I just bought ANOTHER quilt book!

Have you become a member of The Quilt Show yet? I joined as a Gold Star member, but really have not browsed the site much until the last few days. I have uploaded four of my quilts to the picture gallery. When you do that, your quilt images are shown at the very beginning of the gallery pages. Yesterday, I got a nice note from a quilter who had seen my pictures. After a few e-mails back and forth, she sent me a picture of a postcard she made with silhouettes of her grandchildren. It is stunning- and she kindly sent me the instructions for her process. She used black Ultrasuede for the silhouettes. Next time I am around Avery and Lily, I will be trying to get them to hold still long enough to take their portraits for silhouettes. Thanks, Margo!

I actually watched one of the shows with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson this morning. It featured quilter Vikki Pignatelli, who is best known for quilting with curves. She demonstrated her techniques and showed some of her stunning quilts. They are very organic, with lots of trees, leaves, water lilies...she must be a fellow nature lover. So, I ordered her book Quilting By Improvisation, and now must visit a fabric store not only for Ultrasuede, but also interfacing for her techniques.

I actually am trying not to purchase so many books with quilt patterns, but I think that one that teaches the process to make original quilts is going to be valuable.

Do you like Ricky Tims? I have quilting friends who are wild about his quilts and techniques, and others who don't care for him. I took a daylong workshop with him several years ago, and I thought he could not have been any nicer. He explained things well and gave you time to work on them before going on to the next step. I have two of his DVD's, which are also very good instructional videos. His hand-dyed fabric is gloriously rich and colorful, although pricey at $25.00 per yard. Sometimes he has specials and you can get it for $20.00 and hoard it for a very special project. Ricky lectured and played piano at the guild meeting the night before the workshop on Harmonic Convergence. He also played for us during the workshop. Oh, did I mention I purchased one of his music CD's? I guess you could say I am a fan. In fact, before he became famous, I clipped a photo of one of his quilts from a magazine, and it has been on my inspiration wall (meaning, thumb tacked behind my sewing machine table) ever since. At the workshop, he used MY sewing machine to demonstrate, and he took a photo of one of MY quilts that I brought for show and tell! How cool is that?

Okay, I know you are looking for the latest nature photographs from my North Carolina home. The baby bluebird is now displaying blue feathers, and the other egg was a dud- never hatched. The north side of my house is looking splendid with the viburnum, rhododendron, and pyracantha in bloom against the backdrop of a lovely hemlock.