a traveling woman

Years ago when I was researching my family records in England, there was a curious phrase often associated with a death notice...next to the name (or sometimes no name) was written: "a traveling woman". This apparently indicated a woman unknown in the village where she died and was buried and the assumption is that she was a homeless woman going from village to village trying to find work.

For May I am going to be a traveling woman, but not because I am homeless, but because I am a quilter. Most professional quilters are "a traveling woman", going from guild to guild and convention to convention. We of course, are supported quite nicely by our sister quilters, often in their homes, and the hotels where we stay during conventions.

This past weekend I was at the Kanuga Episcopal Conference Center in NC sewing with friends. We lead a quilting workshop at Kanuga every January. It is loads of fun. Check it out and join us in 2013.

Next weekend I will be at Camp Mikell (another Episcopal camp) in the northeast Georgia mountains to quilt with friends all weekend long. Meals will be prepared for us, dishes washed and we will have nothing on our schedule but quilting, quilting, quilting. Here is a peek at our quilting work room.

In mid-May I will be in Kansas City for the spring Quilt Market to talk about my new book, my new fabric lines, and yes my new Log Cabin Trim Tool. Sorry, no pix for this one until I get home with my own photos.

And I said after I retired from 20 years as editor-in-chief of QUILT magazine that I was going to sit on my front porch in a rocking chair and just watch the world go by. Foolish me, what was I thinking! Here is my house in spring, no rocking chair but a lovely porch swing that does get occasional use. The house is a 100 year old mill-workers cottage in the historic neighborhood of Marietta, GA.