FRIENDLY LITTLE STARS

I am so happy to see that a few of you are making your little Christmas Sparkler quilt well ahead of the seasonal rush! This cutie was made by Mary at Quilt Hollow in North Carolina. She even has hers quilted and hanging on a quilt rack! Nice going Mary! And thanks for sharing with us.

Remember this basket? This was the logo I used when I first began blogging two and a half years ago. I have had a blast reading your blogs and getting to know so many quilters. When I first began I was so clueless about the whole thing. I had seen a few blogs and found them to be so interesting and I didn't want to be left out. I soon realized that many bloggers seemed to be good friends. Gifts were being exchanged, personal e-mails, etc. I kind of felt more left out, actually. But I kept blogging and making comments on other blogs. I asked questions on my blog, and got comments from very helpful bloggers. One of the comments said that I needed to open my e-mail so people could write me back directly! (Ever hear that one before?) So I very bravely added my e-mail address. I even opened a new g-mail account for this. Turns out it was no big deal! Lots of other advice came my way as well. I still have questions from time to time, and I know someone will come forward and help me out. AND, I have "met" some lovely ladies as I continue to blog and exchange ideas and inspiration. My sidebar contains a list of many of you, and there are many more out there. Many of you laugh along with me as I make my silly jokes. I appreciate that. As I told one friend the other day, laughing alone is no fun. So my whole point is this: all you quilt bloggers out there, I appreciate you and enjoy your friendship. Thanks for reading my humble blog and for leaving your nice comments. These Friendship Stars will always remind me of all of you!

MS. PATTERNS AT YOUR SERVICE

From the northern reaches of Alberta comes a Christmas Sparkler to warm the heart! Janet at Mrs. Sew 'n Sew created this little beauty. As you can see, Janet added a second blue instead of red. It is very pretty. I hope this picture enlarges so you can better see the lovely fabrics Janet chose.

I am happy to see these little quilts beginning to trickle in. Are you making one? Please share it with us if you are.

Also, I can finally show you the wool pillow that I made for my friend Joan. Her birthday was in October and we had trouble connecting. Joan loves acorns and anything pertaining to fall, so I knew she would love this pillow. If it looks familiar to you, perhaps you saw the larger quilt version by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings, in the American Patchwork and Quilting magazine, October 2008 edition. Yes, I can see that it could have used a little more stuffing. Dang.

Running errands today I stopped at the bank and went in the drive-through to deposit checks in my Patchalot Patterns account. After sending me my receipt the teller said, "Thank you Ms. Patterns". Isn't that funny? I keep chuckling over that.

It is storming here in Virginia Beach again. I cut my running around short and came back to my warm home. I lit a vanilla candle and am now I am headed into my sewing room to work on Christmas Sparklers. You know all my kids expect their own and I aim to please!

P.S. Do you want to add the little Sparkler block to your sidebar on your blog? I would love it if you did. That way more people will notice it and news will spread. Here is my method.

Save a copy of the block picture from by blog onto your computer. Open a posting page in your blog. Add the picture of the block in the center position. click on the picture and reduce the size so you have a nice little picture like mine. Click on the picture and the link icon to link it to my website. (http://www.patchalotpatterns.com/)

You may also add words, as I did. Center them as well.

Now SAVE the draft, DO NOT publish. Next, click on the tab above that says Edit Html. Click on the mouse to hi-light the whole page of HTML. Right click and copy.

Click on the tab above that says Layout. Open the list of gadgets and select the one that says HTML. Paste the copied HTML in the box. Title it, save it, and you are all set.

It may sound complicated, but it is really easy. This way you only get a small block on your sidebar instead of a quilt size picture. Plus you have it all linked, as easy as can be!

SPARKLING FRIENDS

Oh goodie! Two of my blogging friends have made the Christmas Sparkler quilt and shared it on their blog! The one above was made by Yvonne at Quilting Down the Stairs. She added a cute piano key border, which I think looks darling on it! Or maybe it is a quilty version of her stairs? LOL! Yvonne said she mostly used Cranberry Wishes and the stars are a Birchwood Lane fabric. I am always fascinated by the fabrics people choose because there are so many from which to choose

Good ol' Libby came through with a Christmas Sparkler as well. Libby is A Simple Girl, and we can always count on her for a primitive or homespun slant to things. She did use a bit of homespun in this quilt, but not as much as I thought she might. Looks good Libby dear! Libby has Christmas stockings in the works at her home and I want to decorate my fence with them as she has! Go take a peek!

Remember, if you make this quilt I would love to see it. The pattern is offered free on my website. I will put a gallery page up soon to display quilts of all who participate!

Get the Christmas Sparkler Spirit right here!

Hope to hear from you!

MEOWALOT

Who is that sneaking through your neighborhood? Yeow! It's a cute little black kitty cat! Yes, it is my own dear little Plumpkin! This is one sassy little kitty, I can tell you that! Kids love to dress up, don't they? I hope they all have fun on Halloween!

I wonder what Rembrandt, Karen's kitty on the left, will be doing for Halloween? I had to post his picture because I thought he and Plumpkin look related. Maybe he will dress up as a little girl again!

I have never had anyone ring our bell on Halloween for as long as we have lived here. We don't have any children in our neighborhood. And NO, I don't live in a Senior Center--yet! I bought a big bag of candy at Sam's Club. My favorite kind, of course, because no one comes here to Trick or Treat. So it is mine, all mine! If you are thinking that I just might be a chocolate addict, you are so right!


Have a safe and spooky night!

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!

FRIENDSHIP STARS COME OUT AT CHRISTMAS!

You better not cry, you better not pout, 2008 freebie is finally out!

Here is my free CHRISTMAS SPARKLER design for this year! Last year I was blown away with the wonderful response to the pattern I designed for you. I hope you will be as excited about this one! It is easy to make, colorful and fun! My quilt has the colors in it that I like, and I would love to see what colors and fabrics you choose for yours. Last year I posted the quilts that YOU made on my website. I would love to do the same this year, so start digging through your scraps, or take the supply list along with you to the store. The fabric amounts are generous, but were difficult to break down into smaller units. I bet you have everything you need in your sewing room!

Fabric needed: Blue print or tone on tone -1/2 yard; Green- 1 FQ; Red print- 1 FQ; Red tone on tone- 1 FQ; Gold for stars- 1 FQ; Binding- 1 FQ; Backing- 3/4 yard

Just picture this 23 inch square quilt on a table, or tucked in a basket for decorating! Easily reduce the size to just nine blocks, or make it into a runner.

If you wish, you can copy the little Friendship Star block on my sidebar to post on your blog with a link to my web site: www.patchalotpatterns.com

Have fun, and thank you for your FRIENDSHIP!

I LOVE BROWN QUILTS

Look at this darling picture of my mother! And to surprise you further, this is not my work, it is Susan's quilt in progress! Susan has so many blogs going that I never know where to find her. You may know her as Susan from Desert Sky Quilting. She began this quilt a while back and requested a photo of my mother when she was in her early 20's. Susan reads my Dad's blog and got a kick out of some of his stories. She particularly liked the one about a piano, and The Girl Next Door. Those are posted on Dad's old blog, which we are no longer able to access, so he has a new blog, The AZ Penguin 2, which he has been posting on more recently. Lots of good stuff on his old blog though, in case anyone cares to read it. If it happens to be a rainy day where you are, this can keep you busy for a while! For sure check out Susan's blog, Crazy Quilting for Fun, and see this cool project she has going. Really nice work Susan!

Recently I mentioned that my little brown quilts look nice with fall decor, so I took a couple pics to give you a glimpse. I actually placed the wrong photo in here, because I stuck some fall leaves (ala Michael's) behind the birds nest in the churndash picture, so it has more of a fall flavor now. Those cool pears on the penny rug are not real, but they sure look it. I love brown quilts.

I am really enjoying the fall season around here in Virginia. We don't get the brilliant colors, like you get in the north, but is isn't freezing and snowing here either! So I buy my fall color at Michael's. They have awesome stuff there and often it is half off, or you can get a coupon.

That said, let me ask if any of you are interested in a small Christmas quilt pattern again this year? I don't mean to rush the season, but it doesn't hurt to start preparing little gifts that you like to make. I have a small quilt finished, and will be sharing the pattern soon! Come back and check it out!

Addendum: Joan at Keeping You in Stitches liked that hexagon taple topper so well that she whipped one up last night! Can you believe it? She has been showing lots of fall decor on her blog. go take a look if you haven't been there.

IT IS BEAUTI-FALL!

Today, camera in hand, I went on a little field trip. I wanted to find a place to photograph my Leaves in the Air quilt enhanced by some fall colors. I headed down First Colonial Road to an outdoor produce market called Stoney's. Everything looked so awesome there! Look at these neat pumpkins with warts!

I really was just looking for a place to snap a shot of my quilt so it would look appealing. This place was perfect! They had goofly little gourds, and Indian Corn, and pumpkins and squash in all shapes and sizes. They also had homemade peach jam that I had to buy. Not being the domestic goddess I once was, I no longer make homemade jam.

Look at all the cool pumpkins! Doesn't my quilt look happy there? I was able to find this spot with nails perfectly aligned so that I could hang my quilt. I brought the rod that I hang it on, and I was so glad that I did. Honestly, I wonder how many patterns I could sell with that display? I haven't made lots of cute fall quilts like so many of you have. In fact, I have only made this one, and I am excited to be able to display it for a while this time of year. Actually, I would kind of like to frame this photo! This is what I call beauti-fall!

FALL COLORS

Everyone seems to be captivated with the wonderful fall colors and decorating is in full swing. I have really been enjoying the many blogs with fall decor and homemade items. Our friend Kim, who has Big Quilting Adventures daily, has designed a darling pumpkin quilt and has provided instructions for anyone who cares to create their own. Go to Kim's blog and look on the side bar for the Happy Jacks tutorial. I love the way these cute pumpkins bounce around on the quilt! I am a little slow mentioning this and Kim has moved on to other adventures, but it is not too late to get in on the action!

I have been decorating a little bit myself. This little display is sitting on the hearth in our living room. I picked up the decorated pumpkin last year on sale and am excited to finally be able to display it for a couple months. My little brown quilts that I love are scattered around the house and look really nice with the orange tones of fall.

Also, I just completed a little stitchery thing that I framed. Here is a little word to the wise: pick up pieces of orange wool whenever you see it, because you won't find it in the shops when you need it!

BUNDLE OF JOY

Last week I drove north across the James River to Newport News and went to Nancy's Calico Patch. They have the new Windham line of fabric in by Nancy Gere. It is called COLONIES: CHEDDAR AND POISON GREEN. 1830-1860. I may have bought a little of one bolt or another, but when they pointed out the Fat Quarter bundles I was hooked. What is it about those beautiful little rolls of coordinated fabric that speak to me? I have a few bundles waiting patiently on the shelf in my sewing room nestled in with a dozen charm packs. I haven't opened them because I have so many "scraps" that I should use first. I really don't want to turn them loose in my cluttered sewing room. They are so tidy and perfect. More like a decoration, really. Or maybe a very well behaved pet! I do caress them and even play with them. I may even talk to them on occasion and say, "you are so pretty"! Yes, a very well behaved pet! You can see why I don't want to turn them loose in my sewing room. The other inhabitants are so untamed and wild. I don't think my lovely fat quarter bundles are quite ready to fend for themselves yet. I'll just coddle them a while longer.

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.

SHOP TALK

A word of warning: If you always read blog comments in your e-mail box you may not be seeing them all. My last post had two comments that I only saw because I looked in the comment section. None of us like to miss what people have to say!

Some of you asked to see more of Sue's quilt made with the Coverlet Collection II from Windham Fabrics. Here is her completed top. It is really great looking! It is on display at the shop (What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff) along with kits! I also noticed when I was there today that they have Pioneer Trail on display along with kits! They have lots of other kits as well, but I am only promoting my own stuff here!(My patterns are available at the shop or my website, if you are interested!)

The second picture shows the Stars and Garters quilt on the bottom and Indian Paintbrush on the top, hanging from rungs of a ladder. Isn't that a cute display? The shop looks great! They have a ton of cute Christmas things out already, and darling wool projects with kits.

I am thinking you have noticed that jacket, so here is a close-up. Prairie Paisley! Can you believe it! For those of you who love that fabric, here is another use for it!

Karen Dianne over at LeeHaven has been working hard to complete her version of Indian Paintbrush. She renamed it Dancing Ladies. It is turning our really nice! Go take a look!

That's all for now!

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!

STAND TALL AMERICA

Stand tall America. Stand tall and never forget. Never forget what our country suffered on September 11, 2001. Stand tall as our flag still waves over our land declaring our freedom, our pride in our country and our gratitude to our Heavenly Father who still watches over us.

I always get a thrill when I see our flag waving in the breeze! When I was a child we pledged our allegiance to the flag each day in school. We sang songs about our flag and our country and we were taught that we lived in a land that valued freedom and fought to keep it. Everyone deserves to live in freedom, and everyone deserves to have a flag that waves over their land declaring their freedom and representing what they believe. Freedom isn't just an American value, it is a human right!

Here is what I see when I look at our flag: I see the white stripes that declare honor and virtue; I see the red that stands for blood spilled to preserve us against those who wish to destroy us; and I see a field of stars on blue that represent our dreams and aspirations, our yearnings to live up to the dreams of patriots past, and to hold fast to our convictions that peace will prevail.

September 11 will never be just another day. It should make us think.

STARS AND GARTERS part II

In my last post I asked if any of you had heard the expression, "Oh my stars and garters". Well I had quite a mixed response, and I loved hearing that at least a few of you knew the expression. Here is what Di had to say on the subject:

"Absolutely! I've heard it all my life and I googled it and here is probably where it came from: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/55/messages/588.html ". I hadn't thought to google the expression, but Di did. Thanks Di! Good to know!
(Di doesn't have a blog, or I would link to it. Are you planning to join us soon Di?)


The photo here is one I swiped from the blog of our LQS, What's Your Stitch N Stuff. It shows my pattern, Stars and Garters, being assembled by Sue at the shop. I hope you can enlarge the photo and see how she placed that cool Coverlet print in the center of the stars. I haven't got a picture of the whole quilt, but she did complete it. Awesome! So often simple quilts are the best!

Now how many of you have heard the expletive, "Great Caesar's ghost"? Where has our imagination of expression gone? These days all I hear is "holy crap". What fun is that?

Have a happy scrappy day!