Off to Houston

Well, here it is my friends. My bags are packed and I'm leaving in the morning for Houston. This is THE big event that I have been working towards for months. All the preparation for International Quilt Market is about to be implemented in booth #935. You have seen my newest quilts and given me great feedback on them. I hope the people shopping at market like my stuff. That's all I can say, I've done my best. Here is a funny little fact for you, my patterns seem to sell the best to Wisconsin and Texas shops. Now why do you think that is? 

 The above photo is one I got from Pinterest. I just love this display. I need to find a cute ladder that I can do this with. I have seen so many cute displays with ladders that I have a whole board on Pinterest with just ladders. Check it out!

 Since I don't have anything new to show you let me refer you to another blog who has a darling free pattern available. I would like to make this when I get a chance. This is from Joanne from Manitoba, Canada, and her blog is Thread Head. Many of you may have seen it already, in fact I saw that Karen at Log Cabin Quilter has made this project and posted it. You may need to scroll through some of Karen's beautiful work to find it on her blog. Thanks to Joanne for this darling project!

Another blog, Quilts by Cheri, has been posting free projects also. Cheri Payne designs darling primitive projects, and I am sure you all know her. Her last blog post shows a quilt she made from a pattern on Lori's blog, Humble Quilts. Lori has posted several darling little quilt-a-long patterns over the past few years. Bloggers are so generous with their time and talent. Sometimes I feel out of the loop because it takes me so long to accomplish my own projects and what I would love to do is just dive into one of these others. I really appreciate the great blogging community and am thankful for the friends I have made. I was explaining to my husband the other night that I have met so many bloggers over the years and even tho we may not keep up with one another on a regular basis, it is so nice to have someone that I met way back drop in to make a comment on my blog, or just to say hello. Such a nice circle of really nice people!

One more blog of note is that of my friend Karen at Sew Primitive. Karen has been making the Suffrage blocks that Barbara Brackman is providing on her blog. Barbara is amazing in what she offers us on her various blogs in terms of historical perspective and quilt blocks to commemorate events in history. Karen is one who follows along and actually keeps up with each block in real time! Check out Barbara's Grandmother's Choice blog, and then check out Karen's version of these blocks. Karen is amazing! If you are familiar with Karen you may know that she has been undergoing cancer treatment for the past year and has been really sick. All the more reason why her work is so amazing, as she just pushes though the pain to get things done that are important to her. Any prayers you send her way will be appreciated.

Thanks Blogging Buddies for all you contribute! More when I return from Quilt Market! And if you are going to market please come see me in booth #935! Patchalot Patterns!

 

UFOs, Roswell and Area 51

I brought this cute little project to work on while I am in Arizona. It is the cover project from the book, Remembering Adelia, by Kathleen Tracy.  Such darling projects in this book! I wanted a project to work on by hand, so this one fit the bill. I haven't done any applique for a while so began the preparation by tracing the leaf shape onto freezer paper. I cut out about 10 leaves and pressed them onto the wrong side of the fabric. So far so good. I cut out each shape, leaving a seam allowance. Then I glued the edges over the paper using a glue stick. Whoops. Did I say I glued the edges down? Why yes I did. Wasn't I supposed to starch the edges over? Well, yes I was. Oh no! 

Well, by the time I realized my error I had already sewn several little leaf shapes down. I admit, I wondered why I was having so much trouble forcing the needle through the fabric. Duh!  I soaked each little block in water and gently managed to pull the paper from the slit in the back, and all is well. This does not count as a UFO as I am still working on it!

Now I am backtracking to my Atlanta trip because I haven't mentioned going to one of my very favorite quilt shops:  LITTLE QUILTS!  I have been a Little Quilts fan for years and years, long before they opened the shop. Since my daughter moved to Atlanta I have had the opportunity to visit the shop a few times (actually three). My daughter is unacquainted with the Marietta area, where the shop is located, so we called for directions. Mary Ellen VonHolt, the shop owner, answered and gave Jennie directions. "Look for the Big Chicken on the corner of Roswell Road", she said. We drove back and forth down Marietta Road and somehow we missed seeing the big chicken! I think I was not looking high enough in the air! Seriously, with Roswell on my mind, I felt like we were searching for the illusive Area 51, of UFO fame, which I thought was rather humorous considering how many UFOs I have. Are you getting all this? 

Finally, the Big Chicken hovered over us, so to speak. We turned down Roswell and clapped our hands at the sight of Little Quilts!

So we made it! Of course the shop is wonderful. We arranged to go on a day that Karen was working, so we met again and went to eat together when she was done with work. It was fun to see Karen's own little quilts displayed at the shop along with her patterns! Also, my Williamsburg Medallion pattern that Karen made was displayed right by the front door! 

So that is my final adventure in Atlanta!  Come back again for news from the burning sands of Arizona!

FINDING FRIENDS AND FABRIC

Here I am in Atlanta, visiting my daughter, and who should I find but Ms. Sew Primitive! Karen came and picked me up on Friday and we hugged like old buddies, which, due to excessive e-mailing, we actually are! But this is the first time we have met face to face, and though we both joked about "what if we hate each other?" we knew we wouldn't. Karen actually lives on the other side of town from my daughter, so while in this area we visited two shops that she hadn't been to. The first was the Scarlet Thread, which is a beautiful new shop, bright and lovely as its contents. It carries bright and beautiful fabrics. We both found some fabric that we purchased, even in the midst of all that brightness! Remember, Karen and I are both residing mostly in the 19th Century! (In terms of our quilts).
Second stop was Sweet Home Quilt Shop in Conyers, GA. This shop occupies a darling house that is on the historical register. As you can see, there are lovely quilts hanging on porch railings and swings, etc. It is so welcoming!
Yup, here we are, enchanted by this old beauty on the porch. I am referring to the quilt of course.
Inside we met these two nice ladies! We took an action shot of Pam on the left, and shop owner Melisa on the right cutting fabric. Karen and I felt right at home at Sweet Home! Then we found out that Melissa reads our blogs! She was especially familiar with Karen and asked her about Rembrandt! Isn't that funny! Melisa has a blog also. Check it out!

As we left this charming shop we noticed these irresistible stone steps just begging to be photographed. This was the perfect photo op for our purchases.

We spent the evening at Karen's house wading through her many vintage quilts and current projects. I met Rembrandt when I first entered, but then she went into hiding for the rest of the evening. More of that in a future post!

ANGELS BRING JOY

I don't understand why some photos enlarge and others do not. But I know many of you would like to see these angels from my previous post up close, so I re-loaded them individually. Aren't they wonderful?!

P.S. Karen says the angel designs are by Prairie Schooler.

BABY COME BACK

You can blame it all on me! I have been gone three weeks, and I fear I may have lost some readers. Worse than that, I haven't been able to keep up with YOUR blogs! According to by Bloglines guide, I have over 3000 posts unread! Well, that's just crazy! Yes, they have been accumulating for a while, and no, I won't get them all read. But I will try to fly through Blogland on my mop and see where I land! Look out, I may be heading your way!

Upon my arrival home I had some surprises! This wonderful little trio of angels was sent to me by my quilt blogging buddy, Karen, from Sew Primitive. She digitized these cross-stitched pieces on her machine and set them into a quilt just for me! The surrounding fabric is so perfect! Karen is one of the most talented people I know. She always leaves me in awe. She truly has the heart of an artist. Her newest pattern has the most adorable bunnies on it. Just perfect for spring. My sidebar hold links to Karen's website as well. Spend some time with Karen and you will begin to see things through new eyes.

Today I was presented with this wonderful bag by my friend Connie. Connie is a very clever lady who has made countless bags and taught classes for them as well. She also does the digitizing on her machine and as you can see she put my Patchalot Patterns logo on one side of the bag, and Grandma Mousie on the other. For those of you who may not know, Grandma Mousie is what my granddaughter called me when she couldn't pronounce Marcie. Connie lifted the illustration off my sidebar (Karen-Sew Primitive did the illustration). Connie digitized it and colored it and it is so cute! Plus the bag is beautifully made! If you live around here and want to make a tote bag, check out Connie's class at the local shop, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff.

I had a wonderful three weeks in Arizona with family, LOTS of family! It was great! I also am glad to be home in my own bed with my own pillow and my own quilt. Thanks for visiting with me. More later....

SHE IS SEW PRIMITIVE!

You know that Karen is SEW PRIMITIVE, and she is also SEW CLEVER! She dove right into the Christmas Sparkler project (see previous post) and using homespuns, she created her version of the quilt. Her muted colors give it a totally different look! I love it! And I know it was a breeze for Karen to make after stomping and kicking on her Dear Jane blocks, which are so complex. In fact I bet she whipped this up in half the time a DJ block takes! Knowing Karen the way I do, it probably took effort on her part to attempt such a simple project. She loves complex projects. Which is why I was slightly surprised to see her design this next quilt.

I love house blocks, and Karen does too. This is one of her easier designs, I think (which explains why I made it!). She calls it Log Cabin Settlement. You can find the pattern on her blog on the sidebar. She cleverly used stripes going horizontally on her quilt to replicate the logs in the cabins. I had her pattern on my cutting table sitting next to a few FQs from Barbara Brackman's new line, Civil War Crossings, from Moda. I should have taken a picture of the fabric when I got it, but instead I cut it into log cabins and made my own little settlement. Somehow new fabic and new patterns call to each other. I was happy to find the fabric for the setting triangles in my stash and it coordinates well with the colors of this line.

Also in blogland I discovered that Kim is having another adventure with a wonderful tutorial on her blog. It is scrappy and really cute! Check out her Scrappy Stars!