My entry for the Alliance for American Quilts contest is finished and was ready to send in, but I got an extension from Amy Milne in order to keep it for our first taping for Quilt Out Loud!. In each episode Mark and I open the show with a “What’s Up?” segment in which we both bring in something to show. So, I brought my quilt. I’m so pleased with how it turned out and hope it fetches a good sum in the auction!
~Jodie
Here Mark & I are sharing our Flip Videos with each other in preparation for the “What’s Up?” segment for one of the first three episodes of Quilt Out Loud. Sherry Cowley’s sunroom made for a wonderful set! At one point one of the cameramen pointed out a deer on the hill behind us.
Note the mugs Mark had made. NICE!
~Jodie
I’m about to head off for our third and final day of taping the first three episodes for Quilt Out Loud. It has gone amazingly smoothly–and on time. The photo above was taken yesreday when Mark & I were preparing for our book review segment on machine quilting books.
Here we were preparing Saturday for a segment with Debbie Kalenty, Patsy Thompson and Linda Lum DeBono.
I didn’t get any pictures with Pat Sloan or Janet-Lee Santuesanio and Mary Schilke from MQX, but others were snapping away and will share I’m sure.
Today we sew, cook, and do some designing. It’s been a tremendously fun shoot thanks to Michelle, Michael, Tom, Tony and Wally. And our hosts Tim & Sherry Cowley have been nothing short of wonderful. Yes, we are paying to have their hosue cleaned after we leave!
~Jodie
A new sewing machine is THE most exciting thing. But add to that a new iron and ironing table and I call that “Quilter’s Heaven.”
And not just any iron–a Reliable iron. Mark Lipinski, my co-host on Quilt Out Loud, and Jean Nolte, Love of Quilting’s editor, rave about the iron, so I’ve been anxious to give it a whirl.
Baby Lock and Reliable are sponsoring our new show on QNNtv.com, Quilt Out Loud, so three boxes arrived on my porch sent from the Quilting Gods.
I set the Reliable iron up on what was my ironing table and the Baby Lock perpendicular to it, so I have a handy little sewing area–and a real ironing surface. Then I got to work on stitching up the steps for the how-to’s from Easy Quilts magazine that we’ll be making in the show. What fun! The Espire sewed the flannel like butter and the Aurifil thread (another sponsor) looks great on the machine appliqued pieces I did. And the Reliable, well, I’ve never used an iron like it and I’ve had many. I just pressed a cotton bedskirt that was totally dried in the dryer and it pressed it like a pro. Finally, an iron that gets hot enough!
Back to packing for my trip to NJ. Can’t wait for you all to see the show!
~Jodie
Sads news. The Cranston Print Works plant has closed its doors, so cotton fabric for quilting is no longer made in the U.S.
If you’ve ever been on a tour of the plant you’ll know how amazing it is to see all of the steps involved. We visited about 5 years ago and shot a show. (For Friends in the Bee–you can watch it on QNNtv.com) I came away with a new appreciation for fabric, and befuddled as to how it can sell for what it does. Just following yardage through the production process was exhausting!
I’m a native of Rhode Island, so it hits home for me even more that this piece of our history is now just that: history. The mills in New England were where the industrial revolution happened. This was the last of that amazing time in our history that brought people in from the farms to a new way of life. A testament to human ingenuity. And made goods both available and affordable. One thing for sure: Times do keep changing. Read the whole story.
~Jodie
Do you have a burning question you’d like Mark & Jodie and to answer on Quilt Out Loud? Get out your camcorder and ask us! Then post it on You Tube, send us the link, and we’ll put you on the show.
We’ll be shooting the weekend of June 27, so get your questions in! We want to hear what’s on your mind.
~Jodie
June 4, 2009
Last week Mom took Bling to the vet for his second round of puppy shots. She came home with Bling and…
The mother was hit by a car and who was going to raise these 3-4 week old kittens?
Meet Archie…
… and Mehitabel.
Mom’s feeding them from a syringe about four time a day. And then cleaning their behinds. It’s lots of work, but they are easier than Bling. And all too cute!
~Jodie
Pictures from my Sunday visit to Mom’s.
Blings says “yes” to charcoal dog cookies! He’s growing so fast!
Cassie loves to go to Grandma’s and chew up Higgins’s balls.
More to come… we have new surprises in the family…
~Jodie
The next step in my Crazy for Quilts! project is to add in the quilts that are spinning around in my head. For them, I headed to my computer. I design in EQ6 and Corel Draw, so I pulled images from quilts in both and printed them out. Some are quilts that have come to fruition, such as the duckie quilt which was taped for a Love of Quilting episode, and others are still wanting to be made. When I was sure the size of the quilts was right I printed them onto printable fabric. Here I’m cutting them out and placing them on the quilt.
~Jodie
These are the lovely coconut cupcakes, or what was left of them, when I thought to take a photogrpah of them. And then along came…
… Rimsky. Ah, cream cheese frosting! Prrrow! (We’d had enough anyway.)
~Jodie