Juggling my assets

Carly Mul • June 27, 2026

Juggling my assets, I have been super busy with very limited time to work in my studio and/or garden. Travel, teaching, social media are all a lot of fun, but I miss down time in my studio and garden. I need more time to play with my fabrics and flowers!  Of course, I am the one who is doing this to myself, or as husband Jan says: "you are doing this yourself, Carly. Self-inflicted wounds. You have to juggle your assets better."  I know, I know, but Summer has just so many options! Smelling all the roses.


Today, 6/24, we are flying home from Seattle WA, after having spent two wonderful weeks in Washington and Oregon. I am writing this blog in the plane, but will publish it in a few days after I have time to add some photos and links. The Oregon coast was long on our bucket list. Earlier in the year the plan was to travel around for a month or so in our RV. That didn't happen as we couldn't bring the RV in time out West after Jan was diagnosed  with Lyme (it is super common in our area) and couldn't be out and about in the sun during the time he had to take medication.We are pretty good in adjusting, so instead of the RV we did half the trip with a rental car and hotels. It also opened up an opportunity to see our son and his girls in Denver.  Finally visited the wonderful Rocky Mountain Quilt museum in Boulder, CO! Of course, now I am wondering when we can go away with the RV but we both really want to be home for a while first. The RV will have to wait until the Fall.

I have finished "Release" and as is almost always the case with my quilts, Release has a story. The quilt tries to depict in color a mental issue. When you are dealing with a heavy load ( in the quilt presented by the purple and grey section in the upper left), how to find a way to let it not be so overpowering and consume everything? Finding a way to let it go or giving it a more restricted place? The many different values of purple and red show this is not so easy, but in the end, with hard work,  butterflies are finding a way out to a lighter, less heavy place.


After this quilt I started working on "Seeds", which is inspired by my days in Asilomar, CA. Actually, I put the first pieces down in the social evening time with my students in our Heather class room. Empty Spools filled me with gratitude, and I realized that the word "empty" has a special meaning to me, which is far from, more the opposite of "empty".

When home, I volunteer  twice per week  at Loudoun Hunger Relief, the local foodbank. This organisation has an "empty bowl" event to raise money. Empty Bowl, Empty Spoon, Empty Spool..... sometimes my brain makes weird connections! My Seeds  quilt will be donated to this wonderful place and I hope it will somehow benefit the charity. Empty is full. 

The quilt is in the main colors of the corporate logo: green, orange and light gray, with accents of the colors LHR uses on its pantry posters to encourage clients to look for healthy options. The quilt has many food items more or less hidden  and the fork is part of the logo. The design is almost done - with many changes -  and then I can start the quilting. Hopefully next week!

I will be careful: I tossed away my quilt "Acts of kindness" that got damaged by bleeding of colors after I was done quilting it!! Terrible and frustrating, in the trash. That quilt was not acting kindly at all. Still not a complete waste of time, as I learned the hard way;)

In between our two trips I taught in Gettysburg PA, a place I wrote about 2 years ago. It will be the last time as MAQ is looking for another place to hold the retreat. No place has been found yet. I did a two-day class and met old and new friends. Old students, like Deborah here on the photo, are so encouraging when they show off their work and I wish more of them would be less shy. New students, trying to make their first lines in color, understand their accomplishments as they are learning themselves. It takes a while to find your voice when you do something completely new, you are learning! If you know everything already, who needs a class? I promise you, I learn from every quilt I make and every class I teach! I have put on my website a section "students" where I will post works (partial or completed) and remarks. Some remarks make me blush, thank you! I think it may be helpful for others to see work of previous students as they are considering signing up. Especially the five-day classes are an investment in yourself and any information may be helpful. If you have anything to share, please do so and I will put it up! 

I have a five-day class coming up soon in Bar Harbor,  Maine for the Madeline Island School of the Arts.The class will be end September, prime time for New England. We will be located right at the Atlantic ocean! Long days of color and meeting people. with the same color passion.  It is such a treat, also to me! 

Registration for Empty Spools Seminars 2027 has opened  as well and I will teach again at Asilomar in Session 5. After that wonderful first time teaching a five-day class, I am excited for these opportunities. I hope you feel encouraged to join because we need each other to make it happen. As students suggested: all new five-day classes will have a zoom-meeting a few weeks before class to discuss any questions students may have. Especially about what fabrics to bring. I will also create the opportunity to order kits for these multi-day classes. I encourage students to bring their own fabrics, but we all lead busy lives and it could come in handy if you get help. Part of the pampered experience these multi-day classes are!


Houston also has announced the facullty for this Fall's International Quilt Festival. I will teach 3 one day classes: my book Freestyle Color Collage, the Agamy Stripes (mr. Agam passed away on 6/21 and even though he made it up to 98 and left us with so much art, my heart felt the loss), and Rooted in Color. Rooted in Color will be the first time at a national show! On July 9 I will get a taped interview with Houston to talk about these classes. I will post it on social media if there is something to share. 


This Sunday, 6/28, The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson will air my episode (3813). I have no idea what it will be like or what the effect of this show will be.  This whole fabric life, has been such a wonderful, unpredictable journey!  I know we taped the session last year in August (see blog at that time), but I don't know how the producer  is going to edit this all into one program. I'm curious!  I know when I saw myself at the Facebook Live recording with Artistic Artifacts in 2025, that I was surprised about my still strong Dutch roots. I now know;)


Several quilts got some attention these last few weeks:Rhythm is currently on exhibition at the 6th BMRE at the University of Maryland Global Campus in Adelphi, MD.  It received an honorable mention from juror Preston Sampson, which means a lot to me as this is an art show, not a quilt show. Art shows look at quilts with a slightly different eye and it seems my quilts find an interested audience. Rhythm is my 3rd quilt in the Agam serie. It is trying to show in color the sounds we heard the week before the 2024 presidential elections. It is a super loud quilt with clashing statements as the noise was so over the top. This honorable mention came a few days before Agam's death, and I now think that I may have a 4th quilt in me for this serie.  So many plans! 

Bouquet and Vortex got juried into the Regional SAQA exhibition "Connecting with Nature" at the Mansion in Strathmore, Bethesda, MD. Opening reception is tomorrow and Jan and I will attend together with granddaughter Nora as her Mom and Dad need a last-minute babysitter. Summer is a hard time for working parents with young school-aged children, but Jan and I love to jump on any occasion we can get to help out.  Nora likes color and fabric and is looking forward to seeing the show!  As a rising first grader, she feels like a big girl because school is out for her but younger sister Claire (4)  is still going to daycare. You may find us often playing together in the pool or in my studio these next few weeks. I told her at age 6 her legs are now long enough to learn to sew on a sewing machine and she has been digging through old novelty prints that she wants to use.  Precious time. Time is precious. 


Enjoy your Summer and Happy 4th!