Is a Great Quilt Husband really like Santa Claus, unicorns, and a truly free lunch? I think not. This weekend I was reminded that I am married to a really, really Great Quilt Husband. Which, of course, begs the question: what makes a Great Quilt Husband (GQH)?
A Great Quilt Husband has hobbies. That helps him better understand when you want to spend time with your quilting. My husband will tell you that he really doesn’t have any hobbies, but I’d beg to differ. He is the commissioner for his fantasy football league. He brews high quality beer (yum!). He likes to make and fix things, which leads to…
A Great Quilt Husband uses his powers for good. On Sunday, I taught a private lesson at the quilt shop and then I taught an art quilt class. During this time, my GQH broke down my sewing table and installed the insert for my Bernina 820. While he was at it, he reinforced the table since the 820 is heavier than my last machine. My entire studio is a reflection of his building and design skills.
A Great Quilt Husband knows how to answer design questions. A coworker of mine tells me that her husband always answers her design questions (Do I need more quilting? Do I need to change this color?) “yes.” He says that if she’s asking, then she knows there’s something wrong that needs to be addressed. My GQH listens to my questions, discusses the options, and then understands that his input is part of the process, not necessarily the direction I’ll take.
A Great Quilt Husband is patient. Need I say more? Okay. My GQH is patient with the number of hours I spend in my studio, the time I take with quilt-related activities outside of the house, and the effort it takes to plan the classes I teach and help my students.
A Great Quilt Husband understands that quilters regularly attend a lot of quilt shows. Further, a GQH would never misunderstand that attendance at a quilt show is a shopping opportunity. Rather, attendance is an opportunity to sample new products and exchange ideas with other quilters. *Ahem.*
A Great Quilt Husband understands that quilting will eventually take over the entire house. You’ve heard the joke? My husband is in charge of the garage, the attic, the utility room, and everything outside the house. The rest of the house is open for quilting activities and storage.
What other attributes does a Great Quilt Husband have? You tell me.










The pattern is the Mimosa Top from The Sewing Workshop Collection. It’s sleeveless and comfortable. It should have been really easy to make, but I’m clearly out of practice. Okay, details. The fabric is a lightweight rayon from Britex in San Francisco, purchased ages ago. Great drape, nice hand. The band that forms the neckline is made from ombre silk (brown to black), pintucked and topstitched — and bought that way from Bohemian Elements last year at the Houston show. The silk wasn’t wide enough, of course, so I had to figure out how to piece it while maintaining the little rows of tucks. Sigh. More ripping commenced. I added length to the front and back and will probably sew the fronts together (eliminating potential gaps and slippage) before I wear it again. All in all, I like it and I’ll use it. And I’ll probably go on to make something else. It was fun.
My husband says I put the A.R. in Art Quilting and I think he’s probably right. And so how does a person with my control-freak, keep-it-organized tendencies dye successfully? Here are a few tips: 



For those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that I am an electronic gizmo junkie. I can’t afford to feed my habit as regularly as I’d like or I’d have an iTouch, a Blackberry, a better laptop computer…but I digress. The point is I have some toys.
It started in Williamsburg with the Colonial Piecemakers’ Quilt Guild. I had such a good time with these quilters! On Friday, we spent all day playing with Tsukineko Inks. We used the Fantastix applicators to learn how to control the ink and then we mixed the inks with aloe gel to see what kinds of effects we could get. We colored in commercially available black-and-white fabrics and we explored rubber stamps and traced designs. It was great to spend the day with such talented artists!
On Saturday, I started the day at the guild meeting. I’ve never seen such a show and tell. This guild is working through a year-long UFO challenge and the first round of finished quilts was literally a parade around the room. Impressive. I presented my lecture, “Overcoming Quilter’s Block,” and then we had a full house for my “Trees” workshop. I love seeing all of the different results that can come from the same
Back home again, my husband and I went into D.C. to see the cherry blossoms. I’m always wowed when I see all of that lovely color in a metropolitan setting. And did I mention the people? Apparently, today was a great day to visit D.C. I know this because there were more people than there were blossoms! I was happy to see so many people enjoying the beautiful day. And you’ll be pleased to know that I did not correct the tourist who pointed to the Washington Monument and exclaimed, “Look! There’s that pencil building or whatever you call it!”
I did get to sew today. I put the binding on a quilted laptop case I designed out of fabric I love, love, love. The project has been languishing for over a month, gathering dust and hurling guilt darts at me whenever I walk by. I have wanted to work on this ever since I bought the fabric; that’s the heck of it. While I worked on it today, I thought of all the other things I “should” have been doing.
So…a new resolution. Guilt is unproductive. In fact, it’s the enemy of productivity. A happy quilter (me, after doing something fun for just a little while) is a more productive quilter.