Meta tags:
description=A Sentimental Quilter by Kathleen Tracy is about her journey through quilting. Kathleen uses reproduction fabrics to make quilts with an antique look.;

Headings (most frequently used words):

january, 2011, my, saturday, monday, etsy, shop, follow, facebook, quilting, 29, 22, thursday, 20, 17, friday, 14, 10, wednesday, website, country, lane, quilts, visit, by, email, subscribe, patterns, available, in, translate, search, this, blog, on, blogger, join, group, prairie, journey, small, scrappy, archives, page, pinterest, the, civil, war, sewing, circle, book, signing, daily, creative, effort, is, it, just, me, books, have, arrived, little, something, every, day, which, colors, make, you, happy, very, easy, design,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (90), and (86), you (54), that (45), quilt (30), with (28), this (27), #january (26), creative (26), have (24), just (24), #little (23), for (23), when (20), quilts (18), december (17), february (17), some (17), not (17), august (16), september (16), november (16), march (16), may (16), colors (16), make (16), june (15), july (15), october (15), april (15), all (15), think (15), about (15), more (14), from (14), was (14), don (14), something (13), can (13), color (13), also (12), like (12), feel (12), day (11), book (11), making (11), what (11), then (11), try (11), time (11), get (11), but (11), even (11), much (11), quilting (10), every (10), out (10), blocks (10), are (10), know (10), 2011 (9), small (9), kathleen (9), tracy (9), comments (9), one (9), fabric (9), shop (8), good (8), brown (8), maybe (8), wear (8), your (8), few (8), books (7), love (7), antique (7), look (7), made (7), posted (7), lot (7), new (7), myself (7), work (7), blue (7), really (7), lol (7), will (7), ugly (7), things (6), orange (6), nice (6), block (6), better (6), she (6), how (6), very (5), design (5), daily (5), signing (5), people (5), them (5), here (5), favorite (5), had (5), again (5), because (5), last (5), her (5), need (5), too (5), there (5), keep (5), days (5), squares (5), going (5), year (5), back (5), after (5), came (5), sewing (4), circle (4), easy (4), scrappy (4), should (4), who (4), home (4), peel (4), did (4), tried (4), way (4), than (4), right (4), quite (4), away (4), tend (4), yellow (4), well (4), yourself (4), great (4), always (4), sometimes (4), remember (4), blah (4), looking (4), those (4), often (4), create (4), now (4), pretty (4), soon (4), these (4), order (4), buy (4), patterns (3), etsy (3), civil (3), war (3), which (3), arrived (3), fill (3), find (3), posts (3), instead (3), template (3), own (3), fabrics (3), sure (3), circles (3), between (3), where (3), half (3), bowl (3), any (3), week (3), cool (3), means (3), down (3), add (3), they (3), use (3), prints (3), black (3), does (3), other (3), makes (3), red (3), blues (3), fall (3), mental (3), creativity (3), seasons (3), off (3), years (3), our (3), finish (3), worry (3), minutes (3), never (3), got (3), cross (3), still (3), mail (3), let (3), catalogs (3), dogs (3), coffee (3), carrie (3), see (2), facebook (2), happy (2), effort (2), journey (2), group (2), follow (2), blog (2), remove (2), email (2), subscribe (2), visit (2), profile (2), using (2), haven (2), thread (2), light (2), gives (2), stitched (2), dark (2), wash (2), marking (2), pen (2), turned (2), mark (2), doing (2), each (2), especially (2), plain (2), stand (2), side (2), arc (2), around (2), water (2), used (2), rest (2), post (2), coming (2), next (2), believe (2), strong (2), theory (2), perk (2), darn (2), surround (2), necessarily (2), energy (2), wrap (2), prefer (2), earth (2), soothing (2), tone (2), showing (2), begin (2), say (2), mood (2), though (2), definitely (2), girl (2), low (2), most (2), brighter (2), wondering (2), husband (2), depending (2), plan (2), shows (2), calming (2), clarity (2), seems (2), might (2), pink (2), full (2), open (2), green (2), spring (2), life (2), winter (2), during (2), said (2), probably (2), many (2), being (2), over (2), others (2), huge (2), ways (2), monday (2), simple (2), actually (2), quilter (2), everything (2), perfect (2), okay (2), process (2), practice (2), important (2), learned (2), enough (2), into (2), someday (2), bit (2), takes (2), works (2), thought (2), began (2), wouldn (2), creating (2), gets (2), stitch (2), before (2), won (2), paper (2), dear (2), count (2), through (2), getting (2), inspired (2), doesn (2), stop (2), harder (2), baby (2), empty (2), cover (2), front (2), check (2), local (2), while (2), signed (2), has (2), fat (2), morning (2), breakfast (2), dishwasher (2), couple (2), mind (2), true (2), liked (2), office (2), saturday (2), skip (2), https, www, com, ohkathleen, pinterest, page, 2009, 2010, 104, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, archives, fun, celebrate, pioneer, spirit, prairie, join, blogger, search, translate, available, real, expect, risk, form, bot, signups, address, indicates, required, website, country, lane, view, complete, designer, author, seven, inspiration, past, women, atom, older, newer, plastic, yet, yli, partial, both, lines, dampen, gently, traces, larger, unless, same, gave, control, working, looks, stitches, intersect, marked, center, traced, soluble, trace, intersecting, easily, size, large, sample, square, esther, left, comment, hand, mentioned, hold, longer, wednesday, sociability, however, start, noticing, whenever, starbucks, far, notice, refreshed, sad, lacking, hello, throwing, happens, wardrobe, colorful, afghan, warm, practical, touches, tan, excited, combine, mixed, listen, says, vibrant, world, perhaps, experts, effect, alter, hoping, lbs, thinner, certainly, fashion, statement, sort, invisible, mostly, want, sociable, ask, notices, bright, energizes, different, calm, usually, confidence, passion, pops, place, balance, asleep, refreshes, associated, overpower, watch, part, able, names, high, playfulness, dull, patches, gold, difference, otherwise, loving, compassion, heart, nurture, sweet, tooth, touch, zip, offers, immense, comfort, floating, pool, sky, clear, healing, nature, neutral, reflect, tendency, reading, article, according, research, lean, toward, ward, dreariness, surrounds, ourselves, stark, face, doldrums, midwest, age, skin, ago, introversion, although, preferences, change, whichever, strongly, marketed, two, comes, selection, influence, such, immediate, satisfaction, project, quickly, beginning, overly, critical, fantastic, fail, technique, cute, set, aside, commit, almost, lose, urge, delay, amazing, short, period, lately, been, nine, patch, scraps, pieces, nurtured, developed, everyone, bet, focus, grows, bad, changing, attitude, positive, constructive, tells, doubt, sounds, cliched, wish, could, play, wasn, musical, friend, opened, eyes, told, course, admire, scared, paid, attention, started, failing, resolutions, knew, resolved, noticed, calmer, happier, stressful, done, needlework, crafts, link, feeling, evident, challenge, related, today, instance, headache, nothing, crafty, write, camera, family, hide, pair, earrings, necklace, card, lovely, scrapbooking, jane, projects, promised, enjoy, cook, ingredients, called, recipe, voila, efforts, juices, flowing, meat, freezer, night, vegetable, stew, yum, loves, writing, drained, ideas, self, nurturing, awhile, experience, sense, key, thinking, hah, wonder, long, born, bear, throw, onesies, must, upcoming, nest, facing, friday, shops, already, worth, wait, hear, tell, eye, doctor, afternoon, found, boxes, finally, publisher, yay, ordered, tonight, tomorrow, item, machine, jiggle, chin, sale, apple, sitters, price, heated, cold, why, put, clothes, explain, ruffled, washer, dryer, covers, homes, ever, dust, rarely, except, drawn, bizarre, anybody, routine, feed, daughter, pet, dishes, bird, feeders, peek, take, computer, shower, tired, answering, mails, needed, distraction, poured, another, cup, sat, pocket, calendar, letting, caffeine, its, browsed, recently, thursday, old, linda, otto, lipsett, triangles, decided, learning, keeping, knows, needs, would, include, less, places, turn, generated, certain, sorry, changed, reproduction, appeal, pre, cut, package, choice, paired, job, kathy, rushing, max, padded, envelopes, numerous, runs, took, picked, blogged, wrote, trying, basis, busy, were, shipped, gosh, sally, yours, first, event, talked, shopped, conquered, fear, else, went, browns, couldn, resist, surprised, quarters, line, hill, oooohhhh, alice, box, wool, applique, union, stars, teaching, retreat, woodstock, illinois, double, hourglass, soldier, cot, didn, fit, backing, special, shot, friendship, signature, sent, friends, yahoo, lots, shirtings, everybody, loved, hexagons, version, mine, their, samples, kits, warming, crowd, pieceful, gathering, fox, river, grove, invite, spend, customers, talking, copies, sidebar, main, sentimental,

Text of the page (random words):
are great a little ugly a little pretty good job kathy inspired by some great antique quilts made with ugly fabric in this old book remember me by linda otto lipsett i made a few blocks from the ugly not ugly squares triangles and decided it really is all about how you look at it every now and then a quilt maybe needs a little just a little of some fabric you would never have thought to include much less buy in order for it to have that true antique look we all love my quilts also will always have that true antique look because the blocks are never quite perfect ha just like antique quilts a little off in places and i don t even have to work at it that much like some do lol they just turn out that way is that cool or what it s good to know i m still learning and keeping an open mind who knows maybe someday i ll even fall in love with brown and green posted by kathleen tracy at 6 19 pm 11 comments thursday january 20 2011 is it just me what was your morning like my routine i let the dogs out feed the dogs make the coffee make breakfast for my daughter empty the dishwasher pet the dogs fill the dishwasher with breakfast dishes fill the bird feeders peek at the paper and then take my coffee to the computer to check my e mail i work at home so i shower after all this don t worry after a bit i got tired of answering e mails and needed a distraction so i poured another cup of coffee and then sat down to go over my pocket calendar for the rest of the week letting the caffeine do its work for the day while i also browsed through a couple of catalogs that recently came in the mail i rarely order from catalogs except my favorite quilting catalogs but i was drawn into this one because it had so many bizarre things in it i don t know is it just me or do we really need and does anybody actually buy ruffled washer and dryer covers let s just cover everything in our homes so we don t ever have to dust no need to explain this one a heated wrap if she s so cold why doesn t she just put on some clothes all 8 apple sitters for just one low price this item has to be my favorite a machine to jiggle away your chin fat on sale if any of you have this let me know if it works okay posted by kathleen tracy at 11 35 am 27 comments monday january 17 2011 books have arrived i came back from the eye doctor this afternoon and found that the boxes of my new book had finally arrived from the publisher yay those of you who ordered signed books from me i will begin signing them tonight and try to get them out in the mail tomorrow you should get them very soon this means it will be in quilt shops soon if it s not already there it s worth a visit so check it out at your local shop and buy some fabric while you re at it i can t wait to hear what you think but if you don t like it don t tell me lol keep it to yourself i think i like the back cover as much as the front posted by kathleen tracy at 5 03 pm 22 comments friday january 14 2011 a little something every day last year instead of making new year s resolutions i knew i wouldn t keep i resolved to do something creative every day i m going to try it again this year for years now i noticed that i feel calmer happier and just plain better when i m creating something when life gets stressful it s even more important to do things that make yourself feel good i d done cross stitch needlework and other crafts before i began to quilt and even then the link between feeling good and making things was evident who wouldn t feel good about making these for a soon to be born baby girl right after this is when it got a lot harder to find time to be creative lol the baby is now 17 and i can t bear to throw away her onesies i cross stitched must have something to do with the upcoming empty nest i m facing but it gets away from you sometimes doesn t it i often try to remember after i finish writing a book and i m drained and don t think i have any more good ideas in me that it takes a little self nurturing for awhile to get going again and i know from experience that when i stop creating it s even harder to be creative when i get back to it in order to be creative you have to create does that make sense the key for me i ve learned is that in order to be creative i always need to be making something if not every day then pretty often i know all of you are thinking hah wonder how long she can keep that up this year my daily creative challenge won t always be a quilt or necessarily quilting related or maybe not even daily some days i know i won t have time for much today for instance i have a headache so there s nothing crafty going on some days i just plan to write something creative on the blog well some people think it s creative some days i ll try to get creative with my camera my family loves when i do that hide she s coming or make myself a pair of earrings or a necklace or a card out of my lovely scrapbooking paper and get back to dear jane or those cross stitch projects i promised myself i d do this year i also enjoy being creative when i cook especially if i don t have all the ingredients called for in a recipe lol a little of this a little of that and voila no meat in the freezer so last night it was a vegetable stew still yum to me all of these count as creative efforts and can really get the juices flowing before you know it i m looking through my fabric and getting inspired again for years i never thought i was creative and used to wish that i could be as creative as some people what i did was just play it wasn t creativity a musical friend opened my eyes when he told me of course you re creative you admire creative people and love creative things so much you re just scared to try i paid attention to that and started looking for small ways to be creative myself and tried not to think or worry so much about failing at what i tried to create pretty soon it began to work he was right the more i tried to be creative the better i got at it i now think creativity is something that can nurtured and developed in everyone so if you don t think you re even a bit creative i ll just bet you are it seems to me that sometimes what you focus on grows and that can be good or bad try changing your mental attitude to be more positive and constructive as my husband tells me when i doubt myself sounds easy and cliched and it takes practice but it works i ve also learned that if i don t set aside the time and commit to making a little something almost every day i lose some of that creative urge so if you delay because you think you don t have enough time try for just 10 or 15 minutes it s amazing how much you can get into something in a short period of time if i make even just one little block every day i ll have a quilt in no time at all lately when i have a few minutes i ve been making a few more little nine patch blocks from my 1 1 4 scraps for this huge quilt with small pieces that i m going to create someday the little blocks finish at 2 1 4 i love making small simple quilts because there s such an immediate satisfaction when you actually finish a project quickly even simple squares can be cute if you re a beginning quilter try not to be overly critical of yourself and try not to worry too much about what others may think not everything you create will be perfect and that s okay it s the process and the practice that are important not every quilt i make is fantastic oh no sometimes i fail at color or technique but believe me it s a process and a journey and you just have to keep at it make a little something every day posted by kathleen tracy at 12 13 pm 19 comments monday january 10 2011 which colors make you happy quilting is definitely all about color although our color preferences often change depending on our mood the seasons or whichever colors are being strongly marketed i think most of us prefer one or two colors over others when it comes to fabric selection color may also have a huge influence on us in other ways maybe more than we think strong colors sociability cool colors introversion i m showing my age but do you remember that book about skin tone and color from years ago it s january i tend to wear dark colors or neutral colors in the fall and winter and the quilts i make during those seasons also reflect that tendency i was just reading an article about color which said that according to research we should probably lean toward brighter colors to ward off the dreariness that often surrounds many of us during those seasons and to make ourselves feel better when the days are stark and we face the winter doldrums in the midwest maybe all i need is a little color to perk me up did you know that green is a healing color the color of nature spring new life blue is calming soothing and offers immense comfort like floating in a nice pool of water or looking at the sky on a clear day blue is my color and i tend to use a lot of it in my quilts loving pink means you are full of compassion and have an open heart and like to nurture you might also have a sweet tooth lol a touch of pink in a quilt really gives it a nice zip don t you think orange shows high energy creativity playfulness add some if your quilt seems dull i do this with patches of gold instead of orange and it really makes a difference in a quilt that might otherwise be blah yellow refreshes and is associated with mental clarity too much yellow can overpower a quilt though so watch that i don t own much yellow fabric maybe i should for the mental clarity part if i wear it more will i be able to remember names again red is strong and usually shows confidence and passion red really pops when you place it in a quilt i love to balance it with my blues that way you don t fall asleep from all of the calming blues if you prefer brown the color of the earth it means you are down to earth as well as warm and practical also brown is soothing i like to add touches of brown or tan to my quilts to tone down scrappy blocks when they get too excited or use prints that combine brown mixed with my favorite colors listen to this there s a theory that says if you wear vibrant colors or surround yourself with a lot of color in your home or your quilts you are showing the world that you feel great then perhaps you really begin to feel great as well and experts say you can in effect alter your mood as you work with color or wear it uh oh even though i am definitely a blue girl i wear a lot of black what does that say about me other than i m always hoping to look a few lbs thinner black certainly makes a fashion statement but it also makes you sort of invisible and i think i wear it mostly when i want to keep a low profile and not stand out too much most of the time when i wear brighter colors i m wondering do i tend to be more sociable i ll have to ask my husband if he even notices lol i wear a lot of black making quilts with bright colors energizes me sometimes and depending on where i plan to use the quilt if i make it scrappy with a lot of different colors then i will also add calm fabrics i m not quite sure about this theory however and have to start noticing more whenever i feel i need a perk and starbucks is just too darn far away i think i tend to surround myself and work with the colors i love cool colors like blue to make myself feel better but i do not necessarily notice that i feel more creative or refreshed maybe the next time i feel sad or lacking in energy hello february i ll try throwing on a little orange or yellow and see what happens time for a new wardrobe or maybe i ll just wrap myself in a scrappy colorful quilt or afghan posted by kathleen tracy at 1 45 pm 22 comments wednesday january 5 2011 a very easy quilting design esther left a comment on my last post about hand quilting where she mentioned she is using an orange peel design on one of her small quilts i also did that on one quilt in my new book the civil war sewing circle coming out next week can you believe it hold on just a little longer instead of using an orange peel template or making my own from template plastic here s what i did i marked the center of the block and then traced around a small bowl with a water soluble marking pen to make a half circle on one side then i turned the quilt and used the bowl again to trace intersecting half circles around the rest of the block better than a template because you can do it easily with any size block large or small just find the right bowl with a nice arc here s a sample square the half circles intersect and you ll get this peel design if you mark each side of the block with an arc then just quilt on the lines and dampen or wash the quilt gently to remove all traces of the marking pen it was easy to do this on a small quilt and it turned out very nice i think i m not sure i d try it on a larger quilt unless i had a lot of time you can also mark circles between the blocks to get the same orange peel design but doing it this way gave me a little more control as i was working on each block i especially like the way it looks on the plain blocks where the stitches stand out a little more oh and if you haven t tried it yet my favorite quilting thread is yli quilting thread i m very partial to the light brown as it gives a nice antique look when stitched on both light and dark fabrics posted by kathleen tracy at 12 29 pm 22 comments newer posts older posts home subscribe to comments atom kathleen tracy i m a quilt designer and author of seven quilting books i love making quilts with an antique look and find inspiration in quilts from the past and the women who made them view my complete profile website country lane quilts visit my etsy shop quilt patterns and books follow by email subscribe indicates required email address real people should not fill this in and expect good things do not remove this or risk form bot signups patterns available in my etsy shop translate search this blog follow on blogger join my facebook quilting group a prairie journey small quilts that celebrate the pioneer spirit small scrappy make some fun little quilts archives 2026 6 march 3 february 1 january 2 2025 23 december 1 november 2 october 1 september 3 august 4 july 1 may 1 march 5 february 3 january 2 2024 18 december 3 september 1 august 2 june 1 may 1 april 4 march 2 january 4 2023 21 december 1 november 2 october 2 september 3 june 2 april 2 march 2 february 3 january 4 2022 26 december 1 november 1 october 3 september 3 august 2 july 2 june 2 may 2 april 3 march 1 february 1 january 5 2021 25 december 1 november 3 october 2 september 3 august 2 july 1 june 1 may 1 april 2 march 2 february 1 january 6 2020 24 december 4 november 3 october 1 august 2 july 2 june 4 may 2 april 1 february 2 january 3 2019 13 december 1 november 3 october 1 september 2 august 1 july 1 april 1 march 1 february 1 january 1 2018 21 december 1 november 2 september 1 august 4 july 3 june 2 may 1 april 1 march 1 february 3 january 2 2017 44 december 4 november 4 october 3 september 1 august 6 ju...