Gail Garber Designs
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Gail's Quilting Blog

Sensational Stars

Down under classes in Taupo!

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Yesterday, we finished the 2-day Sensational Star and Circular Borders class! Great class and amazing students! Everyone finished their center and had also designed the first border of their original designs! Way to go, girls!

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Rueda de la Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune)

I am always amazed at the beautiful quilts that students make when they take my classes or use my patterns.  I recently received this note from Tama Trussoni:

Gail,

I contacted you last year about a question on this wall hanging and you asked if I would send a picture when finished. Well here it is. I did not intentionally change the middle. I accidentally switched the fabrics on the ends. I didn’t have any extra to rip it out and start over so I just left  it.

Tama Trussoni quilt

Thanks for the great pattern.  Tama Trussoni

The pattern is Rueda de la Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune) which is in my third book, Flying Colors.  Tama, you did a wonderful job, and the transposition of fabrics turned out beautifully.  Here is my version of this quilt.

Ruedo-de-la-Fortuna

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Tea with Hazel

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Thanks for bearing with me as I learn the idiosyncrasies of posting via the WordPress App on my IPad. I have learned that I can’t really post complex posts with multiple images, so I’ll save those posts until I return.

One of the highlights of my time in Auckland was tea at the lovely home of Hazel Foot. A well-known New Zealand quilter, Hazel showed us one of her new quilts, the one that is hanging in the tutor’s exhibit at the Taupo Symposium wher we are both teaching this week.

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My Other Favorite Country

It feels like I am coming home when I get off the plane in this beautiful city.

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We were off to Northland on the first full day, destination Marsden Point, accompanied by my friend and hostess, Diane Anderson and Melissa Gelder, my new friend and trip instigator. But first, we stopped at Warkworth for morning tea, a magnificent flat white, possibly the best coffee in the world and some sweets.

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You might begin noticing some images of my ringed hands. The three rings stand for the “three M’s”. That stands for Michele, Mom, and me. I wear my Mom’s wedding ring and I think about her every morning when I place her ring on my pinkie finger. Mom passed away last November after fighting degenerative dementia for 8.5 years. Michele is fighting cancer. She wanted to join me on this trip and share in my adventures. So, she surprised me with a gift of her retirement ring from PNM where she worked for thirty years, right before I left on this trip. The third ring is mine, a Navajo story ring that I purchased at a trading post. It is my favorite.

So, watch for some upcoming 3M image here and there in my posts.
Mom and Michele — I love you!

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Next up — Batik Heaven!

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Down Under – Another New Zealand Adventure

New Zealand Forest at Kawau Island

New Zealand Forest at Kawau Island

By the time you read this, I should have already landed in Auckland, where I will have a few days of fun with my friend Diane Anderson, before heading over to Taupo to teach for the 2013 New Zealand Quilt Symposium.

Jeanette Gillies Design

Jeanette Gillies Design

I am looking forward to meeting friends, new and old at Symposium.  This Round Robin Quilt was made by Jeanette Gillies, of Wanaka on South Island, yours truly, and others as a round robin many years ago.

New Zealand Quilting and Textile Tour

New Zealand Quilting and Textile Tour

If you’d like to join me for another New Zealand quilting adventure, check out my website.  I am leading a tour to North Island in April of 2014!

I may have a lag in posts while I am gone as I will have more limited access to the internet and will only have my iPad with me.  I look forward to regaling you with my adventures when I return at the end of the month.

 

 

 

 

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My Day Off: Fernbank Natural History Museum

Fernbank Natural History Muesum

Fernbank Natural History Museum

Many thanks to Jodi Buhay, the program chair for the Chattahoochie Evening Stars, took me to visit one of her favorite destinations in Atlanta – Fernbank Natural History Museum! The special exhibit was Extreme Mammals, and let me tell you, there were some very weird, but now extinct critters there.

Very big Dinosaur

The Big One

I can’t remember the name of this huge fellow, but can you imagine meeting him while out on a walk in the grasslands!

Pre-bird Dino

Pre-bird Dino

We also met this rather large fellow, but I am not quite sure if it was a Archeopteryx, the first bird.

Fly Like a Bat!

Fly Like a Bat!

From large to small, the exhibit was very interesting and informative.  Back in the gift shop, they even had bat wings, so I could make like a bat and fly away!  Home to New Mexico, but not for long!

 

 

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Chattahoochie Evening Stars, Alpharetta, GA

Two Stars in Progress

Two Stars in Progress

A quick trip to Alpharetta, Georgia to visit the Chattahoochie Evening Stars rounded out the month of June.  I taught the one-day Scrumptious Star Stitchery class that focuses on Paper Foundation Piecing techniques.  Some of the students finished several of the triangle blocks.  Two are featured above.

All Points Together

All Points Together

What fun we had!  This group is amazingly friendly and a joy to be with.  Not a whiner in the bunch!  At the end of the day, we combined 8 single units made from different fabric combos into one star!  Looks good!

Becky Windle completed all of her sections

Becky Windle completed all of her sections

In this class, there are always a couple of students that finish all of their blocks.  This is the arrangement that Becky Windle created!  I love how all the stars turn our differently even though everyone is using the same pattern.

Show and Tell

Show and Tell

One of the fun things about this trip is that, because I taught class on Sunday but didn’t lecture until Monday night, Show and Tell was really amazing.  Look how much they all got done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Bosque Surveys

Bosque Surveys

Back at home in Albuquerque, I immediately morphed back into my bird girl persona, up at 4:30 or 5:00 each morning in order to count birds in the bosque (the riparian forest along the river).  Most of the songbirds are heard rather than seen, so photos are slim pickins!  But, some of my favorites are larger and more photogenic, like

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

this Great Horned Owl trying desperately to hide among the dense vegetation.  I would have never seen him/her except for the raucous calls and keks of the local Cooper’s Hawk who had discovered and was loudly objecting to his presence.

Cooper's Hawk nestling

Cooper’s Hawk nestling

But, Mama Cooper’s Hawk was merely trying to protect her three babes from a potential predator.  Being along the river at dawn is an amazing experience.  There are NO other people around, just me and nature.  It feeds my soul.  And, I see some extraordinary sights.  One day as I was trying unsuccessfully to photograph a Turkey Vulture, I nearly missed seeing this little fellow about 10 feet away and right at eye level.

Porcupine

Porcupine

I am a lucky woman.

Along the Rio Grande

Along the Rio Grande

 

 

 

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