Dear Quilting Friends,

This sure has been machine quilting month for me!

As you know, our latest monthly series, Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show, made its debut in April. As with anything new, we scurried to get everything working smoothly the first week or so of the month, and then it was time for me to pack my bags for Providence, Rhode Island to attend the Machine Quilter’s Exposition, known as MQX.

Okay, I’ll ‘fess up. My sister moved back to our home town about 1 ½ years ago so I didn’t need much of an excuse to buy a ticket. So when I was asked by board members of the Alliance for American Quilts to conduct some interviews for the “Quilters Save Our Stories” project, I didn’t need any coaxing. And boy, am I glad I went!

Yes, I had a blast with my sis, running along Narragansett Bay in Bristol, eating clam cakes, and just being sisters. That was no surprise. What totally bowled me over was the experience of conducting these interviews. I had already met a few of the interviewees and two had been on Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show. But I found I was in for some surprises when we sat down and talked. Their stories, insights, what quilting means to them…wow! Jamie Wallen actually made me weep a few times. And Kimmy Brunner caught my attention when she walked into the interview room with a Dresden Plate as her touchstone quilt. Huh? Kimmy, Dresden Plate…? This doesn’t compute. Well wait until you read her story!

Once transcribed (thanks to Handi Quilter’s sponsorship) these oral histories will be added to the over 1,000 now available free of charge on the Alliance for American Quilts web site. I’m hooked, so I’ll be doing more for sure!

You can bet I cheered when, at the end of the banquet Friday night, Mary and Janet Lee announced that Kimmy had been named the machine quilting teacher of the year. Go girl!

The longarm world is a new one for me and I am absolutely in love with the people involved. Full of new friends to meet and (wicked—it’s a Rhode Island saying) cool stuff to explore. Thanks for the welcome for me and our new show on QNNtv.com!

Happy quilting,
Jodie

Jodie and Rob show you some of the many ways to make half-square triangles for the show project, “It’s in the Stars” by Michele Scott. And they tell you why they prefer their favorite method. Having perfected half-square triangles, pair them up with some squares to make this colorful quilt. You will find it in the 2010 issue of Kids Quilts magazine.

Jodie heads off on a tour of the exhibits at the Center with curator Jeremy Underwood. From historical puppets to new age “This is a puppet?” puppets, Jodie learns the definition of what a puppet is, and has her eyes opened to the incredible imagination of puppet makers and puppeteers. At their last stop, Jeramy and Jodie find out where AWOL Rob has been during the tour—and it is off limits to the general public!

Part Three
Kim Brunner delves further into feather quilting designs by introducing templates. She shows you how to use them safely and easily for curved crosshatching, combining these designs with the feathers for elegant one-of-a-kind feather patterns.

It’s easy! Simply login to QNNtv.com. You will be taken to you dashboard page. Look for the big show logos in the center of the page and click on it. Under “Series” click on “Episode List.” There you will find all of the episodes available to date. Click on whichever you wish to watch.

To find out more about any episodes, click on “Visit QuiltOutLoud.com” or “Visit LongarmQuiltingShow.com” on the left side of the page. There you can click on “Episode Notes” on the left side of the page and find notes for each episode.

Sue McCarty of Roy, Utah won the best of Show at Paducah for her quilt "Tribute to Tolkien". McCarty was inspired by the "Lord of the Rings" novels and made the quilt for her bother, a big J.R.R. Tolkien fan. She reports that the quilt took her 500 hours to complete, with the intricate machine work done on her Gammill longarm machine.

This is the first time Sue has entered a quilt at the Paducah show, but this quilt is no stranger to top rankings at shows, having made it to the winner’s wall at Houston and four other shows.

Get ready, get set… sew! Jodie has designed a sampler quilt and while making it shot how-to segments for this six-month Jodie’s Sample Block-of-the-Month. You can find the pattern this week on the Quilters Club of America site (look for it on the left hand side of the page and click the link.) You can choose your own fabrics or order a kit in either batiks or thirties fabrics. Jodie designed it to be easy enough for anyone who has made a few quilts to complete. The videos show you how to make the blocks, and the forum on the QCA site offers a helping hand anytime you need it—plus great camaraderie. Join the fun!

Designed to satisfy your craving for quilting—the artistry, the fabrics, the stitching, the legacy-- Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting Cruise is an event where the soothing rhythms of the Caribbean meet the passionate expression of the quilter’s arts. Join Love of Quilting editor Jean Nolte, Chief Quilting Enabler and Quilt Out Loud! co-host Jodie Davis, and Love of Quilting co-founding editor-in-chief Marianne Fons in a program of classes, projects, and social events (oh, and just a little bit of pampering, if you go for that sort of thing) on a mellow cruise seminar.

QNNtv.com is a great deal at only $24 a year. But did you know that you can get a membership in QNNtv.com and watch Quilt Out Loud! and Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show all year, plus have access to over 1,000 other videos and a whole lot more when you become a member of Quilters Club of America?

Join QCA and you will receive all of these great benefits:

Click here to get started today!

Historically, what is a "hap"?