Drum roll please!

Peony Pride has been juried in to Paducah this year!

Needless to say, I'm delighted.

More from AQC

Inspiration is everywhere!

Teaching upstairs at AQC was especially fitting this year - as the the building has been restored with traditional stencil designs...and I had a wonderful time just looking up.

A stencilled building is my dream! So I really looked forward to arriving early each morning and taking a moment during setting up the class to just soak up and appreciate the art of the stencil - wall or quilt, stencils have played a big part in the beautiful and complex history of arts and crafts.

I just had to share some pics with you.



I can see a graceful, scrolling, traditionally based quilt design coming on, inspired by the edging and bannisters....








...or from this ceiling I can see a very simple but stylish yellow flower quilt...



I'm filled up with ideas. I love that this building can be such an evocative place.

You just feel like you should be doing something creative the minute you walk in.



I will definitely look up a lot more often now - no doubt I miss many beautiful features of building as I go about my day...and it takes a building like this to just remind me once again...yes, inspiration is everywhere...

AQC is over for another year

For all you lovely ladies, (and not forgetting Peter), who attended my workshop,

Thank you for a great weekend!

It was a pleasure to share stencilling with you, and I'm impressed with how well you all did....I'm always amazed that the same stencil can look so different, and seeing this process grow over a day class is just great.

- everyone focused and finished their panels with a gusto.

Thank you all for making it so enjoyable to teach stencilling this year, and please keep me posted with your progress!

I'm back home, I have a carload to unpack and my feet are aching!...but I just had to quickly blog and thank all the students - I had a great time and as every tutor knows - it all comes down to who's in the class.

its nearly time for AQC

Well I'm still trying to get through my shelf of UFO's and then I started Red Delicious to get through my serious stash of reds....but I havent been able to keep up with the comments generated by Red Delicious as much as I would have liked to, so now my free monthly BOM has a new home, via yahoo groups, if you're making this BOM and you haven't already- join in and post your pics - the blocks being made look so good it's putting me to shame!

Tonight I'm preparing for my AQC workshops. I'm going in tomorrow for set up, I cant wait to catch up with everyone on the weekend.

I don't know why, because it doesnt matter how well I plan, I always end up with late nights of preperation....even when I promised myself I'd be better organised this time around...so you'll probably see me with a strong coffee in hand...
see you there! Stencils at the ready!

Workshops Next Week

This weekend I'm winding down in preperation for next week. When I say winding down, I mean not starting any new projects! I am still committed to finishing my UFO's, working my way through my fabric stash and being more organized. I have 'nests' of papers and patterns and designs throughout the house which drives everyone crazy....but I find that if I file them away neatly...I forget all about them! For me, out of sight really is out of mind, so I've positioned my next few 'due for finishing' UFO's on the edge of my sewing machine table as a constant reminder.

I've had a very busy week, writing up some magazine patterns, testing some new designs and sourcing supplies for my workshops next week- this is a never ending issue. Sourcing the best possible supplies, always looking for new ways to make things easier for students...but I have to admit, I love teaching stencil workshop classes. Stencilling is something that can really transform your ideas about what it means to make your own quilt...it takes you on a journey where you can deisgn as much or as little as you want. Stencil blocks in a quilt can be a great feature - and entire stencil quilts where you 'stencil' your own fabric and really make it your own is somewhat addictive.

This is a stencil detail from Not Quite Shabby Chic. I've been preparing kits for my workshops next week at the AQC. For those of you coming along to one of my workshops, it's going to be a great day. I've already received some emails from students and I'm looking forward to meeting you all very soon!

the Red Delicious yahoo group is launched!

What's one woman to do with thousands of emails and hundreds of fabulous block photos? Well it got me thinking ....I know all of you would love to see the variety of blocks that I get treated to every month....and I know it would be great if all questions and comments could be directed into one focused spot:

So Red Delicious the Yahoo Group has been launched and is now running!

If you are taking part in Red Delicious, please join and upload your block photos for everyone to enjoy

Little did I know 4 months ago that Red Delicious would be so rewarding. Who knew that a free BOM could inspire so much creativity? Maybe it was the stash busting, maybe it was the red hues, maybe it was just enjoying a free block... whatever the reason, the feedback, photos and encouragment from everyone joining in on this mystery challenge has been inspiring to say the least.

The images of blocks that were emailed to me every month were too great to just leave in my inbox, they deserve to be posted and enjoyed. Yes, it was all too good for me to keep to myself: so please join.

For those of you who have posted me images of your blocks: please note that I will NOT be uploading photos on anyone's behalf (there's just too many!).

The Link to the Red Delicious yahoo group is below: and also on the left of this screen:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/estheraliubom/

block 4: Peony Bloom

Block 4 has proved difficult for some of you to download due to the size of the file.

So that no one need miss out, I have created a second 'block 4' which is an identical file (with the images downsized - it still looks just the same).

This file is listed as Block 4 on Scribd.com and simply states 'smaller file' beneath.