QUILTER | TEACHER | AUTHOR | FOUNDER
On September 6, I shared info about Quilters Take A Moment, the Quilt Alliance’s pandemic-related retooling of the every-other-year event that usually takes place in New York City. Like so many happenings we love, QTM couldn’t be the hug-filled gathering it … Read More
Every other year, the Quilt Alliance (of which I am a proud member) hosts a fantastic fundraising event called Quilters Take Manhattan. I love attending, partly because it’s such a fun gathering, and partly because I love spending time in … Read More
If you read my posts regularly you know I love books and writing as much as I love making quilts. You probably also know I live in two places—Winterset, Iowa, most of the time, and Washington Island, Wisconsin, from time … Read More
One thing we humans have going for us is our ability to adapt. As weird as it feels (and looks) to cover my face with a cloth mask when I am in public spaces, I do it because reliable sources … Read More
The Iowa Theater in Winterset, Iowa, known locally as “The Iowa,” is once again a gem of a space—Art Deco facade, classic marquee, single silver screen, 150 seats (including balcony), red velvet curtain that opens dramatically at start of show, … Read More
When deciding how I feel about a nineteenth or early twentieth century quilt, one of my tests is whether I would like to have lunch with the maker. If the workmanship is angel-perfect, a cup of coffee or a glass … Read More
A member of my Novel in a Year cohort (Marie Deaconu-Baylon) recommended Brit Bennett’s debut novel, THE MOTHERS during a class meeting a couple of months ago. Marie mentioned she knows Bennett personally, as they were undergraduates together at Stanford … Read More
As we stayed home this spring, making masks or quilts or sourdough bread, we watched events we were planning to attend get canceled or postponed, and rightly so—it’s clear that limiting travel, wearing masks, and physical distancing have definitely helped … Read More
The dozen writers in my Novel-in-a-Year cohort at StoryStudio Chicago are all serious readers as well as writers. Over the past months, they’ve pointed me toward THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, THE IDIOT, THE AGE OF LIGHT, and now Marilynne Robinson’s … Read More
My favorite bookshop is Fair Isle Books on Washington Island, Wisconsin. Though the size of a small bedroom, Fair Isle is everything a bookstore should be. Its petiteness in fact makes everything simpler—one doesn’t waste time browsing through books one … Read More