Confession

A week from today will be my last lecture for 2009. I am doing a trunk show for the American Sewing Guild in Pittsburgh. I have a special way I like to prepare for public speaking--I try not to think about it until I am standing in front of my audience!

I have no problem teaching a large group because of all the "give and take", but being the center of attention can be a little nerve wracking. Once I get going, I really enjoy showing my quilts, but that first 2 minutes can be torture.

I did a trunk show for a store a few years back, that was scheduled for 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but as I was arriving in town around 1 o'clock, my cell phone rang. It was the owner of the store asking if I was close. I told her I was about 10 minutes away and would be there shortly, not realizing that, according to her schedule, I was late. I walked into the store still expecting to be able to take my time and set up, when I turned the corner and saw what looked to be about 100 people (but in actuality was probably less than 50) waiting for me to arrive.

I just had to jump right in and it was probably my best and most candid lecture so far. Fortunately for me, several more ladies came in closer to 2 o'clock and were shocked to see that they had missed my trunk show (I did a private showing for them). It turned out that the original notice that had been sent out had the 2 o'clock start time, but in the reminder notice, the time had been accidentally changed to 1.

I am looking forward to the day when standing in front of an audience is "no big deal", but I don't want to lose the excitement that comes with being a little nervous.

Trying Something New

Well, I guess I'm gonna go for it! I gonna put myself out there and see what happens.

I teach and lecture close to home, but I think I am finally ready to leave the nest. Starting in 2010, I am going to make myself available to guilds and shops farther away than my tri-state area (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York). I have 2 young children, ages 9 and almost 12, but my husband's schedule has become a lot more flexible, recently, so one of us can always be here.

I am a homebody and would prefer to be here than anywhere else in the world, but am starting to realize that I would like to, at least, visit some other places!

If you belong to a guild or own a shop, and you think you might be interested in having me, or even just my quilts, "visit", drop me a line at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com and I will send you my Trunk Show and Lecture Fees brochure.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

Wow, what an amazing experience being included in Quiltmakers 100 Blocks issue turned out to be! I have had the opportunity to work with a few of the talented women who put Quiltmaker magazine together before, and I know they are very good at their jobs, but since this was a special issue, they still had to do all their regular work on top of all of the extra work they did to put this issue together! Thank you June, Carolyn and Diane for making this so much fun and making me feel so special. Thank you, also, to all of the people at Quiltmaker that I haven't had the opportunity to meet just yet!

I also wanted to thank all of the people who commented on my blog or visited my website and signed my guestbook! For those of you who replied with their email address visible, if I haven't already replied to you, I will soon. For those of you whose email addresses weren't visible to me, I want to thank you for taking the time to visit my site and/or blog and invite you back anytime!

And last, but hopefully, not least--me

Well, its finally my turn! Although I have already blogged about the blog tour this week, today is officially my day. I've had all week to read what everyone else has written and think about what I want to say and guess what? I've got nothing! At least nothing as interesting as everyone else seemed to have to talk about, so I guess I'll just tell you a little bit about my block.

My block is #27 on page 25 and is called Art Deco Star. My New Year's Resolution was to design one block per day for an entire year. Well, I only got to the beginning of April before I finally gave up. (Longer than I've ever made it with an diet or exercise resolution, so I consider it a successful resolution.) Anyway, this is one of approximately 90 new blocks I designed this year. It is a paper-pieced block and much simpler to piece than it may appear. I did find that one section was numbered incorrectly in the magazine, so the editor has made a correction to the foundation and made it available on the Quiltmaker website, so make sure you download the new foundation. http://www.quiltmaker.com

And while you are cruising the web, check out my website, http://www.larkspurlanedesigns.com and leave me a message in my guestbook for a chance to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. Those of you that have already contacted me about winning a copy of the magazine will be included in the drawing when I pick the winner.

Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore! Look for 100 Blocks from Today's Top Designers in your local quilt shop or purchase it at http://www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers

What a powerful tool a blog can be! (insert evil laugh here) And when you have Quiltmaker promoting your blog, how can you lose? It is possible to reach MILLIONS with or without help, but on Friday the 13th, I am participating in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour and am looking forward to connecting with even more quilters from around the world!

I'm not sure what I will write about yet, but I will have one copy of QUILTMAKER'S 100 BLOCKS FROM TODAY'S TOP DESIGNERS to give away to one lucky winner. Make sure you check Quiltmaker's blog for links to the other featured designers' blogs and for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore! http://www.quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures

SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY

The Fedex truck stopped here about an hour ago and dropped off a package. I don't know why, but I always try to figure out what's in a package before I open it. The return address didn't offer any clues, but when I put my glasses on and read the small print under my address, it said "QUILTMAKER SPECIALS, 100 BLOCK". So I tore the package open and found a special issue of Quiltmaker. The official title is Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from today's top designers. And you'll never guess who has a block in it. Lil' ole me!!!

Oh, and there are a couple of other quilt designers you might have heard of before such as: Carol Doak, Eleanor Burns, Pat Sloan, just to name a few. Their names made the front cover, but I am thrilled to just be included! This collector's edition is set to be on the newsstand November 17th, but it could show up sooner, so keep your eyes open for it. In the meantime, I have one copy to giveaway, so if you'd like a chance at it, leave me a comment and a way for me to get back in touch with you if you are the lucky winner! Heck, I might even autograph it if you're lucky!