almost always hers!) over the fireplace.  Isn’t this just lovely–I adore bittersweet (the vine with the little red berries and orange husks)?

During breakfast we all looked happy, sorta sleepy, content, and busy.  From left to right:  Kate, Hannah and Deborah:

And here is Kathy:

Before we packed up, I took a picture of some of the ornaments we made:

Before we headed out to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens, Kathy wanted to walk down to China Lake, which is about a hundred yards or two through the woods you seen in that photo at the start of the post.

Talk about GLORIOUS!  Here are some more pics, some a bit tipsy thanks to using a rock as a tripod and the timer (and running like mad to get down the dock and seated before the shutter tripped!):

And here is a totally funky treetrunk–makes me think of the Ents in the Lord of the Rings:

Next:  I’ll share our visit to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens (talk about inspiration!), a bit about what I’ve been doing to keep busy (I’ve actually done some art quilting!), a postcard swap, and–drum roll–TWO giveaways to celebrate the holidays!

Hi all!  Just in time for the holidays (and adding to your wish list, giving, or–even better–taking off the list and into the “ordered” category), it is time to share a bit more about my book, ThreadWork Unraveled.

…

I’ve had many orders, for which I humbly thank every single one of you!  I know you could buy it for less from Amazon, or without shipping from your local quilt shop, so I am so happy to be able to autograph a copy just for each of you!  Some folks have asked for more info, so I thought I’d share the Table of Contents (above), Index (below), and a couple pages from inside, as well as hotlinks to two wonderful reviews.  To see these photos larger, please click (or –to get it to open in a separate window or tab– right click if on a PC  or Command-click if on a Mac) to open it up larger.

My dearest friend, Marie Z. Johansen, blogged about my book and shared some pics here, and Dawn Goldsmith of Subversive Stitchers gave me another rave review here.  I have to say, I was stunned and thrilled at BOTH.  I didn’t know Dawn before, but had surfed in to her blog.  I was quite happy when she asked me earlier this week to guest blog on her spot, so I will be doing that…next week I hope!   Last but not least, there are a number of nice reviews (including from both Marie and Dawn) at Amazon…and yes, I totally understand if you need to save a few pennies and order from Amazon instead of from me.  Personally, I LOVE shopping at Amazon, tho it is hazardous… my pile of to-read books is precariously tall!

The book has three major sections:  the Basics, Applique, and Quilting.  Here’s the start of the Basics:

And from that section, the discussion of Marking Tools:

Here’s the start of the Applique section:

And how I do a test stitch-out to see which thread will look best, plus the start of the Machine Quilting section:

There are a number of projects which help you learn about your machine (tension settings sampler), plus some fun and lovely ones like Mountain Seasons:

If you’d like to see more pictures from inside the book, you can visit the AQS website for a Look Inside at some of the “eye candy” with quilts from guest artists, or visit the blogs I mentioned above—those are hotlinks.

If you have any questions about what else is in the book, just write and ask!  I sure hope you like it, Cheers, Sarah

Sometimes, spam isn’t always bad…. from today’s “catch”

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

I’ll be back soon with a real post…..