2020 My year in Review

The year is coming to a close and what a crazy year it has been for us all. So many swerves, changes, adaptations which have challenged us and made us stronger. No longer will we take for granted the small freedoms we once had. We’ll go into 2021 with more patience and appreciation.

Gathering outside is our new normal!

At the end of each year I like to summarize what I have done over the year. Its always a bit of a challenge as I’m not great at keeping a list but I do my best.

2020

I taught at Craft Napa, The Granary Quilt Shop in Sunnyvale and at the Dubai International Quilt Show.

I made 26 T-shirt quilts, 5 necktie quilts, 3 custom quilts I quilted, 4 custom Pet Portraits, 2 quilts I donated to SAQA and 3 to my quilt guilds community service, 14 Art Quilts, 8 hand stitched bags and 400+ masks.

I had to embrace teaching online, making videos and all that that entails! I began by writing my first On-demand workshop, presented 5 online lectures and had 9 days of online classes.

I had thought I would have time to tackle UFO’s and quilts that need quilting but I think I just added to that pile. I just counted and now have 12 to quilt and finish.

Pink Cosmos This was a new class that I developed for teaching online.

Heading into the New Year I like think about new challenges and quilts I will make. I am wanting to make some changes. I have been teaching my fabric collage classes for about 4 years now and I just want to try something different. I am excited to play with new techniques but feel overwhelmed and freeze. I don’t know where to start. Does anyone else feel like that?

Written January 2020. Goals for the year.

Although this isn’t fancy I did write in my sketch/notebook goals for 2020.Reading these again I sort of achieve many of them! My goals for 2021 feel different. These ones I can put behind me. My newsletter plans are starting in 2021. No cruise. No plans for a book but more online classes. Hopefully the exhibit in Oct 2021 will go ahead. I did use my stash for mask making, check! And finally I did use my sketch book, a little.

The fabric cover for my 2021 note/sketchbook.

My goals for 2021

These include working in my sketchbook, doing more drawing and painting, writing more On-demand workshops, finishing all those quilts that need quilting, blogging more and developing some new collage patterns.

Big Frank, 49” x 69”

Big Frank was one of two large quilts I made this year. I wanted to challenge myself to making a large pet portrait using colors that are less natural. I used a photo I found on Pinterest of a Bedlington Lurcher called Flossie. I eventually received the owners permission but that is a story in itself!

One of my best memories for the year was going to Dubai, attending and teaching at the International Quilt Show. Looking back I was so lucky to have squeezed that in before Covid and lockdown happened!

Frangipane Mince pies

Finally my last bake for 2020 were these Frangipani Mince pies, a recipe sent to me by cousin. They’re delicious. So if you find mincemeat in the store, its common in England at Christmas, give the recipe a go.

Old family recipe

Finally I have started my newsletter that I will publish at the beginning of each month. If you wish to receive it in your inbox go to my website and the pop-up menu will appear for you to sign-up. I will not use your email in any other way and if you wish you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

I will give updates about classes coming up, new items in my shop and updates about what I’ve been up to. So look out for Threads of Inspiration.

Monthly newsletter header

Best wishes for 2021. Lets be creative and healthy

Jane

Traveling and teaching

I have been remiss at keeping up with my blog recently. I’ve been pretty busy teaching, traveling and with making Custom T-shirt quilt orders! Having recently returned from six days in Houston at the International Quilt Festival I am excited to share some of my favorite moments and memories.

I found City Slickers quilt

The International Quilt show was celebrating 40 years of Quilt Market and 45 years of the show or Festival. They had a really impressive display of blue and white quilts, the Sapphire Celebration, that they hung from the ceiling in a huge square that displayed quilts from the front and inside. Photos did not do it justice. One quilt that they featured in the promotion of this show was Maggie Vanderweit’s quilt Indigo Party. I love its simplicity.

Indigo Party by Maggie Vanderweit

There were so many inspiring quilts that will have taken the makers months or years to make! As I walk around and look at the quilts on display and the prize-winning quilts, I say to myself I must try harder next year! To me the quilts look so much smaller hung at this event so my goal this coming year is to make a BIG quilt.

Being and Time by Natalia Lashka

I loved the unusual appearance of this quilt and the bright colors. It was made by a Ukrainian quilter who won an award for her other quilt, see below. The quilts were hand appliquéd, embroidered and quilted. She made unusual binding strips that she tied in knots and layered, something I had not seen before.

I love how Natalia was in her Ukrainian national dress. She spoke little English.

Walking around the World of Beauty quilts was wonderful but there are also all the special exhibits to see. Here are a few; Better World curated by Susan Brusker Knapp and Lyric Kynard (this I tried to get into in the summer), SAQA:Upcycle was inspiring, Altar Offerings by students of Jane Tenor-Coscarelli, Inspired by Endangered Species, The Bob Ross Challenge by Cherrywood Fabrics was so much fun, Pieces of my Life by Shuzuko Kuroha and Florence in my Heart quilts by Annamarie Brent. One impressive quilt was made by Shruti Dandekar and measured 210’’ x 86’’

Coronation of Chatapati Shivaji Maharaja

As part of the faculty at Houston I taught six classes in four days. As you can imagine this is pretty tiring with not a lot of downtime especially with events happening in the evening too. I was lucky enough to have a three hour lunch break which gave me time to prep and set up for the next class, then grab lunch and head to the quiet of my hotel room. I did share that room with quilt artist Sandra Mollon which worked out perfectly and staying at the Embassy Suites was an easy walk and we appreciated the hearty, early morning breakfast and free happy-hour.

My first half day class Sunlit Sunflowers

My fabric collage classes were all well attended and I think students loved learning a new technique and working on their projects. Many even finished which made me happy. My free-form cutting technique using no pattern pieces can feel alien to some students who are more used to the rigid rules of appliqué.

Fabric inspired by Scottish pheasant hunting scenes!

For my classes I do provide kits which does help speed up the project especially if you only have 3 hours. As you can see above this student brought her own color palette and fabric for her bulldog. I love this! This year I taught my pet portrait class breaking it down into two classes; making the pattern and then working on the collage. This was a success but I think next year if I can have it as a 2 day class then all the students can attend both sessions.

The special part of being at Houston are the people you meet. Some of them were students who have been following me on social media and are “fans” and so excited to meet me! That does seems strange. Meeting other quilters who’s name is so familiar or catching up with teachers that you rarely see. Having an interview with Ricky Tims was pretty special! And then I had a real life former astronaut in my class, Jan Davies who has spent 673 hours in space. I googled her!

A pleasure sharing the classroom with an astronaut Jan Davies

I arranged to meet Shanker and Mala from Dubai who have the only quilt shop in Dubai called Classic Quilts and they are the organizers behind the Dubai International Quilt Show. It was really interesting to chat with them about how they are trying to promote and encourage sewing and quilting in Dubai. I am lucky enough to be one of the teachers at their upcoming show in February 2020. I will be teaching a 2 day workshop titled Faces where students can work from a photo of a face or I will have kits and a pattern for my quilt Nameless Afghan Girl. I received permission from photographer Steve McCurry to use his famous photo.

Project for Faces workshop in Dubai

I hope I have caught you up on some of my activities and projects I have been working on. We only a few more weeks till Christmas and I just have 3 T-shirt quilts to make! That feels good. I will be spending the end of next week and weekend traveling to Rhode Island and teaching to the Narragsett Bay Quilt Guild. I’m prepping for that this weekend and looking forward to that trip although traveling form California I’m going to be in for a bit of a temperature change.