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Beginner’s Luck

April 17th, 2018

Do you have it?

Beginner’s Luck– Noun. The initial good fortune or success commonly supposed to come to a person who has recently taken up a new pursuit.

At Road 2018, Thalia Patricio had it.

She won 3^rd Place-Fantasy for her quilt, The Witch.

The Henderson, Nevada resident had only been quilting “seriously” for the past four years thanks to classes she has enrolled in at her local quilt shop, Quiltique. One class she took, The Dress, a Laura Heine pattern.

When Thalia saw the pattern, she immediately thought that it would make a perfect witch. So, she contacted Laura and asked if she would mind if she changed up The Dress to become The Witch. Laura’s reply was, “It would be a compliment.” So off Thalia went. The fabric used was the key to the Thalia’s inspiration. Starting on the collage part first, she would put different fabrics up on her design wall and just let it take on a life of its own. The face of The Witch was based on Tula Pink’s fabric line, Nightshade.

Thalia had been to Road 5 times in the past and felt she could “never make a quilt good enough to be shown there.” After she finished The Witch, Thalia began receiving lots of good comments on Instagram, Facebook and in the quilt shop. So many, that Thalia decided that maybe this quilt was the one “worthy” to enter in Road’s Quilt Contest. When she received the letter saying that The Witch was accepted for judging at Road 2018, Thalia “cried.” A couple months later, Thalia was in a casino at the slot machines when she got the email that she had won—and she cried again!! Going to Road 2018 and seeing her quilt on display was “the icing on the cake.” Where does this beginner’s luck recipient go from here? “I hope I’m not a one-hit wonder,” said Thalia. “I will be taking more quilt classes at Quiltique and want to try machine embroidery. I think I have an original design in me.” Congratulations Thalia Patricio for your first win on your first try at entering a quilt in a quilt show. We were glad you chose Road to California.]]>

Tags: Beginner's Luck, Collage Quilt, Laura Heine, Nightshade, Thalia Patricio, The Dress, The Witch, Tula Pink
Posted in Road to California 2018, Winning Quilts | No Comments »

Trending: Award Winning Bags

April 13th, 2018

ByAnnie.com sponsored a Bag Challenge at Road to California 2018.Participants submitted their finished bags to compete for cash and prizes which were awarded during the show. The judges were delighted at the 31 entries and had a difficult time choosing the top five prize winners. Here are the winners along with the judge’s comments: Karen’s original design received $400 from sponsor Road to California. Karen has used her bag for numerous family reunions. The bag carries plates, wineglasses, wine bottle, silverware. napkins, placemats, potholders, serving spoon, & napkins. A unique feature is that she used elastic ponytail holders for the expandable side closures and the bow is a separate pattern that consists of bias strips sewn and turned over yarn. Comments from judges: The silverware set on the front button is awesome! This bag is incredible! Bias strips OVER YARN are perfectly done. Amazing. Never would I have guessed this was not commercial cord. Well done! Mirla used a Cecile Franconie pattern to showcase her large collection of African fabrics. This jewelry bag has pockets for make-up as well as jewelry. Comments from judges: Love the Bohemian feel of this bag, with its intricate and unusual construction. Love the bells, charms and special gold stitching. Great use of different fabrics, and nice, consistent mix of textures. Amy was looking for a way to use up her stash when she created this bag. It was inspired by a 1950’s style vacation souvenir tablecloth and two leftover garment sewing fabrics, red wool and blue/white striped cotton. Recycling these materials helps Amy remember memories of past trips. Comments from judges: Very interesting! Love the wool (stunning) and rivets. Good fussy cutting. Very well made! Love the special pocket inside. Kathy loves to wear backpacks when exploring and traveling. She has an RV and travels throughout the US in it. Backpacks free up her hands and can carry a lot of things. The train case bottom separates items for easy location. It also has a convertible strap that can be changed from backpack straps to a cross body or over the shoulder style bag. Comments from judges: Beautifully made and perfectly done. Great job with all the zippers. Love the cork-bottom and fabric combinations. The cording in seam is beautifully done! Rebecca gives lectures on her quilts to local quilt guilds as well as teaches Orange Peel machine applique. She needed something to hold the money she gets for selling her patterns as well as her iPad when she is doing her presentations and came up with this idea to showcase her skills with this purse. Comments from judges: The Trapunto flowers are gorgeous! 5 stars on the cotton, lining and quilting. Love the Orange Peel design. Good contrast. Beautiful! Road and ByAnnie.com will be sponsoring another bag challenge soon. Start thinking about your designs and styles and stay tuned for details. ]]>

Tags: Award Winning Bags, Bag Challenge, ByAnnie.com
Posted in Road to California, Road to California 2018, Special Quilt Exhibits | No Comments »

Siblings That Quilt

April 10th, 2018

Karla and Karen took Jenny Doan’s class together at Road 2018 as a chance to meet up and

learn some new quilting skills. Karla is a retired teacher living in Alta Loma, California and Karen lives in San Diego. For 15 years when she was teaching, Karla helped her students create 12- block quilts as a memory of all they learned in her class that year. Now that she is retired, Karla uses her free time to take advantage of taking classes at Road for the first time, quilting at home, and embroidering. Karen has been to Road to California 8 times and “absolutely loves it.”

Both sisters were familiar with Jenny Doan and looked forward to taking her class together. Karen watches Jenny’s YouTube Tutorials all the time and was “blown away” at her Trunk Show on Friday night. Karla has been to Missouri Star Quilt’s home in Hamilton, Missouri twice. She refers to it as “Disneyland for quilters.”

There’s no better place to spend a “Sister’s Week” then Road to California says Cheryl,

Sandy,and DeNese. All three sisters are quilters. DeNese started quilting in 2012 when she retired from Delta Airlines. Cheryl was inspired to start quilting from her mother-in-law. Sandy figured that since her sisters were quilting, she might as well too. They get together two or three times a year to share quilting techniques and go to quilt demonstrations. They enjoy piecing, paper piecing, and collage applique and make quilts for their children and grandchildren.

As far as their opinion of Road to California, DeNese, who lives in Utah, said, “It is bigger than anything I have been to and I spent more money than I thought.” Cheryl, who also lives in Utah, said that Road was “Really fun. I thought I would get bored but there were so many interesting things to see.” And Sandy, a resident of Palm Desert, California, commented, “There are lots of gadgets to make quilting easier that I didn’t know existed.”

These three sisters and one sister-in-law all have their roots in Iowa. As quilters, they chose

Road to California 2018 for their “Sister’s Retreat.” Karla lives in Escondido, California and planned their retreat to include Road. Karla has attended five times in the past, but for everyone else, it was their first time. When the Road 2018 class schedule was posted in July, the women were notified that an Aunt had left them money in her will. Karla said “it was a sign” that they should use the money and take classes at Road. They each took two classes plus attended Preview Night and Jenny Doan’s Trunk Show. And of course, they did a lot of shopping!!

All four are established quilters. Oldest sister Karen, Karla and Pam grew up sewing. Their grandmother taught them how to quilt and they‘ve been quilting for 30 years. Sister-in-law Liza learned how to sew in a 7^th grade Home Economics class. Her quilting influence came from her mother and grandmother. She said that she couldn’t believe “how many people are here” at Road and was excited to see so many other quilters, especially those who had quilts in the show. Will you be bringing a sibling to Road 2019?]]>

Tags: National Siblings Day, Road to California, Sister's Retreat, Sister's Week
Posted in behind the scenes, Road to California 2018 | 2 Comments »

DIY Fabric Painting

April 5th, 2018

Joyce Teng, owner of TSC Designs and 2018 Road to California Vendor and Teacher, says not to worry. She has spent the last 30 years developing tools and techniques to create your own, specially designed fabric. When creating your own fabric design, Joyce says you need to first consider 3 important elements:

Medium

What are you going to mix with your ink to get the effect you want

Tools

What are you going to use to apply your medium to the fabric

Pattern

What do you want your end design to look like

Medium: Joyce and TSC Designs sells and uses only one kind of ink: Tsukineko. A high quality ink that has been around for over 1,000 years, it is archive quality and child safe. Tsukineko inks come in a ton of colors and can be used on any fabric.

What is the most popular color ink Joyce uses and sells? Champagne Mist. Joyce says that it makes “all the colors shimmery.”

A bonus when using Tsukineko inks is that the fabrics don’t have to be pre-treated. Just follow the care labels on the fabric and heat set the ink when you are done. Her favorite fabric to use is White Kona Cotton.

Joyce touts to “Never use just ink alone.” As she says, “Play with it.” Experiment with mixing different colors together. Then, try different mediums to mix along with the ink to create different textures. Some of her favorites are rubbing alcohol and shaving cream.

With the rubbing alcohol, always use 90% Proof, spraying small amounts directly on the fabric before applying the ink to enhance the colors.

Shaving cream can be mixed with the ink and a little water to create a collage pattern. Joyce recommends the Barbasol brand. It is inexpensive and has “never” failed her.

Tools: Joyce and TSC Designs has a large line of brushes to help you get the look and texture you desire. For instance, she carries an alcohol brush that retains both ink and water together to create water color designs. A batik brush has bristles made from man-made leather to create a realistic batik-like overall background. TSC Designs also carries nine different shapes of marbeling tools to help you achieve the precise look you envisioned.

Other common tools can be found at your local Dollar Store like soft paint brushes. Sea sponges also add a nice texture. And Joyce reminds, “Don’t forget about your sewing machine’s brush!!”

Pattern: There are many sources of pattern designs: fabric, nature, textiles and stencils. As with the inks, Joyce encourages playing around with stencils: “Don’t use them as is.” To prevent bleeding when using stencils, apply shaving cream directly to fabric by dabbing it lightly before applying ink to the stencil.

Why does Joyce spend so much time developing new techniques? Because she firmly believes that everyone needs to “share their passion with the next generation. We have a responsibility to teach the next generation.” She wishes there were “48 hours in a day” to create all the new patterns she has in her mind to share.

To learn more about how to use ink, tools and patterns, you can use Joyce’s book (with a new edition coming out soon) or go to her website.

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Tags: DIY Fabric Design, Joyce Teng, TSC Designs, Tsukineko Inc.
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A Survivor Motivated By "So Many Dreams"

April 3rd, 2018

Her first dream was to become a pharmacist. In her native Taiwan, she not only taught at a Pharmacy School, but as a chemist, she developed a heart medicine. With a medical background, how did she become involved with fabric arts? Joyce confides that she was born with an eye for color and always liked design.

The transition from science to art happened on a trip to the United States, attending the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Joyce’s next dream was to own her own art-related business which she started in 1984–TSC Designs. This family-run business started out in Joyce’s garage as Teachers Stamp Company, where she manufactured her own line of rubber stamps and other educational arts and crafts products. Joyce later designed and produced brass embossing templates and other accessories for paper crafts and scrapbooking. In 2005, Joyce and her husband retired from the stamping business to focus solely on providing unique and innovative products for quilters & sewers. Since 1990, they have worked with Tsukineko Inc. to provide the highest quality paper and fabric inks to their customers. During this 20-year relationship, they have helped thousands of creative minds develop new ways to “color” their world.

What others might call “tragedies,” Joyce survived two life-threatening events that actually increased her desire to be more creative. The first event happened while she was attending Paducah in April of 2014 when she suffered a massive stroke at the show. Lucky for Joyce, Paducah’s hospital is a major stroke center and was able to give Joyce the best treatment from the best doctors available. She says that after the stroke, “God opened her brain” and ever since she has experienced non-stop creativity. “New things come out every day,” insists Joyce.

More recently, as a resident of Houston, Texas, Joyce and her family were affected by Hurricane Harvey. Their home was completely flooded and FEMA told them that they had to get rid of everything. With the help of 30 volunteers, any salvable goods were packed up and put in a warehouse. Joyce said she and her family were living basically day by day to get back on their feet. Some people ask why Houston? Joyce replies, “Why not Houston?” She feels they were blessed by the manpower and community spirit present during those struggling times.

Just four months after Hurricane Harvey, Joyce and her husband were at Road to California 2018, manning the TSC Designs vendor booth in the Tent. Joyce also taught several classes including a $5.00 Lecture and at Roundabout, mentoring others to pursue their artistic creativity.

Because there are still many more dreams for Joyce to pursue, she wishes she had “48 hours in every day to play.” In the meantime, she will make the most of each 24 hour day as she develops new ideas to share. To learn more about TSC Designs, please visit their website.]]>

Tags: Hurricane Harvey, Joyce Teng, Stroke Survivor, TSC Designs, Tsukineko Inc.
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Director’s Choice Winner

March 30th, 2018

Matt Reese. Because he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Tuba Performance from California State University, Long Beach, in the past, he was partial to choosing quilts with a music theme like last year’s, Yuja made by Linda C. Anderson. For 2018, Matt left his music roots behind and chose Marilyn Badger’s Champagne SuperNova. Marilyn received $5,000 from Sponsor, Moore’s Sewing Center. Marilyn is an accomplished, multi-award-winning quilter. She was Road’s last Featured Artist, chosen for that honor in 2017. How did Marilyn start out in quilting? Reading the first edition of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine in the 1970’s!! At the time, she and her husband were living on a boat and didn’t have much room for sewing equipment so she hand pieced a design she saw in the magazine. As she finished the blocks, she would send them to her mother in Tennessee and her church group hand quilted them. Known for her unique quilt designs, Champagne SuperNova was another Marilyn Badger original. Star Quilts had always been a favorite of Marilyn’s. This quilt evolved from her desire to make a hand embroidered, embellished, red and black quilt. The black gradated fabric was the first purchase for the quilt. Marilyn added the fireworks because as she explained, “What’s an exploding star without a few fireworks in the background?!” After the quilting, when she added the paint, the quilt went from a silverier look to gold. Thus why she chose the name, Champagne SuperNova. Marilyn confided, “The gold theme sort of popped out unexpectedly.” It took Marilyn 9 months to make the quilt. She finished it right before the entries were due to Road. In January, she was packing to come to the show when she decided to look at her emails one more time before going to bed. It was then that she saw Road’s name in the sender box. What was her reaction when she won? “My heart was beating a little faster than normal when I read the part that said ‘Congratulations.’ Then I read on and saw where it had won Director’s Choice and $5,000. I was totally thrilled and said a big silent thanks to Matt for choosing my quilt!!” Marilyn hasn’t decided yet what she is going to do with her prize money. Maybe put it “towards my dream car.” She is already ready to put her next quilt on the quilting machine and is hoping it will be ready by Road’s next entry deadline. We will definitely be watching out for it!! Follow Marilyn on Facebook to learn more about her quilting adventures. ]]>

Tags: Director's Choice, Featured Artist, Marilyn Badger, Matt Reese, Moore's Sewing Center
Posted in Road to California 2018, Winning Quilts | No Comments »

Bohin France Has A New Owner

March 28th, 2018

Bohin France has been a popular vendor at Road to California for several years.

Founded in 1833, Bohin is France’s last manufacturer of needles and pins. The company’s high standards, knowledge, and experience, have made it a leader in its field. Authentic Murano glass used for their glass-head pins comes from Italy. In addition to needles and pins, Bohin also manufactures Dussaussay Gallier specialty scissors made from stainless steel.

Recently, President and Chairman Didier Vrac, sold the company to Fabien Regnier and his wife, Audrey. This young, dynamic couple are thrilled to take on this new adventure and grow the company.

Why would a 33-year-old banker and a 31-year-old employee at Bohin’s Museum want to buy the Bohin factory? Because they both love French products and wanted to promote a brand they were familiar with. They feel lucky to own a company that has such a good reputation with consumers. Since investing in Bohin at the end of December, 2017, Fabien and Audrey have poured all their energies into learning the business. They work from 8:30 AM until 6:00 PM every day and then put in an additional 1-2 hours each night. They confer often with Mr. Vrac who is staying on with the company until June, 2018.

Fabien is responsible for the day to day details of the company. Audrey’s role is with communication and marketing, developing the brand. In addition to running their new business venture, Fabien and Audrey are also very busy with their young family. They have three sons, ages 4 years, 21 months and 9 months old!!

Even though he had only owned the company for two weeks, it was important to Fabien to be at Road 2018. He wanted to talk to customers face-to-face and hear their comments, both good and bad, so that he can get to work on improving Bohin’s products and services.

He had only been to California once before when he was a 15-year-old exchange student. Fabien really enjoyed meeting people as he worked in the Bohin booth. At the end of the four days, he felt Road was “a very good first show for me.” Fabien said he will definitely be bringing Bohin back to Road in 2019.

What does Fabien see for the future of Bohin? He is looking forward to improving their current line and adding innovative products based on their customer input. We wish Fabien and Audrey Regnier the best of luck as the new owners of Bohin France. ]]>

Tags: Audrey Regnier, Bohin France, Fabien Regnier, International Quilt Vendors
Posted in Road to California, Vendors | 2 Comments »

Bringing Up A New Generation of Quilters

March 23rd, 2018

In an effort to keep the art of quilting alive and well for the next generation, some grandparents are making a conscious effort to teach and encourage their grandchildren in the art. In addition to sharing techniques, sewing machines, and being a sewing mentor, grandparents also take their grandchildren to Road to California for inspiration. Kennie has brought her two granddaughters, Amber (17) and Kylie (12) to Road to California three times. She herself has attended Road six times. Kennie first opened her home for a sewing teacher to come and introduce Amber and Kylie to sewing. Today, the three sew and work on crafts all the time. Road 2018 was the first time the two granddaughters took a class with their grandmother. Kylie said she really liked “sewing stuff with Grandma” and Amber liked seeing lots of “neat stuff you don’t see every day.” For Kennie, she enjoyed the 1 on 1 and 1 on 2 time with her granddaughters. It is especially important for her to have the girls be interested in things they can do all their life. Both from the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, McKenna is Susan’s 11-year-old granddaughter. McKenna has been spending the past year going to her grandmother’s house on weekends. Her first project was making pillowcases. She thinks “sewing with grandma is fun. She lets me choose fabric and projects and then she helps me.” Susan has been sewing for over 60 years. She learned from her mother and still has the 1938 Singer sewing machine that she learned on; “It works perfectly.” For Susan, her satisfaction comes from “teaching McKenna something useful” that has begun as a hobby and could turn into a vocation later in life. For Grandmother Lu, her daughter Cassie, and granddaughters Hannah, Hope and Alexis, enjoy being together and encouraging each other with their sewing creativity. Lu learned to sew from her mother 47 years ago and has been quilting the past 20 years. Cassie made her first quilt for Hannah when she was born. How did Road spark their creativity? Alexis liked the variety. She is working on a quilt and learned a lot of techniques to incorporate in the future. Hannah liked seeing and reading the stories behind the van Gogh Special Exhibit. Cassie loved seeing all the quilts on display. And Lu admired the artistry on display. With grandmothers like these women, taking the time to share their passion of sewing and quilting with their grandchildren, the tradition and art of quilting has a bright future. ]]>

Tags: Learning to Quilt, Quilt Inspiration, Road to California, Teaching Youth to Quilt
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Jenny Doan’s Favorite Quilt Block

March 21st, 2018

the half square triangle. The classes were actually titled: Mystery Half Square Triangle because as Jenny explained, you can create literally 252 different versions of a half square triangle, providing limitless (and mysterious) possibilities for quilt top designs. Jenny says everything she does has to be “quick and easy.” If any of her classes or YouTube weekly tutorials look hard, “it’s a lie.” They are meant to show different methods to get you started so that you don’t have to “remember everything” when you are on your own. To create a half square triangle block, Jenny says to: 1) Take two square pieces of fabric (you decide the size) and lay on top of each other, right sides together. 2) Stitch along the outside 3) Cut on the diagonal 4) Press open and create!! Each student received a handout that shows the 252 different versions of the half square triangle that they could put together. In addition, all around the room were examples of half square triangle quilts to inspire the students. Jenny McKinsey from Porterville, California has been quilting for 7 years and was attending Road for the fifth time. She always comes to Road with four friends. They share the ride down from Northern California and a hotel room during the show. While Jenny regularly watches the Missouri Star Quilt Co’s weekly YouTube videos, she took the class because she thought “it would be fun” to experience Jenny Doan in person. A quilter for over 50 years, Linda McGregor has traveled from her home in Wyoming 15 times to attend Road to California. She started her quilting journey making tied quilts and today loves to make wedding ring and other traditional patterns. Like Jenny McKinsey, Linda has been watching Jenny Doan’s weekly tutorials for many years. When Linda found out that Jenny Doan was going to be a teacher at Road 2018, she “signed up as soon as I could.” Linda said that Jenny was “just as wonderful in person as she is on her videos. I haven’t seen a quilt in the classroom that I don’t want to make.” Linda likes coming to Road because “there is always something new. Everyone is warm and welcoming.” Also seen in Jenny Doan’s classroom was her husband, Ron. He says he helps Jenny at home and in the classroom, answering questions from quilters. Ron says, “I help wherever I can with the little things” whether it be working on quilt machines or in the warehouse. What did Ron think about his first experience with Road to California? He admitted that he didn’t know what he was coming and that he was surprised to see how big Road is.“ Road to California is pretty awesome.” And we would have to agree!! ]]>

Tags: Half Square Triangle Quilt Block, Jenny Doan, Jenny Doan YouTube, Missouri Star Quilt Co., Ron Doan
Posted in classes, Road to California, Road to California 2018 | No Comments »

Road 2018 Outstanding Artistry Quilt Winner

March 17th, 2018

Lenore Crawford is featured frequently on our blog. Why? Because she has a knack for making award winning quilts.

In 2013, Lenore won Outstanding Art Quilt for Capturing Brittany.

She won again in the same category in 2017 for Emma in the Looking Glass. Lenore’s latest winning quilt is Pinecones. It won for Outstanding Artistry at Road 2018. Lenore received a cash prize of $5,000 from Sponsor, Handi Quilter.

Lenore’s award winning quilt journey began around 1995. She had just learned about watercolor quilting with 2” squares and wanted to make impressionistic art quilts with fabric using this technique. Lenore developed her own style using those squares. After about 10 years of doing that technique, she felt she needed a change and tried fusing. A large winter project that took months to complete, Pinecones was inspired by a trip to a nursery that Lenore took with her mom and sister who love conifers. It was in spring and the beauty of the brand new pinecones growing on the trees captured Lenore’s imagination. Lenore recalled, “They were bright colors against the dark greens of the branches.” What was Lenore doing when she found out she had won? She was watching TV at about 11:00 at night and was just getting ready to go to bed. She quickly looked at her email and was very surprised to see the one from Road. Lenore was so excited to find out that she won that she immediately texted her husband (who was in California; they live in Michigan) to tell him. Next, she posted it on Facebook. Her husband answered the Facebook post before her text!! What does Lenore plan to do with her prize money? “My husband and I are planning to retire at the end of this year. I am going to save it for a trip to either Ireland and Scotland or a riverboat cruise in France.” Congratulations Lenore Crawford for another outstanding winning quilt.]]>

Tags: Lenore Crawford, Outstanding Art Quilt, Outstanding Artistry
Posted in Road to California 2018, Winning Quilts | 2 Comments »