Where has the Summer gone?

I have had a busy summer which started with a 2 week trip to Costa Rica, which looking back seems so long ago. Costa Rica is an amazing country, if you never have visited, somewhere I highly recommend for its beauty, wildlife and bird spotting, flora, and fauna. We had so many sloth encounters that seemed to get better over the trip, something I had not expected. And spending a week in an amazing house in Manuel Antonio was one of the highlights.

BIG NEWS My book ‘Capture your own Life in Collage Quilting’ Making unique quilts and projects from photos and imagery, will be released on September 19th. It is available to pre-order from Amazon. here. I am very impressed by the work of my publisher Landauer Publishing, part of Fox Chapel Publishing. The quality of the book, the paper, images and clear layout, I couldn’t have been happier. So if you are wanting to dabble in fabric collage it is a reference and idea guide with patterns you can use or instructions on making your own.

Front Cover showing some of the project ideas inside. The book has 12 projects, 7 patterns, 150 pages and is priced at $24.99

Over the next 3 months I have a busy travel schedule coming up, heading to quilt guilds and to teach at quilt shows. Today I am heading to Denver to the Colorado Quilt Council for a lecture and Sunflower workshop. After that I will be visiting Tucson, my first time there, Sunnyvale to the Granary Quilt shop, PIQF in Santa Clara and finally to Quilt Market and the International Quilt Festival in Houston. It will be my first ever visit to Quilt Market where I will be signing books and hanging out in the Fox Chapel booth, so stop by if you will be there.

Stratford upon Avon, UK July 2023

The other big event this summer was that I headed to my homeland for a couple of weeks to visit family and friends and to visit and teach at Festival of Quilts. Again if you have never been this is a great destination quilt show that should be on everyones bucket list! The show is huge. Its located at the NEC in Birmingham, about 2 hours north of London. Staying at one of the NEC’s hotels makes a nice self-contained visit with an array of restaurants, all walkable was perfect. The quilts I saw were different (in a good way!) and vendors were also different from what I am used to seeing in the US.

There was plenty of seating everywhere, the Prosecco Bar was amazing, and wonderful small exhibits too. I taught 5 classes, 4 being Quick and Easy Classes (90 minute) which worked out great and a lecture in a small theater. My students were amazing and really appreciated all the kits, fabrics, patterns and quilts I had lugged out in my suitcase!

If you want to see where I will be teaching next this year or next look up my calendar here on my website. I continue to sell patterns and kits from my shop there. I have PDF content that can be purchased and downloaded from anywhere that you will print at home.

Sign up for my newsletter as I will soon have some online classes that I will publish there first.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the summer,

Jane H

Petra’s Garden in VectorQ app.

2020 My year in Review

The year is coming to a close and what a crazy year it has been for us all. So many swerves, changes, adaptations which have challenged us and made us stronger. No longer will we take for granted the small freedoms we once had. We’ll go into 2021 with more patience and appreciation.

Gathering outside is our new normal!

Gathering outside is our new normal!

At the end of each year I like to summarize what I have done over the year. Its always a bit of a challenge as I’m not great at keeping a list but I do my best.

2020

I taught at Craft Napa, The Granary Quilt Shop in Sunnyvale and at the Dubai International Quilt Show.

I made 26 T-shirt quilts, 5 necktie quilts, 3 custom quilts I quilted, 4 custom Pet Portraits, 2 quilts I donated to SAQA and 3 to my quilt guilds community service, 14 Art Quilts, 8 hand stitched bags and 400+ masks.

I had to embrace teaching online, making videos and all that that entails! I began by writing my first On-demand workshop, presented 5 online lectures and had 9 days of online classes.

I had thought I would have time to tackle UFO’s and quilts that need quilting but I think I just added to that pile. I just counted and now have 12 to quilt and finish.

Pink Cosmos This was a new class that I developed for teaching online.

Pink Cosmos This was a new class that I developed for teaching online.

Heading into the New Year I like think about new challenges and quilts I will make. I am wanting to make some changes. I have been teaching my fabric collage classes for about 4 years now and I just want to try something different. I am excited to play with new techniques but feel overwhelmed and freeze. I don’t know where to start. Does anyone else feel like that?

Written January 2020. Goals for the year.

Written January 2020. Goals for the year.

Although this isn’t fancy I did write in my sketch/notebook goals for 2020.Reading these again I sort of achieve many of them! My goals for 2021 feel different. These ones I can put behind me. My newsletter plans are starting in 2021. No cruise. No plans for a book but more online classes. Hopefully the exhibit in Oct 2021 will go ahead. I did use my stash for mask making, check! And finally I did use my sketch book, a little.

The fabric cover for my 2021 note/sketchbook.

The fabric cover for my 2021 note/sketchbook.

My goals for 2021

These include working in my sketchbook, doing more drawing and painting, writing more On-demand workshops, finishing all those quilts that need quilting, blogging more and developing some new collage patterns.

Big Frank, 49” x 69”

Big Frank, 49” x 69”

Big Frank was one of two large quilts I made this year. I wanted to challenge myself to making a large pet portrait using colors that are less natural. I used a photo I found on Pinterest of a Bedlington Lurcher called Flossie. I eventually received the owners permission but that is a story in itself!

One of my best memories for the year was going to Dubai, attending and teaching at the International Quilt Show. Looking back I was so lucky to have squeezed that in before Covid and lockdown happened!

Frangipane Mince pies

Frangipane Mince pies

Finally my last bake for 2020 were these Frangipani Mince pies, a recipe sent to me by cousin. They’re delicious. So if you find mincemeat in the store, its common in England at Christmas, give the recipe a go.

Old family recipe

Old family recipe

Finally I have started my newsletter that I will publish at the beginning of each month. If you wish to receive it in your inbox go to my website and the pop-up menu will appear for you to sign-up. I will not use your email in any other way and if you wish you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

I will give updates about classes coming up, new items in my shop and updates about what I’ve been up to. So look out for Threads of Inspiration.

Monthly newsletter header

Monthly newsletter header

Best wishes for 2021. Lets be creative and healthy

Jane