Nothing Too Quilty Going On

I'd love to show you all the great projects and fabulous quilts I have been working on since the book was finished and turned in. But I've been busy with life and other things and I'm also guilty of taking a break after working so furiously and so there hasn't been too much quilting going on these days. Oh, I appliqued another Dear Jane block in the car on the drive to take my son back to school last Sunday (my husband drove), but that's it.

I've also been working with my technical editor who's cleaning up the manuscript and patterns in my book so that all of you can make the quilts without any mistakes in the directions. Then she'll send the pages back to me for a revision/review. It will go through several edits before we see the page proofs sometime this summer--the final pages before printing.

I've been working on some boring but necessary things like collecting permissions for the photos and quotes and also documenting the sources of the quotes as well as hunting for and getting together some antique photos and other 19th century artifacts and newspaper clippings (this part is not so boring!). This is for the design department at Martingale & Co. so they can use them in the design of the book pages and as props for some of the photos of the quilts.

Newspaper ad from the 1800s

It's sort of difficult not to be involved in this process at all--I turn quilts and stuff in and then sit back and wait. I'm always pleasantly surprised to see how the book turns out, how the publisher makes my ideas come to life. The waiting  is hard for me too, trust me. But at least I know what's going to be in it so I do have that advantage. Sometimes I can't remember what the quilts look like and it's always fun to get them back months later, after they take photos.

In the meantime I  told you I was on the road again and so here are a couple of photos from two of my recent lectures in Illinois. It's so much fun to travel around and meet some of you! Look closely, maybe you'll see yourselves!

March is still pretty dreary in northern Illinois . . . and it was still really really cold and windy as of last week.

   

I love waiting for everyone to come in  and browsing through the crowd . . . Each guild has it's own personality. Will they like my little quilts?? I haven't had a heckler yet . . .

Nice to see a big crowd--you never know. I remember one time last year I had scheduled a lecture in mid-January and the temperature was -15 degrees without the wind chill. Only about 1/2 the guild braved the cold and came out to hear me speak that night.

Before I began, at my suggestion, the lights were turned out so everyone could see my PowerPoint presentation a little better.

The program was in a different location this time and my "hosts" weren't aware that the new building had energy saving lights. When they were turned off, they wouldn't go back on again. Oh no! My fault for making them turn the lights off! We were all worried that no one would be able to see my quilts. Luckily, by the time I was finished they were back on. Whew!

That's me up there, in black, in the center. 

The next week I drove to DeKalb, IL for a program and workshop. The corn belt.

Smaller crowd but fun ladies with lots of great stories! I get to see THEIR show & tell before they get to see MY show & tell.

Quilters setting up for the workshop to make the little Bear's Paw quilt from Prairie Children & Their Quilts.

                                   

Darn, I forgot to take pictures of their finished tops. Here's mine.

 

After the workshop, I visited a wonderful quilt shop that was nearby--Tammy Tadd Designs in Sycamore, Illinois.

                                      

Mostly brights and modern fabrics. I picked up some wonderful little bundles of pastel plaids and florals to go with my recently purchased sweet polka dot fat quarters for a little Springtime project.

Not my usual style, but I sure love these old-fashioned pastel prints. So romantic.

I'm a sucker for anything containing fabric that's wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow!