Greetings at summers end. 

It is quickly closing in, but excitement is in the air for my Fall workshop trips. In September I will be at Fall Paducah cheering on this year's winners. Then onto MQX midwest in Illinois. To re-cap my summer fun - Let's start by telling you that I kissed a Moose!!!
No, it was not on my bucket list of things to do before I thread my last needle. But the older I get, the crazier I have become. Is he looking at me like I am crazy too? 
   
We have just gotten back from our Quilt Seminars at Sea cruise to Alaska. Quilting on the sea days of a cruise is a blast. Everyone is having a great time and these ladies kept coming to the open sew room many nights after we got back from exploring our days in port. We saw sea otters and made sea otters and puffins. Also saw whales, dolphins, and bears. The moose was actually at the Wildlife rescue center in Haines. It was Rosie the porcupine that stole my heart though.
 

Poor Bruce had surgery to remove a kidney stone the day before we flew to Anchorage. Thank heavens for modern medicine. After a week of terrible pain, they decided to go up internally and blast that little rock with laser so we could go on our cruise. He is a tough old bird, and was hauling 50 pound suitcases thru the airport the next day. 

Student work
I want to give a shout-out to Bonnie Lewis from AZ who made this beautiful rendition of the Audubon quilt. She wanted to hang it all year round, so designed her sashing and borders to be less Christmasy. Lynn Sudbeck made this wonderful coral reef seascape using my sea turtle pattern.  Lynn used hand dyed cheesecloth for coral. It is so exciting to me when you guys share what you have done with all of us.
  

Tips and Tricks.
To keep your glue stick moist and prevent re-capping it constantly when gluing up several prepared shapes - place a slightly damp foam make up pad in a jelly jar. Un-cap your glue stick and place it glue side down in the jar.  Now glue and turn a whole batch of prepared Apliquick shapes. Don't use too much water. Remember this is water soluble glue.  

My favorite scissors after doing Applique for 20 years. You simply can not cut small applique pieces with big piecing scissors.
So it's an APPLIQUE scissor sale. These stainless steel scissors are 4 inches long with a very sharp point. They have a serrated edge which allows you to cut cleanly on difficult fabrics like silk. The serrated edge holds the position of the blade on the fabric so even tiny, tiny cicles have a nice continous line. 

$36   https://www.kathymcneilquilts.com/shop/Apliquick-tools--supplies/p/Applique-Scissors-x10702231.htm

Swing those creative juices into high gear for Fall.

Hugs Kathy.
www.kathymcneilquilts.com