Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Back to Work

I went  back to work recently, giving a few presentations to a couple of quilt guilds.  It's fun to show my quilts because they look so much nicer in person than they do in the books.  I usually start off with the small ones and work up to the larger ones - that always surprises those who think I only make little doll quilts. I guess I have a reputation for that, LOL. (Note to myself: I need to scale back and bring LESS quilts next time! Takes a long time to show all of them.) When I see the guild members' Show & Tell I'm always amazed to see how large their quilts are. Wow, some of you people make HUGE quilts.


At Prairie Star Quilters in St Charles, IL


Here's my Calico Comfort quilt from Remembering Adelia.

My old friend Mary Z was there and it was so nice to see a familiar face. She's actually not that old, LOL. You know what I meant, Mary. She and I met in Jo Morton's very first Little Women Club in 2003. Funny, but I didn't realize it had been that long ago until she reminded me. She commented that she visited my blog recently and was shocked to see that my daughter had grown up and wasn't a little girl anymore. I had forgotten that Mary had met her  - she was about 10 then and I used to drag her along with me to some of the Club meetings at a local quilt shop if my husband was working late and I couldn't leave her home alone. I was trying to expose her to quilting early. Guess what? It didn't work!

Here's Mary's latest beauty - she told me that the blocks were from swaps and she put them together using a design created by Wenche Martinsen. I believe she's still attending Jo's Club this many years later and the fabrics are all Jo's prints. I'm a sucker for that light blue border! Don't you love it together with all the scrappy blocks?


Elaine "Truffle Queen" the Blogger was there too - it's fun to meet people face to face after you get to know them from comments on blogs and I love it when they introduce themselves to me. We talked about how therapeutic and addicting blogging is for us. I'm always surprised people read mine. Sure, technically, I know people read my blog, but usually when I'm typing away I'm often not aware that anyone will remember something I wrote. Someone else approached me yesterday and said "What kind of dog do you have? She's so cute!" How did  she know I have a dog?? And a CUTE one at that! Oh, yeah, the BLOG. It's beginning to follow me around like a puppy.


Favorite blankie and favorite toy bunny

When life gets busy my husband will read my blog to catch up on what I'm thinking about (in my OTHER life) and on occasion will say to me "Are you sure you want to tell that to a bunch of strangers??" Oh, don't worry, I don't think anyone actually reads it . . .

But, just in case, here's another cute dog shot - Yes, I have TWO dogs. This one is waiting patiently for some food to drop.


And TWO kids. But they're growing up fast. See that foot in the upper left-hand corner? It belongs to my son. I didn't realize until now that I was recording a somewhat historical moment with my camera. Oh my. He's WASHING dishes . . . . At least I think it's my son.

16 comments:

Jocelyn said...

What! We're not strangers!!!!! So glad you are feeling better :-)

Kathleen Tracy said...

No, of course you're not. That was HIM talking. He doesn't quilt or have a blog so he doesn't know.

The Civil War Quilter said...

Your secrets are safe with us! We're not talking. Tell your hubby not to worry.

Maureen said...

You sound like you are feeling better, I sure hope so! I don't feel like a stranger, I so enjoy reading your blog.
Maureen/KS

Anonymous said...

Kathleen,
I know I asked about your dog yesterday and didn't know you had two! So glad you posted pictures of both -- they're just darling!
Thank you for sharing your absolutely gorgeous quilts . . . certainly weren't too many for me!!!
Diane

Ruth said...

The quilts are gorgeous! Mary's too! I attend a Jo Morton class in Arlington, TX (when I'm not out of town) and the shop gives us 20% off any purchase when we are enrolled in a class. It really helps with the price of fabric nowadays! Are you doing any presentations in the Chicago area the first 2 weeks of August? I'll be at my sisters then and would love to come to one if you have one. Too bad I wasn't there for the St Charles one, because she lives pretty close to there.

Anonymous said...

Historical Moments need to be put in baby books!! Be sure and print one for his "book".

Darn if I could not find my swap block in Mary Z's quilt..... it is a SMALL world.

Texas

Cathy said...

Glad you are doing better and back to work. I love your quilts. You are very talented. I love Mary's swap block quilt. Hugs.

Jacky and Steph said...

Mary's quilt is beautiful - I really like scrappy quilts. I too write some quite personal stuff on our blog - sort of assuming that hardly anybody reads it, then am always surprised when I see the statistics and the number of 'hits. Sometimes quilters come into the shop and say they enjoy the blog - only when they have their husbands in tow it is doubly embarrassing!

Betty Lou said...

Of course we read your blog Kathleen and I'm so glad you are feeling better. Wish you would come to our guild sometime. Unfortunately, I don't think we have many reproduction quilters but I would love to see your quilts in person. You ever get to Texas let us know.

Merilyn said...

Great to see that you are out and about, you must be starting to feel a little better these days which is great!! and your mojo is happily returning!!!!

Karen said...

Kathleen, I'm so glad your healing and able to get out and enjoy life away from home again. I so enjoy reading your blog. I love it when you share your quilts with us. Your fabric choices are always fun to see.
Mary's quilt is beautiful too. She put so much work into making it that way. I love the blue border, it really makes the little baskets pop out.
Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Mary said...

Thaqnk you so much for being at Prairie Star yesturday Morning. I got a chance to talk to you for a few minutes. I loved your lecture, and loved all of your quilts. Theyo always look so much nicer in person. Thank you for sharing.

Cheryl said...

Wonderful to see you out and about again! Hanging around such talented quilters like Mary is sure to get you your Mojo back. BTW, her quilt is lovely!

Beth said...

So glad to see you out and giving presentations and your trunk show. Small world...I know Mary Z too. Doesn't she do beautiful work?
Love the dogs.
You should have taken more pictures of the son doing dishes. LOL

Donna said...

Loved the quilts! There is no such thing as seeing too many quilts!

Donna