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.

Happy 2019!

It's apparently that time of year when we, once again, reflect on the year just passed, and ponder what the new year might hold. I don't know about your year, but mine held the same 57 UFO's that I started 2018 with. I know that's the exact number, cuz I have them on a spreadsheet. For real. But, since I'm an over-achiever, I actually increased my UFO's to an even 61! (That doesn't make sense, but I'll blame it on the bourbon-spiked egg nog.) And I bought a few kits, patterns, books, and jelly rolls - which means the new year holds a minimum of 67 UFO's. I might not quite understand the concept of how that list works. 

I've started quilting for customers again, and my calendar is filling up. If you've got a quilt top in the works, you might want to get on my waiting list. 

Hang on. I lied. My sister finally became a grandmother in 2018, and I actually did finish 2 projects for my new great-nephew. Debbie embroidered and cross-stitched a cute little crib quilt, and gave it to me to quilt for her. They decorated the nursery in a space/universe-type theme, so I made a glow in the dark quilt for the crib. But I'm not sure they count as UFO's as they were never on the list in the first place.

2018 also saw me put the Quilter's Cabin Retreat up for sale. My older daughter and her family moved back to Tomball from Greenville, SC, and moved less than a mile from me. Then, as luck would have it, my son-in-law was offered a terrific job in Austin, and just like that, they were gone. And they even took the 3 grandkids! Now come on!! After 18 months of babysitting, school pick-ups, sleepovers, cookouts...how could I let all that get away? So, I'm going to retire from the retreat business and move to the Hill Country. Most likely, the Liberty Hill area. (Love the name!) 

After the retreat sells, I'll be selling my log cabin next door. And if you're in the market, my daughter's 2 other houses are also for sale. 

You can see them all on Zillow here:

My log cabin 

My daughter's house across from my log cabin

My daughter's house about a mile away

If you think you might like to have as much fun owning a retreat as I have these past 11 years, give me a holler! I have a wonderful business broker who's handling all the details for me, and I can put you in touch with her. 

We'll see what the new year holds, but I'm looking forward to the new chapter I'll be starting. And I hope yours is exciting and fulfilling for you, too! 

CabinQuilter - a Decade Later

I just realized that today is June 5, 2014 - ten years to the day of two memorable happenings:

The death of my hero

1911-2004

Rest in Peace, Mr. President, and thank you.

And that was also the day my Nolting Pro 24 longarm was delivered. I didn't really feel like dealing with it, but I had to. After it was set up, and with about 30 minutes of introductions, we got acquainted with each other. And one of my first practice pieces that day was an homage to President Reagan. I stitched his name, birthdate, death date, his years as president - everything I could think of. I threw that practice piece away many years ago, but not before I cut out that section. I looked for it today, and found all kinds of stuff I haven't seen in years, but alas, that piece wasn't one of them. It'll pop up tomorrow, I'm sure.

I spent the next month quilting about 10 hours every day - when I decide to do something, I do it! I quilted up all my quilt tops that had been patiently waiting their turn, and this was the first one:

I ditched the border and freehanded it. Don't remember what I quilted in the body of the quilt, and it's in South Carolina right now, so I can't take a peek. The photo quality is pretty poor, too. But that's because I'm a quilter, not a photographer!

A month later, right after I finished up my own tops, I had my first customer. Peggy and I knew each other from an online quilting group, and were surprised that we lived so close to each other. (Only in Texas is 1+ hrs away "close.") She brought me one of her quilts and trusted it to me. I was petrified of working on someone else's quilt, but Peggy trusted me and I turned out this:

I used variegated thread and a panto called Wildflower. We both breathed a sigh of relief when it was finished without any disasters. Well, I don't know if Peggy was worried, but I sure was!

Peggy and I have both grown in our quilt-related expertise, and she now owns Connect the Blocks an online quilt shop based in Ohio. (Yes, she left Texas about 4 years ago :sniff:)

Since then, I've quilted hundreds of quilts, broken a dozen or so needles, thrown my machine out of time twice, soldered a new switch and adjusted the motor myself, gone through miles and miles of thread, cleaned out enough lint to stuff a mattress, ripped out yards of stitching that took 5 minutes to put in (and 13 hours to take out), pulled many an all-nighter, and stormed out of my studio in disgust too many times to remember. Some days you're dancing with a best friend, and some days you're fighting with the devil.

And sometimes, when you think you've done a decent job with a new border idea for a Texas A&M grad's quilt, your 10 year old comes in and says, "Momma, did you mean to make it say that??"

Note to self: a Greek Key design needs to have three legs not two. Otherwise it ends up saying FU FU FU. That one took many long, angry, tearful hours to rip out. 

Since that time, I've done work for several famous quilters and been featured in a few books! The first one was Broken Rainbows, made for a special exhibit during the International Quilt Festival in 2001.

The exhibit was in response to the attacks of September 11th - we only had a few weeks to get our quilts made and delivered to the Quilts, Inc offices in Houston. Later, the quilts were the basis of the book, "America: From the Heart" by Karey Bresenham.

I've done several quilts for two of RaNae Merrill's books, "Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts" and "Magnificent Mandala Spiral Quilts." Both of these were on the covers, with more inside.

I would have to say that the most fun I've had quilting for a book would have to be the two quilts I did from start to finish for Irena Bluhm's book, "Quilts of a Different Color." 

"Bluhm Where You Are Planted"

"Shades of Tiffany"

"Tiffany" was quilted on white sateen (same for back) and has an inner layer of a very bright multicolored batik fabric that shows when the quilt is back lit. It's awesomely gorgeous, if I do say so myself!

The quilt really is square, but the wind was blowing and I took what I could get. See the dead grass at the bottom? It's all about priorities!

From the first quilt to the most recent:

"Strawberry Baskets" won 1st Place, Applique in our guild's show, and was also chosen for the Judge's Choice award. I was going to see if I could get it juried into Houston this year, but I missed the deadline. That's me - a day late and a dollar short. :^/

My life has become more complicated these past few years and I've had to cut way back on my customer quilts, but I still manage to hammer a few out a year. I do want to thank my family for their love, support, and patience with me over the years, and to my friends for their encouragement when I was tearing my hair out over a glass (or two) of wine. And to my customers who've entrusted their precious creations to me.

Thank you all for an incredible ten years!

(I'll have yours!)