The Tell-Tale Artist

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Fiber Art Gifts

Fiber Art Gifts

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Humbled ... and Proud

This past fall I lectured to a quilter’s group in Northern Virginia. My quilt talks consist of a PowerPoint supported lecture where I go through my history of quilting. I then discuss the quilted homes process I developed. And finally I talk about my fiber-art pieces; reviewing my techniques, showing samples, and doing a demonstration. It is always so much fun! As someone who would never…

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Congratulations, Lt. Col. Rosenstock!

This June I attended Lt. Col. Doug Rosenstock’s retirement ceremony. Doug is married to my lovely & talented younger cousin Erin, and I have had the pleasure of knowing him since he was a mid-shipman at the US Naval Academy. During the early years of their relationship, Erin would bring Doug out to our home in the country to visit with our young family. These are precious memories for us all…

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O' Death

O’ Death

I have been asked many times why the name of my quilt business is the The Tell-Tale Artist. Honestly, I wish it was for a thoroughly well thought out reason — and not just a convergence of random events. But here’s the story… Back in 2012 I had a booth at a craft show. I did this not to sell my quilts but rather to support my daughter’s crafting, and to bring some attention to my work. At that…

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How To Create a Quilted Home Portrait (revised)

How To Create a Quilted Home Portrait (revised)

Part One: My Barn Workshop A few years back I wrote a blog post on how to create one of my quilted home portraits. Unfortunately, it seems that the photos from that post have disappeared to data heaven. I decided to do a revised edition, featuring a recently completed quilted home I created in honor of my brand new workshop. I will be sharing some details of my woodshop project below. If you are…

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Some Updates

Starting in 2019 I began to “double down” on professionally sharing my quilting technique. I was booked at a lot of local quilt guilds, which meant I was teaching or lecturing once a month. I had even submitted class proposals to two local art centers. Then talk of COVID began. I started a new job March 9th and the pandemic progressed so quickly that I was working from home after a week.…

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The Four Poes

Happy October! Anyone who follows my blog knows how much I love this time of year. I have always been drawn to the macabre. I can probably date this facination back to early childhood when my fathter told my mother he was taking me to see Snow White and instead took me to see Jaws.

I started figuring out my quilted portrait art process 8 years ago. And it was right around this time of year. It…

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Protest and the 19th Amendment

Protest and the 19th Amendment

Probably like a lot of you, by the end of May I was feeling pretty burned out. We had been quarantined for 2 1/2 months (an unthinkable amount of time – lol!) during which my husband had been working 7 days a week. And the news kept getting worse. After the murder of George Floyd I took a temporary hiatus from all media. So when my middle boy announced he was going to DC on May 31st to protest, I…

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Quilted Home Workshop

In February (about 1,000 years ago) I led a workshop where I taught my technique for creating quilted homes. I had a wonderful time! I love sharing my craft with others and the ladies were so receptive to the process. Usually I follow up with post featuring the completed artwork, but the world kind of fell apart in March and I let it slide.

In recent days I have been approached by some of the…

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Iesha Evans Takes A Stand

Iesha Evans Takes A Stand

I have been thinking about this piece for almost 4 years. The first time I saw the photo Jonathan Bachman took for Reuters, it moved something in me. The motion he created in the image — the police in riot gear swooping down on a young woman in a sundress. Her stillness countered with the rush of their bodies. Their bulked out, distorted frames contrasted by her slim figure. I saw this and…

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Toni Morrison

A few years ago I worked outside of DC at an organization that housed the homeless. Although the work was good — fed my soul and my family– the commute was draining. I eventually said goodbye to Bethesda, but have stayed in touch with most of my colleagues. They are an amazing group of individuals: I have never worked at a place with so many passionate and driven people.

One of them is my…

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Thank you, The Old Country Store

Thank you, The Old Country Store

This weekend I taught a class on my quilted homes at The Old Country Store in Intercourse, PA. and had a wonderful time. I wanted to send out a special thank you to Donna, who found me online and took a chance on a new class. For those who attended, here is that further explanation of the stitching process…

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Thank you for attending my class. Once…

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My First Quilt

I have been quilting for almost 30 years. I fell in love with the process after my mother bought me a sewing machine for Christmas my senior year in college. I don’t know what led me to start quilting, but I can’t imagine ever stopping. I titled this piece “My First Quilt” but it is not about that long ago two-toned rotary quilt — it’s about the quilt I completed last night.

But first,…

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The Mandalorian

Our oldest son Ed is a huge Star Wars fan. When the Disney Plus channel first announced, I was annoyed that they were pulling all their movies/shows off the entertainment platforms we already had. Eddie was excited because he had heard about some of the new shows they were coming out with. I said I wasn’t purchasing another entertainment platform. He bought a subscription for the family. ❤ One of…

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Christmas Gifts

I have been busy —sooooo busy! — making Christmas gifts these past few weeks, but unfortunately I cannot share the pictures here for fear of spoiling the surprises. But I can share this one piece I made for my beloved neighbor because she is not on the internet 😉

This is an old photo of my neighbor’s home. On the lawn stands her husband’s family in the late 1800’s. If you read the details of…

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Happy Halloween!

Those of you who know me know how much I love this time of year. With the cooler weather and the leaves starting to change – I know I am not alone in my contentment. And of course every October we all celebrate the macabre. There’s an acceptance of all things dark and scary that is fascinating– I mean, come on – don’t y’all find it bizarre that you can buy tombstones and human remains at Michaels?

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Jen & Artie

As some of you may know I have been working locally for the past year. It has given me more time to spend with my family, do a little cooking when the spirit moves me, work on my garden & house … and SEW 🙂 I’ve enjoyed the work too; my colleagues especially. But the grant that funded my position has ended so I must move on.

Since tomorrow is my last day I wanted to give a gift to my…

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