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About Becky Goldsmith

I am a quilt designer/teacher/author, a wife/mother/grandmother, and certified yoga instructor who is searching for balance, strength, and happiness in all things.

Crochet is my in-between project…

I crochet in between projects or when I am need handwork without needles and pins. I am a mostly self-taught crocheter and can follow complex patterns but I am always willing to learn something new so I happily signed up for the Beginner Crochet Workshop by Shannon Roudhán and Jason Bowlsby on Creative Spark. What a great class!!!!

It is a short, affordable class that is good for all skill levels. I learned several things that I didn’t know I didn’t know 🤣. The class projects are easy and an excellent way to practice what you learn.

Shannon and Jason also have this book that I don’t own… yet! It’s on my list and would be really good to have on hand for the grandkids!

But, before I start in on the two projects in the class, I need to finish the Rainbow Dots Blanket, designed by Jellina Verhoeff. The pattern is on Ravelry and the yarn she used is Metropolis by Scheepjes. It’s a fingering weight wool that is both warm and light.

The yarn kits for this blanket are gone, but you can substitute other yarn. In fact, Shannon talks about yarn and making substitutions in the Beginner Crochet Workshop class! Again, I learned things in that class that I didn’t know :-).

Shannon and Jason have other classes on Creative Spark—especially on sashiko—that I happily recommend. They are great teachers with lots to share. Enjoy!

More Show and Tell Chickens!

Joan made more chickens, One for her and two to give friends at her upcoming retreat. Joan, you make excellent chickens!

Here they are & they have names…
Chris’s is a Plymouth Rock, then Foghorn Leghorn, Little Red Hen & BlueJay Wannabe!!

She said that tails were her nemesis, until she thought to put in a wedge and sculpt the tails after they were sewn in. Brilliant!!!!

Click here or on the link below to watch my chicken pincushion tutorial and remember Joan’s tip for the tail feathers :-).

Thank you, Joan, for sharing the tip and your cute chickens!

Show and tell: A Sampling of Santas

Cynthia Helton sent photos of this quilt that her mom, Shirley Ray Hatley Alford, started in 1995. Shirley passed away in July, 2007. Cynthia, thank you for sharing her quilt with us, I know you all must treasure it.

I remember Shirley! She was in my North Pole class at Sharon’s Quilt Depot way back in 1995 when the book, A Sampling of Santas, was new. Shirley was a lovely woman and I have a smile on my face when I remember her.

This is excerpted from the very well-written documentation patch:

Shirley hand appliqued the blocks and machine pieced them together. As her health began to decline due to breast cancer, Shirley invited Corinne Lageose to finish the hand quilting. Carolyn MIller sewed on the outer binding by hand. And Shirley’s daughter, Cynthia Rae Alford Helton sewed on the red berry buttons and other embellishments. This quilt was lovingly finished by Cynthia while sitting at the bedside of Shirley in July, 2007. This is Shirley’s Masterpiece!

If you are interested in the pattern, A Sampling of Santas is included in our ebook, A Slice of Christmas.

Show and tell: Chicken Pincushion…

Joan wrote with a story and here it is:

I just had to share this with you. I know you will get a kick out of it!!

So to backup…tonight is our quilt club meeting and we are having a hands-on demo, how-to EPP project. We will be somehow making ❤️ Hearts!! What paper shape it is, beats me. 
EPP is new to me, but I picked up a little kit and made a “Dilly” bag. It’s super cute. Hexagons. I think I may be hooked. Another skill, right?

Anyway, everyone that attends the meeting will get a little packet (to make a ❤️??) and if we want to participate in a gift exchange we can, but it has to have a ❤️ on it. I want to join in but it had to be quick and easy. (Because I just got home from Florida). I also wanted it to be useful but not another mug-rug. 

Enter the chicken pincushion from your last post. I love pincushions, can’t have too many of them (unlike mug-rugs😝)!! So I decided to give it a shot and put a ❤️ on her/his chest. Turned out so darn cute. 

I may have to make one for myself. For sure if my friend Chris Peterson doesn’t get it tonight in the drawing. She loves chickens, has her sewing room decorated with chickens. She made a rooster quilt. And I think she has a metal nesting box outside that she displays plants/flower pots on her patio. She’s a MN farm girl just like most of us and proud of it. Lives in town, so this is next best thing.

But wait! There’s more!

Yay!! Chris got the chicken and she loved it. It will go with her menagerie of chickens 🐓. 😝

Another funny (jokes-on-me thing) that happened while I was assembling the chicken was I sewed up the wrong side 😑 (across from the beak, same side as beak 🤷‍♀️??). They are small, so hard to see what side is what (can I think of any more excuses🤔), mine were 3” squares. Nice size. 

In any case, when I unfurled the chicken, the tail ended up under her chin (beak) and instead of a tail it looked chicken legs!!😝😂

There you go, a new twist on the pattern. Add 2 strips of wool with a knot at each end for funny legs/feet!! Could be cute or weird!! Maybe I’ll try one for real for myself. (Or my sister in Atlanta, she’s a chicken person. She wants the real chickens to feed/water clean up after!! Not me. I’m done with that; pincushions are better!!)

So that’s my chicken report. 

I will make a couple more for friends Jackie & Vicky for our retreat “up Nort” as they say. 

Happy stitches to you,

Joan

Many thanks to you, Joan, for sharing the story of your chicken! And may you, too, have many happy stitches!

Spring Bling Show and Tell…

Two weeks ago Ann Blasdel took a class with me, through the Austin Area Quilt Guild, and she has totally finished her quilt! It’s beautiful! Well done, Ann, and thank you for sharing your quilt with us!

Ann based the colors in her quilt on the Alexandrite gemstone.

You can find the Spring Bling class with my other classes on Creative Spark. In the online class, MJ Kinman teaches the gem medallion and I teach the machine applique. When either of us teaches this class to a guild, only one of us is on the zoom answering questions for all the techniques in the class. Students get unlimited access to all the videos, hers and mine.

Ann said: “The videos were very clear and presented in a very organized way.  Really nice to be able to follow them.”

Thank you again, Ann, and congrats on the fast finish and beautiful quilt!

Whimsical Garden show and tell…

Susan Keck sent me this photo of her Whimsical Garden quilt. This is her 2nd quilting project ever and she won best of show!

Susan, I’m proud of you for tackling this as a new quilter. You have sewing skills and it shows. Well done and may you continue to have many happy stitches as you start on Steve’s Birds, in wool!