The Queen of Fecundity

We interrupt this blog for some unrestrained admiration...

Yes, that would be for Anna Maria Horner, fertile in both the familial sense and in her work. If you're not familiar with her first book Seams to Me, then you've probably drooled over (or better yet, stitched something with) her fabrics for Westminster.

Her blog just noted that her new book, Handmade Beginnings, is out. I haven't had the chance to see it yet, but between the peeks provided on various sites (Anna Maria's shop offers signed copies and Amazon has a video of her with her brood and various projects) it looks like there are some great projects. Her blog contains an excerpt from the book's intro that gives you a heartfelt idea of the thought behind the publication.

I mention this because I've been a major fan of Anna Maria's since I had the opportunity to interview her for Quilts and More back in October of 2007. She was so kind and funny, but what really struck me is how thoughtful she is about her art and art in general. I enjoyed our conversation so much that I wanted to chat with her again and pitched a story to the University of Tennessee alumni magazine, the place she studied art and met her husband. If you're interested in reading that, here's the link to "Home is Where the Art Is."

Last October, I got a chance to meet her eldest daughter, Juliana, who is a chip off the old block (and a frequent model of Anna Maria's fashions). She's a smart, savvy young woman who was looking at colleges and we shared some talk about writing for magazines...hope you've got the school of your dreams lined up, Juliana!

Okay, this unrestrained blathering is an indication that I've got not just a girl-crush on Anna Maria, but on her entire family...a fam-crush, a brood-crush. Oh, so embarrassing for a woman of my age...