If you love quilts and you’re looking for something to do this weekend, go check out the Thornapple River Ripper Quilting Guild Show at the Barry Expo Center, 1350 N. M-37,  Hastings, Michigan. The show features about 200 quilts ranging from modern to traditional designs, vendor booths and quilting demos. The entry fee is $5 [...]

This is the quilt I selected to received a guest judge award at the Quilts On The Grand 2010 show here in Grand Rapids. Big surprise, eh? It’s a grandmother’s garden hexagon quilt by Mary Lou Ridley of South Haven, Mich. The 75″ x 84″ quilt didn’t receive any awards from the professional judges, but Mary [...]

Finishing this quilt project came down to the wire as expected, but boy am I happy to be done. Crossing the finish line was very unceremonious and that was expected, too. I just left the quilts in a pile on a table at the David D. Hunting YMCA and went home. If I had not [...]

I have five days to finish hand stitching the bindings and hanging sleeves on this stack of ArtPrize quilts. Five days until life returns to normal. Almost there… I’m headed out to shoot a photo for next week’s art & craft column. You can read today’s column about Alban Fischer, editor of trnsfr magazine here. [...]

Even in the busiest times, while in the thick of the most involved projects it’s important to stop and soak up nature’s wonders. The other day I snapped this picture of a rose past it’s prime but still quite beautiful. It’s so important to pause every now an then, especially when your plate is full [...]

Doodle, doodle almost done. I love scribbling on fabric with thread. I machine quilted panels four and five of my charity ArtPrize quilts late Wednesday. High five, everyone! Later today I’ll be picking out fabric for the binding and weaving in thread tails. I can’t quite believe I’ve been working on this project every day for [...]

I finally finished quilting the beast that was panel three of my charity ArtPrize quilt project. I had some thread tension issues in the wee hours of the morning that cost me some valuable time and sleep, but I’m back on track and a little more in tune with my machine. If I’ve learned anything [...]

It’s 4:18 a.m. Mistakes were made. What can I say? I will resume work after I get some sleep. The quilting is about halfway done on the third of five quilt panels. I can do this. (If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, check out my other posts below.)

My Artprize deadline is less than two weeks away, so I’m in continuous work mode and really looking forward to taking a serious break in a couple weeks. I worked until 2:30 a.m. this morning free-motion quilting the first quilt panel. I thought I was done when I went to bed only to wake up [...]

I know it looks like it I’m wearing a discount Snuggie in the photo, but relax. I just decided to wrap myself in Fusi-Boo for dramatic effect. And it’s actually way more expensive than buying one of those discount sleeping bags with sleeves. If you quilt, you may know that Fusi-Boo is fusible quilt batting. [...]

OK, so I just have two more big steps before my public swan dive. In 14 days, I have to turn in my finished ArtPrize entry to be installed on the wall at the David D. Hunting YMCA in Grand Rapids. There is still plenty left to do, but I’m going to make my deadline. [...]

This is the ArtPrize quilt I’ve been working on. I’ve been hand stitching every day for the last several days, working late into the night to turn the 127 hexagon flowers made of fabric from donated neckties into something beautiful and agonizing over whether or not this is even possible. I had some help getting [...]

This is what my ArtPrize quilt looked like yesterday morning. It was a box of 127 hand-stitched, paper-pieced hexagon blooms organized by color. (Note that navy blue dominates this box of blooms created using ties donated by prominent men in West Michigan.) I stitched the last 14 blooms at 35,000 feet flying to Seattle and [...]

I’m headed to the Detroit Maker Faire at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. today and I can’t wait to see all the vendors and innovators who embrace the D.I.Y. lifestyle in grand fashion. Check back here for a full report. Or, better yet, go check out the event yourself. It’s open from 9:30 [...]

I used these vintage thread spools in a photo shoot on my front porch today. The spools weren’t the subject of the shoot just crafty filler, but I did spend a few minutes arranging them just so for a few photos. I have several deadlines to meet this week, so the pressure is full on. [...]