{"id":459,"date":"2012-08-08T02:56:26","date_gmt":"2012-08-08T02:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/?p=459"},"modified":"2012-12-21T16:45:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-21T16:45:37","slug":"goodies-for-the-good-guys-gals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/?p=459","title":{"rendered":"Goodies for the Good Guys & Gals"},"content":{"rendered":"

To my pals in patchwork publishing, the folks who edit your quilt guild\u2019s newsletter:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got goodies for you.<\/p>\n

Poems, prose from a private eye, and a puzzle\u2014all about our passion: quilting.<\/p>\n

You deserve it. You\u2019ve got one of the hardest and most important jobs in the guild. Your colleagues in the guild get you articles and info late in the game, with loose threads and participles dangling, with more typos than you can shake a stiletto at. Photos or clip-art are sad…or sadly lacking. There\u2019s the quicksand of copyright to worry about. And layouts? Mission impossible without a graphic design PhD or a teenager in the house. Yet you\u2019re expected to get everything out in time.<\/p>\n

So here it is. A zinger, a beam of light, a flight of fancy. Guaranteed to make your guild go gaga when they get next month\u2019s issue.<\/p>\n

Number ONE goodie is Quilt Verse. Jacquie Scuitto, aka The Muse, has been crafting poetry about our passionate pastime for some time now. I get a major tickle whenever she posts on Quiltart.net.\u00a0 She knows our hidden agendas:<\/p>\n

\n
ROOM TO DREAM
\nBy Jacquie Scuitto, aka The Muse\"\"<\/a><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
I dream of having a great big room
\nJust for me and my quilting
\nWith lots of shelves and work space tops
\nAnd a comfortable chair for tilting.
\nA wall there’d be to try designs
\nAnd show off my creations.
\nMy computer would be handy to communicate
\nMy triumphs and elations.
\nThe newest books would appear like magic
\nAnd never crowd up their shelves.
\nThe fabrics likewise, and even better,
\nThey would neatly fold themselves!
\nI might put a mini-kitchen in
\nAnd a comfy sofa bed.
\nWhy not? It is my dream
\nAnd there’s lots of room in my head.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And she knows our weaknesses:<\/p>\n

\n
IRONING?
\nBy Jacquie Scuitto, aka The Muse<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
Some people iron fabric but seldom clothes;
\nPress seams but not trouser creases;
\nSew on buttons only to embellish;
\nBuy yardage to cut into pieces.
\nAre these persons crazy? A little deranged
\nWith a view of the world rather strange?
\nNo, this is normal behavior for a large group of people
\nCalled quilters \u2014 and they don\u2019t plan to change!<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You can get the ebook collection of her poems at Smashwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spend just a few bucks on an electronic version, and Jacquie will generously let you share an verse now and then (with credit, so guild members know where to go when they need a gift for a quilter!) Find her or follow her blog at http:\/\/quiltmuse.blogspot.com.
\nAnd then, challenge your guild members to submit their own quilt verse for the next issue…Bet you get a nibble as long as you don’t quibble!<\/p>\n

Number TWO goodie– Quilts in the Attic: Uncovering the Hidden Stories of the Quilts We Love, by Karen Musgrave<\/p>\n

Best price I’ve found is on Amazon<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We all know how quilting can be therapeutic, but it’s not often that reading about quilts provides that service. But Quilts in the Attic is my current go-to read when I have a little time to kill and nerves on edge. One minute I’m gritting my teeth as I wait in long lines at the post office, the next minute I’m sinking my teeth into a most personal, deliciously satisfying story about someone devoting her heart and her art to making her mark on her world.\u00a0 Mind you, this could be a book you read start to finish, but I pack it in my tote, and when impatience or anxiety calls my name, I grab it, pick a picture of a quilt, then delve into the secrets behind the stitches.\u00a0 Quilters with lofty reputations are shown to be down-to-earth women of conscience and wit, while nobodies and needle-workers of long ago share their uncommon lives. Karen has a way of turning all of them into friends, and turning the quilts they created into never-to-be-forgotten classics.<\/p>\n

Why not let this book inspire your guild chronicles? Let the guild historian, or corresponding secretary present the full story behind a member\u2019s heirloom? There\u2019s never enough time at Show \u2018n Tell to share the full scoop…<\/p>\n

Number THREE goodie — Full disclosure: This is tied to a new book, too. Mine!\u00a0 Hot off the press, Quilt Blocks Go Wild!<\/strong><\/span> \"\"<\/a>
\nI\u2019m itching wildly to get it into people\u2019s hands. To give a big hand to contributing celebs Malka Dubrawsky (those pillows on the cover are her designs), along with Karla Alexander, Pamela Dinndorf, Tonya Ricucci, Elizabeth Rosenberg, and yours truly (me!). I can’t wait for you to try your hand at taking a classic quilt block and making it your own, for quilts and wall hangings, table runners and tote bags, potholders and pillows.<\/p>\n

Shameless sales pitch: Get it from me here<\/a>, where it\u2019s already at a great price. It\u2019s too new to have accrued those oh-so influential reviews on Amazon. If you know my other books and you can foresee putting a mildly– if not wildly–positive review on Amazon, give me your contact info, and I\u2019ll offer you the book at a price that\u2019s unbeatable.<\/p>\n

Or, get it from Amazon here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But back to those guild newsletters. I had myself a wild time working on a crossword puzzle with a master puzzle creator who happens to be my cousin. The titular theme of the puzzle happens to be Quilt Blocks Go Wild! (Where have I heard that before?) The puzzle is free on my website, and you\u2019re welcome to include it in your newsletter. Click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for the solution, I\u2019d be grateful if you send your guild members to my website, where they can confirm that they got it all right. Or not!<\/p>\n

And maybe take a gander at my new book. Did I mention that I have one? Am I being wildly brazen here?<\/p>\n

By now you\u2019ve caught on to the fact that I\u2019ve just presented 3 book reviews. Hey, wouldn\u2019t a book review make a great little feature in the guild newsletter? If you think this creates work rather than relieves you of same, take the same sly approach Tom Sawyer used in whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence: Start in, make it look fun, and step aside when your guild girlfriends clamor to do the job for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To my pals in patchwork publishing, the folks who edit your quilt guild\u2019s newsletter: I\u2019ve got goodies for you. Poems, prose from a private eye, and a puzzle\u2014all about our passion: quilting. You deserve it. You\u2019ve got one of the hardest and most important jobs in the guild. Your colleagues in the guild get you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Ej5z-7p","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":606,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions\/606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eleanorlevie.com\/quilting-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}