Maureen and Mary are two quilters from the local Dubai Quilters Guild. They took me off to visit the Ibn Battuto Mall after class. This mall is amazing. It is named after a 14th century explorer and each section of the mall is done in the style of the countries he explored.

Check out this ceiling and the lights.

How about an elephant in your mall?

Here is the ceiling in the China section.

The tile work in this section was mind blowing…

Back at the ranch, the next day I taught the Perfect Points class. Everyone did super and did love their perfect points.

The gorgeous waterfall at the Dubai Mall.

Outside the mall we were treated to the world’s tallest structure is the 829.84 m (2723 ft) tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is so tall, you can only get a picture of the base or part of the top.

The amazing Dubai Fountains put on a spectacular water show to music every 20 minutes. The water is shot in the air as high as a 50 story building. We ate dinner and watched several shows that I would describe as fun to very moving.

Next we are off to Part Three, the International Quilt Show of Dubai…

I left home about a week ago to travel half way around the world to visit Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to teach at the International Quilt Show of Dubai. I was both excited and apprehensive about traveling to such a distant place. Dubai is know for its amazing buildings and the view from my hotel window showed a glimpse of what I would see.

I stayed at the Dhow Palace Hotel and even the furniture lived up to its palace name.

The carvings and decorations in the hotel were pretty amazing. Here is a picture of the night stand in my room.

My first outing in Dubai was to the fabric souks. Here, the walkways are lined with little shops where a variety of fabrics are displayed both inside and outside. It is a real feast for your eyes.

Next we headed to the “creek” where we boarded these boats called Abras that would take us across. Everyone just boarded and sat in the middle.

This boat is called a Dhow. They are very heavily loaded with goods that they bring into Dubai. Some are decoratively painted and others look like it is time for dry dock and repairs.

On the other side of the creek are the spice souks selling their raw spices. It was really interesting to see such a variety and what they looked like in the whole form.

Dubai is called the City of Gold and visiting the Gold souks is a must. The shops are on both sides and filled with 18, 21 and 24 karat gold pieces. I have never seen so much gold in one place.

Barbara Weeks (the other international teacher from the UK) and are are laughing about the world`s largest gold ring on display behind us in the window. Ummm…wonder if that would fit?

However, I was there to teach so the next day I began with the Paper Piecing Tricks of the Trade class. It was a great group of students consisting of expats from around the world and quilters from the local areas.

I am off to the mall in Part – Two..

The next day, Barbara Weeks and I judged the show held at the Festival City Mall. I was very impressed with the quality and variety of the work offered for exhibition and judging. Unfortunately, I do not have a list of the title to the pieces and their makers name, so I will share the images here as a virtual quilt show. The subject matters were varied and ranged from traditional, contemporary and whimsical. Some pieces reflected the images of the area such as the piece above that was awarded best of show.

The detail here was amazing. It won First Place in the long arm quilted category.

This was another ribbon winner. Gorgeous intricate thread painting was used. Because this show was hung in the mall, it attracted a great deal of interest from the people in the mall. While we were there, a gentlemen from Iran came up and asked about the quilts. He was touched by one quilt in particular that was set in an Iranian town that he grew up in. The theme of the show was reflections and the artists statement about that quilt described how when they behaved badly as a child, their mother would send them to the river to see the reflection of the person they have become. It struck me that worldwide, quilters put their hearts and souls in their quilts.

This was a ribbon winner in the Contemporary category.

That evening we enjoyed a Gala Dinner, awarding of the prizes and a very entertaining Turkish Dancer.

The next day was my final day of classes teaching the Sunrise Mariner`s Compass. Here is a happy student who has completed half of her block.

Here are two more happy students…

And we even had several finished tops by the end of the class. It was a great day had by all.

In fact, the trip was everything I could have hoped for and more. I loved teaching the classes and judging the show and getting to know the quilters from Dubai and the surrounding areas and countries. Thank you Dubai for your warm hospitality.

All the best,

Carol

It is that time of the year when Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and many of our thoughts turn to the ones we love. They may be our partners, our husbands and wives, our children and grandchildren. The patchwork heart can come in many forms. The little wall quilt above is simply three hearts and the LOVE block from my newest book, 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks.

Valentine’s Day falls second only to Mother’s Day as the most important day for sending cards. An estimated 143 million cards are sent/given for Valentine’s Day. The card above was created using one of the Carol Doak Keepsake Cards and one of the quick and easy heart blocks from the 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks book. I used some multicolor thread and a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to embellish the card.

Stamps are another way to embellish and create messages on your cards. The “Bless Your Heart” stamp is perfect when using a patchwork card. I purchased it online at Rubber Stamp Tapesty.

This is the cover of 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks and it is available in my web store or possibly at your local quilt shop. You could call ahead and see if they have it in stock.

Here is the packaging for the Carol Doak’s Keepsake Frame Cards. These cards and envelopes are made of wonderful paper that has the feel of handmade paper. There are four cards and envelopes in the package. The package retails for $9.95 making each card less than $2.50. Unfortunately, C & T Publishing is out of stock of these cards and therefore, I am also out of stock. I am hoping I will have a supply by the end of the month. Call ahead and see if your local quilt shop still has a supply. UPDATE: Just heard that Checkers Quilt Distributors still has a supply of cards. Ask your shop to order them if they are out.  These cards are a super deal as far as the cost of greeting cards these days. I did a bit of research about greeting cards and found the following not so surprising statement about cards. Giving a greeting card creates a lasting impression and emotional bond between sender and receiver. In a national survey for the Greeting Card Association, nearly one-third of respondents said they keep the special cards they receive “forever.”

Another way to express love is through a little mini quilt. This Scrap Hearts Miniature quilt was first showcased in my out of print Easy Paper-Pieced Miniature Quilts book. Miniature quilts are so easy to make using paper foundation piecing methods. This one features little heart blocks featuring the look of scrap red fabrics. You would use the same methods as traditional paper piecing, but substitute the Add-An-Eighth ruler for the Add-A-Quarter ruler. Use cotton batting when machine quilting to give the quilt a flat look. When your loved one receives this quilt, they are going to think you are amazing. Don’t tell them that minis are actually so easy because the fabric pieces are huge in relation to the area they are going fill.

Since the minis in this out-of-print book were so popular, I decided to reproduce them in pattern format including all the patterns to make each quilt pre-printed on Carol Doak Foundation Paper.

Then one day I had one of those light bulb moments when I realized I could place the images for the pattern on a CD so they could be printed right from your computer. Each CD contains four mini patterns. The Miniatures Set Two above contains the Scrap Hearts, the Scrap Stars (another very popular pattern!), Tree of Life Medallion and Jeweled Fans.

The book, patterns, CDs and Add-An-Eighth ruler are all available  in my web store.

Until next time,

Carol

50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks

My it has been some time since I have posted a blog but I am determined to get back to posting frequently this year. So much has happened since last year and keeping up with it all was not possible. That meant somethings were put on the back burner and I am afraid regular blogging was one of them.

Let’s see….

I wrote two books, one of which is the 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks shown above. I designed the blocks in this book to go with the Carol Doak Keepsake Cards.

The other book is in production…I can’t tell you about it yet, but as soon as I can, I will be sharing lots here about it. It is paper piecing but an entirely new and exciting avenue for this wonderful method.

I moved. Not an easy task moving the studio, office and house…We moved to a smaller house on a lovely lake. Living on a lake has been a life-long dream and I am loving it. Last summer, when I would get tired and warm working on the quilts and blocks for the new book, I would just jump in my bathing suit and go off or a swim.

We having been doing lots of updating to the house. One update included teaching guys who were putting in the new walk, how to create a 9-Patch star.

Our first grandson arrived on the scene….my oh my…he is perfect..

A couple of years ago I made the decision to cut back severely on all the travel/teaching I had been doing for years. I just wasn’t bouncing back from the rigors of my trips and I wanted to spend more time with my family.

I still plan to stay involved in the quilt world, write the books,  create new designs and travel on a very limited basis. This year I have four trips planned. I have already taken the first trip to teach for a week at the Road to California. It was a super trip and reminded me how much I do love what I do.

I am heading off next to Dubai to teach at the Dubai International Quilt show. I know this trip will be exciting and a wonderful experience teaching there. I am sure I will have lots to share when I return.

Until next time…may all your points be perfect.

All the best,

Carol