I'm Baaaaa-aaaaaack!

Well, it seems I took a little hiatus from blogging this month. All of a sudden, it's March 20th. How did that happen?

The weather in my neck of the woods has been amazing so far this month. First, of course, we had a very mild winter, and now we've skipped spring and it's summer. Our temps have been 30-40 degrees warmer than average. I've been fighting the urge to dig out my warm weather clothes, but I think I'll have to succomb to the urge after all. We are expecting another day around 80 degrees tomorrow. You have to understand -- I LIVE IN NW PENNSYLVANIA! It usually snows here into April. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this weather but I do wonder what it's doing to the natural world. The trees think it's time to leaf. Flowers are blooming. I heard that people are starting to till their gardens -- not too mention taking of their snow tires. I'm still thinking that Mother Nature will probably have the last laugh and will hit us with a massive snowstorm when we're not looking.

Anyway, check out this photo -- it's a HUGE snapping turtle making its way across the backyard. We usually don't have "turtle crossing" until late April into May so it sure was a surprise to come home and see this big dude ambling across the yard.



The next day we had a little painted turtle making his crossing across the yard.

Oh, do you know what "peepers" are? They are tree frogs. They woke up a week or so agao and now they are serenading us, sometimes even in the daytime. They are really loud and we can even hear them inside the house.

Okay, Okay, on to the quilt stuff. Recently, my friend Melanie went on a quilt retreat and she made a gorgeous version of my quilt "Luscious" from the April 2012 issue of Quilter's World. Here's her version:



Isn't it lovely? I got to see it in person today when Melanie, my pal Leslie, and I met for lunch. It was a great time! Nothing like a three hour lunch spent gabbing and eating.

If you haven't checked out Quilter's World yet, please do -- it's a great magazine (I'm not just saying that because they publish my designs, either)!

I'm excited that my first fabric collection will be launching next month and then will be avialble in shops later this fall. It's called COCKTAILS AT EIGHT and has a fun and flrty 50's feel. I hope you'll love it as much as I do! I'm working on a few new ideas for Northcott right now, too. So stay tuned.....

A NEW ADVENTURE

As if writing a new book and keeping up with my magazine pieces isn't enough -- now I'm adding teaching quilting eclasses on www.craftartedu.com too!

Follow these links to check out my classes:

LOG CABIN TABLE RUNNER CLASS

FREE QUILTING BASICS TUTORIAL

Come play with me -- let's make a project together!!!

My Baby is a Centerfold!

Have you received your April 2012 issue of Quilter's World magazine yet?

I'm thrilled to share that I have three -- yes that's THREE (3) -- quilts in this issue! On Page 31, you'll find my Spring Baskets Wall quilt in shades of turquoise, red, pink on snowy white. On page 50 -- my CENTERFOLD project -- is Steppingstones which failry glows with Stonehenge fabrics. (Sorry, I'm not in Playboy afterall -- HA HA!). Then on page 59 you'll find my sassy strawberry quilt fittingly entitled Luscious.

If you're not a subscriber to Quilter's World magazine -- you should be! They always have great projects in different ability ranges in every issue. Each issue has a common theme too. The photos are great too -- I can never wait to just look at the magazine page by page from cover to cover. Oh, did I mention that each project gives quilting suggestions too???? What are you waiting for? Get your subscription now and tell 'em Tricia sent you! www.quiltersworld.com

Playful Quilting

Have you tried making a "Jelly Roll Race" or "Jelly Roll 16oo" quilt yet? The concept is really sweeeping my area right now as groups and guilds challenge their members to be the fastest sewer. In April, I have a group that is going to make Jelly Roll Race quilts.

So...........I made a sample! I used 2 1/2" strips from my scrap stash for this one, although I plan to use a Stonehenge strip set for my next one. In 1 hour and 25 minutes, I had a completed aprox. 48" x 60" quilt top! WOW! Add a border and you will get a large throw or small twin quilt. Add a series of borders to make a large bed quilt.....

Here is my sample for your viewing pleasure:



Oh, our group in April is going to race against a group in Chicago! May the fastest team win!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOr more information about Jelly Roll Race quilts, watch the following YouTube video: Jelly Roll 1600 quilt video by Heirloom Creations.

NEW BOOK

OKAY!!!!!!!!!!! I mailed my signed contract today. It's almost 100% official.

I am so eager to get this project rolling because it is very meaningful to me personally. Working with Kansas City Star Quilts is going to be a great experience, too. I'll bet everyone has at least one KCS book in their stash -- their books are so well designed and beautiful -- it's a lot more than a quilting project book. Have you been on their website yet? You can follow this link: http://www.pickledish.com/. They're also on Facebook and Twitter too. So please check them out.

A Surprise in the Mail

The other day I got home from work and there was a package on the table for me. At first I didn't know what it was and then -- I REMEMBERED! What an exciting moment! The fabric that I had ordered had finally arrived. This was just any fabric, though -- it was vintage fabric from Russia. I had ordered it through ebay back in January and it took nearly a month to arrive, but arrive it did! First, I had too look at all the cool stamps on the plastic mailer. Then I couldn't open it fast enough. Finally, once the box was open I could see the treasures inside -- my fabrics!

OH! How gorgeous they were -- identical to the photos the seller listed.



I'm really amazed at how different Russian fabric is from American fabric. For one thing, the width is narrower (alhtough vintage American fabric was narrower in width than fabric today too). Most importantly, there's just something about the dyes that just makes the fabric glow. You'll really notice it with the blue and red large floral print (which, by the way, I have special plans for). I'm just guessing from what I know about fabrics, styles, and time periods, that the greenish teal fabrics probably form the 1960's/1970's as it sthe black and pinkish purple flower. I get the feeling that the blue and red is somewhat newer maybe as new as ten years old or so. But, of course, these are just guesses.

So, you've seen another clue to my upcoming book -- I will be using some Russian vintage fabrics.......hmmmmmmmm.

Jumping in with Both Feet

Okay, I lied. Well, sort of. I'm still going over the contract and the other documents and I kind of got excited about getting started. So, today I went to one of my local quilt shops (I'm so lucky to live in the center of four quilt shops within about a 30 minute drive). I took along diagrams for five of my quilt projects for the book.

The last couple of nights I've been shopping in my own stash, but I was having a hard time deciding where I wanted to go with the projects. When it comes to selecting fabric for my projects, I have to consider several different factors including time period and geography. My stash just didn't yield what I was looking for. Most of my fabrics are the supporting actors, I don't generally stock up on the stars. Most of the time, I start with my focus fabric which may or may not be the border and then I select the supporting fabrics using a combination of my stash and shopping. I'm going to try to stick with shopping at my local shops as much as I can (doing my part to keep them in business), although I do dearly love to shop online as well.

So of course I headed to my nearest quilt shop today. After fondling many fabrics, stacking and restacking, walking round and round, I finally narrowed my choices and left with fabrics for two complete projects and borders for three others. Not a bad beginning, I must say. Now I that I have borders, I can shop in my own stash again and see what I have already that will go with the borders.

I'm not going to show you my fabrics right now, but I will say this much: PAISLEY. Hmmmmmmmmmm......