"GRAND" PLACE MATS

We had three sewing machines all running at the same time yesterday. Granddaughters Skye (left) and Tamara (right) are in town. Check out the place mats they made. Tamara is enthralled with the animals in SPX Fabrics' Plains of Africa collection. The placemat she is holding has lions, and the placemat she made with the zebras is above Skye's head. And she quilted - free motion - around the animals. Meanwhile, Skye pieced the Friendship Braid for her quilt, using pieces cut with the ruler designed by her granddad. Not to be outdone by her sister, she stitched in the ditch along all of the sewing lines. As you can tell from the picture on the right, these placemats were finished - by the girls - by bringing the back to the front for a one-inch border with mitered corners. Grandma and granddad slept well last night.

RIDE FOR KIDS QUILT

Stop by and see Cyndi Cassidy's Ride for Kids quilt. It is hanging in the classroom and will be there through Friday, 4 May. Cyndi created this king size (100" x 108") raffle quilt for the June 3, 2012, Albuquerque Ride For Kids™, and all proceeds benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. We have raffle tickets at the front desk ($3, two for $5), and the drawing will be on 2 June. When I asked Cyndi if she had thought of a name for her quilt, she thought for a moment and then suggested, "Freedom." "Freedom" from the disease that this project seeks to eradicate, the "freedom" that one feels as one takes to the open road on one's bike, and perhaps the "freedom" that comes when one realizes that "I wanted to make this quilt, and I have done it." When you have a chance to see this quilt, note how Cyndi has creatively used the overall print of the motorcycles.

FABRIC PAINTING CLASS

You can tell that our students were having entirely too much fun in their Fabric Painting class. It was a great day for heliography ("sun painting"); earlier in the day, you may have seen several treated pieces of fabric lying on the sidewalk in front of the shop, "soaking up" the sun. And it was a great day for showing off some of the other techniques which the students explored; many thanks to Linda Nystrom for sharing this picture.

QUILTS OF VALOR at FIRST FRIDAY SEW-IN

Carol and Eldora brought two quilt tops, pieced by the Quilts of Valor Sewing Group at La Vida Llena, to our December First Friday Sew-In. The group meets regularly in the fiber arts room to create quilts for presentation to Service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Shortly after this picture was taken, the quilt tops were taken to Taos, where Ron Olson has dedicated himself to quilting quilts for this cause - 1224 quilts, and counting. (If you donated patriotic fabrics to the shop for our charity quilts, you might see some of them in this picture.) Other sewing groups at La Vida Llena make clothing protectors LVL residents, and pillow cases for the UNMH Pediatratics ICU.

THE ART OF SEWING?

We also thought of titling this item "Pfaff in Camo." Jane Ann's sewing machine, with walking foot in place, would be hard to spot in many different environments. But, in a quilting class, it, ...well..., sort of stands out. An older machine, and a gift from her sister, Jane Ann's machine was beginning to turn a bit yellowish. At the same time, Jane Ann had a lot of extra toe nail polish (She has very small toe nails). As they say, "the rest is history." And now, the Pfaff in Camo is an integral part of Jane Ann's creative quilting experience.

WE SHALL MISS YOU, MARILYN

Marilyn Dolan died 2 August 2011. We had the good fortune to find this picture in our archives. It was taken at the 5 March 2010 First Friday Sew-In. Here, she was sewing on one of our charity quilts, and we captured for all time her infectious smile. We can not say it better than it was said in her obituary on page C3 of the 20 August 2011 Albuquerque Journal: "Sewing and quilting were some of her passions in her life. Anyone who watched her work in her sewing room witnessed unparalleled determination, as well as a lesson in West Texas slang. Her quilts, produced with immense love and imagination, will be cherished by friends and family for generations." Thank you, Marilyn, for sharing your life with us.

THE DUKE CITY APPLIQUE SOCIETY CHRISTMAS TRADITION

The December meeting of the Duke City Appliqué Society, earlier today at The Quilt Works, was very special. Each member contributed one or more hand-appliquéd blocks - that she has made during the past year - to the "pot." Then, as coffee and decadent sweets were shared, two names were drawn, and two gals took home the sets of blocks as starting points for wonderful quilts. Lillian Rozelle is shown in the left-hand picture with a set of blocks for the Cranberry Album Quilt, from Jeana Kimball's book entitled Old Voices, New Impressions, published in 1997. In the right-hand picture, Olive Murray smiles with her set of blocks for the Sally Post Quilt, for which patterns are available on line at www.sentimentalstitches.com.