To avoid redundancy, I’m moving my blog over to the Quilters Club of America site. Since the new QCA site launched a few months ago I’ve been posting in both places, which seems silly.

So, to find me, go to Jodie’s Blog on the QCA site.

See you there!

~Jodie

Yesterday afternoon, the day before the debut of the show, I couldn’t glue, pin, or stitch myself down to any serious work. So this is my version of goofing off. I am so excited about the debut! (And so are the kitties, the dog, the rubber duckie, and the cuckoo clocks.) Hope it makes you laugh!

Oh no, inset seams!

Manhole covers become part of the design. This is right out side of the Cornhusker Marriott where Quilt Nebraska takes place.

This design is pressed into the concrete.

As are these, presumablyin front of what used to be a jewelry store.

~Jodie

It’s mid-July and the garden is blooming, which is a feat here in Georgia what with our heat. One of those easy care plants that weathers the heat and humidity is this pineapple-like Eucomis. It takes zero care, multiplies but not too much, and has long interest what with its strappy leaves. Here’s a page of them on Brent and Backy’s Bulb’s site.

Is this a beauty or what? Hymenocallis. It’s been in the garden maybe eight years and has formed a nice big clump. Much like Crinum it needs time to become established and then puts on a show.

We equate bulbs with spring, but in summer they put on quite a show. I’ll try to get a picture of a rain lily. If we get any rain.

~Jodie

I have a stalker. The worst kind: a cyber stalker. She sent me a box.

When I brought the box in, it passed the bomb-sniffing kitties, so I opened the box.

Inside were a fabric bowl and tissue holder. Scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cyberstalker you know who you are. Beware. Manny and Miss Lora Brody are always on vigil. You should be shaking in your boots–you should see what they do to a mouse!

~Jodie

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