Quiltmaker 100 blocks blog tour; My block

Well today is my day for participating in the blog tour. This is the last day of the tour but you can see previous day's posts by going to Quiltmaker blog tour. I feel honored to be in the company of some very well known designers!

My block is on the cover of the magazine. Can you see it? It's the most colorful one there. If you guessed the second from the left on the top row you are correct.

The block is called Stained Glass Star (#386) and is on page 60. The origination of this block came about by accident. I was making a quilt sample for Timeless Treasures with their Tonga Treats 10" squares using my Cutting Corners template set and I had all of these half-square triangles and small strips left. I started playing with the design in EQ7 and finally ended up with this one. I had made the quilt in two different colorways. Here is the original quilt that I designed for Timeless Treasures. The second quilt, as you can see from the block, was done with much brighter fabrics. It is made from different size strips from two sets of the 10" squares. Light prints and dark/medium prints.

 The magazine editors give an example of what the blocks would look like in a 3 x 3 grid. I'm not sure I would want to make that many blocks! Each one has 44 pieces! Here is what it would look like as a table runner. That way I wouldn't have to make extra triangles and I could still use what was left over.

Don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom to be eligible to win a copy of the magazine. I will draw two names. One that Quiltmaker will send and one that I will send. You will also be eligible to win some of the blocks that are all signed by the maker.

Well, got to get ready for my next group visiting for the first time at the St. Louis Star Inn. Lots of wonderful things to cook for the ladies while they are here for the weekend. Also be sure to check out my website Gateway Quilts & Stuff. Starting November 15 through December 15, I will be participating in the Holiday Shophop. I will have lots of fabrics for sale $6 and less. I've got to make room for the new collections that are coming out!

Remember, always do what you love and love what you do.

Quiltmaker 100 blocks Volume 4

Time just seems to fly when I'm busy! I've been since April (my last blog) busy traveling, teaching, getting my retreat center ready, hosting groups at my retreat center and making quilts for market and magazine publications! I just don't see how some people can blog, twitter, facebook, and do all of the rest of the things, to let people know what is going on. I am lucky if I can keep up with my quilting, retreats, and the rest of the stuff that goes with my business. I guess I'm just not one of those really organized people. I get distracted very easily and seem to flitter from one thing to another, not getting much done at all!

But now to the reason for my current posting. Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 4 Blog tour is going on this week. There are many designers participating in this blog tour and lots of give-a-ways. My date is November 11 when I will reveal my block and talk about how I went about designing it. Please be sure to come back to see it. You can see the image on the cover, see if you can figure out which one is mine! If you guess the right one you will get a prize!

That's all for now. See you back on Friday, November 11 for more information and more drawings for a free issue.

Remember, always do what you love and love what you do.  Toby

The Lone Star State

I just returned from working with a wonderful guild in Beaumont, Texas. That is the third guild that I have been to in Texas and I am always amazed at how polite and pleasant people are in Texas! I love when they call complete strangers "Sugar". It just puts me in a good mood! I stayed at a wonderful quilter's home that was on a lake and I almost felt I was on vacation instead of working (of course I love my job so it isn't really work)!

I have lost track of time so I need to pick a winner for the free membership to Victoriana Quilt Designs......(drum roll please).... congratulations Dee M.! I will be forwarding your name to Benita.

Millefiori block featured in McCalls Quilting March/April 2010

In Texas I taught my Millefiori quilt workshop for the first time. It is a fun class where we get to play with mirrors and find interesting designs in the fabric. Many of the quilters I meet say they have mirrors but have never used them and others say that it opens up a whole new world of quilting for them. I love going to quilt shops in the towns I teach looking for new fabric to "play" with. This fabric line is from Benartex. Paula Nadelstern is one of my favorite fabric designers because her stuff is wonderful to fussy-cut! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and created some beautiful blocks. I was lucky enough to purchase this same fabric line from Benartex in a different colorway and I will be offering a limited number of the kits for sale on my website.

I also taught my Stars Over St. Louis workshop. It is another workshop on using mirrors and it is always interesting to see what kinds of fabrics people bring to create the quilt. Even if two people used the same fabric each quilt would be unique. My book is still selling well, which I am thankful for!

Tic Tac Toe featured in June/July Fons and Porter

I do have some new kits available on my website. Tic Tac Toe, featured in Fons and Porter features more of the Habitat collection by Benartex. That fabric was so much fun to design with I created 4 different quilts with it. The other kits using the collection are Yin and Yang, featured in McCalls Quilting and AraBella a free web pattern on Benartex's website.

AraBella

I will also be adding some new workshops to the website. They will feature the use of my Cutting Corners template set. The workshops will be on how to use the templates for different kinds of blocks that require cutting squares and drawing a diagonal line. This tool eliminates the need to draw the line. The quilts in the different workshops will be Tic Tac Toe for the advanced beginner and AraBella for the beginner. I will be adding more workshops using this wonderful tool.

Northstar

St. Louis Star

My retreat center is taking off! I am going to offer a summer special workshop "Christmas in July" (or August if more are interested). It will be an overnight stay with a workshop using one of my holiday patterns; Northstar or St. Louis Star. Both can be made as place mats or table toppers. The workshop will start in the afternoon and you will have the evening and the next day to work on it. Three meals will be included. I will be posting dates and fee information in the next week. Gather your quilting friends and reserve an evening or choose one of my dates to join other quilters! Minimum 4, maximum 9.


Well, this has been a very long post! Better get back to quilting.


As always, everyday do what you love and love what you do. Toby Lischko

The sounds of the Cicadas is deafening!

Now that I have your attention....I realized I should take time to post my happenings!

See post below

My traveling season has started with a bang! My first trip was to the AQS show in Paducah, KY. This was a pleasure trip so I could introduce a good friend of mine to the quilting world and to have a chance to relax and get inspired by the beautiful quilts at the show. My friend was awed by what she saw. She is not a new quilter; she did hand piecing baby quilts when her girls were little. But she is new to the current quilting trend and wants to learn to update her techniques with a machine. I was more than happy to volunteer my services to help her!

The AQS show, as always was awe inspiring and I was glad to see new names as the big winners of the contest. Not that I don't want the other quilters to continue to win, but I do think it's nice when others are given the chance to prove themselves. The area, Paducah, KY and southern Missouri were flooding and the producers of the show had to do some scrambling to move the show to avoid getting flooded. I was amazed at how organized they quickly changed the locations. The flood gates were up and you could see that the water was almost to the top (you could see the boats sale by over the flood walls which were about 10 feet high which is, I think, at least 30 feet above the regular river stage). One of the nights we stayed there, there was a huge thunderstorm with more rain and I was sure the water level would have breeched the wall! Luckily it did not, but the town we stayed in across the Ohio River in Metropolis, Illinois (the home of Superman) did flood in their downtown area.

My next trip was to Parker, Colorado. The weather in Beaufort was just heating up (85+ degrees) and I flew into Denver in 30ish degree weather with snow! The lady I stayed with had 1 foot of snow on the ground! As I watched my luggage come off of the carrier, the first one was soaken wet as if it had sat in a puddle for some time! This was the luggage with all of my quilts in it. I wasn't as panicked as the lady who picked me up. My next piece of luggage to come down was broken! The wheels had broken off and the handle was completely detached! I hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come. Luckily, the quilts were not wet and nothing was damaged in the other suitcase but the attendant told me "good luck" making a claim since it was the wheels and handle which weren't covered under their claims. Needless to say, I had to go luggage shopping that day!

My hostess was wonderful, she took me around the area and despite the weather it was beautiful there. I was to lecture that evening and took all of my things (computer, projector, quilts, etc.). I'm getting ready to present my powerpoint presentation and I realized I forgot my projector cords! They were able to find a projector and cords at the meeting place and hooked everything up but nothing worked. My computer would not recognize either projector. So....I had to revised my lecture and wing-it. The guild was more than gratious and commended me for a good presentation. The rest of the stay went well, with a great group of ladies in my workshop, and I got to visit my brother and his wife in Broomfield for a couple days.

Next came a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I was driving this time. All around us in the midwest were tornado warnings and heavy thundershowers. The day I left, I was lucky with good weather all of the way there. As I was sitting talking to my new hostess I said "I hear an alarm outside". She opened the front door and said she thought it was the neighbor's lawnmower. We talked some more and I said it again "I really think I hear an alarm". She opens the door again and agrees it might be the tornado alarm. We sat in front of the TV for the next hour watching where tornadoes were touching down. All around us, but not near us! Finally the weather cleared up and we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening. The meeting and workshop went well with no hitches this time! I took my trusty Mac computer that never fails me instead of my fairly new PC!

Last week I had a wonderful group of quilting ladies come to my retreat center to enjoy a visit and lunch. They told me their church was being renovated and needed a place to meet for the month. I thought they were going to bring a project to work on, but instead just came to shop and visit and look at all of my quilts. It was such a nice day and I made new quilting friends. My husband, Mike, enjoyed telling his jokes and making the ladies laugh during lunch.

This weekend I will travel to Columbia, Illinois to present and teach at a quilt retreat. I love doing retreats. It gives me a chance to really get to know the quilters and have fun at the same time.

I also want to take this opportunity to announce the 10th anniversary celebration of another quilter I know. Benita Skinner has a website http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com. She is having an Anniversary and Fabric Party. She has told me that any of my visitors who leave a comment below this post, will be in the drawing for a chance to win a membership to her site ($22.50 value). She has lots of free web patterns, blocks of the month, and other wonderful things to see on her website! Be sure if you leave a comment, that I will be able to get in touch with you via email. In my previous drawings I was not able to access everyone's email address so I couldn't contact you if you won! I will draw a name on June 6.

You can see more information about her fabric party at http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/BlockoftheMonth/VQDFabricParty.htm. Good luck!

Please say a prayer for the tornado victims in Joplin, MO and other areas. I am donating 10% of my sales until the end of the month to Joplin, MO. Be sure to stop and take a look at my kit specials for the month. Buy a kit and receive templates, patterns, or magazines for free! http://www.gatewayquiltsnstuff.com.

As always, everyday do what you love and love what you do. Toby Lischko

And the winners are.....

I want to thank everyone for such wonderful comments on my block! Also for those that took the time to visit my website and look at my kits. I hope many of you come back to shop! I am always adding new kits.

Now to the winners. Because there were so many of you I decided to pick 3 winners for the magazine (one will come from Quiltmaker and two from me) and 2 winners for the charm pack. I put together 46 six inch squares of the Civil War Ladies 1 and 2 collections for the lucky winners. Many of you commented on my Civil War kits.

And the winners are for the charm packs:

CATSKILL QUILTER and KATHY H. I will try to contact you if you do not check back on my blog.

The winners for the magazines are:

BARBARA who said "I really love star blocks, and yours is so unique! (There were quite a few Barbaras)

LINDY who said "I love the 'wood look' version of your block."

SHARON who said "Love your block. Stars are my favorite."

Congratulations ladies. Please send me your addresses so I can mail you your prizes. Go to my website Gateway Quilts & Stuff and send the information on my "Contact me" page.

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 3

It's that time again, when many of the designers in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks get to talk about their block.

To visit all of the designers participating in this blog you can go to:  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 3

This is my block: Stretched Star. I made it while I was playing around with my Cutting Corners template set and trying to figure out different ways of using it on precut squares. I like working with stars and wanted to make something a little different. It does contain 32 pieces in it! I don't think I would want to make a whole quilt with this block, but it does make an interesting table runner. You only need to make 3 blocks!

During the blog tour all of the designers are having prize drawings. I will be giving away 2 free issues of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 3. All you have to do is leave a comment after this blog about my block and how much you would like the current issue and you will be eligible! I will also have a drawing for a charm square packet for anyone that visits my website Gateway Quilts & Stuff to see my new kits and tells me which is their favorite kit (no you do not have to purchase it!)

I am participating in the May Shophop and will have some specials all this month so be sure to visit my website often.

Stay tuned for a long awaited narration of my first large group to visit St. Louis Star Inn for an extended stay! I plan to post photos and tell everyone all about it. It was a wonderful experience for not only the quilters who stayed, but also for me. I will also share my trip to the AQS show in Paducah. It always gets my creative juices flowing!

Remember, always do what you love and love what you do. Toby

March Madness continued

Congrats to Judith Wright of Payson, IL for winning the first week's drawing during my March Madness sale. She won a fat quarter bundle.

The sale continues this week with all patterns 50% off. All purchases will be in the drawing for this week's prize.

Check out the second installment of my Civil War Sampler quilt in the current issue of  Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. You can also see tips on sewing the blocks at Quilters Club of America. Jody Davis does a great job to give you tips and techniques on how to piece the different kinds of blocks.

Got to get back to working on the new studio so remember:

Always do what you love and love what you do. Toby