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2001, 2002 RiverMOO, Inc.
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| Volume 2 Number 3 |
March 03, 2002 |
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The first order of business is to apologize for getting this edition out later than scheduled! If your life has been as hectic as mine for the past few weeks, then you understand perfectly how time can slip by so easily. I moved to a new location at the beginning of February. I sadly said my goodbyes to my dear friends in Indianapolis and resettled in Groton, Connecticut. I only know a few people here, but am making friends quickly. There is a lot for me to see and do up here, and I have to keep reminding myself that I am here to work; not sightsee and shop! Between setting up my new office, and getting settled in my new apartment, I haven't had time to do much else. But, no more! Speaking of shopping... I made time yesterday to do a bit of exploring and found my first quilt shop. It's about 10 miles from me, but the trip is very scenic (follows the coast of Long Island Sound). I walked in, and immediately began touching fabric and oooohing and ahhhhing over the displays. And there is a woman here locally that sells her hand dyes through this store and they were fabulous! The name of her line of hand dyes? Fabrics to Dye For. The name of the store? The Quiltery. I have found a list of shops on the Internet and shall spend some substantial time in the near future tracking down some of them! Of course, it will be after my work is done... :) The status on my new home that is being built in Oklahoma? I've changed floor plans at the last second! After moving, I decided that I did not need a large home, so I've decided to find the "perfect" A-frame house and go from there. My dad, who is supervising, suggested the A-frames and I'm glad I listened to him! I wonder how many of you have realized that the more there is to clean and maintain, the less time there is to quilt! Regardless of how busy I have been, it is now time to get back to my "quilting" life. Hence, this newsletter. It is so good to be settled again! Have I ever told you how much I hate moving? On a different note, I am looking forward to several local activities this month. On the 9th, I'm driving up to Lowell to view a quilt exhibit called "Oxymorons: Absurdly Logical Quilts" at the quilt museum there. I am meeting several quilting friends from the forum for this special day and I'm excited! Then on the 24th and 25th, there is a home show here in Groton, at the University of Connecticut. National Quilt Day is on the 16th of this month, too. Treat yourself to something special! One of my favorite holidays is also this month: Easter. For me, it's a symbol of many things, with the coming of spring being one. It is my favorite time of the year! And the fact that purple is the main color usually associated with this holiday... well, that's icing on the cake. I love purple! Speaking of purple... I'd like to share something special with all of you. The first two months of this year were extremely hectic and stressful for me. I disappeared from the Internet for about four weeks while I resettled and tried to get my life reorganized. So, much to my amazement, what appeared on my doorstep last Saturday? A beautiful quilt, made for me for Valentine's Day, organized by Kimberly, and made by various members of the forum! I cannot tell you how much this quilt means to me. And you should see it! It's made from batiks (my favorite fabrics) and hand-dyes. The blocks are all signed by the maker and the backing is the most beautiful hand dye I've ever seen... purple, of course, and done by Kimberly (she is very talented!). To see how this quilt was constructed (I still can't believe this was kept secret from me for three months!), check out Kimberly's Web site. Or read the thread on the forum that tells an emotional tale about my quilt with comments from the makers. I want to personally thank each and every person that had a part to play in the creation of this spectacular quilt. I use it everyday and continue to read it! You should see my quilt!!!
I received a few comments on the new look of the newsletter. Most were all good, but a couple of you don't like the way it prints out (takes up several pages!). I have tried tweaking it so that it prints out normally, all to no avail. It seems I just can't make Internet Explorer, Netscape, and other browsers all happy at the same time! So, my apologies to you if you feel this is wasting paper. I suggest you either read it online and/or adjust your printer settings to print at the fastest speed, thereby using less ink (with the grayscale and/or draft setting). The progress of getting the new Quilting Passion Web site, located at http://quiltingpassion.com, completely up and running has not been nearly as fast as I had first anticipated. So much to do, so little time! And, of course I not only moved it, I'm also adding things as I go along. Which makes the task take longer. Kind of like shooting myself in the foot. I'm hoping that you like the many changes and improvements. When the transfer is complete, 99% of the quilting information on sregora.com will go away. Need a new wallpaper for your desktop? Try the new March wallpaper located on the Web! I like the cute little thimbles I added to some of the blocks. The Quilting Passion eMarket opened on the first of March. It only has one item for sale right now, but I hope to change that in the future! My first item up for sale? My very first published book, A Quilter's Diary. It is approximately 40 pages and is full of space to document your projects (version 4.0 of the QuiltSheetsTM , which will never be released into the public domain), add photos, notes, and swatches. These are inexpensive and make fabulous gifts. Either check on the Web (under the QP Market button) or contact me if you're interested in purchasing one! The thing to suffer the most during my "busy" time has been in uploading new patterns. Grand total, there are probably less than 25 new ones. Hopefully, March will be a "smoother" month and I'll add many more! Click here to begin the exciting journey of pattern surfing!
My pick for pattern/project of the month is one that you can enjoy month after month. The project is a Block of the Month series, sponsored by HGTV, that includes blocks for appliquéing houses. Be sure to check these out. They are so cute! Need St. Patrick's Day or Easter clipart? If so, be sure to check out Dawn's clipart. Once again, she has done an awesome job! Looking for something to do for a young child with an Easter theme? Check out the paper-pieced chick and eggs designed by Christine Thresh. Very cute!
Are you ready for spring? I am! And so, in anticipation of the coming of the new season, I have designed a block that is amazingly simple and at first glance, looks like Grandmother's Flower Garden. The only difference is... no octagons to deal with! It's all made from squares. I'm calling this one "Terry's Flower Garden". This block makes its debut online on March 4th. I hope you find time to glance at this block, along with the quilt. It looks so springy, and would be a great way to use up some of those scraps in your bag. This block would also make a great block to swap with friends!
Let me give you a brief update on all of the current MQs, including a brand new one, MQ7! And if you would like to see the latest photographs, be sure to check out the Subscriber's Gallery!
Growing! The Gallery has had several new additions, so when you get a chance, take a look at all of the fabulous quilts made from our readers over the past few weeks. A special thanks to those who share their finished projects with me! |
The forum is doing great! We have formed a close-knit community and happily welcome new members. There is a wealth of knowledge being shared, proving that this is a wonderful place to go for information. Help is only a few keystrokes away! There are so many activities going on right now, such as block swaps, fabric swaps, round robins, row by row swaps, secret quilting siblings (both male and female!), etc. And speaking of block swaps, right now there are some really great swaps starting up. If you like birdhouses, be sure to check out the new birdhouse block swap hosted by D(ee). It has proved to be very popular in the past (last summer) and looks as though it is filling up quickly! There has been some discussion of shopping for fabrics (and other quilting supplies) online. Be sure to check out these threads to see which shops are great and which are not so great to their customers. Pam summed up her thoughts on what online shops should be learning from their customers by saying, "Lesson for retailers: Communication will make you the King of the online world if you'll use it." The January Quilter of the Month was Sylvia, from Iowa. The February Quilter of the Month was Sheila, from South Carolina. The criteria for selection is hard to explain because it varies so much, but it can be based on the level of participation, logging in, and just plain randomness. Or a combination of all these things! These two lucky ladies can expect to receive their prizes soon. Congratulations! Perhaps YOU will be chosen in March! Kimberly, the forum's assistant administrator, randomly selected a winner from the top 15 people to post messages for a package of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics. Congratulations to Sheryl for winning these! Do you believe in luck? Well, one of the many activities going on at the forum is something called a Block Party. Each month, a new pattern is chosen, along with a theme and colors. Anyone wanting to participate can send blocks (can make as many or as few as you want!) to GR8DAME (Myra) and then, around the 16th, a drawing is held and the blocks are given to the lucky winner(s)! This activity has proved to be exciting and very rewarding for some. I asked Myra what she had to say about the current block, which is a fantastic block, and she said, "The response to the March Block Party thus far has been great! There is still time for you to stitch up a block and be eligible to win. You can find information on the Block Party at http://quiltingpassion.com/party/." Check it out! You could be the next winner! In last month's eNews, I mentioned a new activity that is going to debut soon. It's a Fat Quarter Party, hosted by Peggy. Watch for this to hit the Web sometime during the coming week. I'm excited about this one and I know you will be, too. For those of you that are members of this very special forum (which is my home on the Internet!), thank you. For those of you that haven't visited yet, please do so by clicking here. Remember, membership is free! And speaking of "free membership", there have been rumors floating around about charging members for access to Delphi forums. Right now, Delphi is merely asking for members who can afford to, to please join DelphiPlus. If enough response is received, forums will remain free. If you cannot afford to subscribe right now, though, remember: The forums are still free!
There are currently five (5) quilting classes open for enrollment:
These classes are 100% free; no tuition! Click here for more information on them, and continue reading to hear a few words from one of the teachers!
Here's a report on this class. We had 22 people signed up to take the class and several have uploaded pictures of their results, which all looked great! One student has even made a small quilt showcasing all of her Color Wheel Jewels. You can certainly tell that she was very excited about this class. The feedback from this class has been positive and enthusiastic, and I think we have introduced a few more people to the fun of dyeing their own fabrics.
The Strip-Pieced Heart class is finished and all of the instructions are up. The class lasted for about a week, was pretty short, and included the assembly of one block.
The Stained Glass Quilt Class has just gotten underway. There is still plenty of time to join in and participate in the fun!
With any luck, I plan to a lot of free patterns to the site this coming month, as well as release block 3 of the 12-Month Sampler class I'm teaching on the forum (sometime around March 12th, if not sooner!). I am trying to find time to finish putting together the MQ1 pattern to add to the QP Market. I have a few ideas in the works, but before I open my mouth, I need to make them more concrete. But, trust me. You'll be the first to hear!
Any new ideas roaming around in your head that you'd like to share with me?
Almost spring! I can hardly believe that it's March already. This is going to be a busy month and I'm looking forward to close of winter and the beginning of spring. Spring is my favorite time of the year. I don't know if that is due to the fact that I love flowers and green grass and budding trees or if it's because my birthday is in the spring, or if it's the crisp, clean smell in the air... or perhaps it's all of the fabulous thunderstorms that I like to hear and sleep during. Or maybe it's a combination of all those. Whichever it is, I WANT SPRING! Thank each of you for your patience with me once again. I try very hard to stay on schedule, but life sort of happens, sometimes. :) Have a wonderful month and I hope to talk to you soon! Happy
quilting, |
