The Pioneer Quilter

What I did this weekend

pq — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:08:21 +0000

I went camping with The Girl at a nearby girl scout camp. The Girl had good and bad times. Don’t ask. It is messy. But we did see this fabulously exciting landmark, known affectionately among local girl scouts as the “Boob Tree”:

Hmm, it looks more realistic in person!

Episode 47 – Quilt shops closing?!

pq — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:05:49 +0000

So in the past week I’ve received notice of two area quilt shops closing their doors. One was my LQS before we moved a few years ago. I have to confess that I never cared for it all that much – there were a few employees that did not seem to have the best people skills. But as a kid I remember my grandmother going there for quilting sessions and shopping so I always had a soft spot for it in spite of the prickly pears. Is this a nation-wide trend? Are others noticing a wave of brick-and-mortar shops closing?

I mentioned a new online shop that I tried out – Quilting in the Rain. (And yes, I get the irony of me lamenting quilt shops closing while I shop online…but I knew none of the LQS’s I frequent carry layer cakes.) My BFF Noelle asked me to make a wall-hanging for her little girl’s new bedroom. So I picked out this lovely fabric and she loved it. So do I! The leftovers…they will be mine! Bwa ha ha ha!

Isn’t it awesome? The shop had some great precuts. Check them out! (PS – I was not paid or compensated in any way to mention or endorse this shop.)

Click here to download the episode. Thanks so much for listening! Leave me a comment and say hi.

Episode 46 – Mollie Makes

pq — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:50:32 +0000

Last week I took The Girl to JoAnn’s to get some fabric to make her stuffed animal vision: a caterpillar that converts to a butterfly. While we were there I was seduced by the siren call of a magazine: Mollie Makes. In spite of the $11.99 price tag and the sad lack of 40% off coupon it landed in my cart and I brought it home.

This is the cover that wooed me:

Aren’t those mice just super adorable? In another time I would have eagerly gotten down to making up some mice but these days it is extremely hard to turn my head from quilting.

You can click here to listen. Have an awesome day!

Episode 45 – MQG!!!

pq — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:04:19 +0000

I’m joining up with the Modern Quilt guild! A chapter just started here in Akron. The first meeting was this past week and it has some definite promise.

Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned my traditional guild. I’m still a member though I haven’t attended in some time. I actually miss going, it just hasn’t worked out because of my crazy sleep/exercise schedule in the winter.

In this episode I also discussed my anemic wardrobe. Do you have suggestions for must-have pieces for effective mixing and matching?

I hope you enjoy listening! Click here to download.

Episode 44 – Happy Quilting day!!

pq — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:25:03 +0000

Today (3/17) is national quilting day! Oh ya, and Saint Patrick’s day, too.

You could hop on over to The Quilt Show to watch free episodes of the show and also to enter a contest for a new Bernina 550. Wouldn’t it be awesome to win that for NQD? (Free shows are available 3/17-3/18/2012.)

In this episode I also talked about a book I just got – “Quilts from the House of Tula Pink – 20 Fabric Projects to make, use and love”.

The above image is an affiliate link to Amazon. Please help support the podcast!

Have a listen to the episode by clicking here to download.

So what are you doing to celebrate this Quilting Day? I hope you get the chance to quilt!

What am I reading?

pq — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:22:12 +0000

Yesterday I came home from work to find a surprise on the porch. Two quilting books that I had pre-ordered from Amazon arrived:

and

I’m so excited to start reading them! Which one should I read first? What a happy problem to have What are you reading?

Full disclosure: the above links are affiliate links with Amazon.

Episode 43 – working out your quilting mojo

pq — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:27:30 +0000

I mentioned two non-quilty podcasts today: Internet Business Mastery and Man Vs. Debt. These are both great shows and are worth a listen. Here is the list of the non-quilty shows I listen to – lots of great stuff here! I found these all on iTunes.

Brian Preston’s ‘Money Guy’ Blog and Podcast
The Dave Ramsey Show
Dirt Dawg’s Running Diatribe
Everyday is Saturday
Fat 2 Fit Radio
The Foolish Adventure
Inspiring Words of Encouragement
Internet Marketing for Smart People
Internet Marketing Mogul
Make Money on the Internet
The Marathon Show
Marathon Training Academy
Outsourcing for Passive Income
Personal Development for Amazing People
Podcast Answer Man
Running in the Center of the Universe
Running with the Pack
RunRunLive 2.0
School of Podcasting
Smart Passive Income
Social triggers insider
Startups for the rest of us
Two Gomers Run for their Lives
Ultra Quest
100MileUltraRunning

So I listen to a lot of stuff about quilting, running, money/debt, having your own business (specifically an internet business) and internet marketing. Ya, I’m a nerd!

What do you do when your quilting mojo is slowing down? Sometimes it is ok to take a break but what if it makes you sad? Does quilting feed your happiness?

Thank you so much for listening! Click here to download.

Episode 42

pq — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:43:13 +0000

You can support the Kickstarter campaign for Generation Q Magazine here:

My current list of quilting podcasts in iTunes:

American Patchwork and Quilting Radio (Pat Sloan)
Annie Smith’s Quilting Stash
Creative Mojo
History Quilter
Katie’s Quilting Corner
Lazy Daisy Quilts
Nonnie’s Quilting Dreams
The Off-Kilter Quilt
Peacebrook Quilting
Quilt Cabana Corner
Quilter in the Gap
Quilting…for the Rest of Us
Quilting Day Dreams
Qusew
Scientific Quilter
Sew Forth Now
Stash Resolution
The Quilting Pot

And you can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

Episode 41 – goals for the year

pq — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:37:28 +0000

Thank you for listening! Click here to download.

You can check out my Fat Quarterly contribution in the previous post.

Fat Quarterly Contributor!!!

pq — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:20:52 +0000

Hey, guess what. I am a contributor to issue 8 of Fat Quarterly!!!

Remember that quilt I loved too much to give away? Well I decided maybe it was time I start trying to publish a thing or two. So I queried FQ and they accepted. And now you can have the pattern too if you purchase issue 8 or subscribe to the magazine in general.

This issue happens to feature paper piecing but ‘Spin it Like You Mean it’ is regular ol’ piecing. Check it out!!