I’m working on a small sampler quilt for the Retreat at Family Threads in August. It’s a sampler of my favorite quilting techniques — the ones that I use every day, the ones I love the most.

I’m doing it in three different colorways, so retreaters can have a choice for their kits. Did I mention that there’s going to be a kit? There is! Each of the kits will have essential notions packaged in with it — as the notions are as important as the technique, as you can’t have one without the other.

Here’s peek at the first three blocks:

L-R and vertical: Bright palette, Batik palette and Romantic Palette.

The blocks are (top to bottom): Nine Patch, Swirling Geese, T-block.

And a little peek at some more:

Blocks are square-on-square Dresden Plate, hexies for a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Posey, Heart.

And– here’s a picture of what not to do:

ARGGH!!!
I hate it when I do this!

I was trying to conserve on fabric — the fatal mistake that we make when cutting strips for paper-piecing…

Now, I have wasted fabric, and will need to cut more. I actually added the last three strips so I can use this mistake as a sample of what not to do. It will be a perfect example for my classes in the future.

You’d think I know better… And of course, I do. I just need to be reminded now and then.

As if the above wasn’t enough, here’s what happens

When I finished, I thought, “Great — all done!” Then I measured the block… Houston, we have a problem…  the above block was made on the wrong pattern. It came out as 8 1/4″ instead of 6 1/2″, which is the scale I’m working in.

You’ve got to make sure when you print, that you are printing to the right scale, or have Scaling turned OFF. The pattern at the right was printed at 128% — too large, while I went back and printed the pattern at 100%, it was the perfect 6 1/2″.

Here’s the difference!

So, now, all quilts are finished so retreaters can chose which kits they will use for the retreat.

Did I mention that there are a few precious spaces left for the retreat? There are! If you’re interested, go here.

This the Bright.

 This is the Batik.

This is the Romantic.

What do you think?

©2013   Annie Smith    All Rights Reserved

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Running time: 00:27:25 Size: 25.3 MB
Podcast #222 — Jodie Rackley and Happy Stitch

I must apologize at the outset of this podcast and blog — I did the interview with Jodie around Christmastime, one week before Kirsten’s wedding. And then promptly got swept up in the Boy Wonder’s arrival and everything having to do with the wedding. I discovered this error at 5:00 a.m. yesterday morning when I woke up in a cold sweat, remembering the podcast.

I loved speaking with Jodie and getting to know her. She’s so warm and friendly and uber-creative! I love her book and her folk art projects in the book. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Jodie and learning more about her and Happy Stitch.

There will be a drawing for a copy of Happy Stitch — leave a comment on my blog here, and on Jodie’s blog and the winner will be drawn when I return from Quilt Market, Portland and my visit in Oregon – late, late May.

©2013 Annie Smith  All Rights Reserved

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Running time: 00:48:57 Size: 47 MB
Podcast #221 — Chattin’ with Marie Bostwick!

Ok, so I have to (officially) say… this woman is my favorite Quilt Fiction author.

It happened with this book:

I. Love. This. Book.

Marie had me so sucked in to the story that I carried it around the mall and read while shopping with the Boy Wonder.

Truth.

I love the story of Mary Dell Templeton and look forward to learning how she and Evelyn became friends. I love everything about this book and didn’t want it to end. Listen in to the podcast to hear Marie’s inspiration for Mary Dell, and the real Mary Dell.

This the baby quilt from the book, half Dresden Plate, half Grandmother’s Fan.

And the Lone Star. Wow.

Both by Deb Tucker of studio180design. Patterns will be available soon.

Read the book.

Listen to the Podcast.

©2013  Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

In Podcast #221, I announced that I was going to offer a LIVE online class on how to make my handmade Quilt Journals.

Here are the details:

Thursday, May 9th

from 9 a.m. (Pacific) to 10:30 a.m.

on Google+ Hangout

Class enrollment limited to 8 students

$20

I have talked about these Journals since I began the Podcast and have been creating them since 2002. I’ve sold them at Farmer’s Markets, Craft shows, Quilt shows and I usually have a selection for sale when I teach.

I use them for various reasons.

To see how my chosen fabrics will work together for a project:

To design a quilt top, that I may or may not use right away:

Or do a themed one, just for fun — or for a special friend:

(They’re great as special hand-made gifts for loved ones!)

I designed my Studio work space in one of my Journals:

Or I make them special for me to use. I’ve been a Journal-writer since I was in High School and love these special journals. the format and size are perfect for me.

If you’re interested in taking the class, please email me at annie@simplearts.com to register. At this time, I’m doing person-to-person registration rather than on the internet – which I will do in the future.

When you’re registered, I’ll email you the materials list. It’s pretty simple.

And then, we’ll make some pretty Journals together — it’s just that easy.

I’ll offer the Journal class again, so if you want to take it but can’t this time, just let me know. Also, if you’re in another time zone than Pacific – like Europe, Australia, South Africa or Asia, just let me know and I will schedule a special class just for you on your time zone.

I’ll close registration for this first class on May 6th, so everyone who wants to register can collect their materials for the class.

I hope to hear from YOU!

© 2013  Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

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Running time: 00:55:33 Size: 53.5 MB

Podcast #220 — It’s Spring and it’s time to quilt!

 These two new books, by Laura Zander and  Jimmy Beans Wool with a foreward by Deborah Norville. It’s time to think about being Heart Healthy. Each designer who contributed  a project for the books has a personal story and tips for being heart healthy. Sew Red has contributions by Anna Maria Horner, Sweetwater, Tula Pink, Amy and David Butler, Valori Wells, and the list goes on.

I love both of these books! Plus, Red is my favorite color ; )

 Where Women Create magazines now has WWC Business! Fantastic for anyone who owns a business, wants to own their own business or has dreams and aspirations of one day owning their own business. I love these Spring Issues, filled with more than the covers show.

Here’s the link to the podcast interview with Jo Packham.

In Where Women Cook, I was inspired by the story of Laurie Rubin.

In Where Women Create, I discovered the Texas Quilt Museum, in La Grange, TX. Here’s the link to the podcast interview with Karey Bresenhan.

In WWC Business, I was so happy to find the story of Bunnies By The Bay and find that they are still thriving.

I mentioned that I will do some LIVE classes on Google Plus Hangout in May, on how to create handmade Quilt Journals. I will post all of the information tomorrow in a Blog post, so all of the details are separate and don’t get lost in this blog.

Here’s a photo of my “Kaffe collection” for a new patchwork skirt. I’ll post a photo when it’s done.

If you want the pattern, just click on the tab at the top of the page that says SKIRT.

Do you remember this quilt?

I call this my “Red, Pink, Blue and Green quilt”. It’s at least 10 years old and I’m working on the applique border of it. Here are some photos, “in progress”…

 My favorite book:

 ”If you really want to do something, no one can stop you, but if you really don’t want to do something, no one can help you.” James A. Owen

 Here are some more wedding pictures:

Cambria, thinking that Kirsten looks like a Princess ; )

Kirsten’s beautiful Wedding day “look” courtesy of Julie Blatter Handelsman (The dragonfly hairpin is a real Tarina Taratino jewel)

 Josh and Kirst , dancing with the “little girls”

Cambria, with the Wedding Minnie Mouse ears — she was dying to try those things on all night! a friend got the perfect snapshot — a priceless photo.

 I’ll post more later — there are over 500 photos ; )

Comment, Pin it (at the top of the blog!) or email me — at !

© 2013  Annie Smith  All Rights Reserved 

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Running time: 00:53:45 Size: 49.4 MB

Podcast 219: a visit with the Bride and the Boy Wonder

I have featured my family in past podcasts, and with the recent changes in our family, I thought it would be fun to do a little update with them for you.

The quilting legacy continues with my kids.

Kirsten and Josh:

Cat on a sewing machine:

I’ve recently updated my teaching schedule and have some wonderful offerings for the summer months — especially in Arizona, North Carolina and New Jersey. Take a moment to check out my schedule, with pictures of the classes, by clicking on the SCHEDULE link at the top of the homepage. I’ll be updating it again soon, so stop back and see — I might be in your neighborhood next!

By the way, THIS podcast marks the Eighth year of the QuiltingStash podcast! I began the podcast on April 9, 2013 — and I have, indeed, done 219 shows. I have many more “in the can”, as they say, and many more to come! Stay tuned.

Happy Quilting!

Annie

Yes, they are!

Here are the details:

“We’re sponsoring our first quilt retreat at St. Francis Retreat Center located in San Juan Bautista. While this retreat is yours and you may sew whatever you’d like, quilter extraordinaire, Annie Smith of Simple Arts will be on site teaching Annie’s Favorite Techniques. You’ll create nine different blocks featuring a compilation of nine different tricks and techniques. Fabric kits will be available as the retreat draws closer.”

WHEN
Sunday, August 11, 2013 through Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WHERE
St. Francis Retreat Center
San Juan Bautista, California

COST
- Private room $525
- Shared room $450
- Commuter $330 (driving up every day, no lodging)

$100 non-refundable deposit required at sign up. We have a minimum person requirement to meet by May 1st, so please sign up early!

The balance can be broken into 2 payments, half due June 1, the final half due July 2.

WHAT’S INCLUDED
All meals, lodging, a Sunday evening dessert social and FUN, FUN, FUN!

TO SIGN UP
Visit the Family Threads website or give us a call at 831-623-0200.

Dear Quilting Friends –

International Quilt Day is just around the corner, and as a featured artist on a past episode of The Quilt Show, (www.thequiltshow.com) I wanted to let you know about a gift that Alex and Ricky have put together for quilters around the world.

Beginning on Friday, March 15 through Sunday, March 17, everyone who signs on to The Quilt Show will have free access to over 120 of their internet shows, including my episode

# 209 – Annie Smith, the Fabric Detective. You can watch the shows, check out the great tutorials, browse the gallery of over 19,900 member quilts, visit the forum for answers to the most burning quilt questions and lots, lots more. And if you missed my show, you can see it now.

You can also enter the TQS prize drawing with fantastic prizes from companies we know and love like Bernina, Gammill, Superior Threads, AccuQuilt, C&T Publishing, RJR Fabric, and Ricky and Alex will have gift baskets to give away too. The grand prize is a new Bernina 550QE sewing machine!

I wanted to make you aware of this amazing event so you can take advantage of everything this exciting weekend has to offer without leaving home and all for free.

Don’t hesitate to share this email with your quilting friends, fellow guild members, social networking friends and local quilt shops so that they don’t miss out on this fun weekend. And feel free to post an abbreviated version of the details on your Facebook page. I want everyone to know about this amazing 3-day celebration of all things quilting.

So check in at www.thequiltshow.com on Friday, March 15, and enjoy the shows and exploring The Quilt Show website and all it has to offer! And I’d love to have you view my show, episode #209!

Here is a photo of the quilt that I made with the blocks that I used from my episode of the show:

I had it hanging around as blocks for the longest time, and then realized that they were pretty special, and should be made into a memory quilt of the magical experience of being a guest on the show! I love this quilt — and it does have GREAT memories of that day, and the honor it was to be a guest.

If you haven’t seen episode #209 – please watch! You’ll see a special quilt (the purple one) that is also available, now, as an online class. Ricky commented that the quilt looked as if it were painted on the wall when we filmed the show. Just click on the link to Classroom above for all of the details.

Also, you may want to listen (or re-listen) to the podcast interviews that I did with Alex and with Ricky after the show. Just click on the banners on the left-hand side of the page. (You may need to scroll up ; )

Happy quilting — good luck!

Annie

Today, I went shopping at the Outlet Mall with Robin. I think I might have told you that last Christmas, he sent home 4 boxes of his belongings with some gifts from Mexico that never made it home. Yes – it is a gut -wrenching thought, when you find out that among the things that were in the boxes were:

One of these:

A hand-appliqued dress called a Huipil

(Robin saved his money for about six months to buy me this dress.)

and some of these:

The ties… the only thing that Missionaries have that are distinct are their ties. They buy them, get them as gifts, give them as gifts, trade them and treasure them. They’re almost like photographs – they have so many memories stored up in them, like our quilts – they are that precious.

The tie Robin is wearing in this picture, below, is the most beautiful tie I have ever seen, and I bought it for him to take with him.

You can only see a little tiny bit of it, but it looks like a tooled leather saddle — and was the most amazing thing.

He sent his most precious ties home because the humidity in Acapulco would rub the color of the silk ties all over the white shirts and he didn’t want to get them ruined.

…Oh well…

So, the redeeming thing from that story is that there is an outlet store that has the ties that Robin sent home. Not the same ties but new and different ones. Most desirable ties ; )

But they also have one thing that you don’t usually find in Men’s tie stores… and it’s just for Quilters…

Are you ready for this…?!

A ten pound grab bag of tie silk remnants for $27.50. Yes, that’s right — you don’t have to adjust your spectacles, you read right.

The incredible thing about these tie silks is that they are from England, and the ties that are made from this silk sell on the street in Carmel, CA at the exclusive Robert Talbott shop for upwards of $250-350. EACH.

 (You read that one right too.)

At the outlet store, they’re $45, and a season older — but hey, at least they’re affordable at that price.

 There  were two bags to choose from and I chose the one I did based on the first fabric I saw in it – this one:

Beautiful, right? So I have to tell you, I LOVE men’s ties because the patterns of the fabric are so amazingly gorgeous. I drool over men’s ties.

Robin has been bugging me about getting a grab bag for a couple of years and challenging me to make a quilt out of it. Making a quilt with silk ties is pretty challenging – working with 360 degree bias, so it hasn’t been one of my ongoing passions.

But, when I turned the bag around to see what else was in it, this one fabric made the decision for me — and maybe you’ll agree :

Is this one fabric a treasure or what?!

I didn’t see what else was in the bag until I brought it home and pulled those little gems out, one by one.

Here’s what is in the bag: fat eighths, fat quarters, quarter-yard pieces and a couple of half yard pieces, as well as several fat tie shapes. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to be in that bag as far as size was concerned, I just figured I might be able to eek a lap-size quilt out of it.

It turns out that I have enough fabric to make three quilt tops, all in different color ways.

Here are some of the gems:

How about the Double Wedding Ring pattern?! It turns out that a lot of the tie silks have Quilt patterns in them!

Hot Rods?

and

This usually ends up on the underside of the tie to be used as the label, but I think it’ll fun to have it in a quilt square.

Here is the stacks of tie silks folded from the grab bag. Now all I need is about 10 yards of fusible interfacing to stabilize the bias before I can start cutting into it. I can hardly wait!

If you’re interested in one of these grab bags, all you need to do is get in touch with the Robert Talbott outlet store. There are two: one is Gilroy, CA — 408-847-5111, and one in Carmel Valley, CA — 831-659-4540.

They also have silk tie yardage, grabbags of men’s shirting remnants (also $27.50), and of course, beautiful ties at affordable prices.

The next time you’re in my neck of the woods, you may want to check out the outlet stores in Gilroy or Carmel Valley. You can find some real treasures there ; )

There’s a new podcast just around the corner — actually there are several. I hoped to release them before Christmas but the rush got to me.

Here are a few things to make you smile til podcast 219 gets posted:

Here is Elder Smith, eating something he said he would never touch — fish. Namely, lobster. You can’t live/work in Acapulco for 6 months without eating fish. His tastes are changing!

Me, with my buddy, Mark! When I was teaching in NJ, we got to have dinner — not once but twice– while I was there. Doesn’t he look great? He’s still waiting for his transplant surgery, but we’re cooking up plans for something wonderful that will happen after his recovery period is over!

Piper, the Wonder dog, with a new toy — thanks to Miss Cambria. See the discarded shell of her previous toy next to her? She disembowels every squeaker and every vestige of stuffing from every toy and then just carries the carcass around. Ginger bread girl, this is your fate too…

Inspiration found on Pinterest —  gifts for these darling girls:

Aren’t they the sweetest things in the world?! No, I did not make their dresses ; ) (because I’m making them dresses for the wedding!)

“Hippo or piano? Piano or hippo? Hurry and pick!” -or- what caption do YOU think should be under this picture?

The joy of children!

Hurry and get all of those quilts finished that you wanted to make this year — you have just 5 days left! ; )

And I have T minus 14 until I get to see this beautiful face for the first time in 2 years:

Now, I better get busy — making that quilt that I promised him when he gets home!

©2012 Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved