The backing of my first quilt was poplin; and I invited several friends to help me pin-baste it (with diaper pin-size pins!!) on the breezeway out the front door of my grad student housing apartment.  Imagine my dismay when, after all the helpers left, I turned the quilt over, and there were huge bubbles between the pins . . . because the poplin had “crept” along the concrete as we crawled on it, pinning . . . ah, memories . . .

 Happy New Year, everyone!

This Sunday I’m continuing my journey by learning a new craft–the second I’ve attempted in getting ready for Christmas giving to my relatives.  So I can’t tell you what I’m doing, I can only share the insights I’m getting from attempting something completely new.  And sometimes painful insights they are, too!  Of course, I can’t tell you what I’m attempting, or my relatives will know what they are getting for Christmas . . .so I’ll share insights until the holidays have passed.

This is giving me a new appreciation for working with fabric; 1)cutting it into shapes I know I want,  2)not having the shapes hurt me (this gives you a clue), and 3) not being at all confident in the results I may achieve.  Lesson Number One has been: not being successful or even vaguely pleased at what one is attempting.  After 30 years of quiltmaking, I am energized by the way colors and shapes come together on the design wall: because I have a way of manipulating them and the colors I choose that is comfortable for me.  This doesn’t mean that I  don’t work myself into “corners” trying to get a quilt to emerge on the design wall.  My biggest challenge is developing a design . .. and letting it sit for a while .  .before I commit to it as a final quilt.

    Reality: what the end of that paragraph, so loftily phrased, really means is  that I’m better at starting projects than finishing them . . . Aurgh!

     How long has it been since you, a quiltmaker, have taken on working with materials that are very unlike fabric?   Metal?  Wood?  Glass?  Tile?  Do you go to Art Studio tours in your area to be exposed to beauty in other media?  What a revelation that is . . .

My living room, two days before leaving for California; it was quite a job labeling all these quilts, labeling the black leaf bags each of them went into, and expelling the air from the bag so we could get as many quilts as we could into each suitcase!

Ruth Harris Photography

Then once we got to Livermore, we unpacked the suitcases and put the quilts in stacks according to categories like Sampler Quilts, Easy Pieces, Strips that Sizzle, etc., checking off three different lists as we went along! Cyndee then made the decision of which quilts would hang on which line in which part of the nursery; each line had to have a balance of large and small quilts, for weight limitations.

Janet M. Freiland Photograph

Such a typical picture of me: taking the last few stitches at the very last minute!!!

Janet M. Freiland Photography

It took two and a half hours to unpack the 9 suitcases of quilts; but this sunset was our reward as we left Alden Lane…

“The MillerQuilts Team” in their red MillerQuilts, Inc. “uniform” shirts; L-R, Bernie Frieland, Me, Martha Alexander, my sister Janet Freiland.

Early Saturday morning, part of the lineup of helpers, ready to pin quilts to lines, and hold them so they don’t touch the ground. Two different teams fanned out over the nursery, and got 135 quilts hung in record time…

Jacquie Williams-Courtright Photography

Early Saturday morning, during the hanging of the quilts; Me with camera in hand, with Alex Anderson, the spirit behind this show. Thank you, Alex, for the opportunity to experience this event…and for your friendship and support over the years…

Jacquie Williams-Courtright Photography

MillerQuilts “headquarters” under the huge heritage oak tree in the center of Alden Lane Nursery. The nursery is laid out like a labyrinth, and this tree is at the heart of it…

The walking tours were fun for me not only remembering stories associated with each quilt; but each quilt brought back memories of things happening in my life at the time I was making it. So this weekend was an amazing sentimental journey for me…

Jacquie Williams-Courtright Photography

David A. Miller Photography

The quilts are clothespinned to lines strung among the oak trees; a hearty band of volunteers from three local quilt guilds show up early each morning to hang the quilts, then reappear late in the day to take them down. Thanks to many people all over the country who sent quilts I had made for them to this show, there were 135 of my quilts hanging in those trees—representing about 25 years of quiltmaking!

What a soul-stirring experience—to see so much of one’s work displayed so magnificently! The color of the quilts was reflected in the colors of the plants and flowers and wonderful displays in the nursery—it was like walking in a color wonderland, in perfect fall weather, with pumpkins and cornstalks adding just the right seasonal touch…

A big part of the reason that this event was so successful was the Alden Lane management and staff: Jacquie, the nursery owner, Cyndee Carvalho, with whom we had been working for months, and Gerard, her “right hand person”, who had a lot of “line duty” during this event. The staff couldn’t do enough to help us, and they all made us feel so special, and so happy with the show we brought with us.

Accompanied by my neighbor Martha Alexander, I drove from Seattle to Livermore in a rented cargo van, laden with well over 1000 pounds of books and templates and nine soft-sided suitcases full of quilts. My sister Janet and her husband Bernie Freiland flew in from Maryland to help; the “MillerQuilts team” was completed with dear friends Connie Tiegel, Carol Gunby, and Debbie Mancuso. Six busloads of quilters arrived the first day—so the MillerQuilts booth was a busy place! Twice a day I led walking tours of the quilts in the nursery, telling stories about some of the quilts that were hung—each tour was slightly different, as different quilts reminded me of a story from long ago.

There were many highlights of this experience—but imagine how my heart overflowed when my son David surprised me on Sunday afternoon by arriving from New York City to surprise me, in time to take in my last walking tour of the weekend! My heart had been full all weekend with the joy and wonder of this event, and grateful for the many friends who had helped me get this show to come to fruition. But when David walked up to my stand under the sheltering oak tree, there were hardly words to express the explosion of gratitude and joy I felt, inside and out!

Perhaps the best way to share this experience with you, Dear Reader, would be to share the following captioned photos: they certainly bring back magnificent memories…If you ever have a chance to attend this event, always held at the end of September, don’t miss it…this event, and all that led up to it, was perhaps the biggest highlight of my career so far, and one I won’t forget for a very long time. Thank you, Alex; thank you Jacquie and Cyndee and Gerard—what special people you are! Thank you! Thank you!

• Quilting in the Garden Pictures
• More Quilting in the Garden pictures (David A. Miller Photography)

The first is Quilting in the Garden at the Alden Lane Nursery, in Livermore, CA, Sept. 24-25. I invite you to join me there to see over 130 of my quilts on display throughout the nursery, and help celebrate the official launch of the AnglePlay™ Template starter sets and patterns, and my new book, AnglePlay™ Blocks. Quilts from all six of my books have been called in to display, and there are many brand new AnglePlay ones; so this will be a large and unique collection of “Miller-made” quilts.

A new AnglePlay™ quilt called “Northwest Flyway.” Pattern for this quilt is in Template Set Two, “Angles Up!”

The pattern for this AnglePlay™ quilt, “Caribbean Garden,” is in Template Set Two, “Angles Up!”. Both of these quilts were made using templates from AnglePlay™ Template Sets One (“Angles Aweigh!”)and Two.

Quilters come from all over the state, and even from across the country to attend this weekend event—a unique quilting adventure, to be sure! I will be doing a special lecture on Friday night, Sept. 23, and Alex Anderson will do a trunk show of her work on Saturday night. There will be periodic guided tours of the quilts throughout the 4-acre nursery, so I can share some of their stories.

Go to www.aldenlane.com for more specific information. If you are coming from out of town, there are hotels who give a “quilting discount”. Come see us in our new red MillerQuilts, Inc. shirts, which invite you to “Ask me about AnglePlay™ Templates” when we turn around!!

Preparing for this and Houston Quilt Market and Festival the end of October has meant a year that has been busier than usual. So it is a blessing that this is the year that I’ve chosen to work toward more balance in my life, and have glimpsed the virtues of STOPPING, RESTING, LETTING GO.

The pattern of most of my life has been going at a frantic pace, trying to do everything, working until my energy is spent. My brother Jim observed years ago that I had only two speeds in my life: Overdrive and Dead Stop. That thought gave me pause, but didn’t lead me to mend my ways.

Another reminder came when I attended a wonderful week long workshop a few years ago called “Healing Stitches: How your Art Influences your Life” (see www.haven.ca for a host of wonderful seminars on making the most of this life you’ve been given). In that workshop we worked on a quilt project during the week, but we were not allowed to work frantically and stay up til the wee hours pushing ourselves. We were allowed to work on it only a couple hours each afternoon—and it was refreshing how I looked forward to that time, savored the time I had to work on the project, but didn’t worry about how much progress I did or didn’t make on a given day. Pacing myself—having to stop instead of working to the burnout place—what a concept…

My quiltmaking and creative work has always been intertwined with my life. Up to now, my business has been run out of my home, and my creative work and personal life unfolds there too. But as my business grows, moving it out of my house is becoming imperative.

As I find more ways to savor my life’s journey through journaling, reading, and associating with other women who value deepening their spiritual understandings on the way to becoming their authentic selves, I sense a growing need to make my home a haven, a place of peace, rather than a place where there is an unending list of tasks to accomplish, deadlines to meet. I am getting better at the “Stopping” part; starting my day with quiet time and journaling, stopping at the end of the day to sit on the deck outside my bedroom to savor the sunset. Not listening to music, not reading, just sitting, letting my thoughts wander.

I have practiced the Letting Go of taking some time completely off, with surprising results. I find I need to commit to this time by putting it on the calendar well in advance—and then stick to my commitment. The temptation is great as the break time draws closer—I think about how much “work” I could accomplish with that day or two. But I am always glad I carry through my plan—because I always feel a release as I embark on the break time, and I often accomplish much more once I resume my work routine again. It took some practice to make myself NOT think about work or deadlines or worries about any number of possible future events.

Sometimes a “stopping” time is merely taking a different road to your destination. En route from Guymon, OK to Liberal, KS on a recent teaching trip, my hostess drove me by acres of sunflower fields. What a joy to photograph them! What an adventure, being the single “Northwest flower” among the blossoms…and the bees…

While on these break times, I’ve become conscious of what it means to Rest; to sleep at night, to just sit quietly during the day. Not reading or stitching or “doing”. Just recently, after a particularly stressful week, I was sitting in a “sky chair” (an enfolding, comforting, swinging canvas chair) on my friend’s deck on a Saturday afternoon. And I realized that, for the first time in my life, I was resting on purpose: and I was okay with that! I wasn’t resting because I was sick and trying to recuperate; I wasn’t resting to catch up on my sleep, or to generate a false burst of energy for more frantic tasks. I was resting, purposely, to gather my strength for the week ahead—and that was good.

I’ve noticed also that I’m more willing to Let Go; let go of those last few tasks on my to do list that was too long to begin with; let go of carrying around too many future deadlines and commitments all at once, all the time.

I’m trying to let go of worry more quickly than I have in the past. My current strategy is to not allow myself to dwell in worry; if there isn’t something I can do about the problem that very minute, I’m don’t allow that thought to stay in my mind. (This is especially helpful in the middle of the night!)

And so, the cycle continues: much to accomplish and rigorous work ahead over the next few weeks, but also a kind of peace of mind from stopping, resting, and letting go once in a while…

Though I have departed from many needlework techniques I once did avidly (needlepoint, thread count cross stitch, garment making), I still love to knit, and do it from time to time as the urge happens. There is a deep contentment in the rhythmical, repetitive motion of knitting, it is the same peace we feel when hand quilting or hand stitching. It is every bit as comforting as rocking a baby, giving a friend a long hug during times of trouble, or swinging in a park swing or a front porch rocker. Like quilting, knitting is considered a “humble craft”—yet it is powerful. Just as quilters have many charitable projects that affect many people’s lives, knitters make chemo caps and prayer shawls and baby blankets for children or young mothers in need. Knitters, like quilters, gather to share much more than tips and techniques; they share compassion and understanding for one another, comfort in distressing times, and hope for the future when the world feels like a crazy place.

The knitter who crossed my path this trip was my “classroom angel” Dawn Thierry in Cookeville, Tennessee. She wore a different beautiful shawl or sweater every day to class, and even took me to have lunch with her small group who meet to knit one morning a week at a local café, and then eat lunch together there. What a joy to go and sit among her knitting friends, and feel right at home, as we quilters do when we gather! Familiar was the sharing of tips and techniques, news of other knitters and new products and new shops opening or closing, etc. etc. etc. We stopped by a new knit shop en route back to class, and helped the shop owner and a customer figure out a brand new stitch from a new knitting magazine…It all felt so familiar…and the connection I felt instantly among these women who otherwise were perfect strangers, felt equally as good.

My next teaching stop was the NQA Show in Columbus Ohio; how thrilled I was to be able to take a bus trip to visit Quilt National at The Dairy Barn in Athens the day before my teaching began! I haven’t visited this impressive exhibit since the late 1980s, and I was eager to see this year’s collection of cutting edge quilts. Since I was last there, The Dairy Barn has been expanded to include a gift shop, and classrooms and offices upstairs; but the chance to view what is purported to be the finest contemporary work in the country is still the heart of this experience for me.

The Dairy Barn, Athens Ohio. Location of the annual Quilt National juried and judged quilt exhibition, as well as other annual art exhibits. A picturesque location in southeastern Ohio to experience the glorious color and technique of contemporary quilts.

As I walked around the show of contemporary quilted works, having just come from the good feelings generated by connecting with the Cookeville knitters, and the camaraderie of the bus trip with quilters to Athens, I was reminded of one of the curious repercussions of growing in one’s art and craft. There is considerable irony in that we quilters often bond with each other on so many levels; we freely share tips and techniques, patterns and ideas, and help in time of trouble. And yet, the prospect of sharing our work in public exhibitions, and the competition of judged shows, can make some of us shake in our shoes. How easily we can be overwhelmed by other quilters’ work, especially in huge shows like the AQS Show in Paducah, Kentucky or Houston’s Quilt Festival. How quickly we can feel overshadowed by someone else’s expertise, craftsmanship, or use of color. Each quilt seems more magnificent than the last, with such unbelievable craftsmanship or use of color that you wonder if you will ever grow to that level, considering whatever quilts you are making at the time. It is so easy to come dazed and then discouraged, especially if you are a fairly new quiltmaker.

A few years ago I solved this dilemma for myself; instead feeling badly about how my skills stacked up against those of the quiltmakers in the show, I decided to salute that quiltmaker—and this dissipated any negative feelings of discouragement that otherwise arose in such circumstances. Instead of feeling envious of her skill, I felt grateful for the opportunity to view something of such great beauty and/or technical expertise; grateful for the joy of seeing the colors or the pattern or the new twist on some aspect of our long quilting tradition.

Now, attending such shows sends me home with fresh verve to make discoveries in my own studio. Though I still occasionally succumb to feelings of inferiority in the face of someone else’s artistic output, talent, business acumen or computer savvy, I’m getting better at focusing on making the best of the talents I have, on pursuing the goals I’ve set for myself, and on attaining more balance in my life in the process.

Below, a glimpse at what has come off the design wall or back from the quilter this month! Til next month, Keep Stitching, and Enjoy the Summer!

These are the last two of four quilts commissioned by Alex Anderson of Livermore, California and “Simply Quilts” television fame. Each of these quilts contains blocks made by the “stars” appearing on a single season of the Simply Quilts television show. Alex wanted each of the quilts to look very distinct from each other. The first quilt can be seen in the background on current episodes of Simply Quilts. All four will be exhibited at the Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters Oregon this summer.

The directions for this quilt will be found in the first Starter Kit of AnglePlay™ templates. This kit will feature patterns for 20 blocks and three quilts, all of which are made from only four AnglePlay™ templates, A, B, C, and D (all triangles with a 2″ base). Watch this website for more information!