Blogazine Guest Kathy/ Leaving for a While!

Tonight I want to introduce you to another sweet friend out here in this huge world of blogging. Meet Kathy from the blog Shawkl!

She has been patiently waiting for several weeks for me to publish her story so sit back and enjoy my new Blogazine Guest.

Oh but first let me tell you this crazy story.....My landlady Barbara phoned me last night and told me to pack my bags we were leaving for Mrytle Beach, South Carolina. Well tonight not more than an hour ago she phoned and said to be ready by 2AM that she was coming by to get me. Something about having to get to the Republican debate early because she has an appointment to sit down with Newt. Are you kidding me? Two in the morning. It is already late tonight and so who can lay down and try to sleep for a few hours. haha If I know Barbara she will be here long before 2AM so I guess I need to try and at least lay down for a while.

I looked on map quest and it is over 1200 miles to Mrytle Beach and she drove 1175 miles to get to Texas today so we could leave in the morning. Crazy right? Now where did I last see my Prozac?

OK Now let me introduce you to Kathy!

 Hi, my name is Kathy…but most folks know me as Shawkl (Shaw – K – L)  which is the name of my blog and my “cyber space” name on several other boards. I am in my mid-fifties…and live in a tiny little town in Alabama…almost on the Georgia line.  My entire family lives here…all six of my siblings and their children, my mother, my two children, and my three grandchildren. So, it’s a nice place to be. I am retired and now get to call my time my own! Before you get too bored…let me share photos of two mermaid silkies I embellished for a friend. In the first one, my friend beaded the baby…and the mother was done by me.  

 The second also required me to bead a cabochon for the mermaid’s staff.

My stitching began at an early age…mostly to dress my dolls. I did not really get serious until graduating from high school; and mostly it was cross-stitch, crochet, and dress-making I attempted back then. Even to this day…anyone in the family that needs pants hemmed or patches sewn on their jackets…brings them to me.  Over the years…I’ve been the “family sewer”. Not just quilts…anything that needed to be done. Wedding dresses were my job as well for several in the family…here is my niece’s wedding dress…with her 15ft train.  At this wedding, I also made the flower-girl’s dress; and because I’m also a crafter… made the flower girl basket and all of the bridal party’s flowers.

Over the years, I have done plenty of cross-stitch, Hardanger, and long stitch needle-arts. Quilting did not become a passion until the 1980’s after attending a class with a friend in Indiana. Since the 1990’s, I have taught quilting. Sometimes in my home, sometimes at craft shops, quilt shops, the Alabama State Fair, or at the local college.  This year, I’m also offering more “traveling classes”. But, mostly rely on my blog (http://www.shawkl.com/) as a vehicle for me to instruct and share my stitching adventures.
Even though I have been quilting for about 30 years now…Crazy quilting has only recently come into “vogue” for me. I have no idea what took me so long to try it! And, now that I have…it has been a primary focus of mine for almost three years now! It is also the reason I began my blog. I have stitched on a lot of crazy quilt round robin blocks and different projects in this short amount of time. Most days, I have a needle in my hand about six hours of that day. In 2010 my tote bag “The Queen” won first place in the Crazy Quilter’s International Yahoo Group’s purse contest. She has over 400 hours of embroidery work on her…and I was very proud that she was recognized as a favorite among such great and accomplished needle-artists in this wonderful group!

Just recently, I authored my first book “Embellishing Crazy Quilts”, available at http://amazon.com/ and autographed copies are also available from my studio at http://www.etsy.com/shop/shawkl . This book  gives me another opportunity to share my stitching and embroidery motif patterns…and hopefully it will also entice more folks to try crazy quilting. 

 My second book is also in production and I hope to have it out this spring or summer. It deals with a traditional quilting design that I have been teaching for decades.  Plus, I also have three other book concepts that I have not started stitching models for…but they have been in my head for some time. One has been in concept for over ten-years…and the cover photo (in my head) is of a wedding gown with the train showing…and it is full of shadow appliqué flowers flowing down from the dress bustle.  The train is totally designed and about 1/3 of the way appliquéd…but it had to be stored away when my grand-daughter was born in 2003. It’s difficult to work on a large project when you have a little one at your feet…with sticky fingers! Here is a sample of one of the shadow-appliqué floral patterns that will be incorporated into the wedding train.

Apparently, I write like I talk…long winded! So, let me finish by saying that presently I dabble in stumpwork and want to do more of that in the coming months…and I recently got interested in learning about Brazilian Embroidery as a natural progression (I think) of dimensional type stitching. I stitch a lot these days…and quilt very little…but have several Un-Finished Objects that are long-term projects to also keep me busy! Thank you for reading such a long post! And if I hope you will check out all of my tutorials and blog posts at http://www.shawkl.com/ Big Hugs! Kathy (aka Shawkl)

Hugs!
 Kathy Shaw
http://www.shawkl.com/
http://www.shawkldesigns.com/
www.etsy.com/shop/shawkl

Thanks Kathy for sharing this with us. I appreciate you for taking the time to show us all your gorgeous pieces. I enjoyed this very much.I started a quilt years ago of pictures of my family and I tried to finish it with the crazy quilt look. Now it makes me want to pick it up again and finish it.

 Be sure and visit Kathy's sites.  She is quite the inspiration and I am glad she is my friend.

Not sure when I will be back home but am taking my computer with me so hopefully I can log on now and then. I have never been to South Carolina so I know I will have lots of things to share with you when I come home.

Just realized it is Friday the 13th ....glad I did not know that earlier in the day. hahaha.
Boy I hope my computer is not fixing to crash on me I had so much trouble trying to do this post every time I thought I was going somewhere I would take two steps backwards.

Miss you already but I will be back

Love to you
Maggie