Another Sweet Friend!

Tina Sams, editor of the wonderful herb magazine, The Essential Herbal, blogged about our gardens. Thank you Tina!!! Click on the title above to see it. And, don't forget to subscribe to the mag. It's a knowledgeable, folksy, user-friendly herb magazine.

Sweet Words from a Kind Friend.

Susan Elliot is a Renaissance Woman. She is a stitcher par excellence, an outstanding photographer, a writer with an extraordinary gift and a woman with a true, golden heart. She blogs about her life - and what a life it is! She was kind enough to blog sweetly about the class she had with me. Please have a look and make sure you look at her other posts - she has created a life for herself filled with joy and love.

Click on the title above to view Susan's blog.

Rose-scented Bee Balm

Rose-scented bee balm in our garden. (Monarda didyma 'rose-scented'). Bee balm is also known as bergamot. But, it shouldn't be confused with the bergamot flavor in Earl Grey tea. That bergamot is an orange, not an herb. Although, the native bergamot was also known as Oswego Tea. Apparently, the Oswego Indians showed colonists how to brew this into a beverage and it got very popular after the Boston Tea Party.

But, this variety of bee balm is a bit different than others. The fragrance of its flowers and foliage smell like rose-scented geranium and it is heavenly! Bees and hummingbirds and butterflies all love it. And so do I! Delightful as a cup of tea, for use in potpourri, or just to gaze upon.

In fact, on days like today, which are clear and sunny, just standing next to this plant and gazing upon its beauty provides a balm for me. I can totally understand why bees are lulled by this plant. Perhaps I am part bee? Buzzz.

Adventure in CQ 2012

The Adventure in Crazy Quilting retreat was phenomenal. Maureen Greeson has asked me to come back again next year and I readily said "YES"!! Click on the link for the information. I urge you to sign up quickly! Classes sell out WAY before the retreat. This is the project I will be teaching. The other terrific teachers are: Diane Fitzgerald, Helen Gibb, Pat Winter, Sharon Boggon, Nancy Eha and Shirlee Fassell.

Teaching Crazy Quilting

September 30, October 1 & 2 will find me back in Wisconsin, teaching in Oconomowoc. I had such a great time last year, it didn't take much convincing to have me back again! Cheryl Anderson is hosting and organizing this event. If you are interested, please go to her blog and email her to get more info!

CRAZY QUILT DESIGN. Bring a partially completed block that you are struggling with, or a new block that you have specific ideas or themes for but want help implementing them. Betty will share her ideas for each block with all of us, and we will then have an opportunity to start stitching our block using those ideas. There will be many ideas shared in this class, so bring a notebook along to jot down ideas you like from all of the blocks that Betty is going to be sharing. Half a day will be spent on learning how to design these blocks with Betty, and the other half of a day will be spent working on your design with Betty's help along the way.

CRAZY PIECING WITH VELVET. Betty Pillsbury is known for her beautiful curved piecing techniques that allow the block to flow from one area to the next. Her piecing is all done by hand which allows for greater portability as well as greater control over curves. Learn how she incorporates velvet into her piecing without the slippery slidey frustrations that usually go along with using this beautiful fabric.

KICK IT UP A NOTCH SEAM TREATMENTS: Learn a few more seam treatments from Betty that feature some beaded and beautiful seam treatments for your next project. You can either bring fabric to practice your seam treatments on, or a block that you can work them on.

June

The rugosa roses are abundant this year! Here's a pic of my granddaughter, Salena, helping me pick roses in the garden. We'll be making rose petal jelly, rose petal syrup, rose petal glycerite and rose petal vinegar. Perhaps a rose petal and rhubarb tart too! Roses are good medicine and food. Make sure you use organically grown roses.

I finally finished this crazy quilt wall hanging! The center portion has been done for some time. It's a combination of embroidery, beading and wired ribbon flowers. The borders are crazy quilted and include all sorts of embroidery techniques. All embroidery is by hand, of course!

Lecture and Trunk Show in Bloomfield, NJ

Please join me for a lecture and trunk show of crazy quilts (antiques and my own award-winning work) at the fabulous Edwardian Needle in Bloomfield, NJ. March 27, 1-3. If you haven't been to this shop, you are missing a treat! More threads and beautiful, needful things than you can imagine!

Contact The Edwardian Needle at

The Edwardian Needle
225 Belleville Avenue
Bloomfield, NJ 07003

Phone: 973-743-9833

Email: info@theedwardianneedle.com