Running time: 40:07 Size: 14.1MB
Here are my picks for top 3 items in several catagories, quilty and non-quilty (but those things inspire me towards quilty-ness).

On my iPod/iRiver:
1. Falling in Between, Toto
2. Nashville Tribute to Joseph Smith – Jason Deere, Dan Truman, Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band & more

3. Beatles – LOVE from Cirque du Soleil

Movies:
1. Cars
2. New York Doll

3. Stranger than Fiction

Books:
1. Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space, Lois Hallock

2. Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern

3. Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! McClun and Nownes

Favorite Websites:
1. Google
2. YouTube.com
3. Amazon

Favorite Quilt-related websites:
1. Sue.Nickels.com
2. Heather Bailey
3. CrabApple Hill studio

Favorite Blogs:
1. Quilter’s Buzz
2. SewCatherine
3. Quilt Mavericks blog ring

Favorite podcasts:
1. Jay and Jack’s LOST
2. Len and Nora’s Jawbone Radio
3. Knitcast

Quilting Stash’s most downloaded shows:
1. #54 – Storytime in a 3rd Grade Classroom
2. #56 – Commercial Break – Quilter’s Home Magazine article
3. #55 – California Road Trip

Most memorable Quilting Stash Interviews:
1. Joe the Quilter
2. Prints Charming gals
3. Betty Alofs

Quilting notions:
1. Olfa QB Frosted Advantage Rulers
2. Prescensia thread
3. Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Circles – mylar circles for applique

Office supply “junkie” tools that I use for quilting-related things:
1. Ticonderoga tri-write three sided pencils — great eraser that doesn’t smudge anything
2. Fine-line Sharpies, box of 12
3. Post-it notes

Quilt Pattern designers:
1. Barbara Jones, Quilt Soup
2. Lydia Quigley, Rabbit Factory
3. Elizabeth Scott, Late Bloomer quilts

Quilt Shops visited on-the-road:
1. Nancy’s, Las Vegas, stay tuned for an article on them in Quilter’s Home
2. Quiltique, Las Vegas
3. Sew Simple, Redding

Hot quilty things:
1. Embellishing quilts with rick rack, lace, buttons, etc.
2. Hand-dyed buttons, HillCreek Designs
3. Quilt Chipper Registry, a must for competition quilts

Fabric Lines:
1. Moda – for changing the industry, leading Home Dec using quilt fabrics, designers, embellishments
2. Alexander Henry – their funky fabrics are perfect for pj pants, men’s camp shirts, clothing, pillowcases and purses
3. Free Spirit Fabrics – Prints Charming fabrics, Heather Bailey and lovely big prints for skirts

Quilting events:
1. Gee’s Bend Quilt Exhibit
2. an Empty Spools seminar at Asilomar – any one, any time – my favorite place to quilt
3. Stitch-n-Pitch

Restaurants on-the-road:
1. Biaggi’s – Salt Lake City, UT
2. Fenton’s Old-fashioned creamery and grill – Piedmont district of Oakland, CA
3. Watson’s Drug Store – home of a scene in one of my favorite all-time movies, “That Thing You Do!”, Orange, CA

Favorite places to “park” my family so I can shop:
1. ATV’ing in Southern Utah, ATV Adventures, St. George
2. any full-service Gaming facility that has miniature golf, batting cages, go-karts, bumper boats and air-hockey tables
3. an enclosed air-conditioned mall so Guy can take a nap and Robin can roam

Quilting Magazines:
1. Quilter’s Home
2. Better Homes and Gardens, Quilt Sampler magazine (even better now that they have two issues per year!
3. Better Home and Gardens, American Patchwork and Quilting

Magazine Editors:
1. Mark Lipinski
2. Mark Lipinski
3. Mark Lipinski

Things I use my digital camera for:
1. Quilts I’m working on
2. Items to go with Podcast episodes
3. Students’, and retreat attendees’, and their quilts

Things to work on in front of the T.V. = mindless, both shows and work:
1. Cutting pieces for a project wither fabric or fusible shapes for applique
2. Hand applique
3. Hand quilting

Favorite T. V. programs that I can’t work on projects in front of because I have to pay attention:
1. Gilmore Girls – Kirsten’s and my guilty pleasure
2. Lost
3. The Office

What I love to do while quilting:
1. listen to music for inspiration
2. listen to podcasts
3. listen to audiobooks

Things to do to relax from quilting:
1. go through old magazines, I can’t let that one inspiration slip away
2. cross-stitch
3. Knit

Most tedious parts of quilting:
1. cutting – that endless cutting that keeps you from stitching
2. picking up after a project, assimilating all of that leftover fabric back into “the stash”
3. the elusive hunt for fabric that you just have-to have

The best parts of Quilting:
1. Playing with fabrics
2. finally getting to sew
3. spending any amount of time with wonderful quilters

Running time: 1:22:34 Size: 37.8MB
I had a rare opportunity to spend some time interviewing Joe Cunningham. Joe has been quilting since 1979 and has many books and quilts to his credit.

I hope you will enjoy this interview with Joe, which is the most delightfully fun interview I have done to date. We began at his studio and ended up at his house. The pictures below correspond with the quilts we talk about at his studio.

If you ever have a chance to hear Joe speak (and sing), don’t miss the chance to do so. He also does some great workshops. Joe is a great advocate of hand-quilting, which is how he began, and has done a DVD about hand-quiltling and building your own quilt frame.

Joe Cunningham with his beautiful quilt from the “Joe the Quilter” collection.

Joe’s “My Own Fault” quilt, one of a series of quilts about San Francisco. This quilt has the infamous blue indigo fabric that had to be washed almost 50 times before it stopped bleeding badly. The little white sticks embellishing the quilt are done using bias tape.

Joe’s Eucalyptus quilt on the left, and the red and blue Amish wool quilt. Just beautiful, aren’t they?!

Joe and me in Joe’s back yard, taken by my son Robin, who accompanied me on the trip to interview Joe. Robin had a great time meeting Joe and being able to talk music “trash” with him. What a fabulous day it was!

Joe’s website can be found at Joe The Quilter. I noticed when visitng his website that he doesn’t have his CD’s or DVD available for purchase, but if you’re interested, contact Joe via his website.

Running time: 34:29 Size: 15.9MB

Been down so long it looks like up to me… coming up for air.

Quilter’s Home magazine December is in the stores. Check out page 56 for my very first article! Click here for information on this month’s issue.

Quilting_Stash_Podcast is now a forum on Yahoo. Visit YahooGroups to register and join in the discussions on quilty subjects.

Resurgence of hand quilting and sewing clothing. Time magazine had an article about sewing here to read the article “Circling Back to Sewing”.

I went a fun Christmas party and cookie exchange at my friend, Lesa’s house and met some new quilting friends. I made Sierra Nuggets for the cookie exchange, a cookie that I have made every Christmas for 26 years. For the recipe, visit Guittard chocolate’s website.

December 15 & 16th – I’ll be at Whiffle Tree Quilts in Cupertino for a Trunk show. For more info, visit their website.