Thursday

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Suzanne

I am only allowed to travel to quilt shows if I return home with sports paraphernalia from teams that are in the general area of the place that I am visiting. When I went to Road to CA I was in Ontario — which is east of Los Angeles. Of course, the boys had no interest in any of the various sports teams that call LA their home.

No, what they wanted was something from the San Diego Chargers. Now, right before I left I remembered that Karen lives in San Diego and was coming to the show — so I quick e-mailed her and asked for her help. (She also happens to work for the Padres, but the boys weren’t interested in that either. Chargers. That’s what they wanted…)

Karen was able to find the PERFECT hats for the boys and brought them to me at the show.

Which reminds me: the check will be in the mail today, Karen. Promise. I’m writing it right this minute. Well, right now I’m typing, but when I stop typing I’ll write the check.

TTFN-

Suzanne

p.s. I’m trying not to whine, but. I’m getting ANOTHER cold. Ugh. At least I had a few weeks of feeling good after the last cold.

p.p.s. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Photoshop? Now that I know how to selectively recolor a picture, I’ll probably go way overboard doing it, but it is so darn cool! Oh! And I found a website full of tutorials on how to do really clever things in Photoshop: http://www.photoshopessentials.com . I have spent a good portion of the morning reading tutorials and giggling with glee….

Another page featuring Colin

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Suzanne

Isn’t he just adorable?

This was done in response to a challenge we were given in last week’s class lessons.

We had a list of things that we could choose from, and only had to try to use 2, I ended up using 4 of the things on the list in my layout:

2 patterned papers from the kit that we were given from The Shabby Shoppe

4 (or more!) photos
Round at least 2 corners (love the corner rounder!)
Install and use a new stamp (I found two that I used at www.brusheezy.com: Swirls and Seeds and Schematics)

Wow, 2 complete digital layouts today, and 4(!) blog posts. Trying to make up for lost time…or something…

Night all!

Suzanne

Now We’re Rockin’ Week 2 layout

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Suzanne

This is week 2 of the digital scrapbooking class I’m taking over at JessicaSprague.com (and the class just keeps getting better! You should hear me giggling with glee as I learn a new trick.)

Most of what I learned this week isn’t readily apparent, it’s all behind the scenes stuff regarding shortcuts and ways to edit photos and add small touches to spice up the layout.

Again, this uses all of the elements and papers that came in the class supplies, so most everyone’s has the same basic look and feel. Now the challenge is to apply what I’ve learned to other projects. The supplies are all designed by Jessica Sprague or by Katie Pertiet. The title font is Asman from Dafonts.com

Apparently I’m making a scrapbook about my nephew — it wasn’t planned, but it just seemed right to keep going with photos of him (week 1 was all about Colin, too…)

When I first showed Mark the pictures from our trip, he wasn’t really sure why I had a photo of the back of Colin’s legs, but I have to tell you: that picture may just be my favorite part of this whole layout. Even when I was taking those photos of him sliding, I knew that I wanted to try to have several photos to use to tell a story.

The journaling text reads:

Watching Colin slide feet first on his belly was quite entertaining for the adults. We thought it was a little too cold for that, but he didn’t seem to mind. I lost count of how many times he made the trip. It was pretty serious business for him.

The quotations I used read:

A boy is noise with dirt on it. (unknown) – Children learn by doing, and play is their work (unknown) – In the eyes of a child…there is joy, there is laughter…there is hope, there is trust, a chance to shape the future…(Air Supply)

All right. Three posts in one day probably ought to be my limit….
TTFN-
Suzanne

Carpenter’s Star Quilt

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Suzanne

I am slowly working my way back into working on quilts for a few customers. I just finished this one the other day.

Those of you that are members at MQResource have already seen this quilt, but I’m so pleased with how it turned out, I just had to do some more sharing.

Plus, as a member of the MQResource Blog Ring, I’m supposed to have machine quilting content every so often. I’d hate to get in trouble with the Ring Administrator* for not having any machine quilting content.

I mark my spines and my circle centers, but the feathers are freehand. I used some chalk to mark some guidelines for the swirls, but those were freehand, too.

TTFN-

Suzanne

* The Ring Administrator is ME, just in case you didn’t catch that…VBG)

Machine Quilting Classes

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Suzanne

I try to keep my blog mostly free of my quilting business related activities, because I don’t want this to wind up being full of advertisements, but: it’s my blog and I can plug myself if I want to, right?

(Did anybody else start singing along with me? It’s my party…sorry…)

MQX

Machine Quilters Exposition is rapidly approaching (only 75 more days!), and there is still room in several of my classes:

Meandering Magic — this class is for beginner’s and is based on my books — I draw and I stitch and I answer tons of questions about the Meandering Magic technique. Lots of ideas for getting started with freehand quilting are shared! (Class #335 and #609)

Beyond Meandering Magic — this one expands on the ideas from Meandering Magic — using different meanders, plus using designs in borders and blocks and other tips and tricks for freehand quilting. (Class #426 and #614)

The Decorated Feather — this new class is all about taking your freehand feathers further — fast feather variations, plus fun embellished variations, too. (Class #341 and #534)

MQX is in Manchester, NH in April. If you have any questions about the classes, you are welcome to give me a holler — and to sign up you can go visit the MQX website — http://www.mqxshow.com.

MQS

Machine Quilters Showcase is right behind MQX — Overland Park, KS in May.

Meandering Magic Basics (Class #310)

The Decorated Feather (Class #318)

Over the Top Feathers (Class #429 and # 561) — A drawing class — you’ll learn all of the details about how I create freehand feathers.

Beyond Meandering Magic (Class #510)

For more details you can visit http://www.imqa.org

Private Classes

I’m also available for private classes in my own studio in Iowa, as well as a limited number of traveling engagements if you are interested in having me come to your studio for classes or guild presentations. E-mail me for details!

OK, advertisement over, I’ll post some quilt pictures (showing off some freehand feathers…) in a little while!

Suzanne

suzanne at saltcreekquiltco dot com