I have been incredibly fortunate the last two (plus) years to work alongside some amazing individuals who have been nothing but family to me:

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I have loved being Chief Creative Officer at Quilts Inc., but I have been giving it a lot of thought lately, and have decided to be the Chief Creative Officer…of me.

Last week, I submitted my resignation, and after teary hugs with coworkers, and a wonderful meeting with Karey Bresenhan who has always been so supportive of me,  I departed, and am officially now my own CCO.

I resigned for no other reason than I am ready for a break after a lot of change in my life the past few years.

My bucket list over the next few months:

• See if I can train Tyrion, my new puppy to be a service dog, and go to hospitals to bring smiles to children’s faces.

• Finish the baby quilt for my great nephew who was born last October. (I hope to finish it before he turns five in 2018.)

• TRAVEL! To date, the roster for the next couple of months looks like this:

Hawaii next week, with a trip to San Francisco, Napa, Marin County, and Monterey the following week. Later in May, I’m heading to Costa Rica, and in June, I’m going to Zurich, Amsterdam, and London…where I will sit court side at Wimbledon (and eat strawberries and cream).

While I replenish my creative tank and embark on my Eat Pray Love adventure, I will always remain a friend of Quilts Inc. Although I am sitting Spring Market out, I will attend the Festivals…but as a civilian. 😉 And of course I am going to champion Festival’s Pet Project at the 40th anniversary of Quilt Festival this fall!

As I make this transition in my life, a picture from my childhood came to mind:

Above, I am at the helm of Freedom, the 12-metre racing yacht, which a few months later, won the America’s Cup in 1980. (Skipper Dennis Connor, my dad’s friend, is cheering me on behind me.)

I am ready to be the skipper of my own adventure.

Thanks to all of my quilting friends who have been so supportive of me over the last 14 years. I hope you’ll continue to read my blog and stay friends as I craft a new life.

With love,

Pokey

I interrupt your regularly scheduled Quilt Festival blogging to get a little personal this weekend. My quilting friend Cheryl Sleboda had a neat idea: to host a blog hop among art quilters who could share one quilt that a family member had made.

Here’s the blog hop schedule:

The “My Family Quilt” Blog Hop!
Oct 1. – Sylvia Lewis
Oct 3. – Deborah Massie Boschert
Oct 4. – Sheila Frampton-Cooper
Oct 5. – Pokey Bolton
Oct 6. – Frieda Anderson
Oct 7. – Lisa Chin
Oct 8. – Cheryl Sleboda

Meet the quilt maker of my family, my great-grandmother on my mother’s side, Julia Connor:

Coming from very meager means, my great grandmother (“Gram” to me) learned to triumph in her life by being very creative, resourceful, and generous. She quilted, made dolls, painted, and could basically take any bit of paper or fabric and fashion it into some kind of art.

When I was a little girl, I spent lots of time talking with her when she visited her daughter (my grandmother “Ruthie” who I called “Fooie” because I could not articulate my “R’s” as a little girl). A favorite past time was driving down to Fooie’s home where my brother and I would race into the my grandmother’s room where one of her mother’s quilts would be, nose dive onto the bed “to pull the quilt up to our noses,” and listen to all of the family gossip.

Over the years I had learned of the challenging life my great grandmother led, but she remained positive, determined to see the beauty in any situation.

The last time I saw my Gram was when she was 98 years old, living in a modest nursing facility outside of Eureka, CA. My mother, brother, and I went to visit her, and she shared with us her greatest and latest gift: mailed correspondence with another nursing home patient in Eugene, OR. I remember watching her elderly, papery hands lovingly trace the stickers on the outside of the envelope, commenting, “Look! Do you see how she added stickers with butterflies and lady bugs? How thoughtful!”

My Gram passed a year later at 99. She was a lovely woman to me, a positive force in my life, a glass-is-half-full type of person, teaching me that any hardship is surmountable if you have the right attitude.

Lucky for me, when I took a big brave step in my life and moved to Houston, I had one of my great grandmother’s quilts to accompany me. It is one of my most cherished treasures.

My (great) grandmother’s flower garden quilt, entirely hand pieced and stitched, and done so with a whole lot of love.

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I had the quilt on my bed for the first few months I was living in Houston, but Clarence (ever an energetic dog) proved to be too much for this quilt, so it is now retired to the sofa table in my family room where I’ve stacked a number of fragile quilts.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy it every once in a while…

And still snuggle under, making sure to bring the quilt all the way up to our noses!

I’ve attended the Long Beach show since its inception in 2008, both as an exhibitor and a member of the Quilts Inc. staff, and I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite memories from over the years. Warning: this is a people-centric (not quilt-centric) post!

• Editors on a Plane

2008

This was an especially hilarious memory. After a long day of editing in the Quilting Arts/Interweave office, we scurried home, grabbed our luggage, and took a late night transcontinental flight from Logan to Long Beach…where the editing fun didn’t cease. As soon as we took off, out came the red pens!

Helen Gregory and Barbara Delaney opting to not watch the FREE Direct TV on Jet Blue but rather edit. Again.

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• Touting an Extreme Manicure

2008

Alisa Burke sporting an extreme manicure with her lime green hands.

Alisa Burke was one of our founding artists at Make It University!, and with her workshops, successfully convinced quilters that paper and paint can be just as fun and exhilarating as fabric and thread.

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• Channeling My Inner “Chariots of Fire”

2008-2013

My morning solo runs in Long Beach, coupled with a music mix of Southern CA artists, made early mornings (typically dreaded at home) my favorite time of day.

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Every year, I ran the length of the beach to the pier and back before the show opened, and although I chose a Doors playlist over Vangelis, that quiet time running on the beach made me feel like I could outrun anything or handle any (possible) quilt mishap.

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• Getting By with the Help of My Friends

2009

From left to right: Jamie Fingal, Judy Coates Perez, Leslie Jenison, Pokey Bolton, Melanie Testa, and Jane LaFazio

I’ve gotten to know this crew pretty well, and the beauty of these prolific art quilters(besides their talent) is they are not cliquish, but rather inclusive–of everyone, embodying the spirit of the greater quilting community. (And they are pretty darn fun, too, as anyone who witnessed “Surviving the Runway” can attest.)

I got to marvel at and hug other quilt friends, too, like Maggie Winfield, who always dressed to the 9’s for the show:

2010

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And I got to know other artists who have a rather beautiful spirit:

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Sheila Frampton-Cooper

Julie Herman (left) of Jaybird Quilts

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• Show & Tell….I Got to Play, Too

2009

“This Thing Of Ours” by Pokey Bolton. My sister-in-law, Sally Murray posing with me in The Silver Screen exhibit.

With the Silver Screen exhibit I finally had a reason to turn my obsession for “The Sopranos” into a quilt.

Upon reflection in reading my narrative for this quilt (below)–given the passing of James Gandolfini–I wont see my silver screen wish come true, but it will always be my favorite  TV series!

My Narrative:

Fans of HBO’s “The Sopranos” know it isn’t just a TV show about wise guys. There’s a bit of Tony in all of us: impulsive and selfish; concerned friends will rat us out; living with the guilt of whacking others (so to speak); distrustful of those supposed to have our backs; and deep down, a little panicked that—in the end, and despite our best efforts—the ones we love most will fly away.

 Not only were heavy issues and the ensuing plot lines handled masterfully by David Chase and his posse of writers and actors, but the show was also hands-down funny. It’s no wonder millions of people waited patiently during the long hiatus between seasons to find out what would happen to the Don and his crew next. I can only hope that the intensely disappointing, anticlimactic last minute of the series finale was conceived for one reason, and that is…the movie’s getting made! Here’s to “The Sopranos” making it to the silver screen.

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• Witnessing A College Degree Put To Good Use

2010 (or 2011?)

My niece Lindsey Murray, a recent proud Boston College graduate in this shot, blowing hot air into a plastic dolphin. I think she passed out a couple seconds after I shot this.

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However it was the Long Beach show where my Lindsey bought her first quilt kit, and made her very first (of many) quilts:

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•  “Somebody Pinch Me: I Won! I Really Won!”

2013

Colleen from Redondo Beach rendered speechless when she realized she had the winning ticket for a new 550 model.

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Helping to host the Iron Quilter challenge was a total hoot (for full, in-depth coverage with LOTS of photos, visit this page). However, the best moment for me was watching a very lucky attendee win a new BERNINA. She was so shocked and grateful…I teared up.

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• Coming Home With Loot!

2013

My kitty, Khaleesi disapproves of my dog-themed fabric.

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What quilter doesn’t love to come home with gobs of fabric?

• Being With One of My Greatest Mentors

2013

Sittingwith Yvonne Porcella, Founder of SAQA, My Mentor, Cheerleader…and Friend.

Yvonne Porcella has been one of my biggest cheerleaders and supporters. Perfect example: years ago at a BERNINA retreat before a TV taping, she saw how stressed I was with segment preparation, cleared off a pool table in the hotel bar (and made it clear no one in the bar could play), assisted me in setting up my sewing machine, and helped me finish everything, all the while being careful not to slash the green pool table felt with her rotary cutter. It was wonderful to catch up with her at the Dinner@8 supper at the Hyatt.

Lastly…

Working alongside some of the best people I know.

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With Ruth Polanco, Show Director

2010

And with Lindsey Murray McLelland and Sally Murray of Interweave

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With love to Long Beach! I know it’s not on the roster for next year, but you never know what will happen down the line. Until we meet again…

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Well, maybe that header is a tad misleading…but I got you to read this far, right?

I owe the final entry on the QA TV taping that took place last week, and a little known show on PBS called Downton Abbey made it’s way on set, thanks to Cheryl Sleboda…

Me with my friend Cheryl Sleboda who taped a whopping five segments for this next season.

A fellow die-hard Downton Abbey fan, Cheryl demonstrated how she made small portraits of Downton Abbey characters based on her cartooning and sketching techniques. In the picture below (if you squint), you can get a glimpse of the steps she took to make portraits of Sybil, Edith,  Cora, and even the Dowager Countess!

Closest to Cheryl, you can see the “step-outs” to create Lady Mary.

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I also taped a segment on International Quilt Festival’s Pet Project to raise funds for Friends for Life, Houston’s premiere no-kill animal shelter. I am hoping thousands of PBS viewers  take my request to heart, and send in pet postcards for this next fall’s show (or better yet, come in person)!

Above I’m holding a postcard I made featuring my beloved Lou Lou.

I was so happy to get Sue Bliewiess to tape with us finally. A fellow Boston girl, she is very, very talented and makes the most adorable pet postcards. She did a lengthy segment, explaining her techniques for creating them.

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My friend Judy Coates Perez came back this season to tape two segments on dying and fabric painting, and she looked fantastic with her new Farah Fawcett hairdo!

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Linda McLaughlin taped a couple of segments, one on a variation of deconstructed screen printing (which was so cool and I will be trying this weekend), and a segment on “365 Days of 65” where she hand-stitched small quilt squares every single day during the year of her 65th birthday.

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Her newly adopted discipline of daily hand stitching inspired other finished works, including this black and white quilt that I was rather tempted to steal off the set…

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The very colorful Dianne Springer was a newbie to QATV, but she was a total pro on camera as she demonstrated how she takes scraps of fabrics to create a vibrant mailbox that will definitely set one apart from the neighbors!

Fellow thermofax screen passionista, Lynn Krawczyk was back this season, too, to demonstrate how to turn one’s love of surface design techniques into wearable art and home dec. projects.

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Silk dyer Marlene Glickman was back, too, to demonstrate a unique way of creating fabric collage using elusive bits of dyed sheers.

Modern Quilter Debbie Grifka demonstrated five small modern quilt projects that were so clever and that all can be completed in an afternoon. (By the look of my bangs in the shot below, it seems Judy Perez wasn’t the only one channeling Farah Fawcett!)

And lastly, Heather Jones was back this season to demonstrate other modern quilting techniques…some of which she will be demonstrating at Open Studios at International Quilt Festival/ Cincinnati next week! The guy between us is Mike Murphy, our Director. (He loves to ham it up.)

And speaking of behind-the scenes folks…here are another couple of guys that I stare at all day:

Floor director Billy with camera man, Brandon (and Hulk Hogan in the middle).

Have a great weekend, everybody!

I actually can’t believe I wrote that subject line…Season 12 already!? According to my calculations, that means we have taped 143 episodes over the last 11 seasons. This number, ironically, means “I love you” in text speak. How appropriate…because I love my hosting job and watching guests get a chance to share their amazing talents with a greater audience.

For season 12, we have taped two days of guest segments so far, and not even the constant misting of snow or bone-chilling temps in spring could dampen the energy in the studio.

Some highlights so far:

Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. fame came to demonstrate several projects for us, and also shared her new fabric line debuting for Moda Fabrics at Spring Quilt Market. Stores are going to gobble this line up, it is simply striking!

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Barbara Schneider braved driving from Chicago to Cleveland in a snow storm to tape several segments. I am a big fan of Barbara’s, and I’m hopeful that I have convinced her to be a featured artist in Open Studios at our Chicago Quilt Festival in June. She does spectacular surface design work, including creating vibrant, abstract fabric interpretations of her nature photographs.

See what I mean? She had yards and yards of this stuff on set.

Ana Buzzalino and her bright smile were back to dazzle with five segments for QATV this season. She is one of the kindest, most generous art quilters I have come across, and she told me on set that she is teaching for International Quilt Festival/Houston in the fall!  Believe me, if you are coming to Festival, you will absolutely want to take one of her classes! She is extremely talented (and is a very patient teacher).

The quilt above is one of Ana’s and it was at one time totally white. She pieced, appliqued, and quilted it (all in white fabrics and threads), and then took the plunge into a dye bath and dyed the entire piece orange. She is a brave soul!

Pauline Salzman came to tape two segments, too, including one on how she created pet postcards for our Festival Pet Project (which will run for two more years). She is a pretty hilarious person, and pushes the envelope so to speak, so it was very, very hard for me to keep it together during her segments and not laugh the entire way through. (When you see the segment where she shares her quilt of a close up of Bruce Springsteen and what she actually said on camera about his anatomy, you will understand why.) She made MANY postcards for the taping, most of which will go towards our Festival Pet Project this fall!

She said she is addicted to making postcards now because of the project…

And lastly, Luana and Sophie Rubin from eQuilter came to tape. As seasoned guests, they were great on camera and shared many inspiring quilts and fabrics!

And Sophie was pretty charming when she explained different ikat fabrics from different cultures…

Two days down, and three to go. More soon!

Virginia Spiegel’s  A Year of Art   launches tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12 and continues on Wednesday, February 13.  It’s two days of fiberlicious fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Here’s the line-up of contributing artists:

Pamela Allen
Pokey Bolton
Linda Colsh
Jane Davila
Vivika DeNegre
Jane Dunnewold
Jamie Fingal
Karen Stiehl Osborn
Yvonne Porcella
Virginia A. Spiegel
Laura Wasilowski

I am contributing this market tote I made, and filling it with lots of goodies:

I’m stuffing this tote with the last three seasons of Quilting Arts TV, an assortment of books and magazines from Interweave, a fat stack of screened and printed fabric created by Yours Truly, among other fiber treats.

Furthermore, I will match the winning bid for my tote, so that’s double the amount for ACS!

I recently had a short interview with Virginia Spiegel which can be found here.

Mark your calendars for tomorrow and bookmark this page to win some great art to benefit the American Cancer Society!

I hope everyone enjoyed some rest and relaxation with loved ones this past holiday season! I had a very mellow, quiet, and restorative break; the highlight was visiting my mother for a few days just outside of Las Vegas where she lives.

Above is a view of “The Strip” in the distance, just beyond her rose bushes in her backyard. This is as about as close as I ever get to The Strip, because the only gambling I can handle is hedging my bets on how well I will free-motion stitch a quilt I have to make for someone!

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Bogie on his very own quilt.

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My mother picked up quilting again exactly one year ago, and she has been prolific ever since. I think she showed me about 10 quilts she has made in the past year alone, and the one above is one she made for her rescue pooch, Bogie.

From left to right: Dianna, Bonnie, Kathy (my mom), and Sonia.

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Just after I landed, my mom told me she wanted me to meet her quilting friends, so off to the “Sewing Club” we went, which is a room in her local community center. It’s a pretty slick quilt/sewing facility outfitted with massive cutting tables and ironing stations, a long arm machine, and at least a dozen Janomes and Berninas. I was very impressed!

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My mom’s dogs, Tee and Bogie, resting on two of my mother’s quilts.

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On the first full day of my visit, my mom and I enjoyed a pumpkin facial (which smelled lovely!) and a deep tissue massage (which hurt like hell!) at a local day spa. Afterwards, we visited my mom’s favorite independent quilt store, Quiltique, where I loaded up on fabrics, and we spent the rest of the time quilting in pajamas while the dogs supervised. (I even caught the remake of “King Kong” with Jack Black, but I couldn’t watch the last 10 minutes and chose to go to bed because there was no way I could watch King Kong die.)

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By the time I left Las Vegas, I had finished this tote that will be a part of a fundraising effort. (More on that soon.)

Today is January 1, 2013. A new day, a new year, a new chance. Here’s to cramming in as many positive, healthful, creative, friend-filled, and quilt-filled moments as we can.

Happy New Year,

What!? You don’t believe in Santa?! Shame on you! OK, let’s pretend for a minute you do believe in this guy…

Besides asking Santa to come to our Quilt Festivals next year, here  are nine other things I recommend asking St. Nick for the holidays. (Just click on all the photos to take you to each product website.)

1. The Portable Gidget II Sewing Table by Arrow

The Gidget II is sturdy, has an adjustable, drop-down platform so your sewing machine is flush with the table top, stores easily, is relatively inexpensive, and requires no assembly. Here it is in action in my living room:

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2. A suitcase of Auriful thread. This really requires no explanation:

3. A Mack truck full of Marcia Derse fabric. Who could ever have enough of this stuff?

And Marcia’s fabric makes for fine home accents and upholstered furniture!

One of Louie’s last photos, posing on a Marcia Derse-upholstered mini rocker.

4. A  stitch retreat with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn

What is not to adore about these two?

And they are teaching in Puglia, Italy next May! I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind stitching poolside drinking chianti…

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5. A weekend trip to Art Cloth Studios in San Antonio with Jane Dunnewold. Talk about a playground!

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6. A new Bernina sewing machine! I saw this 750 series machine’s debut at Fall Quilt Market and was blown away by all it can do.

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7. And heck, since we are asking for premium gifts, let’s ask Santa for a sit-down, mid-arm machine, too,  like HandiQuilter’s Sweet Sixteen. I have played on this machine and if you like to free-motion quilt mid-to-large-sized quilts, this is a dream.

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8. Now on to stocking stuffers: All quilters need a set of reliable, sharp scissors, and I really love the rotary cutters and scissors by Havel’s. Always sharp, always reliable, and well priced:

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9. And no studio is complete without a studio pet. This little gal can fit into a stocking, too, although she would probably squirm a bit.

I am thinking of adopting her.

“My little dog. A heartbeat at my feet.”–Edith Wharton

Today was Day One of our next season’s taping of Quilting Arts (airing late January of next year), and it was an industrious day. Eight segments down, 31 to go!

Here I am with Penny McMorris (one of my favorite people) of Electric Quilt Company and a new acquaintance, AnneMarie Cheney, who started her local Modern Quilt Guild chapter in Columbus, OH.

AnneMarie brought her baby! Our first baby on the set! Oh, he was so adorable…I think we need an entire baby episode next season. Calling all babies with quilting mamas…

Heather Jones from the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild came to tape, too. Wait until you see her quilt!

Ellen Anne Eddy taped three segments today. If you only know her through her art and her books, you should meet her in person. She is absolutely hilarious. In this shot she is showing me how she stores her keys (and other things) on her person.

Not only is she extremely talented, but she is cute, too…

And when not on set, she could be found entertaining Sophie Rubin in the green room. (Sophie and her mother Luana from eQuilter.com came to tape today!) Here, Ellen and Sophie are free-motion quilting a little horse drawing.

Sophie with her free-motion stitched drawing. Sophie is growing up so quickly…

More from the taping tomorrow. I am in need of some food and a little sleep.

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July celebration yesterday! I spent my day quilting in my backyard:

My portable Gidget 2 sewing table that I wheeled onto my back porch and set my Bernina on for an afternoon of stitching.

I thought about past July 4th celebrations, many of which I had spent on the water on my dad’s boat in the San Francisco Bay as a kid, and got the idea to make mini nautical quilt flags…

These were so fun to make, and only took a few hours!

Materials:

• 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of card stock

• Tracing pen or pencil

• 9″ x 12″ pieces of fabric. You will need one for the front, and one for the back. I chose plain white fabric for the front of the flag so I could thread paint designs as well as appliqué colorful pieces of fabrics.

• Fabric scraps for fusible appliqué.

• Fusible webbing (I used WonderUnder.)

• 9″ x 12″ piece of low loft batting or sheet of craft felt

•Fabric scissors, paper scissors

• Thread of choice (I used black thread.)

•Sewing machine with free-motion capabilities

• Iron and ironing pad

• Wooden skewers

Optional:

• For thread-painted designs:  Small copy-right free illustrations from books, tracing paper, Sharpie pen, sewing pins. (If looking for copyright-free designs, look at the publications by Dover.)

• To make your flags curl: Stiffy Fabric Stiffener by Plaid, clothes pins, small paintbrush, small plastic container

Directions:

1. Draw flag shapes that are roughly 3″ x 5″ in size onto cardstock. I chose shapes found in nautical flags.

2. Fuse the top and backing fabric to the batting, and using card stock and a pen, trace the shapes onto the front fabric.

3. Cut fabrics that have fusible webbing applied to the back into small shapes and fuse to the front of the flags.

4. Now the fun part: stitching! Take your sheet of flags to your sewing machine and with a 1/4″ foot and black thread, outline the flags with a straight stitch. Stitch around each flag a few times to give them a little doodling flair. Then with a free-motion foot and your feed dogs dropped, doodle around your appliquéd designs.

5. If you want to create thread-painted designs, trace the designs onto tracing paper, cut loosely around the traced design with your paper scissors, and pin to the top of the flag. Using a free-motion foot with your feed dogs dropped, begin stitching the design. Once done, take a sewing pin and carefully scrape away the tracing paper from the stitched design.

6. When all of your flag shapes are fully stitched, carefully cut them out.

7. Now it’s time to add a sleeve for your wooden skewer. Simple cut a scrap of fabric (with no fusible on it) the width of the flag side you want the skewer to go through. Using a 1/8″ seam allowance, straight stitch the fabric scrap to the front of the flag, right sides together. Cut the excess thread, then pull the sleeve to the back of the flag and stitch it in place again using a scant 1/8″ seam allowance. Once finished, cut excess sleeve fabric as close to the stitched line as possible.

Poll sleeve has already been stitched on the front of the flag. Here it has been pulled around to the back, and is being stitched in place to create the tiny sleeve for the wooden skewer to slide through.

8. Stick your wooden skewers through the sleeves and set the flags into a little glass jar filled with buttons, beads, or other embellishments that will keep the flags in place.

9. If you want your flags to stay curled like they are blowing in the wind, you can use Stiffy Fabric Stiffener. Simply pleat the flag and use clothes pins to keep the pleats in place. Set the flags over a tiny plastic container, and apply the Stiffy Fabric Stiffener with a paintbrush. Paint the flags liberally, making sure to get into the creases. Let them dry overnight, then remove the clothes pins.

Example of curled flag on the lower left (the red and white striped flag).

All in all making these mini quilted flags was so much fun, and I am going to make fresh ones each season. Next up: a bouquet of fall harvest flags– pumpkins, witches on brooms, a full harvest moon, thread-painted candy corn images… the list goes on and on!

When I was finished with my mini quilt flag project yesterday, it was time to relax on my new chaise lounge with a chilled margarita. I love summer…

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