Two much fun!

After completing the big queen size Celebration Stars, shown in my last post, I hopped to and began making scrappy baby quilts. I don't make the traditional cute and cuddly teddy bears and lambs. I make baby quilts like I make everything else, scrappy and happy. That is my style, so deal. I may have mentioned that my granddaughter, Becky, is pregnant with, not one, but two babies! Both boys, and yes, identical twins. She is thru the moon with happiness and I am grateful that she is young and healthy! So here are portions of the quilts I am creating for this double bundle of joy. Becky, if you are reading this close your eyes NOW!

 So far the center measures 30 inches. There is more to come. Such a little boy quilt, don't you think?

 

Here is number two baby quilt, again 30 inches in the center. Both will have pieced borders. I am having such fun with these little quilts! You may notice a few fabrics from my Celebration Stars in these quilts. Well, the fabric was sitting right there saying "me-me-me"! It is hard to say no to fabric. The other sweet thing about making these quilts is that I have my boxes of pre-cut scraps standing by waiting for the chance to go on stage. In this case I used pre-cut two inch squares. I stayed with the same blue in both quilts for uniformity, and the same light background gives the scraps a chance to sparkle. 

OK Becky, you can open your eyes now. (I sure hope she like them!)

Stitchin' Time

The most difficult thing about pattern  making for me is getting a good photo of my quilt for the pattern cover. Seriously, it is a pain! I have spent the evening uploading photos and nothing is coming together for me. DPI? What the heck is that? I have Photoshop, an inexpensive version, and I am constantly struggling with how to use it. This is definitely not my area of expertise. Give me a pile of scraps and watch me go! I can even write pattern directions! I just have a big problem when it comes to the covers. I would love to have someone else take over the production of the pattern covers. OK, enough whining.

 This one actually came out pretty good. I just got  it back from the printers and feel good about it. I still have to put it on my website, but for those of you who were interested in this pattern, it is now ready!

Here is what became of all the stars in the previous post.I made this one big enough for a queen size bed so I can sleep with it someday! The fabric line is Civil War Chronicles, from Marcus Fabrics. I LOVE the line! And Pati at Marcus Fabrics very generously sent it to me to play with. I loved making all those stars. They were so much fun! And I really think the sawtooth border gives it a great finish. I love pieced borders! I also love RED. Can you tell? I am naming this one Celebration Stars to honor Marcus Brothers Fabrics as they celebrate their 100th birthday!!! I for one am really glad they are still here to keep providing us with great fabric! And it just keeps getting better and better!

Celebration Stars

I don't always post this often, but since I have a few things to show, and I thought I would do it before I am knee deep again.I showed a few stars a couple posts back that I am making with Marcus Fabrics. They are mostly from the Civil War Chronicles line, by Judie Rothermel. I began assembling block units before I actually assembled the stars because I had to order additional red for the corners, as I wanted them all to be the same. Doesn't that look nice and neat? One would draw the conclusion that I am very organized in my sewing room. Don't assume. It became necessary in this case, which I guess means I am capable of organization, but it just doesn't happen all that often!

That box of block units turned into this. It  is pretty set like that, don't you think? But I have other plans, and they are almost completed. Come back next time to see the completed top!

Your local quilt shop may carry this line, and you can find some of these fabrics at Sew Unique Creations. Check it out! Tara carries all my favorites!

Catch you later!

Catch Me Too!

I have really enjoyed seeing all these blocks pop up around blogland. I had to hurry and catch up! So here is mine. Catch Me if You Can!

I am so excited that Barbara Brackman is offering this sew-a-long. If you are unaware, please note that she has created a new blog to devote to this, and will share directions for a new block each Saturday.  Both of these are great blogs! I'm a fan!

To simplify:

Barbara Brackman's current blog, Material Culture

Barbara's post explaining her new blog

Her new blog Civil War Quilts

What I Read Last Year

In 2010 I decided to write down each book as I read it so I could keep a record. As you can see, I have some favorite authors whose books I read whenever I find a new one, or one that is old that I haven't read. Harlan Coben is a favorite and so is Lisa Scottoline. They both write good mysteries and each has an enjoyable sense of humor, which goes a long way when fictitious people are getting murdered. Michael Connelly also writes good mysteries with interesting characters. Maeve Binchey and Jacqueline Winspear are wonderful, with characters and places that you really warm up to. I highly recommend them both.

 I also really enjoy historical fiction and this year I have had some really good books recommended, or loaned to me, and I would also recommend these to you. I "bolded" the best ones in the list below. I am not sure they all fall under historical fiction, but they were out of the ordinary and very good!

• New York by Edward Rutherford
• 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly
• The Other Side of the Sky -Farah Ahmedi
• The Reversal-Michael Connelly
• Sarah's Key-Tatiana de Rosnay
• Play Dead-Harlen Coben
• The Burning Wire-Jeffery Deaver
• Bad Things Happen-Harry Dolan
• Mistaken Identity-Lisa Scottoline
• I Capture the Castle-Dodie Smith
• 1000 White Women-Jim Fergus
• Daddy's Girl-Lisa Scottoline
• Among the Mad-J. Winspear
• The Faithful Spy-Alex Berenson
• What Matters Most-Luanne Rice
• An Incomplete Revenge-J. Winspear
• The Forgotten Garden-Kate Morton
• The Scarecrow-Michael Connelly
• Heart and Soul-Maeve Binchy
• Caught-Harlan Coben
• The Second Opinion-Michael Palmer
• The First Family-David Baldacci
• Suite Francaise-Irene Nemirovsky
• Messenger of Truth-Jacqueline Winspear
• The Boleyn Inheritance-Philippa Gregory
• True Blue-David Baldacci
• The Help-Kathryn Stockett
• The Lincoln Lawyer-Michael Connelly
• Bone By Bone-Carole O'Connell
• Water for Elepants-Sara Gruen
• Shanghai Girls-Lisa See
• The Lost Symbol-Dan Brown
• Pursuit of Honor-Vince Flynn

I am currently reading Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. It is a gripping story about a young girl captured and taken on a slave ship to America. It is very well written and extremely interesting, not to mention heartbreaking and touching. If you are looking for a good book, don't miss this  one!

So what have you been reading and what recommendations do you have to share?

And Another Thing...

Please allow me to share with you the adorable little quilt that Karen Mowery, Sew Primitive, made for me! I can't tell you how much this woman's talent continues to amaze me! I about fainted dead away when I saw the darling sketch she created for the center of this quilt. She drew it on antique muslin, so it is spotty looking in places and looks so old.

I hung this little treasure in my bedroom right below my sampler, so they can look old together. I am going to name the quilt "Mary" after my granddaughter who, at three years old was a flower girl in her aunt's wedding.  When she told people the story of her aunt's wedding she always told them that she was the "flower peddler". I love that!

Karen has a line of delightfully unique patterns. She sent me her two newest. Check out her blog and find the link for her website and I am sure you will find better pictures than these! Plus, you have to see her sketch of her family: Her son the Marine, Karen, and two felines. Darn cute!

My Lucky Stars!

I saw so many pretty Christmas scenes as I cruised around Blogland the past week. I hope your Christmas, or Hanuka for 2010 was a joyous one! Ours was sweet and quiet. We usually travel to see our kids but this year we stayed home, and altho we missed being with family, we didn't miss the airport scene one bit. And then the storm hit the east coast! Even here in Virginia Beach we got snowed in!  This is the view out on our covered deck. 

 Aside from the usual holiday cooking, I have gotten some stitching done as well. I created a little sampler design to go into the center of the ABC Sampler Doll Quilt. So now the pattern will provide directions for a cross-stitched center, or an optional focus fabric center. Pattern coming soon!

And I am stitching up these crazy stars as well. Marcus Fabrics was kind enough to leave a big box of fabric on my doorstep and I have been seeing stars ever since! You may remember that in January I said that 2010 would be my lucky year, and indeed it has been! What a sweet culmination! Nothing like being snowed in with a box of Marcus fabric, EQ7 and my trusty Bernina!  

This is where I thank my lucky stars! 

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful New Year!

FROLICKING

OK, I have to admit I frolicked yesterday. I am usually not much of a frolicker, but yesterday I had the pleasure of getting together with my two good friends here in Virginia Beach for our annual Christmas lunch and gift exchange. We all lead such busy lives and complained that we don't get together often enough.This may be the last good picture we have of us together--2009! Notice I said good. Haha!

We lunched on sandwiches from Panera's, which I picked up on my way to Joan's house. Joan has her house all decorated for Christmas, and it looked lovely. Now let me share the darling gifts I received from my dear friends.

Joan loves to work with wool, and she stitched up one of these darling table mats for each of us. It is so precious, I love it! The design came from Lisa Bongean at Primitive Gatherings. Lisa actually came to our booth at market. It was quite thrilling! She even bought stuff! Naturally we went to her booth as well. It is always a thrill to see the actual designer peddling her wares! (However, Lisa was out gallivanting and we saw her husband Nick instead.)

Joan found this cute little tin for us, and I never run out of objects to put inside little tins. Maybe HSTs?

This darling little tree was made by Sue's husband and then she decorated it with tiny cross-stitch ornaments. Isn't it the sweetest thing? And thanks to Sue I now have a Christmas tree up and decorated!

Sue also made these darling little angels with the sweetest faces. They are fabric fused to felt and the face is drawn on. Sue did a beautiful job with that. Isn't it wonderful to have friends who know just what you like? I always remember one Christmas morning, one of my kids opened a gift and was so thrilled, they said, "Wow! I didn't even know I wanted this!"  That's how I feel after our little exchange.

Did you see the lovely post that Mary at Quilt Hollow wrote about me? What a sweetheart! It is like my own little magazine spread! Scroll down a bit to see it as Mary writes often. Mary is a long-arm quilter and does really lovely work, in fact she quilted one of mine that was published in McCall's. Oddly, the photo she used in her post was taken at the same time as the one above, at the Olde Green Cupboard booth-Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival! It was such a magical time! Haha! Thanks Mary, for such a lovely review!

After my last post I got comments from  many of you who shared my feelings regarding a lack of enthusiasm for Christmas. Well, not really Christmas, but what Christmas has become, and what has been commercially created. It is like we have to rescue the real Christmas! Mary at Quilt Hollow shared the nicest video that really touched my heart. I put it in the following post--just below this one!

Christmas Blessing to everyone!

Where's the Line to See Jesus

 Mary Flynn from Quilt Hollow shared this video with me and I hope you like it too!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends out there!

Here it Comes Again!

Would somebody jab me with a candy cane! Here is is the season of Joy and Goodwill, and I am not in the mood. Let's just say that I am having trouble finding the Christmas Spirit. What does this say about me, as a person? Now the guilt comes for not wanting to dive into all the frolicking. Sigh.

Here is the thing: I just want to stay in my sewing room all day and make quilts. Big quilts, little quilts, I don't care. The truth is I am full of Joy and Goodwill all year long! I love my family, I love my friends, and I love doing for others. What I don't love is shopping at any time of year. My husband will tell you that he has to beg me to go to the grocery store! Currently we only have two grandchildren small enough that we can buy them presents. The rest are teenagers (and Becky), and my holiday spirit goes like this, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas, here is your check!" I do love them all tho, and I think the check makes them happier than me trying to buy them clothes or just the right music CD. Perish the thought!

 Probably what this says about me is that I get excited about different things than I did in the past. For example, I made a little doll quilt and I love it so much that I want to fly through hoops in the sky! Does that sound a little extreme? Well, quilters, and other people who love their work, know just what I am feeling. Call it a "break-through", call it a "runner's high", call it the "Christmas Spirit"! Haha! We all know that different people enjoy different things.  This thing is definitely me!

Meet my newest doll quilt, Lil' Smokey. I take a bit of pride in the fact that I have never named a quilt after food. It is a challenge sometimes, but I have resisted! So no, this quilt is not named after little sausages! Rather, I tried to incorporate smokey colors. Of course some sparks had to be added as well. I like the contrast. I hope you do too! Something that I really enjoy about making scrap quilts is mixing new fabric with old, and combining fabric from different designers and manufactures. It is like cross pollinating! I love the result! Wouldn't it look fitting lying on a humble manger.

So Christmas comes and Christmas goes. It seems like it always comes sooner than I want it to, but once Christmas actually rolls around, and the REAL Spirit of Christmas engulfs our home, I hate to see it leave. We all know that the Grinch was right when he finally admitted that "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store". So maybe there is still time for Patchville to be touched by the magic of it all!

Fusion-It's Not Just Nuclear Anymore

Seems like I have been hearing the word fusion in regard to a lot of things lately. Fusion of color, fusion of music, even a car has been named the Ford Fusion.  It has left me a little baffled. I turned to the internet and googled fusion. Listed was everything from fusion beads, fusion ink, and fusion hair extensions. When I was a kid I am pretty sure there was only one kind of fusion. Only one that I remember anyway. I clicked on good old Wikipedia, which can give you the answer to just about everything. Just as I suspected, Wikipedia went straight to nuclear fusion, and describes it as the process in which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy. Hey, I could use some of that! Energy, that is. 


Today I sat down to the computer and looked for the foot pedal. I immediately thought, fusion. My two most oft attended occupations are trying to fuse into one. I wasn't too concerned, I was able to open the computer and type without the use of the foot pedal. In fact, I even felt kind of cool that I could use the word fusion in this modern way. It wasn't until later that I wondered if fusion is the root for another word, "confusion". 


Nah, that is just plain silly. Plus, I like the idea of my interests fusing together. You know, like EQ!

Bursting with Blessings

I have been sewing! Yes, it is true! One thing I made recently is this little doll quilt. I love it just the way it is, but kind friends have told me that I should actually have a little stitched sampler in the center. Well, OK, so now I need to work that up after Thanksgiving. But in the meantime, here is a peek at my little doll quilt--not yet quilted, as you can see.

 On other news, my pregnant granddaughter, who I pictured in a post recently, is having twins! Twin boys, in fact! We have never had twins in our family, so we are all aflutter over this. Let's just say that Becky is bursting at the seams with this exciting news! 

I have been sewing like a mad woman this past week and have a terrific quilt as a result. I am not sure how soon I can show it off, but I am very excited! For one thing, it is totally scrappy. Does that sound like anyone you know? Above is a block from the quilt. I made a ton of these! More later on that!

Thanksgiving is once again upon us, so today, like most women in America, I am cooking! I am presently working on cinnamon rolls. They are rising on the counter in the kitchen. I think I can manage the rest of the meal tomorrow, but it is nice to get a start on the rolls. Two of my kids have already called for recipes, so food is on their mind as well. If they lived closer recipes wouldn't be crossing their minds, they would just come here. But alas, they are spread across the county, as I have lamented in the past. Nevertheless, blessings abound, and I am grateful to have a big wonderful family, even tho they are not nearby. The internet certainly contributes to keeping us close. Last Sunday I watched one year old Isaac climb all over the furniture as we visited on Skype. Every so often he would stop and wave to me. What a joy! 

Good wishes go out to you as well, where ever you may be. Enjoy the season and count your blessings. They are everywhere!

Market Neighbors

 You have probably seen lot of blogs showing booths at Houston Market that include lots of famous quilters, I have enjoyed those as well. And I have to tell you, I didn't get around market as much as I would have like, so it has been fun seeing pictures that are published on other blogs. Being newbies, we were out in the boonies. We had fun getting to know our neighbors and I thought you might like to meet them as well. 

 Let me tell you about this groovy couple. This is Paul and Janna Thomas of Block-Loc. Paul saw all my quilts with half-square triangles in them (you know I love HSTs!) and he told us to come and look at their rulers. Well we didn't get over to their booth soon enough so he came to ours and gave us a demo. Joan and I both fell for him with his cute Australian accent and flirty personality. Then we met Janna, his wife, and we liked her even better. What a neat couple they are. So back to the rulers. These rulers are square and have a groove going diagonally across the back. You lay the ruler on a half-square triangle and the groove nestles right into the seam line and holds the ruler so it doesn't wiggle and then you can square it up! If you make lots of HSTs, like I do, you are always squaring them up to the exact size needed. This ruler is so awesome. Other rulers have a tendency to rock a little on the seam, and the ruler may slide out of place, but the Block-Loc ruler holds it right where you want it while you trim. Joan and I ordered a couple sets of these and sent everyone we knew to their booth! I also ordered the rulers for squaring up flying geese. I will be promoting these all over the place. They are traveling to lots of quilts shows, so be sure to look for them! And tell them I sent you!

 Michelle Civetti, on the right, put lots of work into preparing for market. She had lots of great kits for darling die cut wool projects. Her friend Barb was there to help with the customers. We enjoyed visiting with them. Check out her website, Grab'N Go Kits, to see some of her darling kits. A few are shown below.

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 This is Debi Weinert, from My Own Fringemanker. Let me tell you this girl can make fringe! And pom poms! Her booth was full of all kinds of things that she figured needed fringe. She and her husband invented this little gizmo that you can wind with funky yarns or just plain string and with a little sewing it magically becomes fringe. She was a busy girl at her booth. In fact, people walked right up to her booth and never turned around to look at mine. I thought about being insulted, but let's face it, people interested in fringe are probably not interested in my lil' old homespun projects anyway.

 

 This picture is of Melinda and my Turkey in the Straw quilt. Melinda was there helping Debi and we got to talking. Turns out she has an on line fabric store called Melinda's Fabric Shop. I was very pleased to meet her as I had ordered the Turkey red in this quilt from her shop! That was kind of exciting for both of us! If you haven't visited Melinda's Fabric Shop you really should. Her prices are great! Plus, she is a very nice lady!

This is my friend Mary Brandt who happens to be my son-in-laws mother, which makes her my grandchildren's other grandmother! She is a quiltermaker and a longarm quilter. She goes to market to work in the Cedar Canyon Textiles booth. They are the ones with the Paintstix.  She has made some lovely quilts using this product. We meet  in the strangest places!

 This is my friend Karen Bennett from Salt Lake City. We met at Spring Market in Minneapolis when I spotted her daughter, whose name is Monica Patch, and happens to be married to my husband's cousin. Joan and I really like Karen. She shared lots of good advice with me about market. Karen and Monica are the owners and designers behind Nellie's Needle. They have darling patterns. Check out their booth in the photo below.

OVERWEIGHT is not a term any of us like to hear, but that is exactly what the guy told us at the airlines counter! Joan was not happy when he told her it would be an additional $95! They had conveniently placed a luggage scale away from the line of people so we could go re-arrange our belongings. We ended up with three bags that weighed exactly 50 pounds each, plus very heavy carry-ons! I casually left my booth curtains on the floor at the airport. Too heavy and not worth it.

 I know this is a long post. I feel like I have been writing for hours and you feel like you have been reading this for hours, if you actually made it this far. And so I bid you adieu until another day!

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!

Adventures at Quilt Market

 Just got home from Houston last night. The whole trip went so fast! We had a wonderful time, and I have to admit,I don't have as many photos as I would like. I didn't wander around market to see other booths as much as I would have liked either. But all in all, it was great fun, we met some great people and made some great connections. We sold patterns and took orders, and I feel totally exhilarated!

 Here is part of one wall of my booth. My Homeport pattern,  in the upper left, was popular yet again! It  is the first pattern that I packaged for sale several years ago, and it is always a winner! I also took Williamsberg Medallion, even tho that focus fabric is long gone. Honor Guard and Cotillion are on the bottom.   

 Here is Joan in another corner of the booth. What a great friend she is! She worked so hard setting things up, working the booth and then taking it all down with me. I couldn't have even attempted this without her support. My Happy Place attracted lots of attention and we sold out of the pattern!

 

Look at this cute picture of Pat Wys from the Silver Thimble! I met her for the first time here at market. One of her quilts was in the same McCall's Quilting magazine as mine. You can see part of her Christmas quilt behind us. It is such an adorable pattern! Check out her block by clicking the link to see more of her booth.  And speaking of McCall's, I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy Hannah and Sherrie Driver, who both work at that magazine and with whom I have emailed several times regarding publication of my quilts, etc. So great to meet them both, and I could kick myself for not taking pictures. I just was not normal at market, whatever normal is.

Tara Lynn Darr came to visit me on the last day of market and brought us Halloween treat bags! She is so adorable and such a sweetheart! I met her at Spring Market and visit her blog and her online shop, Sew Unique Creations! Check it out! Tara didn't have a booth at market, but was going to set up for Quilt Festival, which is right after market, and is a retail show. We got to see the quilts that are set up for display and they are sensational!!! Maybe next time we will do Quilt Festival as well. Did I really just say that? Oh my gosh, we are so exhausted! I can hardly walk today!

All in all, I am happy to report that it was a wonderful experience! I was treated very well and had some awesome people buying in my booth. My first booth at market was a big success in my book. I came home all excited to finish some of my newer projects and the inspiration for others is bubbling over in my brain!