The Quilt Show Stay-At-Home Sale Is Here!

Clear days with bright blue skies, crisp nights that are perfect for piling on the quilts, leaves that seem to glow with color from within…it can only mean one thing; Autumn is here! It’s my favorite time of year and I can feel myself switching from gardening mode to full-tilt Quilting Mode. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been eyeing your fabric stash and thinking about A. Which quilt to make first and B. How much new fabric you can reasonably expect to get away with buying at the Fall quilt shows. We have such a fun hobby, don’t we?

October is a popular quilt show month, and I’ll be teaching at three of them; Quilting With Machines in Huron OH, Machine Quilters Exposition West in Portland OR, and International Quilt Festival in Houston TX. If you’re planning to attend any of these shows, I do hope you’ll say hello! I like to put faces with names and I’d love to see your smiling face.

For those of you who are staying home from the shows, I’ve got a sale just for you! Beginning tomorrow, September 29, the Quilt Show Stay-At-Home Sale features my bestselling ‘Machine Quilting For Beginners’ DVD at $25.00 (regularly priced at $29.95) and my ‘Twirly Whirly Feathers’ workbook/2 DVD set at $40.00 (regularly priced at $44.95) These are the same student bargain prices you’d pay in my classroom in Houston, except you get to stay at home and learn in your pajamas and slippers, a practice which is frowned upon at most quilt shows. The sale runs through Monday, October 3.

2011 has been a very busy year for me. In February, we filmed episodes for Season 2 of ‘Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show’ on QNNtv.com. In May, I was lucky enough to be named Machine Quilting Teacher of the Year for a second time, this time at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake City, UT. This show is one of my favorites and if you’re ever in the area, you should definitely check it out. Great people, great scenery, great quilts. What more can a quilter ask for? In August, I was in Wyoming at the beautiful home of the machine quilting world’s leading lady, Linda Taylor. We filmed four episodes of her show, which can be found at TheQuiltingSchool.com. On July 25 and September 19, Pat Sloan invited me to appear on American Patchwork and Quilting Radio. Those interviews can be found in the archives. Just scroll down the page a bit, click the interview date and listen. It’s that easy! Add to these highlights a full show teaching schedule and it’s easy to see why I think there needs to be a lot more coffee in the world. J

A couple of new things to mention;

1. Due to popular demand, I have a new blog. It’s called A Fabric Playground and while I can’t promise to update it every day due to my heavy travel schedule, I will promise to put cool tutorials and stuff on it as often as I can. 
2. Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine, which features my regular column ‘Ask Kimmy!’ has hit the big time. You can now find it on newsstands at JoAnn Fabrics, Hancock Fabrics, and Barnes and Noble. This major upgrade is the result of years of dedication and hard work by the mag’s owner, Vicki Anderson, and I applaud her determination and unending effort.
3. I’ll be introducing a very cool new template early in 2012. It’s called Minaret and you’re going to love it. I’ve been dreaming and scheming about it for several years and, with some gentle encouragement by Lisa Calle (a quilter that you’ll be seeing a lot more of in the future and, trust me, you are going to be blown away by her work) I finally brought my ideas into the light of day. We’ll be starting the prototype and testing phase in November and as soon as we have the bugs worked out, Minaret will make its debut. Stay tuned!
4. Speaking of quilters whose work will blow you away, there’s a new teacher on the block. Norma Riehm is a phenomenal contemporary style quilter who does amazing work. Her blue piece at the IMQA Grant Foundation Auction at MQS last spring totally rocked the house and brought in some seriously big money. She’ll be teaching at a few select shows and if you have chance to get into one of her classes, you’ll be a lucky duck.  Her only remaining show of 2011 is MQX West in Portland, so if you’ll be at that show, look her up.

So far, my 2012 show schedule includes MQX East in April, HMQS and MQS in May, the NQA’s 43^rd Annual Show in June, and the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival in August. I hope to meet some of you in person at these shows. Just look for me in the line at the coffee place!

Happy Quilting to you!

Kimmy Brunner