Author Archives: Becky Goldsmith

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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.

A peek into Linda’s stash…

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Linda sent me this photo of her fabric stash. She is using hanging shoe and sweater organizers and they look a lot better than I thought they would. In fact, if I did not already have shelves in my own fabric closet, I’d use this system. I like the way the fabric is compartmentalized.

Linda's Fabric Stash

Linda’s Fabric Stash

Linda has a lot less fabric than she used to have, and a lot less than I have. But you know what? This looks like a really good size for a stash. I know I have too much fabric (again). It’s too hard to find what I’m looking for, especially when I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Having too many choices can make choosing harder, not easier. I am looking at Linda’s very tidy closet with envy :-).

In other news, my foot is doing really well! The doctor had me cut the bandage to relieve the pressure on my foot on day two and that took the pain away. I can even put a little weight on it today (as per doctor’s orders). I’m still only allowed to be up only 5 minutes at a time. The rest of the time I have to sit with my foot up. The better I feel, the harder that is to do, but I’m sticking to it.

This is me…

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All of my author pictures, my driver’s license, and my passport, show a short-haired me. But this is me, now.

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I’ve been growing my hair for about 10 months. I took this (quick) self-portrait for my 52 Week Photo Challenge class. I didn’t spend enough time on the assignment because we spent most of last week in NYC with Jeff. I didn’t want to spend time taking a picture of myself during our visit! But this photo does show me as I am now.

I need a new author photo for a book. Do you think this will work? Trust me when I tell you that the black and white version is better than the color version.

Show and tell… my Mom’s Welcome to the North Pole!

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My mom began this quilt in May of 2012. The finished quilt went on her wall a couple of weeks ago…

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Mom chose some fabric from my stash and then I brought more fabric. I offered to give her ‘help’ but she was very happy do make this on her own. She did it her way and it’s perfect!

The top was finished in time for it to hang on her wall last year, un-embellished. I quilted it this summer and she spent the following weeks adding embellishments. Can you tell that my mom really likes sequins :-)?

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None of this was easy for her. She struggled with her glasses, arthritis and neuropathy in her fingers. Threading the needle and dealing with the little sequins and beads was a challenge—but she did it! Click the arrows on the slideshow, below, to see more of the blocks.

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Have I said that I’m proud of my mom for sticking with this? I am! It has a folk art vibe that just can’t be beat. Way to go, Mom!

 

Show and tell…

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Susan sent me photos of her lovely Backyard Birds quilt. Isn’t it lovely! Way to go, Susan.

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She said:

I have sewn for years but as I work full time I have never had the opportunity to develop my patchwork skills beyond a simple sampler quilt. I am undergoing medical treatment since July and I am using my time off work and getting treatment to patchwork, learning new techniques and work on creating some wonderful quilts.

 

I quilted the blocks separately. I attended a quilt group at Coles Sewing Centre,  Nottingham England, and my lovely teacher Gilli Theokritoff helped me through the tricky bits!! I had never done free motion quilting before and Gilli pointed me in the direction of youtube and watching Leah Day. I started off just drawing, then practising on practice blocks and can say after a lot of effort I now have a work of art on my wall. When I read Linda’s intro in the booklet and the comment re getting through  cold winter and difficult times I really wanted to agree I cant wait for the spring when all the treatment is over and the song birds return.

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I like this choice of background fabric. I don’t know that I would have chosen it, but it’s very pretty. Susan also included a photo of her detailed documentation patch. I’m impressed!

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Susan added:

I am getting on well with my treatment looking forward to the spring when I get back into work, with some wonderful skills learnt, new friends made and several quilts sewn.

And this…

Breast cancer, 1 in 10 women my age get it…Luckily I had a routine screening in May and something was picked up,
My advice to you all is if you have any concerns, LUMPS bumps whatever as soon as you can go to your doctor. If you get the opportunity to have screening Take it. I am so lucky routine screening found it, and it’s treatable. Don’t be frightened to say I am worried about this. Do something about it. With love, Susan

I agree with Susan on this point. I’m a big believer in treating your body like a used car—one that you want to drive forever. If something isn’t working, get it looked at.

Thanksgiving in NYC…

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I am thankful for Thanksgiving, this one in particular. We got to visit Jeff in his city—New York City! Here are a few of the things we saw and did, not necessarily in chronological order…

Steve held my tea as I took photos pretty often. He is such a good traveling companion :-).

We went to see the balloons tied down the night before the Macy’s Parade. The weather was crisp, but nice and my oh my did the people come out for this event. It was really packed but there you go. It was a fun experience!

The balloons look a lot bigger up in the air.

We went to both the MOMA and to the Whitney museums. I enjoy the art. I enjoy watching people look at the art. I might actually like the people watching more than the art watching.

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I also enjoy the people who guard the art. They watch people looking at art all day long.

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There are great outside spaces at the Whitney where you can look out at the city…

We walked the High Line where there were still a few flowers blooming. I thought that was amazing for this time of year.

Jeff cooked a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I went to see the Rockettes! Steve and Jeff went to the northern end of Manhattan to see ‘nature’. We shopped and walked and visited Central Park. This is me, taking pictures of the leaves falling that didn’t turn out.

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I hope each and every one of you had as nice a holiday was we did. Right now we are in the airport, waiting to fly home. While we are sad to leave the kid, we are still smiling from the time spent with him.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade…

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We walked a few blocks from Jeff’s apartment to 64th Street and Central Park West. We got there an hour before the parade started and there were already lots of people there. None of us are committed enough to parades to have gotten there in time to be in the front row.

Anything below head level was hidden from us, but luckily most of the good stuff is tall or floating. The Macy’s stars were first…

Followed by a turkey float…

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My favorite was Adventure Time…

Jeff is in the kitchen cooking. I have been decorating their Christmas tree, and Steve is having a nap. What a great Thanksgiving!