The End is Near

Again, a long awaited show is coming to a conclusion.  Quilts in Color, closes this Sunday March 25.  You still have a couple days to get there.  Here is my "fireplace" photo.  Another View, is included in my book, A Black and White Tale, and is hanging in the parlor of the Anderson Arts Center.

Flamingo Garden, Purple Iris, Smelling the Flowers

Gallery View

Another deadline.  For those of you interested in my Free-Motion Quilting Tutorial, the termination is March 31.  If you'd like to read it go to this link. Thanks to SewCalGal for putting this challenge on the web.

I'm going outside to work in my garden now.

Ann Fahl

Put this on your calendar! March 16-18

Big news from TheQuiltShow.com! In honor of International Quilt Day March 17, 2012, The Quilt Show, on web TV hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, will "open" all of its shows from the first nine series--that is, from shows numbered 100 through show 913--for the entire weekend of March 16 –18. This means that—for three special days—everyone will have the chance to view these 117 shows, featuring some of the quilting world’s leading artists, at no charge.

After the filming of episode #111,  Alex Andersen, Ann Fahl, Ricky Tims

As you may already know, I appeared as the featured artist on TQS on show 111. If you didn't have the opportunity to see this show first time around, now you'll have the chance to see it—and so many other terrific shows. Filming this segment was one of the most exciting days of my career. Being on stage with Alex, Ricky and an audience was quite a rush. Most of my cat quilts were there! The filming was before A Black and White Tale became a book!

Waiting for Breakfast, a quilt by Ann Fahl

Please share this information with all of your quilting friends. It's a fantastic opportunity to enjoy three days of learning and fun without leaving your home…all for free. And...... Support your fellow quilters!

Ann Fahl, and the staff of thequiltshow.com

Back to the Studio!

Now that everything is back in place, I've returned to work at the machine. I've started quilting on the collage piece. It's wonderful to work in a room full of light.

Basted collage, partially outline quilted with monofilament thread.

One thing I have rediscovered, is that I need to change my darning foot when I'm quilting around beads. I love the little Janome open foot that floats over the surface, but it is awful around beads.

My favorite open toed adjustable foot catches in all the bead!  Frustrating.

In my excitement about trying some of Lyric's beading techniques on her DVD, I forgot about the fact that I quilt after the beading, not before.  The little adjustable foot catches and doesn't move when there is a bead nearby. So... I have to change to my closed toe oval generic darning foot.

Attach this closed toe plastic darning foot, and it rides right on top of the beads.  Life with beads is much easier sewing with this foot.

So change the foot on your machine and the quilting will go much smoother.  And I'm having fun.

Just a reminder that Oreo still has some books left and we can fill orders received this week by Christmas.  A Black and White Tale is the book I illustrated with all of my Oreo quilts and the verse is written by Jacquie Scuitto, the Quilt Muse.  This is a delightful little book, perfect for a gift for any cat or quilt lover, for under $20! Please check it out. Help support a quilter/publisher and her feline.

It's hard to believe that it is only 2 weeks before Christmas.  Happy shopping.

Ann Fahl

This Really is the Good Life!

I have just finished the last of the studio polishing.  The white flannel is pinned on my design wall and I am vacuuming one last time.  At 4:00 today, I sat down, with a chocolate chip cookie, tea and watched Dr. Oz. And I thought, "Life is really good today, my studio is ready for me!"  It has never been so clean.

Looking at my communications center and newly covered design wall.

The pink Styrofoam design wall is covered and usable, a beautiful quilt is hanging on it, and my walls have  quilts and other special items that surround me that I love.  My printer which conked out this week, is now working, thanks to HP tech support.  The baseboard heaters are painted a beautiful white and trim is too. The dark 70's paneling is gone. It is time to work on my newest Egyptian quilt again, it needs lots of embroidery before it can be quilted.  There is my collage which you've seen, which is ready for basting and quilting.  Lots to do.

Before I begin my embroidery and quilting, I will give you a quick tour of my studio.  This wall is my communications center and design wall which is 8 x 8 feet. It is shoved into the corner, but if I need the full width, I can scoot is to the left, covering up the clock.  Egyptian Water Garden II is hanging on it right now.  I love this quilt, when I look at it, it makes me feel good. 

Check out the fresh white walls! My cutting table is half a ping pong table, & rulers hanging on the wall.  Notice the outlet on the wall where the pencil sharpener is plugged in.

Around the corner is the long wall with my TV, cutting table and windows.  I have hung up Line Dancing Under the Stars, Tragedy on Esplanade, Black Eyed Susans on Purple and A July to Remember.  It is good to live with your quilts surrounding you. My studio gets lots of light in the morning, so I rotate the quilts to reduce fading.

This is a very long wall, so I'm showing it to you in 2 parts.

Around the next corner is my short wall with all my products that I sell online: books, patterns, booklets etc. My stereo keeps my quilting smooth and there is an assortment of Winona Lake items on the wall. My postage stamp piece honoring Winona, a historic painting on grass cloth, a water color by local artist Jean Thielen, a Japanese figure I've had since the age of 12, a poster of Winona, and two black eyed susan pieces. The little one was a gift from Emily Parson, and the Purple Eyed Susans was a demo in my book Dancing with Thread.  It really sings on the bright white wall.

This is the part of the room where the embroidery and quilting happen!

 Last of all Oreo is thrilled with the new look.  She can walk along the ledge that is 4 feet up from the floor and watch over all my creative activities and the critters outside. Another bonus, I found an electric outlet, that I didn't know was there, on the long wall. It had been piled up with assorted treasures and junk for years.

The drawers facing out, under the machine cabinets are where I store my thread--by color.  They are on wheels and can be moved around.

Well, I'm ready to sew now.  This major cleaning will never happen again. Once every 35 years is enough. I'm good to go sew.

Have a good weekend.

Ann Fahl

Piecing with a Titanium Topstitch Needle

All this business began with a booklet I am writing called: Mastering Metallics.  I have had trouble quilting with metallic threads for years.  I like to think of myself as a thread expert, I wrote two books on the subject.  But I'm coming clean, right here and now; quilting with metallics has been my downfall!

Thankfully the problems have been solved, after hours and hours of trial, error, tears, and emailing other experts on quilting and thread.  The booklet is almost ready to be published, it has a great cover!  Anyhow, I'm kind of off topic.

The other day the e-newsletter came from thequiltshow.com and it featured a video with Bob from Superior Threads, talking about "using the correct needle."  So I watched it, thinking I might find some new information of interest for my booklet. Well, I did.

Size 70/10 Titanium Coated Topstitch Needles

Just in passing Bob mentioned that the size 70/10 titanium topstitch needle could be used in piecing. I'm the lazy type, and if I have to do just a little piecing, I'll use what is in the machine. That's usually a 80/12 topstitch needle. But I don't like the larger holes that it creates when I'm sewing a seam.  But like I said, I'm lazy.

I sell these needles when I'm on the road, and I have a pack of the 70/10 size sitting near my machine. Oh yes, they piece beautifully. They have a longer eye, which gives the thread plenty of space to move around while the stitch is being created. Because the eye isn't too big, it doesn't make that big hole on either end of the stitch. Wow, what an eye opener. I now promise, with right hand raised, to "always change the needle to a topstitch 70/10 when I sew a seam or piece." 

In this picture, Ann is piecing with a new 70/10 titanium topstitch needle.  This picture just proves that you should always look in the mirror and comb your hair before taking a picture of yourself sewing!

 OK, now raise your right hand, say it with me:  "I promise to always change the needle to a topstitch 70/10 when I sew a seam or piece."  You will learn that the titanium needles last much longer, so you will actually save money on needles when you do this! This will make your world a better place.

It goes to show you that one never knows when some little piece of news will change the way you do things.

Have a great day.

Ann

Writing a New Book and a Vacation from Quilting

If you live in the US you've lived through this heat wave!

It's too hot to work outside in the garden so I decided to stay inside and finish up a book that I've been working on for the last year or so.  This isn't a quilting book, it's another in my series on my family history.

Last summer I found the letters that my grandfather wrote his sweetheart while he was in the army in 1916-1918. After reading through most of the 65 letters, I decided to transcribe them and put them in book form for my family.  At the end of each letter he continually asked her to come and visit him at the base; which she eventually did on August 3, 1918.  They married on August 15 several weeks later.

Book cover with some of the letters

When I was typing up the letters, I was totally absorbed into their story. Imagine my grandparents as young and in love!  It was hard to stop working on them.  The bonus is that grandpa sent her postcards, comics, newspaper articles, bulletins etc., and most of these things were still in the envelopes!  Grandma kept these letters and many others in a cedar chest.  When she died in the 70's her son kept them; then last summer they found their way to the cottage in Winona Lake.  I just couldn't leave them alone. That's when this book got it's start.

I titled the book, "Dear Grace"  I put as many letters into the text that would fit in 60 pages.  I inserted as many pictures of the things that grandpa sent her. I'm very proud of the book, and hope my cousins enjoy it as much as I did. This is a precious treasure which I will share with all of Grace and Harry's grandchildren.

Here is Grace and Harry in 1916, early in their relationship

I took the completed file to Office Depot where Angie and David worked a whole day laminating the covers, printed the body of the book, and binding them with a small black spiral.  The book looks great and with care should last a generation or two. Only 15 relatives will own one.

This morning I took all the books to the post office and mailed them off.  You know, I am really sad that this project has come to an end.  For me it was a chance to step back in time and get to know my grandparents as young adults.  I learned a lot.  I'm not sure what I will tackle next.  Nothing will be quite as personal and magical as this project.

Even quilters need a hobby!

Ann

Trillium in Technicolor and Problem Solving

Trillium in Technicolor as seen in my book Dancing with Thread

This post will show you how I have spent the last week or so.  I will also share several tips I've learned along the way. Obvious yes, but they are worth mentioning.  This is enough information to fill a half day workshop!

Trillium in Technicolor is a quilt I was very proud of. There were several new things that I tried and they were successful.  However, something has always bothered me about the quilt.  

So here is the big tip: I hung the quilt up in my bedroom where I would see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  After several weeks I figured out the problem,  the largest flower was bright orange and it always seemed to scream at me.  The solution was to change the flower.  Am I crazy? I finished this quilt 2 years ago, why am I fooling with it now? Well, I'd like to show a grouping of trillium pieces in my autumn show at the LaConner Quilt Museum.

I knew the replaced flower had to be in the pink or rose color family, it would blend better with the remaining flowers.

Auditioning soft pink fabric:  not too bad, maybe I like it!

Auditioning deeper rose fabric:  I like this better!

Parchment pattern piece on lower right petal

I had to think about how I was going to do this and work up enthusiasm for the project. With pencil, I traced the three petals onto parchment paper. I added a generous 1/4 inch seam allowance for turning the edges under. Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I cut out most of my images using scissors. These petals have wavy edges and I think it works better. I cut out the rose fabric for this first petal and began to see a transformation.

The first rose petal is hand appliqued into position. I also added a light pink edge on one side.

 Using tiny hand stitches, and matching rose colored thread, I used the needle turn applique technique, and stitched right up to the dark leaves. I am really pleased with the results. It did take all evening to do this.

On the second evening, I cut out and appliqued the second petal

I am encouraged as I like the pink, but I still seem to see it as an orange flower!

All three petals are appliqued into place.

I hung the quilt in my studio all day so I could admire my new pink trillium.  It is good. With a steam iron I lightly steamed the flower to make the edges flat.  Now, how am I going to quilt this thing?

Using one of the parchment pattern pieces I doodled some designs that would be effective and similar to the quilting patterns used on the smaller flowers. There were two different Rainbow Variegated Threads that worked with the rose color:  I chose #814 because it added more depth to the quilting.

First I worked up my confidence level, then I began to quilt. It really didn't take too long, even though I took my time, this is the LAST chance for this Trillium.

Detail show of the new and improved rose colored trillium

I'm very pleased with the changes I have made.  Even after all this time, I feel the flower has more detail than the original orange. The light pink edges give the quilt more depth and realism.  Even the quilting is better because I took more time to develop a design for it. I have no idea what I was thinking when I fused the Orange one on in the first place.

So here is the completed quilt, I'm looking at it right now, as I am writing this. It is successful, the colors work well together, and I'm thrilled with how all the quilting patterns have formed a cohesive whole.

Trillium in Technicolor an original quilt by Ann Fahl

Yes I made the changes by hand. This was done because I had so many curvy edges to cover.  I could have maybe fused the fabric down, but I didn't want to flatten the quilt. The final quilting was done on the machine and unless you read my quilt statement about the quilt, no one would ever know that the quilt was altered! I admit. I did a good job. Go to my website to read more about the quilt and see larger images.

This method will work for you, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation!  Be calm, take your time, think the solution through, maybe even making a test sample first. Wearing a bright colored pair of socks will always make you feel better and get you in the mood for "quilt improvement."

If you have a problem quilt, put somewhere you can see it all the time.  Eventually the answer will come to you. Then you can decide whether to make changes or not--that's up to you. You have put so many hours into your work, it would be a shame to stuff it into a closet and try and forget about it! Maybe there is a simple solution that will improve the quilt.

Have a rose filled holiday weekend.

Ann Fahl

My Alternative Mother's Day Celebration

This is my view out my studio window

Sunday, the actual Mother's Day was an enjoyable day for me.  I got up late, my husband had a blueberry scone waiting for me, yum.  I decided to spend the day, outside in my garden. Until today I've spent little time outside. There have been too many things going on! My book for one thing, finishing my Gettysburg quilt, and working on a hot new genealogy project which has completely absorbed me. The weather has been crumby, it is Wisconsin, it has been rainy and cold.

The dandelions and thistle are showing up.  Every time I walk up to my front door there are a couple of things that need to be pulled up. It's kind of like looking at a quilt hanging on the wall in a gallery, and there is a large piece of thread hanging on it.  Do you pull it off?

Current view of my back yard garden

Today,  I pulled out my little garden stool, gloves, little diggers and worked on my spring garden clean-up.  And yes, this is really what I want to do on my day!  It's warm outside, the sun is shining and the birds have all arrived. The perfect day. I had a thermos glass full of iced tea so I have something to drink while I'm taking a break.

Wild flowers called Hepatica nobilis bloom out in the front yard

Kmart advertised some yard art on sale. There were flamingos and cranes on special.  So after having lunch out, we stopped and purchased one crane which is now standing on the edge of the garden. I still have many days of work, but this was a wonderful day of discovery. I found primroses, yellow wild violets, little white hepatica flowers, white trillium are beautiful.  What a spring we are having.  The yard is full of daffodils and narcissus. Such inspiration for future quilts. The only thing I missed today was my two sons.

These little red primroses hide among the leaves until I pull them away

I'm going to have a 2 day celebration. Both of my boys went to visit a friend out of town. So we're having our big dinner tomorrow up in Milwaukee at an Italian restaurant. It'll be fun to hear about their adventure, so we'll have fun together and I get two days of celebration.

Life is good.

Ann

Introducing........................................

I picked up the books from my printer yesterday. This is a day I've waited for, for a long time. I could hardly wait to turn the pages, read the verse and look at all the quilts pictured inside.

Here is the first look at the books!

But first we had to unload the trunk! We have boxes of books stored in several rooms of the house. We need to keep them in a clean and dry place so these precious books don't get moldy.

At last I opened one of the books and took one to Sally Miller (book designer) to show it to her. We were very pleased. It was exactly as we expected, with no mistakes. The printing on glossy paper is wonderful and enhances the photography. You can see each bead stitched on the quilts, it's amazing. I can't believe this is my book.

Oreo inspecting the books, she isn't as excited as I am!

Finally, Oreo and I, have A Black and White Tale, ready for sale! The website is up and running. I will be glad to sign each book for you.

And here is the cover of this 48 page book!

This is a small book, yet packed with 34 one-of-a-kind quilts some with a cat, and some without. It is colorful and sure to please both quilt and cat lovers of all ages.  Jacquie Scuitto's verse which accompanies the quilts will delight you. At the conclusion of Oreo's tale, there is a section of the book that has the back stories and descriptions of each of the quilts. Sorry no patterns included.

Now that we are ready to go, we have decided that Oreo will be in charge of cat hair removal, and I will be in charge of packing and shipping. So we are ready to hear from you. Please help us out by telling people about the book. We will try to understand if you are a dog lover!

Ann and Oreo

From ISBN to a Cat Book

One of the early hurdles in publishing this book, was obtaining an ISBN number and barcode, I've come a long way since then. On Thursday, it finally happened. I took the electronic file for the book to the printer.  In a few days I'll be able to see a proof copy of A Black and White Tale. This is really going to become a reality. 

The cover of Ann and Jacquie's 2011  book

While I was waiting at the printer's office I little book fell out of one of my file folders. I had forgotten, that I made this little book for a small group of friends for Christmas 2005. I wrote a little prose to go along with each of 10 quilts or photos of Oreo. I had the cover laminated and I hand stitched the pages and cover together with variegated pearl cotton.

Prototype of cat book from 2005, by Ann Fahl

It has been 5 years since I looked at this project; which was a first step toward my current book.  Sometime after this little project was created, Jacquie Scuitto agreed to write some poetry to go along with all of my cat quilts.  Eventually, there were a total of 22 cat quilts and Jacquie wrote additional verse for each new one that came along. Now there are a total of 34 quilts included in the story line. Quilt and cat lovers of all ages will enjoy it.

I must admit this has caused a sleepless night or two and has become another chapter in my adventure in the quilting world.

When I finished my first sampler quilt in 1978, I never dreamed that I would ever become a publisher!  Quilting gives all of us so many options and paths. I am so fortunate to be a part of the quilting community. This is sew exciting. ;-}

Ann Fahl

Looking Ahead to Spring

Closeup of Purple Iris a quilt by Ann Fahl

This month we've had a blizzard with 24.5 inches of snow and now an ice storm.  We've had enough winter to last for the rest of the year now.  So I've decided to show you a new quilt to take our minds off the terrible mid-western weather.

As a child I always liked the little fuzzy parts of the iris.  We lived in a huge old house in New Jersey, and there was a bed of iris around a patio in the back yard. The iris is such a complex flower; with petals growing upward and some gracefully flowing down; and then all the interesting stuff in the middle.  So on the above iris, I embroidered the little sepals in a small circular pattern to make the contrast color stand out from the rich purple petals.

Full view of Purple Iris by Ann Fahl

 I love how the quilt turned out.  The quilting is fanciful and heavy covering the background.  I used three or four different variegated threads that were light blue or lime green in hue. It is such a pleasant contrast to the vertical lines of the flowers and leaves. 

My original plans were to make a pattern for this quilt. But right now my energy is focused on getting the book about my cat quilts finished and ready for quilters to read. You can read a little more about the quilt on my website.  Stay warm.

Ann

The Big Blizzard, Quilts and Cat

The snow began falling yesterday morning. By late afternoon the wind whipped up and started to get scary. All night, snow was swirling around the house in every direction. The wind howled and whistled around the house, it was really creepy and difficult to sleep.  It has been a long time since we've had a storm like this in the SE corner of Wisconsin.

The deck on the back of the house, storm of 2011

Today I woke up to 23 inches of snow!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the snow. The drifting was amazing, one wouldn't know that there was a street out in front of the house, if you didn't already know it was there. There was a 3 or 4 foot drift across the middle of our driveway. The deck in back had huge mounds of snow on it. What a difference weather has made to this setting.

This is the same setting for one of my recent quilts, pictured in the month of July.

Summer Sanctuary a quilt by Ann Fahl 

I just love this quilt. Summer Sanctuary was inspired by another photo of the same setting, except there wasn't any snow! On this day it was so hot and humid, it was horribly uncomfortable. But that day the geraniums were blooming, huge and colorful on the bench in front of the chair.  My Coleus were beautiful and spilling over the pots. Making this quilt brought me to a new place in machine applique, and has changed the direction of my work. How could this even be the same place?

We were literally snowed in yesterday and today until 4:30 this afternoon; when a snow plow finally came up the street. Actually 2 very large double plowed trucks came and cleared the road. My husband and I found lots to do even though housebound.

I tackled the Library of Congress copyright application system. My new book is just about ready for the printer. So now A Black and White Tale has been submitted for an official LOC copyright. I took quite a bit of doing, filling out the form, and getting the pdf of the finished book in its completed form, and uploading the large file successfully, directly to LOC in Washington DC. Now I have an ISBN number and will soon have a copyright number; how exciting is this? Progress seems so slow, on the book. Each step brings us closer to publication.

What was Oreo the cat doing during all this excitement?

Oreo, relaxing in the family room during the blizzard of 2011

There was lots of snow blowing, shoveling and copyrighting today. It was an invigorating day for me. The cat's day however was much more relaxing.

Ann

My Big Project! part 2

Hairy Homage, by Ann Fahl  a quilt of scraps from many of her cat quilts!

Sally, my book designer, and I have spent lots of time together this week, trying to clear up the last of the details on the book's pages.  We are so close to being done.This is probably what I said in my last post, but it is almost time to send the pages to the printer!

Sally is quite clever and knows how to move details around on each page, everything needs to be lined up so each one looks just right. She has come up with a way to put paw prints on some of the pages, to echo the feline theme. Just how many will be in the final book has yet to be decided.

I've registered my book with the Library of Congress. It is amazing to think that some of my work will actually reside in Washington DC!  What an honor. Soon I'll have an official copyright number from the LC in addition to my ISBN number.   Isn't this exciting stuff? (Making quilts is so much more fun.)

There are so many things to balance; artistic things, editing the quilt descriptions, and just plain office work.  It's hard to take your life's work and boil it down to just 48 pages. I hope you will all like the book when it is done.

More to come.............................
Ann

My Big Project

Whiskers  by Ann Fahl, this is Oreo's official portrait quilt

Many of you have seen the quilts of my cat Oreo.  After publishing my first book, Coloring with Thread, I began working on a book including all my feline quilts.  Jacquie Scuitto wrote delightful verse to accompany the quilts. For years now, I've worked to find a publisher for my small volume. Time is marching, and I've decided to publish the book myself. My friend Sally is designing the pages for me and the pieces are coming together to form a colorful book.

This book will be for quilters, cat lovers, and people that would like to share quilts with their favorite children. In short, almost everyone will enjoy looking at the color photography and reading the accompanying poetry. If they want to know more about the quilts, there are short descriptions of each in the back.

Since I'm a quilter, not a publisher there have been some big challenges along the way; learning how books are bound, paper types, and purchasing my first ISBN number.  This number has consumed much of my time. After asking everyone about these things I've finally sifted through all the information on the web, and have one assigned to this upcoming book. This sounds like a small matter, but it was a huge challenge for me.

Yesterday I got so frustrated, I left my studio and went to have lunch at my favorite Hardee's. It was the change of scenery that I needed, and when I finished talking to my friend Carole, I drove home and purchased that ISBN number that has caused me so much anxiety!

For today, an isbn nimber is my big news.  I've been taking this book one step at a time, and this was one giant step for me. My next challenge is .............

Ann

Something to Think About

My August blog about a recent quilt show and judging generated more responses than any that I've published before. It seems I have hit a nerve in our community of quilt makers.

Detail from Dancing Coneflowers by Ann Fahl

Right now while I am drinking hot chocolate in my new mug, and I received an email from Sherry Reynolds. She has spent a great deal of time thinking about this issue too, and the direction of quilting today. She included a short statement that sums up what I think are the problems with both the entries and the judging at quilt shows. With her premission, this is what she said, "The beauty of a quilt is not how much thread you can cram on a quilt.  To me, you should be able to take away the quilting and still have a work of art.”

Sherry is so right. Just because we can do massive amounts of quilting on the sewing machine, we have all gone overboard with the quantity, myself included.  We need to step back, consider the design, and decide what would be the most appropriate for the piece. Our quilt judges have a very difficult task, they need to weigh the design of the piece, the workmanship, and the quality of the quilting to come up with their decision. It seems they too, have been influenced too much by the quantity of the quilting rather than the quality of the design and the stitching together.We must remember to balance the quilt top design with the stitching of the layers.

I just published a book about free-motion machine quilting so you know I love quilting. It can be a wonderfully rewarding activity, and I love to see the texture and patterns develop on the surface of my work.  But let's slow down a bit, take a look, and perhaps rethink what we've done in the past, and lighten up a bit on what we are quilting now.

Think about it. Pass this message on to your quilting friends and guilds.

Ann Fahl

It's time to dance!

The long awaited book is here. As the author, I got my first big shipment before the shops and large book retailers. Your favorite quilt shop will have the book about April 15th. I'm quite pleased with the cover, and how it turned out. The designer chose a detail of my quilt called Summer Sanctuary. It really sets off the title. There are many photos of my quilts, along with colorful tips and informational charts.  Summer Sanctuary is below:

When I am machine quilting, and everything is going right, the textures and patterns are emerging from my machine, I get a creative high. I feel like I am dancing! This is a wonderful sensation. In the book I explain how I create my free-spirited quilting designs. And try to help the reader find their own individual quilting style so they can dance along with me.

The book begins with my comments on free-motion quilting, a gallery, lots of how-to information and a problem solving chapter. You may read more about the book on my website. I would be glad to sign a book for you if you place an order. Ann Fahl's book page is the place to go.

This is a very exciting time for me, I hope that I can settle down, and get back to quilting tomorrow!

Ann