A while back a comment appeared on my Left-Footed Sewing blog entry. A fellow quilter, David, has suffered a stroke and now his wife is helping him sew. He’s asking for any tips to make sewing easier for someone with disabilities. Please take a look at his comment (on my Left-Footed Sewing blog) and share your solutions for successfully stitching with physical limitations. Thanks for helping, and don’t forget to ask your friends for any tips they may have!

Last week I had the honor of meeting Ami Simms, Founder & Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI). After a personal experience with the disease, Ami started the AAQI in January 2006, and to-date they’ve raised over $400,000! See the AAQI website for all of the different programs for quilters to contribute to this worthy organization.

Right now, the World Series Quilt Challenge is underway, showcasing famous quilters’ Alzheimer’s quilts (see Feathered Flower #2 by Caryl Bryer Fallert, above). Each of these well-known quilters (e.g. Caryl Bryer Fallert, Ricky Tims) created a 16″ x 16″ quilt that  will be auctioned online November 1-10 during Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.Read more about this contest at: www.alzquilts.org/wsqc.html

Take a look at the AAQI website and see how you might get involved!

Kathy

Hello all, a couple of months ago, I showed everybody a piece of my first quilt design to entice contestants to enter our Quilt Design Star™ contest!

I thought you might want to see how the top turned out.

Wildflower Walk – Completed top

I loved working with these big Henry Glass prints! I used the blue squares as the sky, the green as the grass and the yellow large floral as the Wildflower walk.

Something else I tried this time was having the border intrude into the quilt center. I think it came out kind of cool.

I’ve just started quilting it (in the hoop on my Pfaff Creative 2.0 ). I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Do you have any stories about your first design? Let me know -

Kathy

We’ve tallied the votes (all 18,700+), and the finalists are ready to meet you! Just click on the McCall’s Quilt Design Star link at right and read all about the top 15.

The finalists have been given the first challenge and are off and running. Be sure to return and vote on Challenge 1 starting September 15, 2010.

The heat has really hit us here in Colorado this week and my house doesn’t have air conditioning so I’ve been wilting. I need to sew to be sane, but just couldn’t stand the thought of handling fabric in this heat. Fortunately, I had a brain wave! There’s a stash of Liberty of London lawn fabrics, that I’ve been collecting over many, many years, in my office/laundry room. Risking life and limb, I made it downstairs (on crutches, see previous blog entry), to find just the right fabric bin. I took a length of clothesline, tied it around the bin, then tied it around my waist and hauled it across the floor to the stairs. Once I got to the stairs, I braced myself on the wall and lifted the bin one stair at a time (thank goodness there are only 5 stairs) until I had it on the kitchen floor. Whereupon I got onto my leg caddy (previous blog entry) and hauled the bin through the house to my sewing room. I sat down and opened the bin. Pure delight!! The lawn is so light and airy, so soft and cool… aaaah. My new summer quilt is underway! I’ll fill you in on the details in a few days. And, please share your hot-weather sewing tips… I think the whole country is roasting this week!

Welcome QuickQuilts.com visitors! McCall’s Quilting has launched our new combined website.

Our goal is to provide more easy-to find content to readers of McCall’s Quilting and McCall’s Quick Quilts magazines.

You can now see bonuses  and the latest issues from both magazines; it’s a one-stop shop!

Comment on this post and tell us how you like it. We want to make sure that all of our readers have the best experience.

Again, welcome!

Kathy

That’s right, we now have more than 10,000 votes in our Quilt Design Star™ contest! Help us get 10,000 more. Our 147 contestants have shared their quilts with all of you. You’ll see appliquéd quilts, pieced quilts, story quilts, and many more.

Browse through our gallery by clicking on the link at right (or going to McCallsQuilting.com and clicking on the Design Star logo), then vote for your favorite. The contest allows you to vote each day, so come back and vote for the same quilt, or give another quilt a boost!

We can’t do it without you; help us choose the next McCall’s Quilt Design Star™!

A few weeks ago, I had surgery on my right foot. I’m still not allowed to put any weight on it at all, so the time has come to learn how to sew (pedal) with my left foot. This will not be pretty. I’m an extremely patient person. I’m not bothered by traffic or long lines. I can happily listen to long rambling stories and “what I dreamt about last night” tales. However, I am NOT patient when it comes to me and my activities. When I piece, I sew like a demented person, whipping patches under my needle without missing a beat. But, somehow, I think I’ll be sewing more slowly this week (much wailing and gnashing of teeth will ensue).  Here’s hoping I learn quickly and don’t sew through my fingers. Wish me luck and please share any tips you may have. I need all the help I can get!

It’s time to vote! McCall’s Quilt Design Star™ has begun the voting period to select our 15 finalists.

In order to make it more interesting, you are allowed a vote from an individual computer once daily. So come back and keep voting for your favorite designers so that you may follow them through the 3 challenges starting in August. You have until August 2, 2010 to vote.

We’re looking for the next great quilt designer, and we’re asking you to help us choose. Just go to www.McCallsQuilting.com and click on the Quilt Design Star™ icon, then view the entries and cast your vote (or you can click on the link at right – under Contests)!

A couple of weeks ago my best friend, Laurie (from Washington State and also a quilter), and I decided to take a week’s vacation and go on our own little shop hop. Five states and 10 shops later we were both deliriously happy and seriously broke. We traveled through parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico before heading back home to Colorado. What a wonderful time we had! In town after town we discovered friendly, welcoming, and interesting quilt stores. Who knew there were so many? One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting The Quilt Works in Albuquerque, NM. I learned to quilt at that shop in 1984 and have been immersed in the quilting world ever since. Can you believe the shop hasn’t moved in all these years… just gotten bigger?!

In short, we had the most marvelous adventure! Shops, diners, laughing hilariously in the middle of wheat fields… and the most delightful people everywhere we went. I strongly recommend grabbing your best friend by the hand and taking off on your own excursion from shop to shop. You’ll never regret it and you’ll have a whole carful of fabric memories!

We want to hear about your “Shop Hop” adventures. Insert a comment below and tell us about it!