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.

Healthy powdered peanut butter…

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I keep forgetting to share this news. When I was teaching in Sarasota, FL, the ladies there shared with me a sample of a peanut butter that has 75% less fat. It was pretty tasty! Not as wonderful as full-fat peanut butter, but close. It’s called PB2 and you can find it online at Bell Plantation.

There are other good things on that site but I haven’t tried them.
As long as I’m sharing food news… my home-made granola recipe is attached below. It’s a Word document that I hope most of you can open. I eat my granola with non-fat, plain yogurt. I strain my yogurt to make it thicker. That’s not hard to do… just let the yogurt sit on cheesecloth suspended over a bowl (use a rubber band to hold the cheesecloth up) and let the liquid drain off. Your very own Greek-style yogurt!
FYI – I use whole flax seed in the granola. I do grind up a healthy spoonful of flax seed each morning and sprinkle it over my bowl. It has a nutty taste that I like a lot.

Granola.doc

A day well spent…

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My very good friend, Laurie, is in charge of the garage sale at her church every June. The money they raise goes to mission work. Spring is an excellent time to organize so I usually have things to give Laurie. I always have clothes and sometimes I have fabric. The local quilters love it!

I spent 3 hours this morning weeding out my fabric. I know that sounds horrible to some of you but I want every fabric in my stash to be something I can actually use. I don’t want fabric that I loved years ago but no longer can get excited about. Linda taught me the virtue of a clean stash years ago and I’m so glad she did.

Laurie got 5 big bags of prewashed, folded 100% cotton, good-quality cotton. I hope she sells it all and raises lots of money. I didn’t have the least bit of remorse seeing it go. 
My fabric stash is much happier. FYI – the top of the top shelf is about 6′ off the ground and the shelves are 5′ wide. I still have LOTS of fabric in my stash :-).

Spring in Connecticut…

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I am continually surprised at the size of the USA! It is hot summer in north Texas right now but it is spring in Hartford, Connecticut. I’ve been in Connecticut since last Wednesday, lecturing and teaching. Quilting is alive and well here! Isn’t it nice that quilters are the same no matter where you are?

Judy, who was in charge of me on Wednesday and Thursday, took me by the house and garden of a lady who is famous for her house and garden! I only got a quick look (and photo) but I was impressed. The cars were zipping by so I tried to see lots, fast.

Don’t you love the starfish around her front door?! Her plants were young and on the small side because it is still spring here, but it is obvious that her garden will be incredible as it gets warmer. I wish I lived across the street so that I could look at her yard all summer long!

Lasting Memories from Quilt Market…

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I’m home and unpacked and have been thinking back on market. I have to say that my strongest memories are of the people I got to visit with there. It’s always nice to re-connect with friends that I only see once or twice a year, and this year was no exception. 

I met many people for the first time and for many of them, this was their first market. They were as stunned at the enormity of the quilt industry as I remember being 14 years ago. It was nice to share in their excitement!
Clear, fresh colors were big at this market. Linda and I love these colors, so that is happy news! Green in many shades was much in evidence – as was pink.
I got a chance to see a new product that will have our name on it at this market. We have worked with Superior Threads on 3 sets of thread pre-wound onto bobbins – made especially for applique! Linda and I chose 36 of the colors we use the most from Superior’s Masterpiece line. Masterpiece is one of the threads we recommend for hand applique, piecing, and machine quilting. Masterpiece is 100% cotton (we don’t use silk), strong, and fine. 
There are 12 colors in each set. Each of the 12 bobbins has 85 yards of thread. (I had no idea that much thread fit on a bobbin.) Bobbins are a great way to carry thread – they are a lot less bulky than spools. We’ll post the bobbin sets on our web site when we get them in stock – probably in June.
Lastly, I want to share with you one of my quirky finds in Portland. I ended up in a toy store (Little Finnigan’s) that sells odd toys. I happen to like odd toys. They live in my studio. Anyway I saw these Horrified B-Movie Victims on Friday and resisted them. 

Luckily, I had just enough time at lunch on Saturday to sneak out of market and go back and buy them! They are about the size of the GI Joe figures that my boys had when they were little. I think they look great perched on top of my computer. 

More about market…

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I also worked in the C&T booth, telling shop owners about our new block of the month, Aunt Millie’s Garden. It hung behind where the sales folks worked on their orders. Part of the quilt was hidden, but that didn’t seem to matter! It’s too bad Linda wasn’t there to hear the lovely things people said about her quilt – but I’ll do my best to share their comments with her. 

I did have a little time to get out and about in Portland. There is wonderful public transportation here. I rode the bus, the light rail, and the streetcar! This is just one of the cool sculptures I saw on the streets. Portland has a lot of good public art.

Quilt Market in Portland

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I got to Portland last Wednesday. I admit it… I should have taken more photos during market, but I didn’t. There was just too darned much going on!


I stayed at the Silver Cloud Hotel on the NW side of the downtown Portland. It was a nice place with good (way too good) shopping nearby. There is not a lot of time off during market but what time I had, I spent walking in a variety of downtown areas.
Market started for me on Thursday with a Schoolhouse presentation. Schoolhouse is an event where you get a chance to tell shop owners about your new products. For us, it was the block of the month, Aunt Millie’s Garden. Linda is in FL at her niece, Magan’s, graduation. Usually we are both at market so her not being there was different.

Friday I had some time to walk the rows at market to see what’s new. I took this photo before the doors opened and it got crowded. Walking market is sort of like walking the vendors at a quilt show, except that there is not a lot that you can buy and have right now. This is a wholesale market so you see fabric that you’d love to have (right now!). It is the same for me – I wanted a lot of the new fabric – but I have to wait like everyone else until it comes to a shop near me. Market can be a little frustrating if you don’t know that before you come.

It’s nice to visit with the people Linda and I have both come to know over the years. That’s probably the best part of market. 
I worked in two booths at this show… below is a picture of one of our quilts in the P&B booth. The quilt is made from some of our new fabric, Elanor’s Picnic. The fabric will ship in August. You will hear more about that when we have it in hand!