OLFA Designer Spotlight

The folks at OLFA invited me to participate in a Designer Spotlight, to make a project using a few of their products.  The Olfa company invented the very first rotary cutter in 1979.  My Olfa 60-mm cutter with the retractable blade is one of my very favorite tools in my sewing kit.  You can read all about it here:  OLFA-Designer-Spotlight-Deonn-Stott

Carpetbags are packed, I'm ready to go!

Heading to Paducah next week ~ yes, I get to make the trek to Quilt Mecca!  Paducah is home to the National Quilt Museum, and with vendors, classes, events, and a quilt show... well,  I'm just a little giddy.  Besides, my Soldier's Star quilt is on display in it's last AQS quilt week stop after being on the road for nearly a year, so I might as well go, right?  That's as good an excuse as any. :)

I'm getting all packed, and I'll be taking one or two CARPETBAGS with me - (sometimes referred to by my children as the "bottomless bag") - They're the perfect size tote for hauling lots of fun things I find on my adventure!  Plus, they're so... quilty!

My daughter Lauren and her friend Mandi stopped by last month to play in my newly set-up sweet sewing suite.  I told them they could rifle through my fabrics and make something - and they picked out some great kits to make their very own adorable carpetbags

Lauren especially loves her side panel

The other night, while teaching another carpetbag class, one of the ladies kept exclaiming, "I love this, I'm so happy!  I love this, it makes me so happy!  I love it!"  LOL, I think she loved it!   

See more happy Bag Ladies >>HERE<<  

Downloadable pattern is available at my Craftsy Store HERE.

If you'd like a pre-cut KIT to make a cool crazy-patch Carpetbag of your own, click HERE.
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Paducah, here I come!  Will I see you there??

Bag Lady...

Taught a couple of bag classes last month at one of my local quilt guilds.  The first was this cute little Thread-Catcher with an attached pincushion, made with a pre-quilted fat quarter.  Sew it up quick, then keep it at your side while sewing to catch clipped threads.  Neat!

Also taught the stack/slice/switch/stitch Carpetbag class.  What a beautiful bag its model, Mary Ann!

Patterns available HERE.

 

USU Sewing Training Conference

Heading to Bountiful tomorrow for three days of sewing and quilting with the USU Cooperative Extension Sewing Training. Home Ec Teachers and 4-H Leaders from around the state will attend, getting hands on training and ideas to teach students "Creative Designs" - Concepts of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Some of the featured teachers are Pauline Richards of the Total Embellishment Newsletter, sharing ideas to "Sew Smarter, Not Harder." Nanette Holmberg will teach a class using her specialty Chenille strips. Renee' Jensen (my very own sister) will give a trunk show of remodeling prom dresses and wedding dresses to make them modest and beautiful. Debbie Proctor will teach a quilting class on the Disappearing Nine-Patch, and I will be teaching my Carpetbag class, making crazy-patch tapestry glamour bags from upholstery scraps. Then to top it all off, fresh from International Quilt Market, Jill Finley of Jillily Studios will give a trunk show and tell the story of how her business has evolved.

I am really going to enjoy this conference. First of all, I love being around women who want to quilt and sew. Second, the moment we were told last week that their attendance has doubled, preparing tapestry bag kits became a family endeavor. The process of sorting, piling, cutting, stacking, assembling and stuffing sounds simple enough, but when you have to prepare over 100 kits, let's just say that it is difficult to find a clear horizontal surface anywhere in the house... Fun!!!

CARPETBAG Slideshow

Get your PDF-Downloadable Carpetbag Pattern HERE!

Where the heck is Panguitch?

After a couple of "Quilt Crisis" weeks where wedding quilts were due and I was under the gun, I can finally relax. Oh no, wait. I have another big deal coming up! It is time for the annual Quilt Walk Festival in Panguitch, Utah!

I'll be teaching a couple of classes this weekend as we make the trek to Panguitch, where the tiny town of 1000 just about doubles when quilters from around the intermountain region come to relive the great quilt walk. Saints who settled there over 100 years ago were trapped in this little valley during a harsh winter when food and supplies were running low. They tried to get out, but the snow was too deep. When they knelt to pray for help, they knelt on a blanket and realized that it would keep them from sinking into the snow. They used the blankets to walk out of the valley and go for help.

This is a three-day quilt show and festival with classes, luncheons, trunk shows and vendors. It will be my third year of teaching, and I really look forward to another fun weekend. For my paper-pieced kite class, I'll show them my oversized Denim Kite Picnic Quilt, but I'd like to get one made with cute, bright fabrics. I guess I'd better get busy, hadn't I? 

And the carpetbag class was such a hit last year, they asked me to come back for another round. Should be fun!