2017 in a Nutshell!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hi all. I know I have been very negligent about writing my blog. It would be much easier if I wrote it as things happened instead of writing most of it all at one time, but here I am doing just that!

My last post was in August when my Craftsy class Clever Curves went live. Would you believe I have almost 2000 quilters signed up for that class? I can't! I have had such wonderful comments about that class, it makes me very happy to see so many quilters learning a new technique that they didn't think they could do. Some of them have shared their photos with me and you can read some of the comments on my new Testimonials page on my website.  I hope you can help me get to 2000. 

Craftsy has a new subscription policy where you can get unlimited access for a small monthly fee. CRAFTSY UNLIMITED. This way you can preview any class and if you like one and want it in your permanent files you can still purchase it. They have been running 14 day free trials so check to see if that is still going on. If you decide to check out my class and like it, please use this link for 50% off my class. CLEVER CURVES. (Coupon Details: Get 50% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Toby Lischko. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires April 1, 2018.)

This year has been quite a year for me. I had some wonderful trips in the first half of the year, which I discussed in earlier blog posts. The second half of the year was even better. I got to visit my son Nick in Austin, Texas while teaching at a quilt guild in Garland, Texas which is near Dallas. They were so nice. Since I lectured on a Tuesday and wasn't going to teach class until Saturday, they paid for my trip to visit my son!

I taught a great class on my Hourglass quilt and there were some wonderful blocks. I stayed with a fantastic quilter who made me feel right at home.

I taught at the AQS show in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I got to judge the quilts for the first time. It was quite an experience. I taught 5 classes and gave a lecture. The classes were a huge success and there were a lot of happy quilters with new projects to show off to their hometown guilds and quilting friends. Here are some happy quilters!

Eden class

Eden Class

Eden Class

Eclipse class

Eclipse class

Yin and Yang class

I also got to meet Paula Nadelstern for dinner which was quite a thrill for me. We have been corresponding for years because she always asks me to design something with her new fabric collections but we have never had a chance to meet face to face until now. I found out that we have a lot more things in common other than quilting.

I went to Durham, North Carolina to teach and lecture to a wonderful quilt guild there. While there I got to see an old friend I hadn't seen in over 30 years. I lived in Hillsboro, NC when my kids were young and made friends with a great group of ladies with kids the same age as mine, while running my own preschool. I found out that she was a quilter and she ended up taking my class even though she wasn't a member of the guild. We got to catch up on a lot of things in between teaching the lessons.

I taught my Millefiori class which is the New York Beauty block with a background fussy-cut with a stripe and the center of the block fussy cut. The class has a new name which I now call "Framed".

Along with my Craftsy class, Craftsy also asked me to be an exclusive designer for them. It didn't mean that I couldn't design for anyone else. It just meant that the quilts I designed for them were exclusive to them for a year. I worked with a beautiful fabric collection called High Society. I made two quilts with the collection. One for beginners and one a little more difficult. They posted the quilt kits in November and by Cyber Monday all of the kits had been sold!

Lords and Ladies

Creme' de la Creme'

Right now they aren't selling just the pattern alone but I am taking a list of people interested and as soon as my year contract is up with this pattern, I will be selling it on my website. I do now sell templates to go with the Creme' de la Creme' and Eden quilt, which are used for the star block.
You can see them here:  Eden Star templates.

So what is in store for 2018? I hope to start up my state block challenge again. I feel bad that I just dropped it because of all of the other things I was busy with. I purchased a lot of new Symmetrical fabrics that will be great for that project.

Here are a couple Jane Sassamann fabrics that would be great for this challenge if you don't have anything to use. You can find them here on my website:

Scandia Vineyard Blue 
                                                                                                                      Queen of the May

I will be working on the next blocks (Georgia) in a week or so with a new fabric collection. I also will sew the previous blocks together that I made last year so that you can see you don't have to do all of the blocks to make a quilt.

Well I should get this to you before the new year isn't new anymore!!! I hope this proves to be a productive and happy new year for all of my friends. As always; Do what you love and love what you do. Thank you for reading and feel free to pass on my blog to your friends. Toby Lischko.