Helen Kelley's joy of quilting : more wit and wisdom from America's most popular quilting columnist

IMAGINE THIS—A BEAUTY queen stands on the stage in the glow of the footlights in her teeny-tiny bathing suit and her royal sash. The contest judge asks her, “And what would you like to do with your life?” The fantasy queen replies, “I would like to bring about world peace.”Well, I am no beauty queen, but I can tell you how I would do this. The recipe for world peace is to bring all of the international leaders together around a quilt frame. This suggestion does not sound ridiculous to anyone who has ever sat side-by-side and hip-to-hip with creative quilters, working in harmony with one another to produce something beautiful. While sitting around that quilt frame, the world leaders could sort out the troublemakers, settle international disputes, and put a whole new face on the art of cooperation and candor and creativity. How many times have you read about something or someone gone wrong, and heard a listener comment, “Well, it couldn’t have been a quilter who did that.” From quilters you can expect integrity and generosity.I quilt because I like to be with quilters. It’s true that I love to feel fabric and that I am probably in the running for the title of World’s Most Compulsive, Every-Day, All-Day Maker of Quilts, but it’s the people I meet who are the real reason why I do this quilt-thing. On most days, I work alone in my workroom. I listen to the radio while I squint at fabric to determine which colors blend and what colors make my quilt sparkle. I cut fabric. Recently, I expanded my cutting table area to the size of an entire 30x60-inch office table by adding a gigantic cutting mat; now I have a huge area where I can measure and cut and stack up my patchwork pieces to my heart’s content. I sew. My sewing machine is precious to me and I treat it kindly, dusting and oiling and pampering it to keep it healthy and happy. I iron. ...

While making quilts is a priority for Helen Kelley, her primary passion is quilters themselves. And this love of quilters comes through in "Helen Kelley’s Joy of Quilting", her contribution to the ""universal quilter’s support group."" Through these entertaining and lighthearted yarns, you’ll experience Helen’s insights into the warmth and enjoyment of quilting. Join her as she delights in the support and enthusiasm of fellow quilters; experience her pride in accepting a gift of ""quilting rubble"" and finding a home for it; smile at how she can ""read"" fellow quilters through their pile of old quilt blocks and scraps and pieces; see a bit of yourself in the humble way she admits to improperly cutting and preparing fabrics; and chuckle as she candidly describes her messy workroom. About the Author: Helen Kelley’s ""Loose Threads"" column has been a favorite of readers of "Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine" since 1983. She is the author of Voyageur Press’s "Every Quilt Tells a Story", as well as "Scarlet Ribbons: An Indian Technique for Today’s Quilters", and "Dating Quilts: From 1600 to the Present". Kelley’s by-line has appeared in a variety of quilting publications, and her prize-winning quilts have been the subject of numerous photo essays. Her ""Renaissance Quilt"" was chosen as one of the 100 Best Quilts of the Twentieth Century.