Enjoy the design, art and colors of The Republic of Turkey.  TQS Member Mary Rapp (maryinwi) shares with us the inspirations that surrounded her on a trip to this amazing land. 

We encourage you to stop the automatic changer and just step through manually so you can linger on particular designs.

Photo by Gregory Case Photography

Join us in the chat room tonight at 5:00pm Pacific/8:00pm Eastern (01:00 GMT on July 3, 2009) for a lively visit with "Featured Artist" Rose Hughes, our guest in Episode 413. Rose will share more tips for creating your own quilt masterpiece using luscious fabrics, yarns, and beads. Not able to join us "live?" Don't worry:  You can read the transcripts of the chat at your convenience by clicking on "Chat Transcripts" and selecting the chat you'd like to read.

Guess who finally started their own Member Blog? That's right - Yours Truly. There have been so many little, stupid things I want to post, but the Daily Blog is not the right place. Then, it dawned on me - duh - the Member Blogs! Find me there! It's called, "I'm Just Sayin'... by Ricky Tims."

It's mostly just 'my status' as the clock ticks.

Congratulations to Odette Leroux of Quebec, Canada; Bonnie Barber of California; Jean Sheeler of Ontario, Canada.  They were the winners of Gail Thomas' DVD "The Art of Painting on Fabric" and an Iris pattern by Gail.   Thanks to Gail for sharing her award winning "Grandmother's Legacy" with TQS and for offering her DVD to our TQS audience.

Gail loves to teach.  To contact Gail to teach for your group, or to order yourself her DVD ($40 US $C50) and get started right away, send Gail an email by clicking here  tyderw@shaw.ca

It's July and if you have been doing your homework, you are now halfway through this fun and colorful quilt.  This month, designer Sue Garman has you continuing to make Stars for the inner Star border of your "Stars for a New Day" quilt.  To view quilt blocks finished and posted by TQS members, be sure to visit Show and Tell here. You're sure to be inspired to "stay on task" after seeing what others have been creating.

To learn more about the "Stars for a New Day" Block of the Month and designer Sue Garman, click here. Be sure to watch the corresponding instructional video by clicking here. As always, the BOM and video lessons are free to all current TQS Star members.  It's not to late to start on the 2009 BOM, so click here to become a TQS Star Member and join in on the fun!

"Chicks from Nairobi" by stefanka

Carolyn Reese (Road to California ) has made TQS an offer too good to be true! TQS will have its very own exhibit of member quilts at next year's show, which will be held January 14 - 17, 2010 at the Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA.

The exhibit, titled "A Twist On Tradition," will feature twenty original quilts based on traditional patterns or designs. We want to show the thousands of attendees how truly blessed we are with talent of our TQS members from around the globe. Don't miss this great opportunity to showcase your quilted work. Click here to download and read the rules and print an entry form.

We have created a GREAT way for you to keep up with the latest in the lives of Alex, Ricky, and The Quilt Show.com.  Announcing the TQS Press Page, the newest addition to our ever-growing line-up of fabulous features. Here you will find radio, as well as newspaper, magazine, and other print sources featuring articles on what Alex, Ricky, and TQS are doing in the quilting world. The Press Page is updated continually so that you can keep up with all the latest happenings. 

Did you catch Ricky on "CBS Sunday Morning"?  What about the article about The Quilt Show.com in the latest issue of Sew Hip? Click on "Press" in the purple tab bar above to revisit the worldwide exposure we continue to receive!

Actually I finished this quilt before we left the summit - I just now have loaded the image on my computer. This quilt celebrates Kaffe's fabrics and the use of the sampler pattern from my foundation paper piecing book. Let me say this, when I originally wrote that book it was under much protest - but guess what......I had a BLAST making this quilt. I guess I may have "crossed to the other side" - do any of you relate to this sort of transformation with a quilting process?

Written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio. www.reginabrett.com

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back..

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Paducah is a very special event.  Every year 35,000 quilters descend on this quaint town in Kentucky, USA.  It was an eye-opening experience for our travelling Australian quilting teacher.  Here is a fun review of events through Pam Holland's eyes.

Just a reminder that Pam has one of the best blog/websites in quiltdom.  Click Here.

We just learned that Gail Thomas' "Grandmother's Legacy" won First Place in the "Pictorial Quilt" category at the NQA Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio.  Congratulations, Gail and thank you for sharing with us the process you went through to create this award winner. (If you missed the videos following her creation, please go here to watch.)

Gail loves to paint and share and she teaches her techniques in a new DVD titled "The Art of Painting on Fabric."  She was so touched by the huge response she received from our TQS members that she is giving 3 lucky people a copy of her DVD PLUS a pattern of a drawn Iris - the same iris Gail draws and paints in the DVD.

To enter, simply click here to send an email to fabricpainting@thequiltshow.com and put "Gail Thomas" in the subject line. Your entry needs to be in by Monday June 29, 2009 midnight PST.  (THANK YOU FOR ENTERING.  THIS CONTEST HAS NOW CLOSED.)

To contact Gail to teach, or to order yourself the DVD ($40 US $C50) and get started right away, send Gail an email by clicking here  tyderw@shaw.ca

TQS member, Amanda House (Amoret), takes us on a tour of the designs and colors of Morocco.  We recommend that you move through the pictures manually so you can stop and admire the intricate details on the walls and ceilings. 

If you are looking for quilting designs, you will find one here.  Thank you Amanda.

Congratulations to the following people who were winners of the "Jammin' Jelly" quilt pattern from JWD Publishing.  Karen Woomer of Missouri; Cindy Shope of Utah; Patricia Minnick of Iowa; Petra McLennan of Australia; Shirley Lam of Texas; and Connie Wong of Washington.

Thanks to all who entered to win.  Remember you never know when there will be another chance to win a prize just by visiting The Quilt Show.com.  (Hint:  What are you doing this weekend?  )