Quilting Those Flirty 30's

I am so excited to share with you the cover of my new book Quilting Those Flirty 30's.  This book is very close to my heart and is a real family affair.  It's filled with a delightful array of quilts, cookie recipes, and fun stories that will make it a "keeper" both in your sewing studio and kitchen.  Look for it's release in May.  It was such a fun book to create and I hope you enjoy using it as much as I did writing it!

Happy New Year From Stanley Too

From my studio, Stanley also wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year as well.  He likes to be in included in all activities!  He doesn't miss much.

He has just recently had a hair cut and I have been saving his fur for the last few months to use in a felted piece.  I have in mind a silk shawl with his hair felted in with the wool along the edge.  It is so many lovely colors and so shiny.  Watch this space!  We will be sure to show you the results. We have a few more hair cuts to go, before I think we will have enough. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  I wish you all a wonderful 2011 filled with good health, laughter, and love.  And may you find lots of time to create!

One of my goals this year, besides eating healthy and finding time to get more sleep, is to do more felting.  I have been collecting the most wonderful threads in anticipation. Storage in my studio is always a challenge, as I am sure it is in yours too.  I found this wonderful large jar so now I can keep my threads on display. They look good enough to eat.  Great eye candy, as well as inspiration!  I can't wait to work with them.

Textiles as Inspiration

My tapestry design.

TDIC, The Abu Dhabi Tourism, Development and Investment Company, who is the master developer of key cultural events in the area, hosted a wonderful exhibition of Islamic Embroidery entitled, "A Story of Islamic Embroidery in Nomadic and Urban Traditions." Stunning pieces of embroidery from the Turkoman, Uzbek, Morocco, and Algeria regions dating from the 19th and 20th centuries formed the core of the exhibition.

These textiles told the story of the women who lived and worked in these times. As quoted from the Curatorial Statement of the book "A Story of Islamic Embroidery", The world of women's craft is a fascinating yet hidden one, where most women work in discreet intimacy.  Embroideries, however, provide us with the perfect gateway into their minds and lives. Behind every piece of embroidery are the efforts, the tears, the laughter, and the ambitions of the woman who created it.  It is thus a very intimate world that is shy to reveal itself, as embroideries are the demonstration and living testimony of what many women do in their secluded domestic world."

I visited the exhibition several times and was awestruck by the workmanship and intricacy of the designs. Many of the pieces incorporated not only embroidery but quilting techniques as well.

TDIC teamed with The Prince's School of Traditional Arts of London to host a workshop in which participants were to design their own pattern for a tapestry inspired by the works on display within the exhibition. Our design tools consisted only of a compass and a straight edge. We mixed our paints from pigments and tea dyed our paper to create a design reminiscent of tribal times. It was a wonderful way to immerse ourselves to an even greater extent in a truly inspiring exhibition.

Global Quilt Auction

Recently I was asked to contribute a quilt block to Global Change. Quilters from around the world were asked to join together to help provide sanitation to schools in Central African Republic by contributing quilt blocks from their country which would be made into quilts for the Global Quilt Auction.  The quilt you see is the first quilt to be completed. There are more to come.

Global Change is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide safe clean water and basic sanitation to people living in extreme poverty throughout the world.   Visit their website at www.globalchange.me to read about their mission, projects, made a donation, or to place a bid for one of the Global Quilts.

Wild Women Do

Our local quilt guild's summer challenge was to create a quilt based on your favorite song. I thought I already have one of those hanging in my studio. I call it "Wild Women Do" based on the song by Natalie Cole, made famous in the movie "Pretty Woman."




It is hung right above my sewing machine. I keep it there as a reminder to myself..."what ever you do in life, make it fun."

Remember...Wild women do and they don't regret it. What you only dream about, wild women do!

Off to Thailand

I have been missing in action! Missing from my life here in Abu Dhabi. So many travels and wonderful places to visit in the last few months. I think...No! I KNOW...I am addicted to traveling. Every time I pull my suitcase out to pack, I feel that tingle of excitement, that sense of adventure, that niggling thought that I am going to experience something special, something to marvel about, something wonderful. Whether it's watching a storm blow in across the water, petting the new hair on a baby elephant's head, or finding a special treasure in the local market, I know it's going to be a good time. Happy feet will take you so many fun places!

My favorite part of Thailand is all the wonderful food. Yum! From the exciting floating markets to the fresh fruit markets, it's a wonderland of sense, smell, and taste. So far I haven't found anything in Thailand to eat that I didn't like. I know I will never be super skinny because I like too eat too much!
It was really fun to participate in a Thai Cooking Course so that we could bring some of the taste of Thailand home with us.
It was great fun to eat all the dishes we made and we did graduate so I guess I'm good to go on Thai cooking.


These look live real flowers but actually they are carved from Dove soap bars and painted these wonderful colors. Exquisite craftsmanship and they smell wonderful as well.






Baby elephants are so soft and cuddly...you just want to take them home with you! Mike loved this little guy.


Buddhist statues and temples adorn the country and are everywhere.




I found this an especially beautiful temple, done all in white. It was in the remote country side, near a small village.
















If you love textiles you will love the wonderful silks produced in Thailand. Such vibrant colors!!! It was fascinating to watch this young woman weave the delicate threads into a piece of cloth with very intricate designs.











































A visit to the Bridge over the River Kwae and the JEATH War Museum was a sobering reminder of the number of POW's who died during World War II in the construction of what came to be known as the Death Railway. It was a strategic railway built between Thailand and Burma. Japanese engineers predicted it would take at least 5 years to construct the railway, but the Japanese army forced the prisoners to complete it in only 16 months. Over 116,000 workers died during the construction due to disease, starvation, and lack of medical care. Allied forces destroyed the bridge during the war but it was later repaired and is still used today.


A visit to the Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery or the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi was the highlight of our trip to Thailand. The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1994 when the monastery took in injured jungle fowl. When a wild boar stumbled into the monastery the monks cared for him until he could be released back into the forest. This boar returned with his family group of about 10 animals and took up residence on the sanctuary. Villagers also started to bring in unwanted pets and injured animals and soon the menagerie of animals began to grow.

The first orphaned tiger cub arrived at the Monastery in February of 1999. Though the tigers in this area are protected, poaching still occurs rather frequently. A Thai poacher will make US$ 5,800 for killing an adult tiger (several year's salary for a farmer) making the profit well worth the risk. When the mother tiger is killed the cubs are taken as a bonus or left to fend for themselves in the jungle. Slowly the number of orphaned tigers on the sanctuary began to grow. As the years went by, the tigers grew up and to the monks surprise and delight started to reproduce in captivity. The monks were soon faced with the need to create more living space for the tigers and as early as 2003 a plan was launched to create a large land space to house the tigers. Through donations and volunteers the monks now work to re-home the tiger cubs in a more natural forest environment, rehabilitating the new generations of cubs prior to their release back to the forest where they belong.


These four month old tigers are still being bottle fed. They are cute and playful but already you can feel the power that they will display when they reach adulthood.













Guiding the adult tigers to the canyon for their daily walk.