The magazine says it's spring...it must be true!

Pay no attention to the icy sidewalks, the mounds of dirty snow piled along the driveway, the forecast for solid precipitation: the Spring 2009 issue of Quilts and More is hitting the newsstand. Although I've written for magazines for years I've always been a little mystified about why magazines put out their December issues in October. I'm sure it has to do with advertising and getting readers excited about the upcoming seasons and thinking about the perfect thing they'll need to buy or make.

In the case of Quilts and More, the spring issue is so welcome right now: there's a chance of snow tonight and the cover and so many of the fabrics and projects evoke sunshine and growing things. There are at least three quilts in this issue that I'd like to make.

I interviewed Lisa Shepard Stewart for the issue. Like most of us, she's smitten by fabric. In particular, she loves African fabric and has written three books of projects that use all kinds of handmade fabrics from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and Mali. And not only does she quilt—she made her own wedding dress! I think that's about the bravest (and maybe craziest) thing a person could do: the stakes seem so high it would be easy to feel intimidated. But Lisa didn't strike me as someone who would be easily cowed. Heck, she told me she'd recently made a dress to wear to a friend's party the night before the party. Lisa has a challenge going on her web site to create something using this fabric. Check out the rules at Cultured Expressions.

I recently had the fun of "meeting" Monica, the designer of the sweet little mushroom needle case on page 26 in this issue. I've enjoyed her blog for some time and she's designed lots of great things for Quilts and More (including my all-time favorite bag, Pick a Pocket, in the Fall 2008 issue) and I e-mailed her recently to say hello and ask if I can add her blog, Happy Zombie, to my "roll call" of blogs—hope to get that started next week. In addition to being an obviously fun person (who admitted she's a 12-year-old in a slightly older body) she was very generous with blogging info and even added me to her blog roll call—makes me feel like my blog is growing up—Much obliged, Monica!