Bringing 2022 to a Close

December 30, 2022

Its been another busy year! I think I always say that!

In 2022 I continued to travel to quilt guilds and quilt shows around the country. But Zoom is also a great way to present to guilds. Without the need to travel to the guild location I was able to present a lecture from vacation in Hawaii and conduct a Zoom workshop from my hotel room at Heathrow Airport. So its a win win situation.

I started last January traveling for Craft Napa, Road to California and to the Peace River Quilt Guild in Florida. That trip was one of my favorites as I got to attend and teach at their retreat in the beautiful Florida countryside and then travel to Punta Gorda and teach again at the guild meeting. The hospitality was wonderful and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my new Cape Coral friends.

I like to summarize at the end of the year with my achievements and work load! It’s a good comparison for past and future years. My main focus for this year was working on a book that will be coming out in Fall 2023 with Landauer Publishing. I won’t be sharing too much about it here but I have been working on a number of new quilts and patterns for that. My deadline is mid January and I will be relieved once everything is complete and submitted. I am very excited to share this with everyone.

My achievements for 2022 include 21 art quilts of various sizes, some commissions and donations. I have 4 quilts in traveling quilt shows. I made 17 new quilts of various sizes for my book. 14 custom quilts, either t-shirt, hanky or necktie quilts, actually 7 were necktie quilts. I am trying to faze out this custom works but I do still get asked to make them and still have about 4 orders I haven’t yet fulfilled.

I traveled to 8 locations to teach workshops including the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Also taught 12 times on Zoom either workshops or lectures. I sold ‘Wildflowers and War’, my bunny quilt at IQF Houston. I donated 3 different quilts to SAQA.

Taking my teaching to England and doing a Zoom workshop from my parents house and then a hotel room at Heathrow Airport

I shipped Big Frank quilt to the Festival of Quilts show in England this summer and he caused quite the stir! I also received a Judges Favorite quilt award which is an honor. Hopefully next year I will have more time to work on some of the quilt ideas I have in my head and am excited to get started!

Julia Mcleod visiting Big Frank in England.

Finally if you are interested in taking my On-demand (work at your own pace) pet portrait workshop I have it as 30% off, using the HOLIDAYSALE promo code at checkout. That is until Jan 5th.Click on the link below.

Best wishes for 2023, for a Happy and Healthy New Year.

My Busy Time of the Year

November 26, 2022

Going into Christmas and the Holidays it feels like I always have so much to do. I used to plan to finish my work by mid December to have a little time to relax but not this year! I do get custom orders that will be Christmas gifts so I know I will get them done. Last week I made a list of what I need to accomplish which included at least six items! Did I mention I have a deadline for a book I am writing and that is mid January. Hopefully next year will be an easier year!

In celebration of the holidays, Cyber Monday and Black Friday I am currently offering my on-demand Love of Pets Fabric Collage workshop at 30% off. You just need to go to my Podia site at the link here and type HOLIDAYSALE into the promo code box to receive your discount. I have many customers who have enjoyed learning my process for making this type of custom quilt, at their own pace.

Also on my Podia site are two free downloadable fabric collage patterns; one the Big-eyed Chameleon and the other Bugs and Beetles. You can also purchase for $5 the Shy Sunflower pattern. All proceeds and a matching donation I give to the World Central Kitchen in support of Ukraine.

My latest quilt finish, another side distraction, I made as a gift for a much deserving 14 year old girl called Katie. Coming home from Quilt Festival in Houston I sat next to a young woman at the bar as we got something to eat. Whilst chatting over a huge plate of Tater-Tots I learned that as a mother of six one of her daughters was in the Children’s hospital in Houston waiting for a lung transplant. Just three weeks prior they had not even known she was sick. Her story really stuck with me and so I just wanted to give her a quilt. Following their story on Facebook Katie received her lung transplant 2 weeks ago and is making steady progress in her recovery. Her family are now adjusting to their new way of life. I know a quilt isn’t much when going through something like this but I hope it can be distraction.

As part of the book on collage that I am writing I hope to include a Student Gallery section and so I am looking for any past students of mine that have finished quilts. If you could send me a good quality photo of that quilt that I could include I would appreciate it. Message me if you have a suitable photo. I will also need a short description of how you felt about the process and making collage quilts this way. Thank you.

Finally I just want to share that I recently purchased from a guild member, who is moving, a Handiquilter Sweet Sixteen. I wasn’t looking to change the way I quilt my work but this machine came up. It fitted into my limited sewing space and thought it would make my process easier. So when I have more time I want to play some more!