We just finished packing the quilts I am donating to the

Martha Stewart Dreamers Into Doers Shelter Event

All three quilts were made using my Modern Art With Fabric book.

This quilt is made with Moda Fabrics.

This quilt is also made with Moda Fabrics.

This quilt is made with Timeless Treasures Fabrics

I am really getting excited. To read all about the trip go to my December 15, 2009 posting.

Be sure to check out the Enchanted Makeovers website to keep up with all the fabulous donations.

Tomorrow I am off to give a lecture for the Land Of Lakes Quilt Guild in Lewisville Texas.

On day three of our road trip we went to The Villages, Florida.

Located close to Orlando, The Villages is a community of mostly retired people with 65,000 residents.

They drive golf carts for most of their daily activities.

The community is surrounded by restaurants, shopping, and medical facilities.

You would not have to travel far for any of your needs.

I did a lecture trunk show for the Quilting Guild of the Villages that night.

The next day I taught a workshop for Sew Cherished Quilt Shop of Fruitland, Florida.

We had a great time working on the Shooting Stars pattern.

There were 18 lovely ladies sewing and eating lunch together.

Here are some of their projects in different stages.

That night we were treated to a fabulous dinner at the home of my hostess Christine Brant.

She prepared an Italian feast for nine.

We spent the night with Christine’s mother Klementyne who told us wonderful and

sad stories of growing up in Poland and being sent to Siberia then immigrating to the United States. 

She was a very sweet and interesting lady.

The next day I did a lecture trunk show for The Quilting Sisters Quilt Guild of Leesburg, Florida.

After a lunch in quaint downtown Leesburg, we left to go to St. Augustine, Florida.

      Don’t forget to tell your guild program people and shop owners to check out Ami Sims’ new website.

Find A Quilt Teacher .com

It is a great resource for finding teachers and lecturers for your meetings and classes.

The first thing I want to tell you is that Ami Simms has a new website called

Find A Quilt Teacher.

It is a great resource for guilds and shops to locate great teachers and lecturers.

Please visit the site and tell all the guild program chair people and shop owners about it.

You can find me listed there.

Now for the fun stuff.

I was booked to teach in Florida recently,

so my friend Barbara and I decided to make a road trip out of it.

We left Graham, Texas on Sunday morning and drove to Mobile Alabama.

We spent the night in Mobile and on Monday morning drove to Thomasville, Georgia.

Thomasville is a very quaint and beautiful town in southern Georgia just north of Tallahassee, Florida.

In Thomasville we wondered around the neat little antique and gift shops

and spent the night at a bed and breakfast called Dawson Street Inn.

This is Barbara in the living room.

Me in the dining room ready for our scrumptious breakfast.

And me pretending to play the piano.

We had a wonderful dinner at George and Louie’s.

The fried green tomatoes were to die for.

We took pictures of some of the homes and THE BIG OAK TREE.

This tree is enormous!!

We visited Pebble Hill Plantation. 

Don’t you love the moss in the trees?

The house and the grounds were a sight to see.

Then we drove into Florida and on to

The Villages, Florida.

Watch for the next installment of this road trip.

I am a guest blogger on The Quilting Gallery.

I am certainly honored to be blogging with the others in the group.

Visit the site to read all the great blogs.

There are some fabulous giveaways going on so be sure to read about those.

This is what I will be giving away.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day.

I received a beautiful card and we had a quiet dinner at home.

I am going to Florida in March to lecture for two guilds and teach at one shop.

The first lecture is on Tuesday March 3 at The Quilting Guild of The Villages.

Then on Wednesday March 4, I will teach my

Shooting Stars pattern 

at Sew Cherished Quilt Shop in Fruitland Park.

On Thursday March 5, I will give a lecture for the

Quilting Sisters Quilt Guild in Leesburg, Florida.

I am going to drive and a friend is going with me.

After my work is over we plan to go to St. Augustine, Florida and

Savannah, Georgia. We will then head for home.

My mission for you is to tell me about your

favorite quilt shops and great places to eat in these areas

or on the road there or back from Texas.

We will be going through Vicksburg, Jackson, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi to get to Florida. 

On our way home we will be going through more of Georgia and Alabama. 

Leave me a comment about any spots on the route or even off the beaten path. 

Also, dont forget the contest to win six fat quarter bundles which equals 9 yards of silk.

All you have to do is go to dellaQ.com and sign up for her newsletter.

She will draw for the lucky winner on March 1, 2009.

Market Report

I am home from Fall Quilt Market in Houston and finally rested and ready to go to the next project. My good friend and helper Becky went with me to market to help and I also had help from Paula Ward and Jeanne Kuchelmeister. I showed four new patterns.

Shooting Stars

 which has three sizes (twin, queen and king). Everyone liked it because it has six different stars that make up the center of the quilt.

 Radiant Stars

which has two sizes (wall or baby and throw). It is really fast and easy to make with any style fabric.

I made the cover quilt with Moda Tradition and the wall quilt with Moda  Love is in the Air by Deb Strain.

Post & Beam

which is lap quilt for the contemporary quilter to use the new bold graphic prints like Wonderland by MoMo for Moda.

It is a wonderful fabric with all sorts of designs.

The last pattern is

Abstract Harmony

I designed it to use the beautiful silks by dellaQ.  Della and I have teamed up to encourage quilters and sewers to use silks in their projects. I made two quilts and four table runners for Della to show in her booth. She is making kits that will be available at your local quilt shops. If the shops don’t have what you are looking for you can check out Della’s website to order from her. I will also be stocking the kits for students taking my new workshop The Road to Success With Silk. The workshop will cover many aspects of working with silk like how to prevent raveling, to wash or not to wash, what kind of needles to use, etc. 

This is my booth before we decorated

and this is a picture of the finished booth.

That is Paula in the picture.

I did three School House sessions while there. School House is mini classes on the day before the exhibits open. We show new patterns, new fabrics, new techniques and have fun at the same time. I did two sessions for Dell to show samples made with her silks.

We also gave out information on how to use and handle the silk. We had good attendance at both. I did one session to show my new patterns and had standing room only. All were a great success. We also did some great networking with publishers of books and magazines. There will be numerous new and exciting things happening this year at Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.

Tomorrow I will show you some of the celebrities we saw while in Houston.

I recently went to Brenham, Texas to give a lecture and teach a Shining Star class for the Friendship Quilt Guild. In case you don't know, Brenham is the home of BlueBell ice cream. A great time was had by all including me.

 I had great students who worked very hard.

And they served a fabulous pot luck lunch.

This is a quilt made by Mabel Dimick.

 She used the Broken Star pattern from my Simple Stars Beautiful Quilts book.

My hosts were Karen & Mike.

They have a beautiful home in the country with a great lake on the land.

This is the Putter Shed Mike built for Karen. Don't you love it?

They treated me to a wonderful dinner at Volare in Brenham. One of the things I love most about traveling to teach is meeting the wonderful people.

The ladies in Brenham sewed, visited and had a lot of fun.

Just a couple of stars ready to put together.  

 One student brought her Carpenter's Star quilt top to show.

I have to get to work now. I am working on quilts and patterns for Fall Quilt Market.

Tomorrow I will show you some of my progress.

When I was in Benton, Arkansas teaching at the Saline County Quilt Guild my lunch was provided by Gwen Rogers' husband. This is his recipe.

 Tom's Tasty Tuna

1   5 oz. can albacore tuna in water, drained

1/2 apple, chopped (sometimes we use the whole apple)

1/2 cup chopped pecans (more or less)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (more or less)

3/4 cup mayonnaise (more or less to suit your taste)

(We always use albacore tuna because it doesn't have such a strong flavor.)

Mix all ingredients and serve on lettuce or in sandwiches.

Also while I was in Benton one of the students shared the quilt she had made using the free pattern from my website.

http://www.calicocarriage.com

It uses the No Diamonds / No "Y" Seams technique. It is also fat quarter friendly. It is a great project for a holiday like today. I hope you all have a great Labor Day.

Here are some of the pictures from the Memories / Chick N' Stars class in Benton, Arkansas.

Great group of ladies!

I am back home from my teaching trip to Arkansas.

 I did a Lecture/Trunk Show and two workshops for the Saline County Quilt Guild in Benton, Arkansas.

If you get a chance to go there it is delightful. The ladies are warm and friendly and very accommodating. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

These are the pictures of the Carpenter's Star Workshop on the first day.