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 smaller Lorna’s Vine…

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I teach the Lorna’s Vine quilt (at left) from our book Amish-Inspired Quilts. The quilt belongs to my daughter-in-law, Lorna, and I don’t travel with it. 


I decided that I needed a smaller version of this quilt to travel with. I finished the applique a few days ago and got the center of the quilt set together just now. I thought I’d share it with you!


Here it is on my design wall. I hope to add the borders tomorrow and I’ll share that image with you too. I hope to get it quilted before I teach it again at the end of January.

I have to be honest, I like the bigger quilt more. But I don’t have time to make it again full-size and I don’t have a place for a quilt of that size. My guess is that there are a lot of you who would prefer to make the smaller quilt too. Once I have all the measurements worked out, I’ll post the information to make the smaller quilt on our website. You’d still need the book, but you won’t have to do the calculations for the smaller one on your own.

FYI – If you look down 3 posts to the movie you’ll notice that I was taking these blocks off the wall in that movie. I didn’t actually take the blocks off the wall 3 days ago! My husband filmed me doing that at least 5 weeks ago. It’s taken me this long to edit the movie, do the voice-over, and get it posted. Many of you are sharp-eyed enough to connect these posts and I didn’t want you to get the idea that I am Applique Wonder Woman :-).

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I returned from Houston last week. The quilt show was incredible. I love Quilt Festival the vendors and the quilts are Christmas to a quilter. I was there to serve on the International Quilt Association Board as Secretary. It is an honor to contribute to this wonderful organization. 

IQA is a non-profit organization. They put on the judged quilt show. Many of us have thought that Quilt Inc. puts the show on. They do the special exhibits. Quilt Inc. contributes to IQA in many ways.
 This year the quilts from DAR Museum was one of the special exhibits. It was the first time the quilts had been seen outside the museum. Wow! what a treat to see them. It is amazing what quilters accomplished back then. They are inspiring.
Pat Holly’s miniature quilt won an award. I just do not know how she got all the fine details in the quilt. Look for it in the IQA Journal. You receive it if you are an IQA member.
IQA is a great organization. Without them there would be no judged shows in Houston or Chicago. Another show will soon be added. IQA needs the support of you. The money from dues goes a long way toward putting the shows on. IQA also gives grants and promotes quilting. If you do not belong or have not renewed your membership now is the time. You can go to http://www.quilts.org to see the benefits of membership and join. Also you will see the many things IQA does. Please join now. We need each one of you to continue the quality of excellence the IQA show is known for.
While shopping I ran across a fun booth, Fiddlesticks. They use fine wire and fabric strips to make fun and funky adornments. I bought the Peppermint ornament. A great way to have fun with all your scraps. They have a book out Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Fiddlesticks from C&T. Watch our web site for more. See the picture of their booth above.
I have so many ideas running through my mine from all the inspiration at the show. I see a still life quilt in my future. I have always been drawn to them. Something artsy with applique christmas balls. I made a list on the plane coming home. Never enough time. I have to figure out a plan to work on these projects and still meet my book deadline. A friend of mine Glenna Hailey with Holly Hock quilts once gave me some good advice. I was complaining about never finishing anything (this was before I had deadlines). She said if you would keep your butt home you would finish things. Every time I start to whine I remember what she said.
Till next time blessings 
Linda

Taking applique off the wall and making it portable…

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I made a movie that shows how I take my blocks off of my design wall. I place the applique pieces on half of a folded sheet of paper (that has a smaller piece of flannel on it). the pieces are stacked so that piece #1 is on top and ready to sew. 


Once all the pieces are on the flannel, I fold the paper over them. I place the folded paper (with applique pieces) in a gallon-sized Ziplock bag. Usually the overlay will fit in the bag too. I carry my Frostings thread/bobbin sets, a pair of scissors, small pincushion, and toothpicks in a smaller baggie.

Enjoy the movie!

A good book…

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I recently finished “A Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs. I very much enjoyed this book and wanted to let you know about it. Mr. Jacobs has already been on the best-seller list for his book “The Know-It-All”. In that book, he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Mr. Jacobs is of Jewish descent and an agnostic. He decided to spend a year following biblical laws as literally as he could. There are a lot of laws in the bible! He reads many versions of the bible – because they are all a bit different from each other and he’s not playing favorites. He chooses guides and teachers from different faiths to help him.

The book follows a diary format, with entries for most days. Mr. Jacobs is married and has a young son and it’s interesting to hear how this experience impacts them. I enjoyed his thought process as he tries to determine exactly what the bible is telling him to do. I found myself thinking about the way I live my own life in ways that I have not questioned before.


FYI – This book is funny!

Mr. Jacobs wonders in the beginning of the book how this experience might change him. I didn’t really wonder if reading the book would change me at all – and I’m surprised to find that it may have nudged me to be a bit better person!

What’s new…

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I’ve been working on a new quilt for a while now. It’s nowhere near ready for publication so I can’t show the whole quilt top here, but I can show a bit of it! Think of this as a bite o’ cake rather than a whole piece o’ cake.


Becky