Itchin' and Stitchin'

I thought it was a spider bite, but I was wrong. My husband was afraid it was a flesh eating disease. Thankfully he was wrong too! It seems that I just tangled with plain old poison ivy or oak. It happened a week ago and I am still quite miserable. We have never had it in our yard before that I know of, so it blindsided me. I just reached for it and pulled as I was pulling up other little trees that regularly sprout in our yard. This one, however, fought back!  When it began to spread it took a violent turn. Both arms are covered, some on both legs and on my waist. I went to the doctor on Monday and she gave me some prednisone, which may be helping. I bought something called Ivarest, which has been helpful in controlling the itch somewhat, and it's helping the welts dry out. The skin that is healing looks burned and dried.

Now for the happy stuff! I began making the Cheri Payne Everyday Patchwork blocks and finished them all before I came back to Virginia. I love them! The directions are still on her blog. Scroll back to May 2015. She also has a darling little patriotic quilt on her blog now with the directions. 

The other project I was pushing to finish is a Jan Patek design called Homespun Hearth. Altho the book is on Jan's website, it is still out of stock. Finally Karen- Log Cabin Quilter, offered me her book and so I got busy. 

I have a tendency to change things and so my version is quite different from Jan's. I am pretty happy with it! 

 I like to fill spaces and decided that mine needed a dragonfly and a bird on the chimney, etc.

Another little project that I really got excited about was another Cheri Payne design. Again, mine got changed a bit. That seems to happen as I work and use different techniques, don't follow directions, or whatever. 

So you can see that I have been keeping busy the past few months. You can just think of me stichin' and itchin'!!

Splendor in the Scraps

I am excited to finally be able to reveal one of my very favorite quilts! Splendor in the Scraps! It is featured in McCalls America Loves Scrap Quilts, due out December 23. I'm giving you a heads up so you can keep an eye out for it. Here is the cover:

Look for this magazine where you normally pick up your magazines, or you can follow this LINK if you want to order online. This is a news stand issue, so it won't come with your subscription.

This is a quilt I kept coming back to because as it grew I loved it more and more and every time I worked on it I wanted it to be bigger. Finally McCall's asked if I would please finish it so they could publish it, so it got finished at 76.5" x 84.5". With a design like this you can make it as big or as little as you choose. If you are a scrapper like I am, you love working with as many fabrics as you can. There is just something about all your fabrics playing together that gives such a great look. To further enhance the beauty of the scraps I used one tan fabric with scrappy corners for the square in a square block that is consistent throughout the quilt. I also used the same light fabric for the corners of the colored square in a square block. For me, this brings a calming influence.

Thanks so much to the folks at McCall's Quilting for publishing another of my quilts. They always do such a great job! 

A blanket of snow = Snow Quilts

As I look at these magnificent images of quilts in the snow I have to admit that making them from fabric is a lot more forgiving. So I have to pick out a few stitches once in a while. What does this guy do when he goofs? Wait for a blizzard to cover his mistakes?

 Snowshoe artist, Simon Beck creates these masterpieces while tramping over frozen lakes in Savoie, France. Each design covers the area of about three football fields. That is a lot of tramping. You can see more of Simon's designs HERE! I just wanted to share this beauty and add another page to the ever evolving art of quiltmaking. Amazing! 

Well, I had my surgery a week ago today. I am still feeling a little groggy and taking naps, etc. My throat is still swollen and looks gross and my voice is still low and gravely. Hoping for improvement! Actually, I do feel a little better each day. Catching up on TV and actually I get a little sewing in each day. I almost have all the blocks done for one of my big UFOs pictured below. More later on that.

  Now it's back to the couch.

 

Scrap Quilts Magazine

I am very excited to announce that one of my quilts was selected for the cover of the Fons and Porter bookazine about Scrap Quilts!  

Quite a while ago they emailed me and asked if I had anything to contribute to the magazine and I said, as a matter of fact, I do! So I submitted a photo and they wrote back to say that the editors wanted to use it in an upcoming special edition about scrap quilts. Well, you know me and scrap quilts, we are like bears and honey, or cookies and milk, or flags on the 4th of July! I was pretty pleased! Then recently they told me that my quilt would be on the cover of the magazine! Woohoo! I have had a few quilts in magazines, but this is my first cover. So excuse me if I gush all over the place. I hope you will look for a copy!

In other news about me, Cheryl at Polkadots and Rick Rack is involved in Christmas Through the Year and posted a link to my website and the free Christmas patterns that I have listed there. Maybe you will see something that interests you. Christmas is just around the corner...again! Seems like it is always just around the corner! Thanks to Cheryl for thinking of me and my designs.

Old Soul

Where have I been? Still in Arizona, if you can believe it. I have a house here in Mesa that I mentioned months ago, and we are very slowly, as money permits, trying to restore it to livable condition. It all takes time, but hopefully we will enjoy it when it is finished. Meanwhile my wonderful daughter-in-law provides me with a room and I occasionally cook something for dinner. Not well known for my culinary skills.

But that all is minor news compared to this!  I have a quilt appearing in the Spring issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects! Yes, it's true! First off, let me say what an exciting new magazine this is. They have only been publishing for one year and their issues have been filled with top notch designers that we all admire, including, but not limited to, Lynda Hall, Cheri Payne, Gloria Parsons, Lisa Bongean and now ME!

 Here is my quilt, OLD SOUL. I have to say that this is one of the most fun quilts I have ever made. I began it while at my daughter's house and so I dug into her scraps, most of which were my old scraps. Then I came home and added some of my newer scraps. So it is really a mish mash of fabric all tied together with a Jan Patek fabric that I used for the alternate plain squares. But wait, I ran out of that fabric and had to use an additional fabric in a few squares, so all the plain squares don't match. I seriously felt like a pioneer woman, tho I doubt they had this much fun. To top it off, my quilt was beautifully quilted by Rosemary Skinner of Virginia Beach, VA. 

If you don't already have a subscription, jump onto the Primitive Quilts and Projects site and get one now! They have offered to give you a free pattern if you subscribe for a year, and two free patterns if you subscribe for two years. Just mention my name, Marcie Patch. There is a comment box when you subscribe. You might also mention that you want to see lots more of my quilts in the future. Just a thought.

Kits will be available from the Fat Quarters Quilt Shop in Vista, CA.  Phone:760-758-8308. They also have kits for OLD ELEGANCE--photo on side bar. Check out their website after you order your subscription!

Fantasy Fabric

I have been very single minded this past week and worked as tho I had blinders on to nothing else but quiltmaking. I had so much fun making those scrappy stars for the baby quilts that I decided to keep making them. I enlarged the stars from 6 inches to 8 inches. 

Then I switched the snowball blocks to cheddar. Ooooowee! That is one bright quilt! When you walk past my sewing room there is a glow emanating from the room! And the lights are off! What an electricity saver! Hey, maybe that was the whole point of cheddar! Orange has never been a favorite color of mine, but call it cheddar and I am all over it!
Another fun thing about this quilt is that I have been able to use some of those five inch squares that I have been saving. This is the perfect project as you can quarter them into 2-1/2" squares and use them to make the flying geese star points, and also the snowball corners. It enabled me to get a wide variety of fabrics with out pulling out yardage. Oh yes, I did use my box of saved 2-1/2" squares and 2-1/2" strips as well. It is very efficient to have a scrap-saver system of some sort.

 Meanwhile, my friend Joan has coined a phrase regarding all that fabric we have sitting on our shelves. She calls it "fantasy fabric". It is the fabric we love and can't get rid of because we might want to use it someday! Whatever we may call it, a stash, a collection or fantasy fabric, it is our treasure and we love it!

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!)

FLYING INTO THE WESTERN SUN

Joy and sorrow have taken their measure this week. First our sorrow at the passing of my husband's 51 year old sister, Liz Armbruster, of Simpsonville, SC. It was a shock to all of us. She suffered a brain aneurysm and quickly left us. She and her husband had six children, two are seniors in high school, two in college, two working and not living at home. We are suffering from the shock of it, as she seemed to be in perfect health. You just never know, and that is the truth. I won't dwell on this, as you don't know her, but there is no shortage of reminders to cherish each day and love those around you. When this type of shock comes into my life I am like a mother hen and I want to gather my chicks around me, for their sake or my own I do not know.

Now for our regularly scheduled program before I share the good news.
Saturday night I took a class for this quilt, Western Sun. I signed up for it three weeks ago, and at the time I thought, "what are you thinking?" (Do you ever think, "what are you thinking?"?) The class was from 6:00 to midnight. I figured I would leave early, but wouldn't you know it, there was a magnetic pull to my sewing machine, perhaps brought on by the Western Sun as it dropped out of sight. I stayed till midnight and really enjoyed working of this project, as well as visiting with everyone.

I first saw this design in Barbara Brackman's book, Butternut and Blue. I loved it! I always hoped to make it one day. That is why, when it was offered as a class, I jumped at the chance. Well I ask you, could you have resisted?
Above is our delightful teacher, Sue Troyan. Sue teaches lots of different classes and is always a hit. She works magic with reproduction fabrics, and this quilt surely demonstrates that. Sue also has unlimited skills and techniques up her sleeve and energetically shares them in class.

So now you see I have succumbed once again to diving into another project. If you ask how many I have in the works I could not honestly tell you. But this one I could not resist, and if I could I would sew madly on it for a couple weeks, BUT, I have other news!

My darling granddaughter Becky, (remember Becky who stayed with us last summer?) is getting married Saturday, October 10, in the L.D.S. Mt. Timpanogos Temple in
American Fork, Utah. I am leaving tomorrow, flying into the Western Sun, for Utah! We are all in a tizzy getting everything lined up for the big event.

So I am ending this post on a happy note. We live, we love and hopefully we find happiness and share it with those we encounter along the way. I will be back in a week or so with photos!

MY LOVELY PADDED CELL

Today I come to you from the confines of my padded cell. Some of you refer to your sewing space as "the sweat shop", or "the studio", or even "the kitchen". As for me, it will always be My Happy Place, where my walls are padded with layers of fabric. Some in the form of finished quilts, some on a soft wall in the process of design, and some walls are padded with stacks of my fabulous stash of mish-mashed fabrics.

I sadly have no real plan when I buy fabric, and I often chastise myself for my random purchases. But at the time of the purchase I am quite sure I felt I needed it desperately. Thus the title, Marcie Patch, Quilt Designer, Quiltmaker, and Compulsive Collector of Fine Fabrics. Sounds so much better than "Fabric Psycho!"

Oh, I actually do have a bit of a plan when I purchase. I love reproduction fabrics from the Civil War era. And that is about all it takes for me to cross the line from "shopper" to "psycho". My fabric stash is not really as mish-mashed as it would seem to the casual eye. Ninety percent of it is Civil War era, and the rest is about to be removed from my presence to a more accommodating home.

My favorite creations are those that combine newly purchased fabrics along side the old ones. It is such a thrill to me to pull out a piece of fabric that I have had for years and see it blend perfectly with something I just purchased. And I am rarely content to make a quilt from a kit or from a certain line of beautifully coordinated fabrics. What fun is that? A quilt like that contains nothing of myself in it. I need wiggle room. Even on the rare occasion when I buy a kit, I end up changing something. Actually, that is how I ended up designing quilts. I always needed to change something to make it my own.

I am not so pious as to think that my way is the only way. It is a big wide wonderful world of quilts, and each of us is free to decide where we fit in. We are all blessed with Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Scrappiness! (Oh my gosh, that is the perfect name for a quilt! Don't steal that, I am hereby copyrighting it!)

New topic. With all that is going on in our family this year, I started having nightmares in early August about not getting my Christmas projects done. For the past couple of years I have offered a free little Christmas quilt pattern, or, with a change of fabric, Hanuka if you prefer. We all recognize this traditional quilt pattern. Nothing too out of the box here. But just look at how cute it is with these fabrics! Don't fabrics just make all the difference?! It measures 22.5 inches square. I am working on the instructions for this quilt and it will be available for you soon. I will post a link on the top of my blog when that happens.

Hope you get some sewing in today!

TWO FOR THE ROAD

I have to share this darling bottle I found at Pier 1 the other day. Look at the cute birds! Remember when I showed the vintage photos of birds that I copied and framed? This pretty gold bottle is perfect in my bedroom and the birds are perfect too!
I have been stash busting like crazy with this quilt for my son! I finished thirty-six 12" blocks, and when I get home from Arizona I will make the pieced border that I have planned. This design makes a great utility quilt.
Also for my son (who was recently married) I have completed this Buggy Barn quilt. I started it for him quite a while ago and it has been staring me in the face ever since. The original pattern was not big enough for a queen size bed so I wanted to add borders. I had the perfect fabric and everything. Why do these things take so long? Finally I got the borders on! Today I photographed it on my bed. Tomorrow I take it with me to Arizona to be quilted. I prepared the backing and binding, so I am all set. With any luck at all, maybe it will get quilted before I leave and I can bind it and mail it to my son Renn.
This is the book that the quilt pattern is in. Those Buggy Barn gals sure come up with cute ideas. There is at least one other pattern in this book that I plan to make for the Plumpkin--those darling flowers!

So tomorrow, on the 4th of July, I board a plane due to take off at 6:15 AM. Believe me, this is a huge effort of love on my part. I am not a morning person. I am always surprised to see people out on the road when I am forced to go that early. What are they doing? They can't all be hunting for night-crawlers!

Today Karen Diane told me she would miss me while I am gone. Remember she lives in Florida and I don't! "How can you miss me? I am as close as the internet, just like always!" You know she is a very cosmic person and she will know that I am not home. Me and my cosmic vibes are off to Arizona. I will try and pick up some energy as we fly over Sedona.

Later my friends,

SEWING IN TONGUES

I am making progress on my latest quilt. I love the simplicity and the soothing colors. I love antique quilts and this one has the softened feeling that often takes years of wear and washings to achieve. I am a cut some sew some kind of gal, so I am still cutting and still sewing! I try to be careful not to sew too many rows together because if I introduce a new fabric I want to scatter a few pieces throughout the quilt. But I just couldn't wait to see what these blocks look like sewn together. I need seams to get the whole effect!

Meanwhile, I have been stitching on a couple little wool projects. I even finished one! It sure is easier to sew those little tongues in instead of out! I am pretty sure this little pillow is a Whimsicals project. I love stitching on wool. I made a binding on this, just like on a quilt, but it is a strip of an old blanket, so it is pretty thick. Piping without the extra effort!

Sewing in Tongues: You no doubt know the Speaking in Tongues reference, but since I like to play with words, I am Sewing in Tongues - on the pillow, of course. I am sure I don't have to explain that with my quilts I am Speaking in Scraps.

SPLENDOR IN THE SCRAPS

Well here are the two little quilts for my two nephew's baby boys. They are all quilted and ready to get mailed. I am very pleased with the end result and hope they will be also. I just found out the baby's names. Can you believe this? One named his son Owen, and the the other named his son Ian. I can only think of my friend, their grandmother, calling to these little ones: "IanOwenIanOwen". It kind of has an "einymeanyminymoe" thing going on. Pretty funny, I think!

I have been playing with a new design. I play with ideas on EQ and sometimes it is months later when I go back and play some more, and finally get to where I want to give it the "textile test". Of course that means I actually cut and sew to see if it works.

My plan was to make this quilt in blues and browns. I have been collecting these color families and they are so pretty. I wanted to make a fairly big quilt, so I made large blocks. After making several, enough to get a feel for it, I decided that I really wanted to make smaller blocks. So I cut everything down, sewed it back up and took another look. I then decided that the blue and brown looked really blah. (Sew Primitive Karen says I am color starved.) So now it is open season on any fabric within reach, or even out of reach. You have heard me complain that my sewing room is such a mess. This is why. And I know I don't have to explain to anyone who makes quilts. There is just no easy way to deal with choosing fabric for a scrap quilt. I was just mentioning to Julie Q. (she is also playing with scraps) today that my favorite method of cleaning my sewing room is to pick up scraps and sew them together. It is a slow process, but gratifying! I mentioned to my husband that I could have a sign in my sewing room that says, "Please excuse the mess, things are under construction". Well, it's true. I am constructing things. He's not falling for it.

Meanwhile, I am finding scraps to use that have been around for a long time. They are pieces left from other scrap quilts. I almost think that if you looked at all my quilts you could find a DNA strand that connects them. I love throwing new pieces of fabric into the mix as well. So I am very happy on several levels! I even had a stash of flying geese that were just the right size to add. I LOVE when that happens!

I hope you are finding splendor in the scraps at your abode. ( If you get that, it really dates you!)

Have a happy scrappy day!

WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN!

Most of you know the Beckster by now--my 19 year old granddaughter who is now beginning her sophomore year at BYU. Her parents just moved to Missoula, MT, so Becky went to see them in their new home. While there she asked her mom if she could take the quilt on little sister's bed back to college with her. Her mom said, "NO, but you can take your own quilt". Becky didn't even remember what it looked like!


Well, here is the story: I made this quilt for her in 1993. Becky put on a big smile, as the photo shows, but later her mom apologetically told me that Becky didn't want to use the quilt. Really, I didn't mind. I told her to put it away and someday she might want it. When Becky went off to college I did not make her a quilt. I figured that if the day came when she wanted a quilt she would tell me. Turns out that when her mom got the quilt out that I had made years ago, Becky loved it! Well heck, it IS just like new! A happy ending for everyone!


You know I love scrappy quilts and when I first got into quiltmaking I learned this wonderful technique that Sally Schneider developed, that she calls Mary's Triangles. Becky's quilt was made using that method. I have taught it in many classes and, for me, it never grows old. It has a ton of variations. This is what the block looks like. Can you find it in the quilt?



Other family news is that my father finally decided to write on his blog again. Last time he wrote on it was in March 08! Well, since that time Google has gotten serious about having a Google account in order to have a blog. We could not get into that blog for anything. So I opened a Google account for him and a new blog! He has already written two posts. I know a few of you out there have enjoyed his stories, so if you want to read his blog, it has been updated. Also, I have created a link to it on my sidebar down below the Babes in Blogland, that will show when he updates it.
Give him a thrill and leave a comment!


Have a happy scrappy day!

PUTTERING WITH PATCHES

My friend Pat, who lives in North Bend, WA, recently sent me a box of R-W-B scraps that she knew I would love. Pat is responsible for teaching me to make quilts. I always had the urge, but never the opportunity, until I met Pat. That was in the early 1990's when we lived in Issaquah, WA. The above photo was taken of us at the APNQ (Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters) in front of a quilt that neither of us made. It was in August of 2000, and happened to be the day the moving truck was at my house, packing us to leave for Virginia, where we now live. No way was I going to miss that event just because a moving van was parked in front of my house! That was eight years ago, and we have only grown more lovely with age. (Don't ask me to prove that).

So this box has been sitting on the floor of my sewing room for a few months at this point. I didn't want to split it up and put it away, because any minute I knew I would dive into it and make a quilt. Last week I had to empty the box onto the floor because I needed the box to send things to my son that he left while he was here. So now visualize all these scraps in a pile on the floor of my already disastrous sewing room. It is like playing hopscotch getting across the floor on any given day.

I had finished three aprons, and now I needed to work on a quilt. I should be completing one of the many UFOs that are hovering about, but luckily my Dad called with the news that my nephew (and his wife, of course) just had another baby boy. Yea! I get to make a baby quilt! My eyes settled on the pile of scraps on the floor, and I decided to spread them out and take inventory. Imagine finding quite a few strips of red, white and blue! You must know by now that this is my favorite color combination. So here I am with lots of two inch strips. What to do, what to do? I started looking for ideas. One of my best resources is YOU out there in Blogland! I just happen to have a few photos of quilts that you have shared. I saw one made from 4-patches and these colors recently. "Oh yeah! That is perfect for my new nephew", says I. Since I already have the two inch strips, it was an obvious decision to make the 4-patches from two inch strips. So zip, zip, and zip, and I have red and white 4-patches all over the place. The next day I cut up a bunch of 3.5 inch squares of various blues, and began sewing these pieces into strips.

Today I finished sewing the rows together, and voila, a quilt is entering the world. This is what I love about quiltmaking: you take a pile of untamed matter (or scraps, as we like to call them) and create something totally new and wonderful! Borders are in the works, and then the quilt will finish at about 42 inches square.

For your viewing pleasure, I included a little picture of my cute granddaughter from a few years ago on the 4th of July.

In actuality, I have made this design before, and love it. But this coloration was inspired by a fellow blogger. I normally include the quilt makers name when I save a photo, and, for whatever reason, I neglected to do that with this quilt. If you happen to read my blog, and you think I may have seen a similar quilt on your blog, let me know and I will happily mail you one of my own delightful, and original patterns! (Disclaimer: if I get too many claims, you may have to send proof)!

Well, that turned out to be the long version of the history of a small quilt! Now I am off to the border!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!

Happy New Year to blogging friends near and far. I am still in Arizona and enjoying time with my family. Christmas was great and so nice to have both my sons here, as well as my son's wife and the kids, my Dad, sister, aunts and uncles, etc. My daughters were both missing and were both missed. I sure love them all! It is difficult to get the whole family together in one place very often as we are so spread out across the country.

December 26 my husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. If I was home I would find an old picture of us when we were young and cute. I actually still think he is pretty cute! We are the epitome of the couple who has nothing in common except the kids. Somehow we have stuck together through all kinds of weather. He has actually become sweeter and more sentimental as time goes by. But I really think it is the laughter and the ability to not take things too seriously that has held us together. I always say it was the first twenty years that was the most difficult! LOL! He is already back home and going to work to pay for the lifestyle in which I have become so accustomed. What a gem!

January 2nd is my birthday. Another day that can go unnoticed, as far as I am concerned. I only mention it to see who reads my blog and wants to wish me happy birthday. It's amazing how many people who love me have to be reminded. (Seriously, I'm joking!)

I got my trusty old Bernina out the other day so I could mend a couple things for my Dad. Once out, it does not like to go back into the box too quickly, so I thought I would take it for a spin. I have been sewing strips together to make Bonnie's Scrappy Trips Around the World. Yes, I have a small stash here at my son's house so I can play. I love those blocks, by the way. They go together so quickly and I love the scrappy look they create. I really want to get on the Sunshine Band Wagon and do some serious stash busting this year. Judy L. has a plan. I don't quite have enough confidence in myself to sign up, but I want to at least make the effort to use more yardage than I buy.
I mentioned previously that my youngest son was bringing a girl home to meet the family. I am afraid to say anything about her for fear of jinxing the deal, but I want to say, "Can we keep her"? She is a real sweetheart and they seem to have a good connection. We all voted and she wins. Don't tell anyone though or I will be in trouble for opening my big mouth again. It's a problem I seem to have!
I may be able to add a picture or two tomorrow, until then --Happy New Year 2008! (Who knew I would live this long)?