Photo Ready

I actually went outside today, and it was beautiful! This is a big deal for me as I have been slaving over the sewing machine for hours every day. One project I will be so glad to finish! It is from the beautiful Cocheco Mills line of fabric from Marcus Fabrics. I have had to send away for more fabric a couple of times. I just ordered a different border fabric than what I originally intended. That is because I design on the fly. I think I know what I am doing, but I regularly change plans in mid stream. I am not sure what that says about me as a designer, but the best laid plans, and all that...  Photos of that quilt will be coming.

Today I went outside with a mission in mind. I needed to take new photos of a couple of my quilts. I am working on new covers, getting ready for International Quilt Market and all. The weather was beautiful and sunny and so I headed over to Stoney's Market, which is not officially open for the season yet, but I got great shots there once before, so I thought I would try it again. Stoney's is a garden and vegetable stand that is very rural in appearance, but sits right in the middle of office buildings, mostly doctors. They are very nice about me commandeering their walls and fences and plants and props.

And while I was searching for places to display my quilts for photos, look who was watching me. Goats, sheep and lots of chickens too. The rooster kept crowing me off his turf, so I left him and his harem alone. 

Here is Dream Catcher with a few of the props I appropriated from Stoney's. 

I got a couple shots of Pioneer Trail as well. Not being a photographer by trade, I do a lot of messing around and never know if I will get anything I can use.  I think I like the one with the goat the best, but I can only use that for blogging! Not such a great pattern cover!

Here is a new release. I showed these little quilts a while back and then sent them off to Karen Mowery for photos because she has antique dolls from when she was a little girl. (Hee hee-I'm gonna hear about that!) Didn't she take a nice photo for me? She is talented in so many aspects that I value, and I count on her way too much. In this pattern you can use a focus fabric for the center or cross stitch a sampler from a chart in the pattern.

Getting ready for market has been taking my attention, and I have three quilts out being quilted. You can catch a glimpse of one of them at Quilt Hollow. Mary Flynn is doing her magic on a new one. Normal for her, thrilling for me! You may recall that Mary recently quilted baby quilts for the twin boys just born to my granddaughter. I enlarged one of the designs to adult size just so Mary could do the pattern that you will see on her blog. Awesome is all I can say, just awesome!

Hope your weekend is as happy as mine!

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Tuesday night I had a very nice time speaking at the Peninsula Piecemakers Quilt Guild in Newport News, VA. I forgot my camera, so no photos. :(  They are a lovely group of ladies and made me feel very welcome. My voice has been acting up the past two years in that I sound like I am hoarse and losing my voice. They had a mic, so that helped a lot. I showed my quilts and talked about them and told a couple of funny stories. For example, I told them about Karen Dianne at LeeHaven and the time she was sewing in her kitchen and used a cutting board to press her fabric, and then realized that the odor of onions had permeated her fabric! I told them she cries whenever she uses that quilt, which probably isn't true, but sounds good!  I also told them of living  in Minnesota and the things people do to keep their car's engine from freezing, like covering it up with a blanket. My sister-in-law was driving down the street one night and saw that someone had placed an old quilt across the hood of their car. Being a lover of quilts, she drove home and picked up and old blanket, then drove back and grabbed the quilt off the car and threw the old blanket on it and drove away. Clearly this person was not "quilt-worthy". I would love it if any of you have funny quilt related stories to share. 

I have decided to re-release this pattern, called Our Home. I measures 14" x 16" and contains some patchwork and some simple embroidery. You can personalize it with your own name and year of marriage. It will be on my website on pattern page #5.

Dream Catcher, that was in McCall's Quilting last year is also now available for purchase at my Patchalot Patterns website. Of course if anyone out there has a shop and is interested in any of my patterns please give me a call. (See website for phone number)

 Also, Mary at Quilt Hollow has completed baby quilt number two for my soon to be born twin grandsons. Her work is beautiful! Hop on over to her blog for more photos! See the funny photo she took of the quilts lined up together. You will see how alike, yet different they are. Both quilts measure 40 inches square. What will I do if a baby does what babies do on these quilt? I will close my eyes, smile, and take it like a grandmother!

Dream Catcher

A nice surprise came in the mail today. McCall's Quilting magazine sent me their latest release. It is the September-October issue, and I have a quilt published in it. It is the quilt pictured above called Dream Catcher. Anyone remember when I was working on that one? See it here.

This quilt was so much fun to make because you can really have fun combining scraps. I love a quilt where I can use both old and current fabrics. Scrapdillyitious!
This one was quilted by my good friend in Arizona, Marae Harris, with lovely feathers running down the strips. 

It is such an honor for me to be in this lovely magazine with so many designers that I admire, including Pat Wys whose blog I read! Cool! Watch your mailbox or retail stores for this magazine. It will put a smile on your face!

DREAM CATCHER

According to the poll it looks like Dream Catcher is the favored name for my new quilt. I am really glad because now I don’t have to over-rule everyone! 60% of those who voted chose Dream Catcher as the name for the quilt pictured in the post below this one. I loved Stina’s comment about Fudge Factor being the quilt’s working name.

Dream -catcher, for those who may not know, is a Native American tradition that began in the Ojibway (Chippewa) tribe. All the dream-catchers are similar to the one pictured, yet unique, as they are each hand made by individuals. So, like quilts in that way! Most seem to have feathers hanging on them. That gives me the idea that I need feathers on my quilt! The dream-catcher is hung above the beds of sleeping children to protect them from nightmares. The bad dreams will get caught in the web of this Indian charm. Good dreams are allowed to pass through. This sounds like a tradition we need to incorporate in every quilt we make!

You remember my last quilt was named Indian Paintbrush, and Karen Diane says she is feeling cosmic vibes with the Indian names. Let’s hope that is a good thing. I personally really enjoy Native American folklore. I believe the Native American culture has had a huge impact on us as Americans, not only in our history, but in how we are learning to respect and treasure our Mother Earth. It makes me happy to pay tribute to them in some small way through my quilts. Now I am thinking about my next quilt…maybe Dances with Scraps. What do you think?