I know, I know: I haven’t posted for a while. It’s been a year of upheaval as I finally got around to renovating my house this year. I bought it in 2014 and it was in a really bad way. It looked (and felt) haunted.

BEFORE:

It started out as a metal-siding dairy barn (we think…from what we can figure out), and then it was added to over a 30-year span. Lots of weird roof lines, rotting siding, rotted out windows (it’s been drafty the last eight years), and rodents (actually RATS) underneath the base board. Very unnerving.

When Patrick moved in, he was terrified and remarked, “What have I moved into?!”

The things was…this place had potential. We both knew it. Some architects and contractors said to scrap it and start all over. Not only was that super expensive…but timely too. Not to mention very UN-environmentally friendly. 

So we worked with a contractor and made a plan to turn this monstrosity into a modern-style farmhouse. We replaced the roof, the siding with Hardieplank (good to protect against fires), and for the most part, the windows are in. The deck off the master bedroom had completely rotted out–I never set foot out there–but now it’s a favorite spot for lounging and reading. This is such a more comfortable home. And I am no longer embarrassed to have people over.

AFTER:

We also tore out all of the grass and replaced with turf, drought-resistant plants, pavers, and pea gravel.  We are still working on the interior; the kitchen is done and I’ll share that renovation in a later post. 

In other news, Patrick and I started a podcast called “Too Old to Fake It.”

Our podcast is for those in mid-life seeking honest–often blunt–thoughts on everything from online dating; second marriage; examining (and re-examining) career opportunities/past jobs; family needs; retirement thoughts; and discussing current events, sports, and passions we want to pursue. At this point in our lives we are, frankly, too old to fake it, and want to live out our best lives all the while with a heavy dose of humor, honesty, and curiosity. P.S….this is an R-rated podcast (we tend to swear a lot, but not at each other).

We have posted five episodes so far and having fun! You can find it on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Iheartradio, and Amazon Audible.

If you have a listen, let us know what you think.

Lastly, Craft Napa 2023 registration opened a few weeks ago, and will take place Jan 12-15, 2023. It is entirely virtual this next January due to what is expected to be a strong flu season coupled with a new COVID variant. To preview all of the workshops, this is a good page to visit.

Do you have big Thanksgiving Day plans? My BFF from high school’s little sister is starring with Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man” on Broadway next week! We so wish we could join my friend’s family in NYC to see her, but we are tired after so much noise and upheaval here, and looking forward to a quiet day together in our home. I’m probably going to cook a couple of Cornish hens, make a charcuterie board, and call it a day. 

From our house to yours, have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Pokey

Whoa…it’s over already?!  I don’t think any of us could have expected the continued rollercoaster of the pandemic in its second year. But I have to say, upon reflection, 2021 was a great year for me overall—personally, workwise, and in a number of quilty ways.

A short retrospective:

January 1^st— I did something completely out of my comfort zone and I got on Match.com. I met a few interesting people online and had some great discussions. I went on three socially distanced first dates in all.

The 1^st guy I took a hike with in Napa and realized quite quickly that even though I am moderate in my politics and open for discussions and debates, he was very extreme in his views. (I couldn’t hightail it down that hill fast enough!)

The 2^nd guy whom I thought was promising (also in the arts industry!) stood me up…at his own art gallery up valley. He ghosted me, too, when I texted him asking where he was. I still laugh about this, (but wont be recommending his gallery to friends or colleagues)!

3^rdguy…I read his profile while on the elliptical and couldn’t stop laughing—it was funny, warm, and self-deprecating. He is a Director in a hospital system in Northern CA, and after one of his volunteer shifts to help people get vaccinated in the early days of COVID, we met at Starbucks in downtown Napa. With coffee in hand, we walked along the Napa River. It was a quick, 20-minute coffee date; he needed to get home to his youngest daughter still in high school.

I didn’t think that date would go anywhere, but we both have strong New England ties and a deep-seated, obsessive love for the New England Patriots. That next day (January 24^th), Tom Brady (now the Tampa Bucs QB) was playing the Packers. We texted during the entire game from our respective homes, commenting on the plays, and on Tuesday (the 26^th), I met him at his hospital for lunch. We drove to a Mexican restaurant, ordered take-out, sat in his car while we waited for our order, and watched/debated our favorite SNL skits on Youtube. We took our lunch and ate it in a windowless conference room at his hospital.  Despite how sterile the room was, eating take-out on Styrofoam plates and being socially distanced, we were simply caught up in each other. That felt like our first date, and when we said goodbye, he walked me to my car, hugged me, and we shared a small kiss, which will forever be engrained in my memory.

I think we both knew at that point: we found our person. A month later, we got engaged. Crazy, right? But it was a done deal. We just knew.

What else happened…

The first online event Craft Napa Uncorked at Home took place over a two-week period in January. It was such an experiment with the programming but it thankfully went over so well, we had another edition (Harvest at Home) in September. I think it truly was something we all needed during this pandemic—to safely create, connect, and have a glass (or two) of wine over Zoom with each other while creating art.

I had a skin cancer diagnosis in April, and had a benign cancer removed from my face via a Moh’s surgery procedure. It was no big deal, but it left a scar (a much bigger deal to my vain self). It is a battle scare of sorts (that I can cover up), but it reminds me how I need to be much more careful here on in.

In April, I started working with Michael McCormick, publisher of Quiltfolk magazine; I am an editorial advisor and help select the line-up and edit each issue. He has some exciting plans for the future, and it is good to be dabbling my toes in the magazine waters again!

In 2021 I got to meet (and get) two amazing step-daughters: both smart, funny, and talented in their own rights. In June I had two teenage girls (my youngest step-daughter and her best friend) living with me for a few weeks. That was fun, and also a learning curve for me. (I didn’t know teenagers slept in so much!!!) I worried they were staying in their room because I was scary to them. Turns out it’s just what teenagers do.

I got an additional dog, too (one of Patrick’s). She is sweet, docile, inquisitive and desperately wants to be a part of the pack (Tyrion’s protests notwithstanding). Can you spot the dog? (She’s a little camouflaged on the bed.)

I got married in August, and despite a pandemic, people showed up. It was an outdoor wedding at our home, and there were quilts everywhere. This was the highlight of my year and one of the best memories I think I will ever have.

There is this…

And this.

And then this…

And finally this.

As the sun sets today, the last day of 2021, we lost a very bright light in Betty White. I am grateful for her gift to all of us: her self-deprecating humor, wit, her advocacy for animals, her deep love for her husband, and overall grace and class. We could all take a page from her playbook!

Wishing you a GREAT 2022.

Xo,

Pokey

P.S. “Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps lifeinteresting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.” ~ Betty White

I wont mince words. It’s been more than six months since I have blogged, and I got married!

Very simply, I met the guy of my dreams in January, his name is Patrick McHugh: funny, self-deprecating, the best dad ever, smart, and extremely caring. I referred to him in my previous post (way back in February).

I met him for coffee the last day of Craft Napa (January 23rd); one week later we told each other we loved each other, three weeks later we were engaged. We set the date for August 14, and despite all of the fire/drought/heat threats…it was the absolute perfect day.

–

I made him a quilt (above and behind us, about our relationship), which I gave to him the night before during “Happy Hour” in the barn. (I’ll post more about the quilt in a later post.) All pictures in this post by caitlinoreillyphotography.

And a slew of quilters took the call to action and arrived with quilts to adorn the ceremony. 

Cindy’s daughters (my BFF from high school) gave me away.

Tyrion was my ring bearer, along with his new best friend, a new nephew of mine, Bromley. (Judy Coates Perez is holding him. I’m pretty sure he wants to live with her.)

Quilter, art teacher, author, and fabric designer, Carrie Bloomston was our amazing officiant. I asked her if she’d be interested and she jumped– and in usual Carrie Bloomston fashion– hit it out of the park with her words and touches on the ceremony. Just incredible and so personal.

I didn’t know how to tackle this post; there is so much emotion writing this, and it’s been so long since I have posted anything. I honestly never truly thought I’d get married again, but it happened for me a decade after being alone/divorced. I am incredibly grateful. For anyone out there thinking they may never find anyone again, have hope. Keep looking. 

I will write more later about the wedding…there is too much to pack into one post, but I’ll close with this video that Erik Holland, videographer made. It’s 5 minutes and I will watch this every day for the rest of my life. 🙂 

It’s been nearly six months since I have written a blog entry. I’ve been neglectful, but in my defense it was a tough ending to the latter half of 2020. On top of COVID (constant); fire threats (constant); power outages (another constant); record heat (109 degrees *at night* on September 7^th); a personal betrayal in a relationship… I, simply put, felt flooded. Hoda Kotb coined a great phrase: “When someone is asking more than I can give or making me uncomfortable during this COVID year, I simply tell them, “I feel flooded.”

That was me. I just felt flooded.

What saved me was pivoting Craft Napa to an online event, and those nearly daily IG Lives I have been doing: interviewing people nearly every day since the end of March 2020. I did not realize how many people were in my shoes: isolated and quarantining alone, and craving online connection, like me. I feel a lot of gratitude that people would watch those IG Lives, let alone join Craft Napa, which, surprisingly, morphed into a two-week event due to demand. I do feel like we created a sense of community and connection, and it was what kept me going.

I made another change this year on January 1^st. I decided to take matters in my own hands and create an online dating profile. I was super wary about this (have you listened to the podcast “Dirty John”?). After what I thought was some careful initial vetting, I took a hike with someone who told me (after the insurrection of January 6^th) he’d vote for Trump all over again. I could not get down that hill fast enough and never see that dude again. The next guy…he stood me up…and get this…at his own art gallery! And just when I thought I should take my profile down and resign myself to being that aging old lady living with a lot of cats…I stumbled upon this profile one Saturday morning:

I love yoga, hiking and Pilates….just kidding…

I’m the guy you saw in line at CVS buying feminine products at 10 pm because both girls forgot to tell me we ran out until 9:43, when it became an emergency….

I’m an engineer whose bad at math but according to Myers Briggs I’m rich in emotional intelligence (actually I’m just lucky to have been surrounded by amazing peers throughout my career). I’m a published author with poor grammatical skills (publisher had to assign two editors to fix me) and I’ve managed to raise two amazing teenage girls (they live with me full time) with little to no idea on what I was doing 89% of the time ….I’m as comfortable wearing a tool belt as I am an apron (love to cook), I find ironing strangely relaxing but I can’t sew or knit, my levels of estrogen can only carry me so far.

If you love drinking margaritas in the backyard on a Saturday afternoon, we’re headed in the right direction.

I don’t have a felony record, STD’s, bankruptcies, or lawsuits directed at me and I would appreciate if you didn’t either (unless you’re ridiculously drop dead gorgeous and then maybe the felony was simply a misunderstanding)?

To conclude I’m looking for a woman whose experienced life and despite having scars is stronger for it…bonus points if you know what day and time the love boat came on and what show followed it? And if you don’t know what being classified as either a Mary Ann or a Ginger means…you’re too young.

One last thing, If we match and begin to text back and forth please please do not send me nude pics, I have children….unless they are classy like art, then maybe it’s okay, but they must be classy!!

Oh, and thanks to working in a hospital I’ve gotten the vaccine!!

I liked his profile, and after he got back to me, we took a socially-distanced walk along the Napa River, coffees in hand. That didn’t seal the deal; it was the next day when we spent the entire afternoon texting during the Bucc’s football game. We are both Patriots fans (him being from New Hampshire), and we laughed throughout the game via texts. We have been dating for about a month ever since, and we are having the best time.

After you meet someone with whom you know you click, you know what you want (hence the collaged letter art at the top of this post). If COVID taught me anything, it’s to make your time purposeful and not to waste it. That is my lesson and wish for you… don’t waste any time when you find the right person for you. And spend your time making the art of your dreams and what you want to make.

Patrick told me he wants to make a quilt together. He has a degree in construction engineering, after all.  I think this will be a fun collaborative task; I don’t think he will have a problem with pressed, open seams.

Wishing you a good start to 2021. Spend your time doing what you love and doing it with the people you love,

~Pokey

.

The past month in this year of the pandemic has been the most trying. Since the unprecedented dry lightening event of August 15th, 2.5 million acres have burned in my beloved home state. Today marks the 26th straight day of the worst smoke and air quality the Bay Area has ever seen on record. This past weekend, Napa spiked to 109 degrees (an all-time record), and my power was shut off twice–albeit briefly. (I don’t have air conditioning, by the way, so it was extremely uncomfortable to try and get any relief, even with a fan.)

The smoke has been so awful and thick and frankly, choking, even the birds couldn’t fly. These turkey vultures just sat on my neighbor’s property on these young vines trying to find some relief. I put out several five-gallon buckets of water at my place for them.

Add to this that I was also under a “red flag warning”…meaning in addition to the threat of power shut-offs, high temps, and smoke that was as damaging to your lungs as smoking 20 packs of cigarettes a day, Napa and the Bay Area were under a high wind warning. High winds + high temps + existing fires + dry brush (fuel for future fires) = we were all ready to evacuate. Napa and surrounding counties have been extremely on edge and always on alert, all hours of the day.

This past Tuesday, the smoke was so thick at my place it never got light out and my flood lights stayed on all day. I snapped this at 8:30 in the morning:

If the pandemic and the fires/smoke didn’t feel predatory enough, I also have an unwelcome neighbor–a mountain lion. I caught him on my camera this past winter hanging out on my art barn porch around midnight, but he’s been a more frequent guest, and has been hunting/killing domestic animals in my immediate neighborhood. Here he is caught on camera on my neighbor’s patio this past week. He is truly a beautiful, magnificent animal, but we are hoping Fish & Game will safely trap and transport him to another, more rural locale. (And given the unhealthy air plus this threat, my animals have been inside for over a week and only go outside for supervised bathroom breaks…they are so bored.)

So…the stress of this time of unprecedented fires–which the entire west coast is experiencing right now–has got me thinking most especially about trying to find the positive in the negative. Because there HAS to be an end in sight after what has been an exceptionally trying year psychologically, financially, and socially. 

If there was any year to try your hand at art journaling and trying to figure out how to manage your mental health, I think 2020 is calling. A couple of months ago I was trying to brainstorm with Gina Lee Kim an art journaling class for Craft Napa, because she is really excellent at art journaling, and using art and imagery to work through problems. I loved this art journal page she made that she shared during a FaceTime brainstorm session:

The movement in this…the tension between the up and down, the light vs. dark, the interplay between the two…I thought this would be a great class for Craft Napa to help people process all they are feeling this year. 

So with that in mind, if I was to make a little Highs & Lows, an up/down journal right now, the positive that is rising above all of the stress I have listed above would be counterbalanced by the beauty and benevolence of the following:

• Kindness of neighbors. There is a gentleman in Napa by the name of Scott Sedgley. He is a retired fire fighter and fire captain, and is running for mayor for the city of Napa.  He knows I don’t live in the city limits and can’t vote for him but he heard I was having problems hooking up Maybel to my car with the threat of evacuating, and he told me next time I have problems, just call him and he will come over and help me hook up. How kind is that?

• Next Door App– A lot of people lost their homes on the other side of Napa in the Lake Berryessa region. They are looking for clothing and furniture while displaced and now temporarily renting rooms and apartments until they get on their footing again. Everyone is pitching in to help give them things. It feels good to help pitch in and feel useful during a time that is so isolating.

• I am very grateful to Jim…who flew out this week and helped me through what’s been a pinnacle of this pandemic with the fires and smoke. When it got so dark and smokey, he remarked that if I had texted him how bad it was here, he wouldn’t have believed me. Since he’s been here he helped me daisy chain the generators to Maybel for power, as well as manually cleaned the inside of my car of all the ash (which is everywhere here). I didn’t ask…I just woke up and it was done. 🙂

• I am grateful for work that is gratifying: the Craft Napa website for registration goes live on Tuesday! It has been wonderful to be focused on work–a good kind of work that I love to do–and take my mind off of what is happening outside and beyond my control.

Wishing everyone–especially those up and down the west coast–some peace and that we can all collectively breathe easier very, very soon.

~Pokey

In less than two weeks the registration will be LIVE for Craft Napa: Uncorked at Home–35 workshops over the course of four days with 19 teachers in January 2021. As this will be the first virtual event we are hosting, I have been doing a lot of research into the best formats, and also taken a lot of online workshops myself to see what it’s like to be a student. For me, it’s been awesome. I love being at home and having all my stuff right there (and the voyeur in me likes peeking into other people’s studios). 😉 

I have also decided–once I get the registration up for Craft Napa 2021–I am going to teach an online workshop (or two) later this fall. It’ll be a surface design class that I have taught in the past in the barn that I’ll adapt to an online format. I feel as though if I am going to ask teachers to work at achieving the best lighting, Internet, audio equipment, etc., well then I should dip my toes in the water and do it too so I understand and can help them problem solve anything well before January.

So here’s my question: In prepping for a fun and meaningful virtual (live) event where you’ll learn something and also still feel a sense of community, I ask you…have you taken any online workshops? How has the format and experience been for you? What has worked, and what do you feel could use some improvement? Did you go away feeling happy and you got what you wanted from the class? No need to go into specifics re: teachers, just the general format and experience.

Thanks for taking time to answer, if you are able to.

Stay safe out there!

Pokey

Oh 2020…how you continue to challenge us. This year proves to continue to be eventful.  Earlier this month, I woke up on a Sunday morning around 5:00 AM to the most incredible dry lightening show I had ever seen in my life. It immediately put me (and my dogs) on alert, and concerned something was going to spark near me, I packed my bags, just in case, and later that day I hitched my car to my trailer. I was ready to go.

I thought that fire that was erupting was just over the hill from me, but it turns out that was near Lake Berryessa, rather far away, and was spilling into Vacaville. It was one of four fires that continue to burn in Northern CA. 

It’s a dry time of year in California as it’s fire season. I’m on alert. I am also thinking and praying for those in the Gulf and are victims of Hurricane Laura. These are strange times.

During all of this, I distracted myself very well: I loaded the preview for the workshops for Craft Napa 2021: Uncorked at Home. 🙂

I think that even though this will be a virtual event next January (via Zoom and some pre-recorded content), it will still be a lot of fun. I am super excited about the line-up of workshops and teachers. There are 35 workshops with 19 teachers this time around.

Here’s another aspect that will be different from the past: instead of a swag tote upon arrival in Napa, you’ll get a Craft Napa swag box (if you sign up for 3+ workshops) in advance (shipped to U.S. residences only). And on Cyber Monday (November 30) we will be hosting our Artist Market, virtually with our teachers. Order more materials, art, or supplies from them, and I will pack them in your Craft Napa box, and ship to you in mid-December in plenty of time for your workshops in mid-January. 

Craft Napa 2021 registration will open September 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM Pacific.

We will also be hosting an art swap, but we want to hear from you and know what you’d like to swap with other Craft Napans!

Would you take this survey? It’s just one question and will take you less than a minute. 

Stay safe every one,

Pokey

In the last blog post I shared some finds I discovered in my Instagram Live interviews during this pandemic (to date I have conducted 115 interviews with artists and quilters since March 28th).

5 fun discoveries:

1. Melanie Testa is doing her share of mask-making during this pandemic in her Brooklyn apartment. For $20 you buy a handmade mask, and she makes another mask for someone in her NYC community: an essential worker or someone in need. So it’s a two-for-one price and way to pay it forward–she’s doing something good and you are too!
2. I have not made Clammy quilt yet; I’ve been worried about the curved piecing, but Latifah Saafir has taken that worry away.
   

   Quilt by Latifah Saafir, featured on her website. Check out her shop!

   Latifah Saafir has the clammy templates available in different sizes! They are available for individual purchase as well, just check out her shop. This is the next quilt top on deck I will make.
3. Jennifer Sampou’s latest fabric line for Robert Kaufman just dropped this past Friday, called Spring Shimmer. She pulled over on the side of the road on Highway 101 to share it with me, and we had a good laugh about it.This line is truly gorgeous and features butterflies.
4. This next find I saw on an ad on Instagram, and I fell in love with them: Applipops! With the set of metal circles that snap into each other, you can now easily make perfect circles for needle-turn appliqué (or cheat like me and fuse them down rather than stitching them). They are affordable and will last you a lifetime. Here’s some I have made for one of my Maybel quilts:
5. And last but not least…I think we are all feeling a little out of sorts this year. No better creature can express displeasure than a cartoon cat by artist Melissa Averinos. She’s now making stationary cards with a number of greetings with disgruntled cats or cats with cat-titude. Go check out her store to snap them up!

Lastly…I’ve been working pretty much around the clock to get this next (virtual) edition of Craft Napa: Uncorked at Home ready. We are shooting for the date of August 17th for the class previews to be available.

Registration will go live in September. This has been a challenge and a learning curve, but I am vowing it will be fun. I have a lot of little touches that I hope will make this still feel like a retreat and community-based experience even though we will all be at home. If you haven’t signed up for the Craft Napa newsletter, here’s the link. and you will find out about everything there first.

Have a great week,

Pokey

I’ve had a lot of wonderful interactions online these past few months during this pandemic; mostly in the form of interviews through Instagram Lives (I’ve done 106 to date). We’ve had honest–sometimes scary, sometimes sad– “coronacoaster” chats about what we are all going through during Covid-19, and what it is doing to our businesses, our art, and our livelihoods. Through these chats, I’ve also discovered some incredible businesses and artists pivoting to offer their goods during a pandemic. Here are a few of my favorites that I highly recommend:

1. Cultured Expressions, a retail store in New Jersey founded by Lisa Shepherd Stewart specializing in African fabrics, embellishments, mask-making kits, and goods. Lisa’s opened up her store for in-person shopping again, but the coolest thing she is doing for those of us who can’t visit, is offering online appointments that you can schedule in advance and shop virtually with her! Check out this pieced patchwork top I recently got (it’s being quilted as we speak):
2. Looking for some summer reading? Thanks to Hollis Chatelain for the connection, I interviewed author Barbara Brown Gathers who penned The Secrets of Hattie Brown. Barbara spent decades doing historical research into her family history, which hailed from Virginia and North Carolina, and authored a story based on her grandmother whose own family was emancipated from slavery. It is a fascinated perspective on a piece of history sparsely discussed or documented: what it was like to be black and live in the South post-emancipation.
3. Want some FUN glasses/ eye couture for your next socially distanced pool party? One of Hollis Chatelain’s daughters, Karen moved to Los Angeles to make it in Hollywood dressing up the stars (and she’s succeeded…she got Beyonce to don her eyewear)! I bought a set of sunglasses  for myself and love them. I just need somewhere to go! Visit https://burkinabae.com. (She has readers too for those of us with aging eyes and who want to look fashionable while sewing.)
4. Judy Coates Perez has some things up her sleeve (soon to be announced) but has also recently offered up some fun Dia De Los Muertos Embroidery kits that are super colorful and cute that you can personalize with your own embroidery:
5. If you hadn’t heard yet, Sheila Frampton Cooper is BACK in California from France  (yay for us), and she is offering online workshops. Here’s a snapshot of our online IG conversation:I am a huge fan of her both as a human and as an artist, and you can learn more of her recent online offerings here: https://www.fiberartworkshops.art
6. Need some new fabric in your life? Some wonderful fabric lines are about to DROP! I interviewed Marcia Derse, Natalie Barnes, and Carrie Bloomston for Windham Fabrics. Check out the Windham Fabrics website to see their collections that will be available soon.
7. Leslie Tucker Jenison also previewed her new line with Robert Kaufman: Warehouse District, available in early fall. It is a gorgeous line, and I was lucky enough to get my grasp fingers on some (and in a quilt that I will be sharing soon).
8. Free-motion quilt artist Teri Lucas authored her first book with C&T: Color, Thread, & Free-Motion Quilting: Learn to Stitch with Reckless Abandon. I received an advanced reader copy of the book but didn’t know that my quote for the book was going to be the sole quote on the back cover, though–nice surprise. 🙂 This book is truly worth adding to your book stash as it has a wealth of information on different thread weights and types–knowledge I was lacking.  

I will be doing another one of these  posts highlighting finds I stumble across during this pandemic. If you are an artist or quilt/craft business and want to share what you are doing to pivot during this pandemic, write a comment below, or email me at pokey@craftingalifellc.com.

A few days ago I drove Maybel (pronounced May-Bell) the Airstream down to Livermore to tape a segment for The Quilt Show at Alex Anderson’s house. Driving the 60-mile trek on busy highway 680 from Napa was more nerve-wracking than taping outdoors during COVID. (There were so many safety precautions and social distancing rules put in place for the taping, I felt safe making the trek.)

Here’s Maybel all glammed up after I parked her in front of Alex’s house. I made two “Scrappy Lappy” improv-pieced quilts, both combining my own hand-dyed fabrics with commercial prints. They are both a good size to put over yourself while sitting fireside when glamping.

I also made a Maybel quilt to hang on the door, as well as a fabric bunting, using cyanotype printing and baby goat stencils to represent Maybel’s “Baybels”–the four kids she gave birth to, and hence why she was as wide as an airstream while she was pregnant. (If unfamiliar with Maybel and her rescue story, visit the Goats of Anarchy rescue organization account on Instagram.)

Above is another angle (you can see the little Maybel dish towel I made hanging off the stove handle inside). 

While social distancing and masked up, Alex and I talked about a lot of things for the segment: my history of quilting and pivoting in this quilting industry; the fires and my 8-day-long evacuation from my home in Napa because of the fires (hence my buying a used Airstream in case I need to evacuate again); and I demonstrated cyanotype printing and playing with Applipops. (More on Applipops in a future entry.)

Here’s a peek inside the airstream to see my featured Maybel quilt for my bed. I also fused a couple of thermofax-printed Maybels onto pom-pom pillows for more color. It was really important to me that I make this little haven as cheerful as possible.

Quilting done by Joanna Marsh of Kustom Kwilting— thank you, Joanna!

I have known Alex for almost as long as I’ve been in this industry–21 years, and 15 years ago I taped a couple of segments for “Simply Quilts.” It was wonderful and refreshing to be in a low-key setting and reunite with an old  and highly respected friend in this industry. 

The night before the taping when I was styling the airstream, Tyrion clearly let me know he wanted to come be a guest as well (but he stayed behind). This picture below is now the screensaver on my iPhone:

Thank you, Alex for the honor of asking me to tape and being a part of the Quilt Show! I can’t express how wonderful it was seeing other people after being so isolated for four-plus months, and this segment gave me something to work on and surround myself with a lot of color and joy. 

The episode will air in early fall on The Quilt Show.

Now that this taping is over, I’m fully focused on Craft Napa: Uncorked at Home! Be sure to look for an announcement with the schedule of classes and dates for registration coming shortly. And in the meantime, I am still hosting Instagram Lives every weekday at 1:00 PM Pacific and interviewing guest quilters and artists.  I think I have done more than 100 interviews to date since COVID started. These Instagram interviews have been really uplifting for me during quarantining and keeping our collective spirits up.

Stay safe and creative everyone,

Pokey