DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
                                                              Oct 2008

Eliad will be four on the 18^th of October --- we just can’t believe it!!!  He’s such a little gentleman these days.  He and his mom will be walking with friends and Eliad will invite them to their house!  Of course, the friends always look to Zoe to see if this invitation is OK with her.  Then he takes them on a tour of their new home, sits them down at the dining room table and serves them his favorite foods---- ice pops and chocolate milk!!  He’s a real charmer and has granma and granpa wrapped around his little finger!

Finally feeling well again but, boy, have I got a new appreciation for life.  I’m also working madly to catch up on all the work that piled up.  I’m getting ready for eleven days in Houston with a pretty heavy teaching schedule.  The manuscript for my new book is due in mid-November.  When I committed to all those things I didn’t plan on being sick for over two months.  Meanwhile, life goes on --- birthdays in October include both daughters, Mr. Donna, Eliad and a niece (January is a very cold month up here) --- refrigerator shopping (yep, ours died) --- emergency tooth repair ending in a five tooth bridge --- etc, etc, etc.  But I’ve been told the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and that seems to be working for me.

I don’t know if this letter will get to you in time for Houston (my teaching schedule is on our website). I’m very excited about getting back to teaching at major markets since my retirement, which lasted all of two months.  Let me tell you about one class, “Who, Me, Teach? OK!”  which is about improving your teaching skills.  I’ve been teaching for over fifty years and I tell stories about how I became a better teacher in all those years.  Very funny and very informative.  The really neat part is that the feedback has been so great that the people at Houston have asked me to make the class all day instead half day.  So I now have time to add lots of hints on specific teaching techniques.  It’s for both newbies and pros, so if you’re interested in teaching quilting classes, sign up at www.quilts.com <http://www.quilts.com/>

There are two new projects posted on page 3 of the “Show And Tell” section of  Quiltwithdonna.com.   Two of the new projects are florals done by Marty Post who makes models for Quilter’s Delight, a well known company doing many quilt shows each year, and an interesting color wash  treatment of our Block Party design by Deanna Augustin.

There are also three new chapters in the Donna’s Quilting Hints section taken from my past books.  The chapters deal with basics, my speedy cutting system and piecing.  A forth chapter deals with Foldy Stuff and was gleaned from all the past newsletters.  There is a ton of great information about quilting, sewing and Foldy Stuff in these chapters.


I’m writing my fifth book.  It’s for AQS and should be “birthed” next fall,
hopefully in time for Houston, 2009.  It only has five quilts in it!  But --- there are four completely different versions of each, making twenty quilts!  Confused?  Well, over the years I’ve found that when a quilter learns a new technique, and is very comfy with it, she’d like to use that skill to make more quilts but different from the original one.  So that’s what the book is about!  And all twenty will have yardages and information for seven sizes, plus a “Doodle” page for doodling your own designs.  I’ve had a crew of quilters making models and they’re gorgeous.  I’m really excited.  By the way, we haven’t come up with a title yet --- any ideas out there?

The other night I made an old favorite for Mr. Donna --- chopped chicken livers!  I got the original recipe years ago from a Jewish friend of mine so it’s authentic, but I haven’t made it in years because it was loaded --- really loaded! --- with chicken fat.  I decided to try making it healthier and, wow, it’s really good.  So here’s my version.  Try it on crackers, as a sandwich spread, a party dip, or just a nice dollop on a piece of lettuce.  Mr. Donna loves it as a snack.

Chopped Chicken Livers, Healthy Version
  2 ½ pounds chicken livers, drained but not dry
  olive oil
  2 really large white onions
  6 hard boiled eggs
  Salt & pepper

Cook the livers in 1 T. oil till not pink. Drain and reserve liquid.
Brown onions in 2 T oil till soft
Grind onions, eggs, and livers together
Add salt & pepper to taste
Add reserved liquid to desired consistency
Here’s my own hints:
  When I’m cooking the livers and the onions I add salt and pepper to each of those pans.  It’s so much easier to “feel” how much is needed at that point.
You know what your family’s tastes are, so experiment with the amounts of the ingredients.  This is a great recipe for doing that and my old friend will never know!

The next letter you get will have news of all the new stuff I find in Houston!

Hope you’ve had a great summer and looking forward to a beautiful fall season. 

Happy quilting,
Donna