Kathy Delaney Applique Quilts

One of the most frustrating thing about all this wonderful social technology is keeping up with it! Whether its keeping up with all the various Internet group digests, Facebook postings or the various interesting Blogs, how does one keep up?!  Well, I just found out about the most interesting idea!   There is a place you can go online, FeedMyInbox.com, enter the URL of the Blog you want to keep track of, your email address, and this site will let you know when something new is posted. How cool is THAT?! I plan to enter in my favorite Blogs and I hope you add mine!  I can’t possibly post every day to this Blog. This seems like a great way for you to know when I do!

Recently I have been working on a Schirenschnitte type of Album quilt. Naturally it is applique! I’m hoping to debut the quilt at the end of the year. I’m beginning with a piece of freezer paper and folding it to make my appliqué “snowflake.” My what interesting results one can get! I’m adding a twist to the block and I’m using lots of red. (You know, red is my neutral.)  So, as I get this quilt put together I’ll post pictures here.

You know, when I came home from Baltimore on the Prairie I was flying high from the fun of the weekend! (And I’m still very excited!) But something else happened that was very cool.

I belong to a group of quilters who meet weekly to quilt in the Legler Barn Museum in Lenexa, KS.  We quilt for others and the fee paid goes to helping the Lenexa Historical Society.  Well, we were asked if we could bring quilts to Strong City, KS for a festival and quilt show they’d be having over the same weekend I was at Baltimore on the Prairie.  So I contributed 3 quilts for the show.

When I got the quilts back I discovered one of my quilts had won Viewers’ Choice!  This was quite a surprise!  I had begun the quilt in January of 1998 and had been hand quilting it since 1999.  (I know, I’m slow.)  I finally gave up and in 2008 asked the Legler Barn Quilters to help me get the second half finished already.

The pattern is from Piece O’ Cake and is called “Walk in the Mountains.”  If you’re anything like me, after working on something for 11 years, you no longer see the specialness of it – at least I don’t.  This “win” comes as a huge surprise to me!  There were some wonderful quilts in that show!  So for mine to win Viewers’ Choice is all the more special!  Here’s the quilt “in progress.”  I haven’t had a chance to take a finished picture yet.

Until next time…

Kathy

Walk in the Mountains

On Friday I went to my husband’s Toastmasters meeting. Well, it wasn’t a usual meeting, actually. It was a special meeting with a speaker by the name of Charlie Plumb. Charlie was a POW in North Vietnam for 6 years toward the end of the war and he is the brother of one of the Toastmasters group my husband belongs to.

First of all, the speaking ability of Charlie was incredible. Both his subject and his presentation were fascinating.

He began by demonstrating to us the space he lived in (8′ x 8′) and exactly what that distance entailed – 3 paces from one wall to the opposite.

He told a story of a visit to his family some many years later and was at a local Kansas City restaurant, when he was approached by a gentleman who asked, “Are you Capt. Charles Plumb?” He named the aircraft carrier, the date Charlie was shot down, the plane Charlie flew when he was shot down – all details that seemed to astound Charlie. How would this stranger know all this about him? When Charlie asked, the man responded, “I packed your parachute.”

It was this meeting that allowed Charlie to thank the man for what ultimately was responsible for saving his life that day.

Well, the story brought the hair up on my arms and I got to thinking. Just how often do we get the opportunity to thank the people who make a difference in our lives, no matter how small? I know I don’t do it often enough.

I think it is very easy to just take for granted those people who “pack our parachutes.” So, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you – quilters whom I have met, taught, learned from, shared fabric with, developed quilting ideas with, developed friendships with — thank you for letting me into your lives, and thank you for coming into mine. I know I am very lucky to be doing what I do. And my luck is all because of YOU!

Kathy

Everyone has been so helpful with suggestions! Thank you so much. I’m still trying to figure this all out. One of the things I want to be able to do is add the ability to enlarge a photo. I’m researching that now. I can’t believe its that hard! But I am overwhelmed. So hang in there! I’m going to post the original block that everyone in my class was working on. We’ll see if I get that to enlarge for you. I bet there’s something I’m supposed to click…
Anyway, at some point very soon, there will be photos added from Baltimore on the Prairie on the website. My general pictures – outside my classroom – didn’t really turn out all that well. OK, I admit it, I was excited and they all turned out pretty fuzzy! BUT someone else took pictures and will be sending them to Tresa for posting. So watch the website – www.baltimoreontheprairie.tresajones.com – and you’ll gt to see lots more (better) pictures.

My class project and the BOTP Applique Conference logo

Hello World!

I have finally taken the plunge and so this is my first blog posting.  I hope you will join me here from time to time as we travel the quilting road together.

This past weekend I participated in the first annual Baltimore on the Prairie Appliqué Conference.

Over a year ago there was some chatter on the Baltimore Album Quilt yahoo group verbally wishing for an appliqué conference more centrally located than The Appliqué Academy in Williamsburg.  So Tresa Jones (my partner in the Annual Euphoric Appliqué and Quilting Getaway – euphoric because the chocolate bar opened on Friday evening and stayed open all weekend long) and I talked about the possibility of starting just such a conference.  We roped in Nancy Kerns who has been a participant or teacher at the Appliqué Academy since it began 15 years ago (this February will be the 15th meeting!).

So we began planning.  Well, the event finally took place and it far exceeded any of our wildest dreams!  I’ve been to many conferences, both as teacher and as student.  NEVER had I seen a standing ovation at the end.  The group was so generous is rewarding all 5 teachers (Nancy Kerns, Nadine Thompson, Jeanne Sullivan, Jan Carlson – and me) with a standing ovation.  And then they/we did it again for Tresa, who coordinated the whole event.  I tell ya, I still haven’t touched ground!

We had participants from 17 states in the US and two participants traveled all the way from AUSTRALIA!  For a first-ever conference, this is quite a big deal!  The fact that everyone was willing to take a chance on us and come without waiting for word-of-mouth before coming – well, it was overwhelming!  We felt very fortunate to have met so many wonderful people!  We were at 70% capacity, so there’s room for you next year! (Sept 8-12, 2010)  You will find info at the website: www.baltimoreontheprairie.tresajones.com or just “google” Baltimore on the Prairie!

I had the greatest group of women in my class for the 3 days (Thursday evening to Sunday noon).  Everyone was so generous and sharing.  And we had talent that ranged from “I’ve never done this” to “haute couture” sewing.  It was great!  I even had one of the ladies from Australia in class!  Her speech is like music.  We had a marvelous time – well, at least I did.

This is my class.

They worked very hard.

And this is the view from my room.  We were in a state park just half way between Omaha and Lincoln, NE.  It was breathtaking!

The view from my room.

This also from my room!

So, if you find this, my first blogging post, interesting, you have my class to thank.  They convinced me that a blog would be a good thing.  And if you don’t, well, they are to blame.  THEY convinced me that a blog would be a good thing!

Hope to see you here again!

Kathy