The International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Nebraska

 I am lucky to live in Lawrence Kansas - for many reasons. I've realized lately that one of the best reasons is that it's only a three hour drive from the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Nebraska. And I have been taking advantage of that nearness for the last couple of years.

I have been up there three times in the last two years. The exhibits change several times a year, so multiple visits are a MUST. The first time I made the pilgrimage was to see Paula Nadelstern's exquisite kaleidoscope quilts and hear her lecture. I've taken a class from Paula and have loved her unique kaleidoscope quilts for a long time. 

Paula uses fabrics with elements that have bilaterial symmetry, which she found difficut to locate early on. She turned that challenge into an opportunity to develop her own fabric line - which of course I love and collect. I highly recommend you check out her website at the very least - better yet, see her works in person. Actually, I have so much to say about Paula, that I think she'll get her own blog post - stay tuned.

The second visit featured the work and exhibit tour of

Katie Pasquini Masopust, with whom I've also had the priviledge of taking an on-line workshop. Katie uses fabrics as well as paints to create modern art quilts, usually in a series. To me, Katie's pieces are more Art than Quilt and really beg to be looked at up close for all the interesting surprises. Katie was recently inducted into the Studio Art Quilt Associates Quilters Hall of Fame. Stay tuned for more Katie as well.  

The third trip was to see the huge graphic quilts of Victoria Findlay Wolfe and the fun and whimsical wool applique of Sue Spargo. The quilts of these two fantasitic artists could not have been more different. Victoria's huge quilts featured a limited color pallet and strong graphic lines and shapes. I've had the priviledge of taking a workshop with her at the Woodland Ridge Retreat Center in Wisconsin. Victoria will definitely get her own post!

Meeting Sue Sparge is still on my bucket list. Her wool applique quilts are so adorable. I'm working on two in the form of Block of the Month quilts from Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora. So I was super excited and inspired to see Fresh Cut - the original. I studied her piece for quite a while.  

I'm sure I'll be coming back often - I have just joined the Friends of the IQM Board. We've got lots of great exhibits and exciting events happening - I'm sure I'll be writing about many of them. 

Curious about the International Quilt Museum? Check out their website and plan your visit. Let me know when you're going to be there - we may run into each other!

Houston International Quilt Festival - Quilts, Classes, and Vendors, OH MY!

Do you have a quilting bucket list? Yeah, me too! 😁
Quilting Cruise
Paducah
QuiltCon
Ricky Tims
Kaffe Fassett
Road To California
Retreats
Paula Nadelstern
Susan Cleveland
Bargello quilt
Self-Portrait quilt
Victoria Findlay-Wolfe
Double Wedding Ring quilt
Among other things.
HOUSTON! Check it off the list!

Yep, I went to Houston International Quilt Festival this year. Not only did I go, but did the whole enchilada when I got there. It was a a super experience all around.

We (Shari, Cyndy, Jeri and I) started planning this several months ago. We sent in our class requests on the first day - lesson learned: don't mail it in, fax it next time. I didn't get all the courses I asked for, but I did get some really good ones.

Shari reserved the hotel - a great one on the shuttle bus route. We tried all three restaurants in the hotel ($$$, $$ and $) - they were all great.

Classes - I'll do a separate post on each class, they were all fantastic. Laura Murray's paint sticks and stamps on fabrics, Paula Nadelstern's Simple Blocks with Complex Fabrics, Gyleen Fitzgerald's Bent Star, Catherine Redford's Introduction to Wool Applique, Ricky Tims' Six Weeks in Six Hours, and Saturday Sampler.

Quilt Exhibits - Festival winners and entries, Lion King, Passacaglia Millifiori quilts, Houston Quilt Guild . . .

Vendors - Oh my word. I've never seen so many vendors at a show of any kind. 25 rows of vendors. I spent way too much money, of course, but I came home with some really special goodies.



And we had soooo much fun. Talking, laughing, sipping, eating, shopping, sewing, beading, learning. Quilting friends are the best!

I'm Back!!

I think we've all experienced it to one degree or another - that feeling of being overwhelmed, blue, in a rut, under the weather, or down right depressed. I have to admit that I have been experiencing all of these feelings over the last 6 months or so. It's frustrating, because I have a great life - a wonderful, supportive husband, great home, a to-die-for quilting studio, a good job, health (mostly), friends, financial security, etc. But I just was not happy. While I was out (overwhelmed, blue, in a rut, etc.) I didn't post anything and sometimes would not visit my studio for days at a time. Come to find out it was most likely due to some dietary issues combined with some depression, and with some lifestyle changes I am back on track. HooWoo!

The year is winding down and I've been doing a review of some of the things I've accomplished this year and thinking about some goals for next year. 

Even given my 6 month funk, this year I:

• made progress on my multitude of BOMs.
• improved my free-motion quilting skills.
• moved and set up a sweet quilt studio.
• reached out more to friends and hosted several sew-in days.
• visited some new quilt shops on my trip to New England.
• attended 2 retreats.
• signed up for (and watched most of them) lots of Craftsy classes.
• added to my stash of fabrics, books, and patterns (not sure if this is an accomplishment or something to be avoided next year).
• took some great workshops (the highlights being Jacquie Gering, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and Kelly Ashton).
• designed (in my head) several quilts for my "50 Quilts from 50 States" series.
• started my self portrait quilt.

I still have time to think about what I want to accomplish next year. The hard part will be limiting my list to what is actually do-able!

So standby for next year's goals and updates on what I'm curious about in my studio!