Quilters’ Blogs

Tasha Tudor

1915-2008

The most amazing thing one can do in one’s lifetime is to influence other people’s lives for the better. Tasha Tudor did so with beauty and sensitivity. I’m sure I’m only one of numerous creative types who were inspired by her work and her life. 

I was reminded of Tasha Tudor when I visited Williamsburg this spring to shoot a Love of Quilting epsiode. There we met Janea who depicts a milliner from the late 18th centurt. Janea told us that she and her sister loved to dress in period clothes as children, so the opportunity to live in the 1780’s professionally by working at Williamsburg was a dream come true.

Tasha lived her life in her chosen time period, the 1830’s, and supported her family through her art. She lived genuinely; to herself and others. And I think that is what we all found so appealing.

As Meghan Cox Gurdon wrote so well in an article in the Wall Street Journal, “It’s fair to say that, like Oscar Wilde, Tasha Tudor put her talent into her work and her genius into her life.

May she rest in . . . 1830.”

 ~Jodie

Visit Tasha’s memorial site

Visit the Tasha Tudor Family site

Past the waterfalls along the Columbia River, we saw a sign for Vista House, which sounded worthy of a stop. This German art nouveau building has been restored to grace its vantage point along the river. I thought of it later in the trip when we visited the End of the Oregon Trail Museum and heard stories of how treacherous the last leg of the journey to Oregon City was for early settlers. Imagine rafts floating down the river with all of one’s possessions and loved ones left to the whim of the river.

At Vista House we enjoyed cahhting with the volunteers. When they asked where we were staying that night and we responded that we had to plans, they recommended McMenamins at Edgefield, saying it is funky and shared bathrooms were compulsory, but they spoke so highly of it that we figured we were up for the adventure.

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Believe me, I wasn’t looking to find a dog. Perhaps though my visit to Guide Dogs for the Blind primed me, or was an omen. It’s been three years since our last dog died of old age, and forever since I’ve had a dog I chose. This a dog chose me. 

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After visiting the Guide Dog Center we made our way up Mt. Hood to Timberline Lodge for lunch. We ate lunch in the Cacade Dining Room overlooking the ski slopes which were still busy in May. The historic lodge is both beautiful and fascinating. It was built as a WPA project and dedicated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937. Some ususual art work (haven’t got the pictures from my dad) was inspiring to say the least. We wanted to stay! Jayne and I kept finding more things to “oh” and “ah” over. I was entranced by the wwod carvings that were really paneling in one room. But we were on to more adventures.

From there we travelled along the Gorge along the Columbia River. There were too many waterfalls along the way to stop at them all. This one is the largest.

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The idea for this top came from a picture of a quilt I saw in a magazine some time ago. I have no idea the size of the original, so I made mine to fit a queen-size bed: 96 x 96, using 12″ for the large squares. In the original, the simplicity of the design set off the quilting in the squares and rectangles as I recall, so it’ll be fun to see what Mavis the Master Long Armer comes up with.

I seem to be on a roll with solid fabrics these days, so a book on quilts using soilds may be brewing!

~Jodie

Goodness gracious! I was interviewed a few weeks back for the online version of Atlanta’s magazine for women in business. The interviewer is Becky Babcock who is Senior VP and CIO of Southern Company. It was an epiphany for me that someone so high powered in traditional business would be so fascinated by a quilting business–and me. It’s funny what it takes to finally recognize our own achievements. Yeah QNNtv! 

You can watch the video on Atlanta Woman Magazine’s video channel.

~Jodie

After Market my dad John and stepmother Jayne flew into Portland and we headed off for a week playing in Oregon. We had a general plan as to our route, but nothing set in stone. That built in allowance for spontanity came into play soon after we hit the road Monday morning.

We were on our way to Mt. Hood when we saw a sign for the Guide Dog Center. “Hum,” we thought, “wouldn’t that be interesting. But do they want visitors?” A second sign convinced us that we should check it out.

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With my travel schedule and work, it’s only once in awhile I make it to my Bee. That just makes it more special to see them. Oh how I love my Bee friends! They aren’t just wonderful human beings; they are also extremely talented.

Lee Beals has been quilting for only a year, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by her work. She just finished the first quilt she started. Look at the precision of her piecing! It’s a shame my photos don’t show off her hand quilting.

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Whew! As usual, Quilt Market was a whirlwind. Between taping and meetings and greeting shop owners and friends at the booth, I only got to see maybe 1/4 of the booths and none of the exhibits. Not complaining–just wish the time didn’t fly by so quickly!

I did manage to hand Ivan my digital camera long enough to get a few pictures of the booth while Liz (Porter–I know you didn’t need to ask!) and I were on duty. Yes, he’s good with moving and still pictures!

We were busy showing off Easy Quilts (the third issue is just out) and signing up shops for our new Sneak Peek program for quilt shops. We’re giving them a heads up as to a featured quilt project in the next issue of Easy Quilts so they’ll be ready with fabric in hand when the magazine appears in your mailbox and you head off to the shop to buy fabric. We believe in supporting local quilt shops!

You can see Ivan’s camera and light behind us in this picture. He and it are never far apart. He’s busy back in the studio editing the videos from Market so they’ll be on QNNtv shortly. Stay tuned!

~Jodie

Ivan, our videographer,  sent me this picture from his i-Phone of him in his new shirt with the QNNtv logo on it. He’s dressed and ready for taping at Quilt Market!