Oh my, where has the year gone? I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and happy.
It dawned on me yesterday how little I leave the house anymore, and for a social butterfly like me that’s saying something! With all the social distancing going on I didn’t realize that I’ve also been social media distancing…. let me explain…
As you know I am an Island Batik Designer, translated, I design patterns to support beautiful Island Batik fabric collections, which in the past were released twice a year at the industry tradeshows known as Spring Market and Fall Market. Around this time last year, I was asked if I would support an entire collection, known as a signature collection, that would have my name associated with it. Truly an honor – these fabrics and quilts are scheduled to be released at Fall Market 2020 – which has now been canceled (more on that in a moment) ….
The deadline to ship my “secret sewing/quilting” projects to Island Batik was around April 15th, so the early days of “lockdown” had me hustling to complete my three new quilt designs. I can’t wait until the end of the year to share them with you!
Around then we all found our world upside down. Like you, so many things I had scheduled where now canceled or rescheduled….it wasn’t what I had planned for our 40th Anniversary – with the nationwide stay home orders we couldn’t even have dinner out. Fast forward to last month when I had to make the hard decision to cancel my quilting cruise scheduled for later this fall, then Fall Market and International Quilt Festival were canceled… It seemed my world was truly upside down. At least no one could cancel my 60th birthday last month! While it wasn’t what I had previously planned, my family made it truly a remarkable day to celebrate this milestone.
Okay..let me fast forward to what I really want to share! There’s a song on my playlist by Tauren Wells called “God’s Not Done with You” – I’d encourage you to google it as it is most encouraging to be reminded that God knows your name and He’s not done writing your story…. This and other encouraging songs became my marching orders which lead to a season of designing. I’ve had to remind myself of the verse in Job (paraphrased) “He gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” – I’m seeing that all things do indeed work toward the good, I may not understand (or even like it) but I have to keep moving forward knowing that God has a plan.
So what’s the big deal? Well, during this season of stay home and staycations I’ve been busy behind the scenes working on four new quilt patterns that are not tied into spring or fall market releases!
Right up front I need to thank two of my friends.
First my friend Cindy Moores, who is a fellow Certified Instructor with Studio 180 Design, she’s a snowbird in Florida with roots in Wisconsin. Cindy and I chat on the phone or text a lot (as in almost every day!) She’s been a sounding board for my ideas as well as a pattern tester and proof reader. I can't wait to show you Cindy's version of one (or more) of my new patterns!
Then there’s Lisa Williams, she’s my “outlaw” – we have called each other that for decades as her sister is married to my husband’s brother, therefore we aren’t in-laws. We’ve updated our title to “the outlaw quilters.” Lisa lives locally and has spent countless hours in The Quilt Rambler Studio helping to make quilts then pattern testing by making samples in other fabrics. These two ladies have kept me going, brainstorming, testing, laughing, sharing...doing what quilters do best!
