Time's running out-Ask Roberta by March 8th!

We've got three super celebs lined up to take your questions in future issues—Roberta Horton in the August issue, John Flynn for October, and Barbara Brackman in the December issue. If you have questions for Roberta, one of the most talented and respected names in quilting today, you'd better hurry! Monday, March 8th is the last day you can submit questions to this quilting celebrity. My favorite books of Roberta's are Plaids & Stripes; The Fabric Makes the Quilt; and Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do. That last one has to be one of my all-time favorite quilt books. Roberta travels a lot and picks up fabrics everywhere she goes. That book has lots of sample of her travel photos and the fabrics. There are some wonderful pictures of Eklutna in Alaska, along with the quilt that resulted from that trip. I liked it so much that I had to take a cruise to Alaska to see that place. Unsuccessful, though, and will have to back for another try at Eklutna.
    Think up some good questions for world traveler and scrap maven Roberta. Ask away!

Thanks, Meg!

TQL regular columnist Meg Cox had some kind praise for TQL on her e-newsletter http://megcox.com/newsletters.htm. I thought you might like to check it out. Lots of other good info too.

Kit and pattern questions

Thank you to everyone for the glowing reviews of TQL! Not every subscriber has gotten it yet, but I swear it's almost there. There's been a lot of interest in the Burnished Chintz pattern and the kit that's available from Liza Lucy's online shop gloriouscolor.com. You can also order it by phone: 800-269-0309. Warning: if you are a fan of Kaffe Fassett's Collective lines of fabric, you'll be in heaven when you get to this website. Liza does a great job of designing quilts that show off the fabrics, but you can do that too. If you fall in love with the fabrics you see there, try this: pick a simple block pattern with just a few patches, enlarge it, repeat it, and voilà, there you have it—a pattern that presents a good opportunity to play around with those luscious, mouthwatering prints.

    And one of the quilts that was shown in Alex's article "Quilting in the Garden" has aroused some interest too. Welcome Home is a great scrappy quilt, shown here hanging from a tree with beautiful blue California sky behind it. This quilt was made from one of Alex's published patterns that's still available at alexandersonquilts.com. When you get there, click on Patterns at the top of the page.
     Myself, I'm a hand applique girl; I love the relaxing nature of it. But piecing also provides that Zen feeling when I'm deep into it. Both of these quilts would be good candidates for an absorbing day of piecing. So easy, yet so visually inviting.

It's here!

I'm happy! And from the email congratulations I've been getting, many other people are happy with The Quilt Life too. If you haven't gotten yours yet, hold on, it's almost there. In the magazine, I promised you a photo of the "Happy Goat with the Bulging Belly" and here it is. I know that if you've just gotten your TQL you may not have had a chance to read it yet, but in Alex's article "Sparked by a taste for faraway places," she mentions the goat with the bulging belly that she saw on her vacation to Door County, Wisconsin. The goat was scheduled to have a photo in the article, too, until he got "bumped" by the chicken. I couldn't bear to have him disappear altogether because it's a unique sight, so here he (or she) is.
     Yes, it's quite a tubby little goat. It's standing on the roof of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in the heart of downtown Sister Bay, Wisconsin. Al's has been there for 60 years, but it wasn't until a 1973 renovation that grass became part of the roof, followed by the first goat, Oscar. You can read all about Al's here. Next time I'm in Wisconsin, I'm going there!
     Do notice throughout TQL that there are opportunities for you to let us know about people and stories that would fit some of the regular features in the magazine. Celebrities taking questions, suggestions for Ricky and Alex's Cook-off, "unexpected" quilters, and more. The Submission Guidelines are available at TheQuiltLife.com and you can also email us at info@thequiltlife.com. Think outside that box; TQL is about more than making quilts!

10...9...8...

Countdown! The Quilt Life issue 1 has gone to press! We'll get to see the new baby within the next week. The wait is almost over. I speak for the whole TQL team when I say, "We can hardly wait!"

Look who's writing for The Quilt Life now

Look who's ________ing now. You can fill in the blank with many different verbs and this comment still makes sense. Have you ever said, "Look who's quilting now" when you were surprised to find that someone you know is a quilter?  I'm happy to tell you that Meg Cox will be writing a regular feature in The Quilt Life about that very thing: the unexpected quilters among us. Not only is Meg (that's her in the photo) an experienced writer who has been a reporter for the Wall Street Journal; she's also the author of The Quilter's Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide and a quilter in her own right. The feature in TQL is called "Look Who's Quilting Now." I don't know how she does it, but she can find a quilter anywhere. That skill must come from being a curious journalist who knows how to find a good story.
      Next time you say, "Look who's quilting now," hold that thought long enough to email it to meg@megcox.com. With well over 27 million quilters in the U.S., there must be tons of tales to tell about unexpected quilters. Be on the lookout for them.

Facebook Farmers, Merry Band Members, and Celebrity Queries

Little did I know that we'd be buried in submissions from the FarmVille/Farm Town farmers. Thank you everybody! The comments were a treat to read, too. You'll see the fruits of the harvest in issue 2 of The Quilt Life (June 2010).
      If you were planning to submit one question to Eleanor Burns, also for issue 2, you missed your chance, but shortly, we'll have three more quilting celebrities lined up for future issues and you will be able to submit your questions to them. If you have any suggestions for celebrities you'd like us to invite to be the "Answerer", you can post your comment here or send your suggestion to info@thequiltlife.com.
      What fun it has been to hear about the Merry Bands of Quilters. You all epitomize the best about the quilt life--creativity, sharing, having fun, and building lasting, loyal friendships. Are any of you planning to travel as a group to the AQS Paducah Show and Contest this year? Or the new AQS show in Lancaster in March?

Merry Band of Quilters

Show season is approaching quickly. I've started making my travel plans already, starting with the very first AQS Lancaster Show, March 24–27. If you're planning to go, stop by The Quilt Life booth. I'd love to meet you and hear your ideas for articles in The Quilt LIfe. By that time, the first issue (April 2010) will be out and you can let us know how you like it. Better yet, how much you love it!

     One thing that I often see at the large quilt shows that makes me smile is a group of friends traveling together, enjoying their quilt life together, a merry band of quilters you might say. It's obvious they are together; they may be wearing identical patchwork vests, or a particular hat, or sewn and embellished name badges that match (I've been meaning to make my own embellished name badge for years; it's on my to-do list).

     These groups of quilt fans are soooo representative of the quilt life and therefore, perfect subject matter for The Quilt Life. If you are part of a Merry Band of Quilters (does your group have a name for itself?), click here to tell me a little about it, in 100 words or less, putting Merry Band of Quilters in the subject line. Your group could be featured in an upcoming issue!

Calling all FarmVille Fans

Does your farm take the form of a quilt pattern? If so, you may get your farm published in The Quilt Life! We're looking for particularly quilty FarmVille creations. Hurry, the deadline to submit is January 15th! Information on how to capture your farm and how to submit it to TQL is here. Please tell all your quilting FarmVille neighbors too.

Workmanship survey results

Here is the breakdown in percentages for the Workmanship survey:
Saving time most important, 20%.
Saving fabric most important, 2%.
Accuracy most important, 77%!

Happy New Year! May you find all the time you desire in the new year to make quilts, and may they be all be perfect. And if they are, send TQL photos!

Workmanship matters

You surprised me! The survey about what's most important to you--saving time, saving fabric, or improving accuracy--showed that an overwhelming majority of you were concerned about your workmanship most of all. We tend to call the shortcut techniques "timesavers" but that doesn't paint an accurate picture of why we love them. More than three quarters of survey respondents valued workmanship most, and I have to count myself part of that group, too. Yes, saving time is important for those of us who have to work hard to carve out a time for quilting as often as possible. For me, saving fabric has value too, especially because I make scrap quilts. But when I want my patchwork to come out the way I envision it, that's what I want, and I will stand for nothing less. Accuracy matters.

Merry Christmas and Happy Winter

As if we needed a reminder that winter was upon us! The last week has brought a snowy panic to travelers all over the U.S. In Denver, it means a white Christmas, which doesn't happen as often as you might think. The white part is good; the single-digit temperatures not so fun but definitely picturesque. Like the teeny tiny town of Cuchara in the Sangre de Cristo Range in southern Colorado. Last month, The Quilt Life's art director Joyce Robinson joined me on a trip down to La Veta for a photo shoot with Ricky Tims for our first issue. We were on the hunt for a suitable setting for a photograph of Alex Anderson's darling little quilt Love Letters, a pattern in issue 1. And we found the perfect spot in Cuchara.

This isn't it, but this view is right across the street from where we shot Alex's quilt. The town itself is only one block long! Very rustic with gorgeous views. When the issue comes out, you'll get another, and an unusual, view of this street corner with Alex's quilt in it. It took a few tries before we found the perfect setting. Below, Joyce (left) and I holding up the quilt for Ricky's approval (didn't get it at this site). We weren't exactly dressed for the cold and snow, but whatever it takes to get the best photo for our readers, we're game.

Take a look at the Table of Contents for the first issue now posted on the TQL website to get a closer look at Alex's quilt.

Merry Christmas from all of us at The Quilt Life. May you spend it enjoying the warmth of family and friends.

Choosing between time and fabric

In the first issue of The Quilt Life, two of the techniques recommended involve saving time and improving accuracy. One is the Fast Forty-Five technique used, for example, in making a Snowball block. For the pattern Burnished Chintz in the issue, lots of Snowball blocks must be made. The other technique is shown in the article "One-Seam Flying Geese." Both are quick and easy, and for me, way more accurate. But there is wasted fabric when you cut squares in place of triangles. Not a lot, but it adds up. The same is true for paper piecing. Just about everyone agrees that blocks are considerably more accurate, but that method does waste considerably more fabric than traditional piecing.
    So what's more important to you: saving time or saving fabric? I think I can guess which will win out with today's quilters, but I've been proved wrong before. Please take a moment to answer the mini-survey to the right. Thanks!

More to look forward to

I'm revisiting the decision to tell you just a wee little bit about The Quilt Life's inaugural issue. I don't want to be a tease, so here's a little more of what you can look forward to. There's an impressive array of features, a couple by Alex, and Ricky, Judith Baker Montano (I find her work fascinating and beautiful), and the team of Elizabeth Scott (Late Bloomer Quilts) and Pam Vieira-McGinnis (pamkittymorning.blogspot.com). Melody Crust shares a favorite technique that has been keeping her occupied recently: making little embellished quilts, and I mean little! Three inches by four inches is a typical size, and they are fun to make.
   One of the regular features is the Cook-off. Rather than just giving you a look at Ricky and Alex's favorite dishes, we've injected a little competition into the mix. Friendly competition, that is. You're invited to try each recipe and then vote for your favorite at TheQuiltLife.com. And to make it even more interesting, like a quilt challenge, the Cook-off has a theme. In issue 1, it's "Go green." That gets your imagination going, doesn't it? Do you have any suggestions for future Cook-off themes? We've gathered a big list for the future already, but if there's something in particular you'd like to see covered, please do let me know. Aha! There's another one for the list: "covered dishes" for potluck events!
 

Countdown to Issue 1

Welcome to TQL's blog! We're hard at work making Issue 1 everything you expect from Ricky and Alex: fun, thought provoking, and full of beautiful quilts. Thanks to all of you loyal fans who have already subscribed, without even seeing the full magazine yet. You won't be disappointed. It's not scheduled to be on the newsstands until the last week of February, which may seem like a long time from now for you new subscribers eager to finally get it in your hands. For us at the magazine—Ricky, Alex, our art director Joyce, and me—the deadline is quickly approaching when we will turn it over to the printer and probably celebrate the birth of our "new baby." And then dive full speed ahead into Issue 2.

We have a theme for Issue 1 and it's Inspiration. That's one thing that all quilters are familiar with. The features will show you where Ricky and Alex and other quilters have found it and what they do with it. And Libby Lehman is joining us, sharing her vast experience in many aspects of the quilting life in a regular column, Take It from Me. There are a couple of great patterns, techniques, lots of features and beautiful photographs, a look at quilting Down Under, and some surprises, too. There's lots more but I don't want to give away too much just yet. A little suspense is exciting!

Here's a chance for you to get involved in The Quilt Life: talk to us! Tell us what you'd like to see in the magazine. Do you know someone whose quilt life is unique and sure to interest the rest of us? Or a clever technique that you haven't seen before? An ingenious new product we all should know about right away? Let us know about all your ideas and requests. We aim to please.

Welcome to The Quilt Life Blog

Hello and welcome to the new Blog for The Quilt Life, the new subscription magazine by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, published by the American Quilter's Society. Click here to subscribe today at the special introductory price of $20.00, through December 31, 2009.