This...That...and Lots of Other Things!

I got back home Friday evening after spending the week at one of my most favorite places...Asilomar.  Empty Spools Seminars holds five conferences here each year and I think  every quilter should attend at least once.  The location is to die for...right on the ocean...and the teachers get to spend five whole days with their students...a luxury for sure :)

I had a wonderful group of 14 students this year and I taught five different workshops...we started with the Beginning Machine Quilting and followed this with the Open Thread Bar.  Days 2-4 included the Heirloom Feathers & Backgrounds, Learning to Design and ended with the Linen Wholecloth Quilts.
(...and there's just something about the Tootsie Roll Pops that makes the thinking easier!)

The weather was absolutely perfect so we were able to set up tables outside for marking quilts.

...and here's a little something fun that you can do with those old hankies!!!  Yes, I did peek underneath :)

I always like to pass on great information for tool tips.  Most of you know that I love to add beautiful beads to most of my quilts.  Something changed in the manufacture of my favorite beading needle recently and they aren't consistently fitting thru the really tiny beads.  Grace Minton, a favorite student, did some research with John James and they recommended these needles.  They work!!!  They are the John James Bead Embroidery needles Size 10 and Size 12.  Even when I have heavily quilted my quilt, these slender needles go thru the thick quilted area.

When you are pushing the needle thru, you need some protection for your finger tip.  I hate to use a thimble...it bugs me.  But a friend recommended this product many years ago and I can't live without it.  You see many finger tip protectors but they are plastic.  These are a soft suede leather.  The only thing that bothers me is that it has a tendency to slide around my finger a bit but I just push it back into place.  Unfortunately my local quilt store doesn't carry either one of these products so I found them online at:
Colonial Needle Company

I recently traveled to New Zealand to teach and I was concerned about doing hand work on the plane while everyone else was sleeping (maybe I should have been too!).  I heard about this light from sewcalgal.blogspot.com.  I ordered it and absolutely LOVE it!!!  You can switch it from a 3-LED to a 6-LED light depending on how much illumination you need.  The light section is adjustable to different angles and it comes with two colored  filters if you want them.  You can find them on this website or call the 1-800 number:  1-800-771-3600.  Highly recommended!

The next six weeks are VERY busy for me but it's all good!  You can find me at the Vermont Quilt Festival,
Maine Quilts and the Sisters Quilt Show.  I will be heading to Bellevue, WA on Thursday to visit the Block Party Quilters and the East Texas Quilt Guild in Tyler, Texas afterwards.

Hugs, Cindy :)