Two for Two at the TriCounty Quilt Guild Show!

Even though I've pulled back a bit on the quilting for customers thing last year with all the hubbub surrounding the sale of the retreat and log cabin, and moving to Georgetown/Austin, I found some time to work in a couple of customers' entries into the TriCounty Quilt Guild's biannual show in Cypress, TX. (Thank you to these ladies for being so patient with me while I got my new studio in order enough to start working on their quilts!)

Although I didn't make it to the show personally, I did find out that the two quilts I quilted both won first place in their categories.

Nancy Y. pieced this gorgeous log cabin quilt - I think the logs were 1/2" finished. I was still in Tomball when I saw her working on them at Quilters Crossing Quilt Shop one Friday night/Free Sew, and fell in lust with them. Tried to take a couple of them off her hands, but she wasn't havin' it.

Aside from Nancy's exquisite piecing, was her very innovative binding technique, which I'm sure is what put her quilt over the top, judging-wise. She pieced it in the same size as the logs, alternating light/dark strips, and lined them up with the edge blocks, so it looks like the block is part of the binding. Unbelievable workmanship!

Theda F's quilt was the other quilt that won a blue ribbon. Very different from Nancy's! Wild color combinations and stunning fabrics - it's a very happy, exuberant quilt. And such a joy to see every morning when I walked into my studio.

And d'ya know what the best part of quilting for customers is? I'll tell you: when they say, "Do whatever you want!" So I do...and they love it - and we win ribbons! Can't wait to add these two to my collection! 

Happy New Year!

These past few years have made me take a left turn in my life, and it seems I'm heading in a new direction. So many endings - the loss of my husband of 40 years, the sale of my retreat business, adult children moving away, the sale of my log cabin in the woods of Tomball, Texas...so much to process. But now I'm looking forward to new beginnings!

I bought a beautiful house of Texas limestone in Georgetown, just north of Austin. Still in Texas, cuz you'd have to blast me out of here! 

I went from living in a log cabin on 8.5 acres, down a dirt road in the woods (for the last 33 years):

...to a one story limestone ranch. Pro: It's on an acre of thickly tree'd land. Con: In a neighborhood. With neighbors. And people. And cars. And lawnmowers. And people. 

I renovated the 2 car side of the garage for my new studio, and now, for the first time since 1986, I have an actual garage. With a real floor. Not like my dirt-floored barn at the cabin. The studio isn't quite finished yet, but with a few more tweaks it should be finished by the end of January. I'm working in it now, though, and I'm finally back to what I really enjoy doing! Can't wait for the SewHos to come for our annual retreat in July. 

The house is on a wedge-shaped acre that's shaped like the Flatiron Building in NYC. The front of the house faces the top point of the triangle, which means the left side and the right side of the house are on two streets, and the front isn't on any street! It also means I don't have any side-neighbors, which is a consolation for having to live in an actual neighborhood. Don't know if I'm going to get used to this or not, and I'm leaving my options open. We'll see.

OAN: I took my business name, CabinQuilter, from having my studio in my former log cabin. Now that I'm in a limestone house, it doesn't seem to fit. Maybe StonedQuilter...I am in Austin, after all. And that alone is culture shock. Aside from all the man-buns and stoners, there's more dogs here than kids! Go to any restaurant and you'll see more hippies with their dog-babies, than parents with their children.

I'm pretty sure I don't want that guy to be my server. For real. I'm also pretty sure they'd change their minds about dogs if I brought my 400 lbs of puppies:

Torque and Diesel making themselves at home the first night in our new house. That's a queen-size bed they're dwarfing. So, yeah...I bet I could change the dog-friendly restaurant policy overnight.

Hey. How about a couple of customer quilt finishes for 2019?

Dream Big panel for Darleena's Sew By The Bay Quilt Shop

and Darla's Hurricane Harvey quilt - not the best photo, but you get what you pay for!

That's as productive as I was in the midst of the chaos that was 2019. I'm looking forward to a much more settled and self-indulgent 2020, and hope that yours is the same. If that's what you want. If you don't, then I hope you get yours. So to speak.