Here is my oldest son, Arcy and my husband, Bob, holding up Arcy's completed T-shirt quilt that I finished this Christmas. He is a biogenetic engineer at Cal Tech and the T's are mostly from science clubs and events from high school and college. The sashing is an oriental print and the back is a lovely oriental crane print. It is long arm quilted in an overal shell pattern. The quilt is on his bed out in California. 

Things I've learned in 2005

1. I love making scrappy quilts.

2. Small projects are beautiful.

3. A long arm quilter could be your best friend. xoxoxoxoxoxo

4. I can make a buttonhole with a pair of sharp scissors and fray check. (You can too! What this has to do with quilting--I have no idea. But if you need a buttonhole and would rather spend time quilting--it works. I have a pair of corduroy overalls with slash and check buttonholes and they are holding up to multiple machine washings. And they have a wholesome "no issues" attitude!
5. Never make an assumption that it is the quilter's lack of skill if a quilt block misbehaves. A willful block can be successfully disciplined !

(You better not pout, You better not cry, You better not stretch, I'm telling you why.....)

---

Yes and here is how to make your blocks leave their attitudes and issues behind!
Step 1.
Lay out your fat quarters so that they are paying attention. Hold up the block design and say, "This quilt calls for 20 blocks. I'm going to make 21 blocks and one of you is not going to make the cut. :)
I am not going to spend anytime with the big iron trying to get you to lie flat in the middle. If you have issues--you won't be in this quilt!" Then grab up a fat quarter and rotary cut it into small pieces and toss it in the trash for emphasis. KEEP SMILING WHILE YOU DUST OFF YOUR HANDS!

Step 2.
Bring in an already finished quilt to your studio and hold up your best pincushion. (My favorite is a red dotted chicken with a wood base I bought from the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild.) Lay down the quilt and begin to sing a cheerful song (She'll be coming around the mountain is a nice song) Hold the pincushion in one hand and allow it to dance over the quilt. Let it leap and bound to the music and let the fat quarters see and hear how fun it is to be a quilt! Laugh and twirl ! Then say, "This is your life if you make a beautiful block with no issues.

Now it is up to the fat quarters! You will be surprised at how fast and easy your quilt will go to together when they know you mean business! No more of those edges pretending to be bias--no more lumpy centers. Hey--that fabric can pull together just as easily as it can pull apart. Motivation is the key.

From the accidental quilter's studio shelf

1876 Handcrank Wilcox & Gibbs sewing machine. This machine will chain stitch. :) The original owner's manual boasts it has every desirable quality: simplicity, speed, durability,silence, lightness of action, elegance and cleanliness. This machine works, but a woman with stronger arms than me would have had to owned it to realize the speed feature. :) If you want to peek at a wall hanging that I made to honor this machine--scroll down and look in the background of the first photo of this blog.

Texas in Tallahassee

Since there are no Janome dealers anywhere near Tallahassee, Rose Ann Cook gave me guide lessons on my new Janome 6500 pro while she was visiting Tallahassee with her husband. Wow!
I just love this machine and what a dealer. Thanks Rose Ann. :)

Found this pic on an abondoned web page that is still floating around on the web. This is an original design using alternating Shoofly and some kind of star or windmill block. (I don't remember.) It is called "Right Angles In Paradise." I designed it on Electric Quilt--then made it and quilted it. It is hanging on the bedroom wall of my son, Sidney Cox in his home in Los Angeles. I got to see it again when we visited him in the spring and forgot how much I liked this little quilt. :) Posted by Picasa

Here is my new Janome 6500 Professional. 

Broken windows 

group 

Quilting class at John C. Campbell Folk School 

Quilts made in Jane Cole's Quilting Class/NC

Strip quilts from the quilting class at John C. Campbell Folkschool. Every quilter learned the same strip quilt process--but as you can see from the "almost completed" quilts--each was very unique!

Broken Windows: Hansel and Gretel return to the gingerbread cottage with issues and stones.