Annual Ornament Feature

Getting a jump on Christmas and making ornaments for my grandkids. This is a tradition I began with my own children, and as they had children I continued with the grands. Oh there have been a few years where I didn't follow through, but that was before my grandson, 15 at the time, said that he loved to decorated the tree and find all his ornaments that I had made him through the years. When I discovered that it really meant something to him, a teenage boy no less, my heart was touched! Let's face it. we love to make things. It's in our blood or something. But if no one appreciates what we are doing it kind of takes the heart out of it. We all love a little recognition, right?

So here is this years simple little offering. The pattern was in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine December 2011 issue. It is a pattern by Sue Spargo that I adapted to my own needs. Hers is wonderful, but I needed something that was easier to mass produce because I needed so many. Years ago I made felt ornaments every year. In those days my mom would design the pattens and she always made them for everyone. Now I am working with wool, but I still had a nice big hunk of heavy white felt from "the old days" that worked well for the background. So I am happy to say that the ornies are done for this year!! Now I need to design and make four Christmas Stockings! Boy, these kids expect a lot!

On another note, someone telephoned me the other day to ask if I take credit cards for my pattern purchases. I do not. My website is set up to accept Paypal, which is so easy to use, and safe as well. If you haven't tried it, do so on something inexpensive, like one of my patterns, just to get the feel of it. If you are uncomfortable doing that and you don't want the hassle of mailing a check, you can always call this number: 757-523-2711. It is the local shop here in Virginia Beach (What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff) and they carry ALL my patterns. They also often have kits available for at least one or two of my patterns. It changes. Of course I also mentioned two shops in my previous post that have kits for Old Elegance, and naturally they have that pattern as well, plus other Patchalot Patterns. 
Seems like I am doing a lot of self promotion lately. Well I ask you, who else is gonna do it? LOL!

If you are living in snow country and got blasted yesterday, my condolences. We actually turned on the furnace for the first time last night. I hope this winter it is not going to be a repeat of last winter. Warm wishes to all!

 

Smiley Babies

I haven't shared photos of the boys lately. Granddaughter Becky posted exceptional photos today on her blog, so I swiped a couple. I can't wait to get my hands on these babies! Isn't this a cute family photo?

 

 I love this one because they are both smiling at the same time and they always smile with their mouths wide open. They just turned 7 months two weeks ago. They are such happy babies! Just don't ask me which is which.

On another note, I was in the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, the other day and they have a darling kit for sale. It is of the ever popular tumbler blocks, pre-cut with the Accucut Studio Cutter. Very handy, don't you think? It is mostly from the Howard Marcus Quilt Collections for a Cause, I believe. Lovely shades of pink and brown--a personal favorite of mine! Give them a call at 757-523-2711 if you are interested. The quilt will finish at 54" x 72" and sells for $79.99. And it is all pre-cut! Just thought I would share, since it caught my eye.

 I am still putting in lots of time at the computer doing so much busy work. I am dying to really spend some quality time in my sewing room. How do I cut the cord to the computer I want to know? When I first got it I never realized that it would take over my life!


Have a happy day!

Shop Talk

Last Saturday, April 9th, was open house at What's Your Stitch 'n Stuff, a quilt shop here in Virginia Beach. It was lots of fun to visit with the other teachers as well as customers that came into the shop. Just to give you a peek into this great local shop, I took a few photos.

 

 Ellen Goodloe shared the beautiful Princess Feathers block she is working on. We all swooned over it!

Chris Herbkersman made this wonderful William Morris Tapestry applique quilt. It is so striking. She took a four block class at the shop and decided it was too good to stop at four! We all agreed!

Sue Cruthers teaches two consecutive beginner classes at the shop. Her classes are a priority for anyone starting out in quilting! Sue and her husband also go on mission trips with her church and she teaches quilting classes in Africa! They love her over there and are developing skills to help provide for their families. This week she is off to teach quilt classes in Columbia! We are so proud of her!

Abby Geddes is teaching Brentwood Bags! Her fabric choices are fabulous! She is also teaching wool applique with this darling Lori Smith design.

 Sue Troyan is in the spotlight at the shop this month, and they have a lovely display set up with a few of the many quilts she has made. Sue teaches hand applique as well as the always popular Miss Pitty Pat class, which is a year long class of Civil War blocks and lectures. She is very knowledgeable and teaches wonderful classes with great enthusiasm.

This quilt sampler gives us an idea of her design talent. She provides various layouts for her students to choose from after their blocks are made.

So that is a taste of what is happening at my favorite shop here in Virginia Beach! They have some brights and some batiks, but they primarily focus on my personal favorite--17th century reproduction fabrics! And also wool! They are in their 21st year in business and may they continue to have great success for the sake of all of us who count on a touchable relationship with fabric, up close and personal!

 Did I mention they sell ALL my patterns! I love them for that too!

Under Our Wings Takes Off

 The ladies from What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, our LQS here in Virginia Beach, were involved in a booth at market sponsored by Marianne Fons. It is for a new program that was introduced, called Under Our Wings. It is in connection with Quilts of Valor. Above you see Kim McWherter, Joan, me, Holly and Sue. Where is Sandra??? She was there and working hard also!
Kim is married to the Commanding Officer of the Blue Angels and once upon a time she lived in Virginia Beach and worked at the shop. She made the Homeport quilt that is pictured in the previous post, and was featured with the quilt and her husband in American Quilter Magazine last summer. It was so great seeing her!

 This lady is a ball of fire! This is Catherine Roberts who is the founder of Quilts of Valor. With her energy and persuasive powers, it is no wonder that Quilts of Valor has become such a high profile organization in the quilting world. Just an aside, Catherine is standing in front of my Summertime Blues quilt made from the Wintergreen pattern found on my website. This quilt was hanging on the outer wall of the booth and I heard tell that Laurie Simpson saw it and liked it! It is made from the Prairie Paisley line by Minick and Simpson. Those ladies are terrific, by the way. They have been dedicated in supporting quilts for the military in any number of organizations, and have donated their profits from some of their work as well. (Let's just say quite a bit of their profits!) Their booth was wonderful and I was pleased to talk with them at some length. They have a new line of American Valor fabric as well as Charlevoix, both from Moda. Be sure and check out the Minick and Simpson blog for lots of great photos of their booth and others!

Here is the booth for Under Our Wings. It looked great! The ladies from What's Your Stitch 'n Stuff, with Holly at the helm, set up the booth and talked to lots of people about the program. They also participated in a Schoolhouse event with Marianne Fons promoting the program. Great job all of you in giving this program a good send off!

I Come in Pieces

Have you ever written on your blog with the thought that you are sending a message into outer space with the hope of finding similar lifeforms that will respond back with a friendly message? "Hello, I come in peace"! Or maybe in the case of quilters we should say "pieces". I come in pieces? Well, you get it. Right? When you post on a blog you never know where it goes, or who reads it, or who will respond. Maybe that is the fun of it. But we all enjoy when someone responds and comes in peace or in pieces!

I always figured that preparing to go to the International Quilt Market and having a booth would be an enormous deal. It kind of is. I am really grateful that Joan and I went to spring market in Minneapolis this year. It gave me an idea what to expect. I never figured I would have a booth at the Houston market this year. But it is happening, and we are Booth # 2358! If you are going to market, please come and see me! My friend Joan is going with me, thank heavens, and also Holly, Sue and Sandra from What's Your Stitch N Stuff, here in Virginia Beach. They are all more business savvy than I am, and I am so glad to have their help! Friday Joan and I put together little shop kits of nine of my patterns, hoping that shops will buy one to take home and play with. Honestly, it is the great unknown to me. How many patterns to take, etc. Come and see  me! Tell your friends! Remember me in your prayers! Send good vibes!

I have to tell you that I have a really wonderful flyer and new business cards, both designed by Folk Artist, Karen Mowery. You probably visit Karen's blog and know of her great talent. She is such a good friend! She will show the flyer on her blog at some point. so keep watching. Meanwhile, I have appliqued a beautiful block for a quilt that she is designing. I wish I could show it to you, but it is her quilt to share and it may be a while before she is ready to do that. 

So much writing without a photo! What is wrong with me? Well let me share some darling engagement photos that were taken  by Chea Lamb Photography in Arizona, of my nephew and his fiance.

Honestly, their photographer took a ton of great photos! But of course I am focusing on the ones with quilts in them. Just thought I would share this cute idea! 

Onto the rest of this beautiful Sunday! Hope you have a lovely day as well!

Here's to Good Friends!

I really should go to bed, but what I want to do is watch TV and relax, but what I am gonna do is post something because it has been over ten days since I last posted. I know you must miss me, right? I feel like my butt is attached to the desk chair this week. I have been on the computer non-stop. So much to do! And more this week than others because I AM GOING TO MARKET IN HOUSTON AND I WILL HAVE A BOOTH! Yes! I finally got kicked good and hard (in the butt again) by Holly who owns the shop that I love here in Virginia Beach. She is going to work the booth with me, so how could I say no? My heart is aflutter, and I am hoping that is a good thing. Meanwhile, there are flyers to be made and patterns to be written. I spent yesterday printing oodles of patterns and today I stuffed envelopes. I am at a loss as to what to expect and how much to take. How do I display things when I am so far from home? Etc., etc. I am totally taking advantage of friends where ever I can. It is good to have friends!

 Now, on a totally unrelated subject, my cousin, also named Holly, just had her 50th birthday. To her it is a big deal, to me it is a walk down Memory Lane. Fifty was a great age, in retrospect, so enjoy it cuz, because it does not, or shall I say will not, get any better! Anyway, Holly has some wonderful friends that she has had since birth, I think, or at least since early childhood. They are all very talented stitchers and quilters. They made her the most amazing quilt for her birthday, and I want to share it with you. 

 I am seeing some really ugly fabrics that I adore!

Is there anything sweeter than sour colored fabric?

 True friends, indeed!

The detail in this quilt is wonderful!

 Beautifully designed--not sure by whom.

 Beautifully crafted by those named above.

Isn't it wonderful!

OK, now I guess I must go to bed with no TV. I feel like I am being sent to my room. But all is well!

STAR STRUCK

 

 This should catch your eye, it sure caught mine! 

My friend, Joan and I were at Market in Minneapolis last week and we had an absolute blast! To say we were star struck is an understatement! Once we found Lori Smith's booth, above, I realized that this must be what heaven looks like--for me at least! Lori is so sweet and so genuine, and as you can see, more than a little prolific in her quiltmaking. I do not know how she does it!

Joan could not wipe that grin off her face when we came to Robyn Pandolph's beautiful booth. I think Joan has every fabric Robyn ever designed. And just look how Joan's outfit blends in with Robyn's fabrics. How sweet is that!

And we had the pleasure of meeting the Wool Crazy lady, Jo Ann Mullaly. I told her I was following the round robin that she is doing with Brenda at the Pumpkin Patch. You should check it out--really adorable project! I promised myself I would not get caught in the wool crazy world, but alas, I fear it is too late. Joan and I each came home with Jo Ann's book and more wool!

At lunch I had the pleasure of sitting next to Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl fame! In the photo she is holding one of her wonderful bags that she designs. She has an amazing business and was so nice about sharing tips and information with us. Lunch on the first day was one of the best things! We sat at a big round table and met a few shop owners with whom we traded cards. One couple came from Norway! Any of you Norway bloggers know Kaktus Quilts ?

We ran into the girls from What's Your Stitch n Stuff over and over again! Sandra and Sue! It was so fun to see familiar faces! We are standing at the Marcus Fabrics booth here.

I have more to add, but I think I will just let this settle for a while. I came home so excited to create! Now I must go do it!

INCA GOLD

Here is the unveiling of Inca Gold. I have been showing teasers for a while, and here is the whole enchilada, so to speak. My quilter on this was Rosemary Skinner, a local Virginia Beach gal who did a fabulous job quilting this for me! The photos should open up when you click on them to give you a better view of her quilting. I LOVE what she did!  

  

 

I love designing and creating quilts, but darn it all, those long arm quilters really bring the whole thing to life, don't they? My hats off to all you quilting artists out there and special thanks to Rose on her beautiful work!

This quilt will be going to What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, the LQS here, to be on display for the Shop Hop that starts next week. Also next week is The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, just across the bridge from here. If you are passing thru town be sure and stop at the shop and tell them that I sent you! They will treat you right over there, I promise! It is a GREAT shop! Plus, they carry a complete line of Patchalot Patterns! Whooo hoo!

JUST FLYING BY

The weekend is once again slapping us in the face. "Wake up", it says, "your life is flying by"! At least that is how I feel. At least I can say I got some things done this past week. For those that are interested in my newest little pattern, Feathered Friends, it is available on my website and you can click on the little picture of it on my side bar to take you there. Thank you for giving me such positive feedback on this little cutie!

 

I am frantically working on another larger quilt that I want to have ready for the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, by Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest in February. It is going to be awesome! The little blocks I showed in my last post have grown into bigger blocks, as shown above.

 

And I have border strips completed and ready to be added very soon. I love designing quilts and creating them, then writing the directions isn't even that bad any more, but the whole thing is such a long process! I keep wondering how the "big girls" do it all so seamlessly?

Have a great weekend everyone!

SUMMER SUCCESS STORIES

Summer has come and gone, but for once I can say that I actually got a few things done. The photo above shows my version of the little Orange Peel quilt that I made from Kathleen Tracy's book, Remembering Adelia. It was a delight to make and it gave me an opportunity to display some of my Civil War fabrics that I love so much. I even used a few 5 inch charm squares because they were so easy to find and use. I got two little segments from each square. It added a few samples of fabrics that I only had in those charm packs. As I dug through my fabric I found this Thimbleberries fabric from years ago that was just the perfect color for the border, and the corner squares are from an old Smithsonian print that I have also had for many years. I love this little quilt, and it was made even more special by Mary Flynn at Quilt Hollow who quilted it for me. She did a lovely job and I certainly recommend her if you are looking for a quilter. Mary also quilted my red, white, and blue Prairie Paisley quilt for my grandson. It is in the collage below, and guess what---McCall's Quilting is going to publish it in their Quick Quilts magazine, July 2010 issue! I thought I was really organized to have gotten the quilt completed for a baby that is not coming until December. Now the dear child will have to wait for his quilt for a while. But I made it plenty big and he won't know the difference, and I am psyched!

The collage above shows the several things that I have completed this summer. Along with my little Orange Peel, I have completed five full size UFOs this summer to the point where they are quilted, bound, labeled and delivered to new homes. Also I designed and completed two Honor Guard quilts with the four eagles; the red, white and blue American Dreamer quilt; and two Christmas Punch quilts. I feel good!

As always, more awaits me, including the directions for the Christmas Punch quilt, which I will try to complete this week. Our LQS What's Your Stitch N Stuff had Open House this past Saturday and that was very nice. Lots of browsers looking for classes to sign up for, and lots of classes to choose from, including mine. I will be teaching Indian Paintbrush again, and then Christmas Punch in November. If you are looking for a cute little Christmas quilt to teach you might consider Christmas Punch. It is fun to make and the pattern will be free! (And you can intoduce my patterns to your quilt shop owner!) Also keep in mind that there are other free patterns at my website, PatchalotPatterns.com Also, if you have trouble on my website with overlaying words or links that don't seem to work, re-open the site in Internet Explorer. For some reason the site has issues with other internet browsers. I try, I really do. I wish these various browsers would play nice.

Today is Monday and Friday will be here in a flash! Enjoy your week everyone!

FINGERS FIDDLING WITH FLOSS

Yes, my fingers have been fiddling with floss of late! I showed the above photo last summer when in was in progress. I finished it to this point a while back and still haven't framed it. The pattern is buried somewhere, so I can't even tell you who the designer is. But someone out there is bound to know, so if you do, please leave a comment so I can post it. I like to give credit just as much as I like to receive credit! LOL! Now if I would get my sewing room cleaned up surely the pattern would surface and I could put it in its proper pattern place.

*** Jeanette commented and said the pattern is from Threads That Bind. Thanks Jeanette!

I haven't done cross stitch in a really long time, but I do love samplers, and when the Blackbird Design ladies posted this free pattern on their website a while back I copied it. I finally got it started before Christmas and finished it last night while watching The Big Country on the western channel on TV. (Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, both so young and handsome!)

Sorry, I don't think this pattern is still on the web site. They have other wonderful cross-stitch patterns though. Often they are much like their quilt designs. Barb and Alma, my hat (if I had one) is off to you! They are both so amazing! This project, by the way, was supposed to be done on a much smaller thread count. But 14 count is about all I can handle, and it is still a nice size.

Have you noticed in the upper corner of my blog I put a corner of this quilt? It is a scrappy version of my Williamsburg Medallion pattern. I had it hanging here at home for a while and decided that little wool birds would look very nice in those four spots around the star. So I stitched them on, and I love them! The quilt is now back at the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, where they are kitting it up, including wool for the birds. I know, I need to get a better photo. This one was taken on the fly!

I want to give a very big THANK YOU to all of you who commented on my last post with such lovely things to say. I hope you all know that I was kidding around, as is my tendency, about being at the top of the blog list. Thank you especially to Dawn at Quilts and Pieces, who sees right through me. Ha! Isn't blogging a blast?

BLAME IT ON THE BLOGANOVA

I am, no doubt, the last person on earth without a calendar for 2009. For some reason it never occurs to me in December that a new year is fast approaching and hence, a new calendar will be necessary. This year is no different. Post-it notes adorn the wall above my computer, but my eyes are constantly retuning to the 2008 calendar which still resides there as well. Tomorrow I MUST get out and find a calendar. 2009 will not wait for me---it is moving on!

By nature I am not a very competitive person. But something is occurring in Blogland that is really needling me. Some of you have bloglists posted on your side bars that update as soon as someone posts on their blog? Some even show the newest photo posted. (See Colleen's blog Crazy for Primitive Quilts and Gardens I am happy to be listed on some of these, but it irritates me when I am at the bottom of the list! The only way I can get to the top of the list is to post something new. And for those that may show a photo, I am now very conscientiously trying to find a photo that will attract attention. I even posted the above photo because I thought it would show better that the one below! What is happening to me? Whatever this illness is that has seduced me into blogging has taken a turn and I am going under--down, down, down, and who knows where it will lead? I have never been a ME FIRST person! I know this is a game I cannot win. I am driving myself nuts! Blame it on the Bloganova!

Last Saturday was Open House at the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff. The open house gives people an opportunity to come in and meet the teachers and see what the new classes are. The shop was mobbed! There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm. New people mingling with regulars, and hopefully everyone found at least one class they want to take. I have one little project listed, but it is a cutie! It is the one pictured at the top of the page.

P.S. If you hurry to Colleen's blog I will be at the top of the Blog list!!!