A Gift for the Gifted!

Say hello to the winner of my drawing! I am so happy to be able to send this package of goodies to Michele from With Heart and Hands. Michele is my hero in so many ways. When you read her blog you will find out why. Michele has devoted her life to the service of others. She works hard to see that the needs of her elderly parents are taken care of, plus she spends countless hours working in schools and in the community wherever she is able. Then there are the quilting projects that she happily donates to worthy causes. As if that were not enough, Michele has a blog that is so informative on so many subjects. I think she loves research for the pure joy of discovery, but then she shares the fruits of her labors with anyone who reads her blog. Michele is more than gifted, she is blessed. Blessed in the sense that she knows who she is and she finds peace and serenity in what she does. She has never told me that, but I can feel it about her. If I ever get to Heaven I hope to meet Michele and get to know her better. (Well, she lives in Oregon/Alaska, I probably won't meet her in my lifetime!)

After that big write-up, I want to assure you that I really did draw Michelle's name from the pile of comments submitted. Thank you all for your comments. Don't forget to come back again just for the pleasure of reading my blog...like when I have time to write something interesting. I have a cute wool pillow I want to show you next time, and I must tell you about my granddaughter who is in Africa right now!

Anyone Coming Home?

Raise your hand if you know who this is? 

If you guessed Jo Morton, you are right! By the time I met her at market I realized that I was the only one taking photos of the stars, and so I kind of restrained myself. Was I being silly? Were they flattered, or did they find me obnoxious? I don't really know, but they were all very gracious about it. I was delighted to meet Jo and was quick to tell her that I am a friend of Karen Mowery, whose patterns Jo has promoted.

This is Jo's beautiful new book, Coming Home. It is available at your local quilt shop, I am sure. And if they don't have it, they will order it for you. Yes, you can order it on line, but why not give your LQS a break and buy from them. They need our business. And we need them!

On the other hand, you might get lucky and win this book from me, because I am having a drawing! Yes I am! Just leave a comment before Thursday night and I will announce the winner over the weekend. I will also include the McCall's Quick Quilts magazine in which my quilt, American Dreamer, is featured, along with my two newest Patchalot Patterns.

Any takers???

P.S. Please don't announce this drawing on your blogs. I want it to be for people who are regular readers.

MIXED NUTS

This little granddaughter of mine always keeps us laughing. I have to share her latest remarks. I was talking to her mother on the phone the other day and she commented that there was a deer lying under the tree in her backyard, and then she saw a couple more lying there. She said to me, "I wonder where the babies are? We usually see babies by now". My little Plumpkin pipes up and says, "Maybe they grabbed their stomach and said, ugh, I have to lay down".  Plumpkin just turned five years old. Many of you have seen little bits of her on my blog over the years. Thank Heavens God invented children! They bring such joy into our lives!

After meeting so many big designers in the business, I have to say that this may have been my biggest thrill! This is Monica Patch and her mother, Karen Bennett, of Nellie's Needle. They design patterns and had a lovely booth at Market. Monica handed me a brochure as I passed her booth on the last day of market. When I saw the name Monica Patch on the flier I did a double take! When I saw her 801 area code (Utah) I knew we were related. We had a wonderful visit. Our husbands are first cousins and I have always loved her husband who is the same age as my kids. She and her mom came over to my SIL's where Joan and I were staying, and we got to know them a little. Great people, great patterns! Check them out!   

This is one of Monica's darling quilts. You have to take a close-up look at it. It has yo-yos all around the inner border! She shared her secret construction methods with me, but you need to buy her pattern for all the info. What a clever girl! (I just looked at their website and couldn't find the pattern!--Sorry. Hopefully it will be out soon).

This booth was so adorable! Riley Blake is a fabric company out of Salt Lake City. If their booth is any indication, I would say that they will be a noticeable force in the market very soon. 

If you read all the way to the bottom of this post, you deserve to know that I plan to have a give-away very soon! Come back again!

MORE FROM MARKET

To market, to market, to buy a fat quarter,

Home again, home again, with more than I ought'r

Yes, that seemed to be the theme for me at Market. I know my bag weighed 40 lbs. after the first day! (Please allow me a little room for exaggeration, just a little.) As usual my eyes are bigger than... well, they are NOT bigger than my stomach, as the saying goes, however, they were very big!

 This beautiful creation was made from a new line of fabric created by Gloria Parsons from The Olde Green Cupboard. The whole line is designed around an antique wedding certificate. It is called Honeymoon Cottage and is distributed by Blue Hill Fabrics. Check it out!

 My sister-in-law, Kati, and Gloria displaying all the fabric in her line. It is lovely and romantic! And she is already working on a new line! Isn't that just the ultimate thrill--to have your name on the selvage edge of a line of fabric!!!

I feel so cool hanging with this group! The photo shows me,(and what is with that hair of mine?) Gloria, Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen from Bonnie Blue Designs. What a nice group of ladies! Oh, and I see that Bonnie Blue designs has a 25% off sale going on at their website!

That is all for now. Have a great Memorial Day weekend and don't forget to put your flag out!

Quilts of Valor

Check it out!

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!

AMERICAN DREAMER

My darling granddaughters sent me this photo of themselves with the McCall's Quick Quilts magazine that my quilt is in. They must have taken the photo on the laptop because the cover is reversed, as in a mirror image. They are very proud of me, and apparently the youngest stuck stickers on the magazine that said, "Good job!", "WOW!". and "You did it!"  Usually it is me who is proud of them, so this is a very nice reversal of roles! Thanks girls!

Here am I, all wrapped up in my American Dreamer quilt and the McCall's Quick Quilts magazine. Do you have your copy yet?  

Tomorrow I am off to Minneapolis to Quilt Market. I have never been before, but it is in Minneapolis this time, and since I lived there for many years and have family there, I figured it was the time to go. I will be in familiar surroundings and get to see family as well. I don't have a booth or any of that, I am just going to check it all out. Next week I will be back and let you know what all the fuss is about!

FIBRE JUNCTION

As I was blog hopping today I stopped at Carole's blog, Quilting Adventures. I followed a link on her blog to read an article about the shop she owns in Rouses Point, NY, called Fibre Junction. It was a very nice article, and on top of that I spied my quilt hanging on the wall in her shop! What a sweet surprise! Carole bought some of my patterns for her shop and I sent this quilt along for display. Carole's blog is always filled with sweet surprises and it appears as though her shop is as well! Stop by and say hello!

If you have been visiting my blog for a while you probably have seen this quilt. It is an alternate version of my Williamsburg Medallion pattern. You can follow that link to see how many of my friends have had fun changing the design to suit their own taste. I do love medallion quilts!

Baskets of Scraps and Bushels of Fun!

It is the middle of May and I am thinking about long ago when I was in grade school and we made May Baskets out of colored construction paper and thick white paste. I can still smell that paste and feel the thickness of it as I tried to smooth out the big lumps. I would squish it between my fingers, anything to flatten it! Sometimes we wove baskets and sometimes we made cone shapes from the paper. We also made paper flowers that went into the baskets. Handles were stapled in place and we took them home to give our mother or perhaps to hang on the door of a neighbor, and then we would ring the doorbell and run. We thought we were being very clever and that our neighbor would surely be as excited as we were to receive such a treasure. Do children still make May Baskets? I don't know, but every May I think of baskets and get the urge to make them! 

Today I make my baskets from fabric scraps! Most of my sewing has taken a back seat to other things going on in our home right now, but here is a basket quilt I made a few years ago that I thought I could share. You can find the pattern on my website.  Maybe you will feel the urge to make some baskets. Most basket patterns are designed to set on point. This one however, is not. It was fun to design and make. I would love to start making baskets right now!

Remember these stamp baskets from many years ago? Wow, 13 cents for a first class postage stamp! That was a few years ago! I have always loved these little baskets. I wish the scanned photo came out better. But just look at how darling the baskets are in those old fabrics! Love it!

On another note, if you haven't been to Brenda's blog in a while, you must check out the wonderful pincushion round robin she is involved in. She is at Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe. Scroll down to see her posts about this, and then check out the links. Really cute stuff going on! And Brenda has the cutest stuff at her shop as well! She will link you to it. 

Wishing you baskets of scraps and bushels of fun!

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The past few weeks I have been watching as my living room has been transformed. We took out old sliding doors and windows and replaced them with french doors and more attractive and more efficient windows. The man doing the work also added wider trim around two doors and another set of windows in the living room. The painters came in and everything became whiter and brighter! We haven't got the furniture and decor all back in place yet, but what an improvement! We actually thought we would rebuild the fireplace at a different time, but a couple coats of white paint and it is a huge improvement there also. Oh, and I painted the front door red! I love that too! (I forgot to put a grid between the photos so they kind of blennnd...but you know!)

We have more work ahead of us. Now we are dealing with the issue of wood floors. There are so many types that we are overwhelmed. We want really dark floors, kind of distressed or handscraped wide planks. Any advice from someone who has done this with happy results? I want brands and colors! Solid, or engineered? I am grabbing for a life-line here! Too many choices!

In the course of cleaning and refreshing my surroundings I decided to hang these wonderful old photos of my grandparents in my bedroom. I wish I could get a photo of the effect of how they look in the room, but that didn't work so well. I had to take quilts of the wall to make room, but I am pleased with the results. My mother always had both of these hanging together and I loved that, but space would not permit in this case. Above is my grandfather, Celo Chambers, and his little brother. They lived in Punxsutawney, PA. 

This photo is of my grandmother, Mary Payne (Chambers), and her brothers, John and Billy Payne from Mt. View, Alberta, Canada. Aren't they delightful! These three have their names on my Ancestor Quilt that I have discussed in previous blogs. It is difficult trying to get a picture of a photo behind glass. these are both large photos and I didn't want to remove them from the ancient frames. I was able to get good shots by taking the picture from a bit of an angle so the flash didn't glare off the glass.

Thanks for stopping by, and come back again for something quilty, if that is what you are after!

COMING TO AMERICA

One thing you should know about me is that I am nothing if not obsessive-compulsive. I dive into quilting and cannot pull myself away. The same is true of family history and genealogy. I have not been involved in the genealogy for quite a while, but recently have been drawn back into it. Maybe it is the upcoming family reunion in Utah in August, and the ancestor quilt I am making. (You see how nicely I drew two of my compulsions together?) Yesterday I decided to re-type a short history of my great-grandmother's. The photo copy that I have is old and beginning to fade, so I now have it typed in a folder on my computer. The history is very brief, and some of the details are heart breaking.

The family's name was Scow. They left Denmark in 1866 to immigrate to Utah to join the other Mormons who had gathered there under the direction of Brigham Young.Their five children were ages 1, 9,12,14 and 18. First they traveled by steamship to Hamburg, Germany. Then on May 25, 1866 they boarded the sailing vessel Kennelworth and spent fifty-two days on the Atlantic Ocean before landing in New York on July 18, 1866. From there they boarded a train to carry them northward through New England. In Canada they had to travel on dirty and uncomfortable freight and cattle cars to Michigan and then on to Chicago. The heat was unbearable this time of year.  Finally reaching Quincy, Illinois they boarded a steamboat that took them to Wyoming, Nebraska. Oxen teams pulled wagons that carried them the rest of the way to Salt Lake City, Utah. The wagon carried their family of seven plus three other women, provisions and furniture. Considering the way we travel today, can you even imagine what this might have been like? 

Nine year old Sam became ill with malaria fever and still had to walk most of the way. Grandmother prayed for his life and for four days they expected to have to bury him. They even had burial linens prepared. Finally Grandmother retired to a quiet spot and asked the Lord to forgive her for presuming her child should be saved while she had seen so many others buried by the side of the trail. She said, "Thy will, not mine be done". Sam began recovering and by the time they reached Salt Lake City he could walk by holding on to things.  

As they approached Salt Lake City they were met by people carrying baskets of fruit which were freely distributed among them. I imagine they wept with joy.

Their trials were not over, but this part of their journey was. I feel fortunate to know this much about them and what they endured. The personal history was written down as my Great-Great-Grandmother, Catherine Scow Davidson, told it. She was 12 years old during this time. I was able to find other information on line that discussed the very group that they traveled with, both on ship and by wagon. What a thrill for me to be able to add more details to this story! I am so proud to be a descendant of these people and so grateful for their sacrifice. I know they are not unusual in their struggles, they are just mine! 

STARS IN MY EYES TOO!

First there was an idea, then a design was developed with the help of EQ6, then came blocks of 9-patches and stars, and finally a quilt! This was supposed to be a quilt for my newest grandchild born last December. I was way ahead of schedule and finished it last summer. So instead of waiting for the baby, I sent the photo to McCall's magazine. They liked it! This is their photo below.

Today I was informed that it will actually be published in the June-July issue of McCall's Quick Quilts! Check out the link to McCall's to get a preview of my quilt, American Dreamer, and all the other quilts that will be appearing in this up coming issue. There is even a link to directions for a queen size version! My quilt is 49" x 49" --a large sized baby quilt, which is a good thing because baby won't be getting it for a while!

This issue will be out April 13 through May 4, 2010. Now I will be circling the mailbox in anticipation!

Here is baby Isaac without his new quilt. See how he is suffering.

PS: Mary at Quilt Hollow quilted this and did a beautiful job!

A GIFT OF THE HEART

 

 I am always pleased when someone makes one of my patterns and sends me a picture! Some of you will remember this design from last Christmas, it is called Christmas Punch. Wendy Coomer from Cache Creek. BC, Canada made this quilt. Here is what she told me:

  A good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer before Christmas. Every day is Christmas to her, she loves Christmas so much, so when I saw this pattern, I had to make it for her. 

I made 15 inch squares and the finished quilt ended up being 45 x 70 inches - just a nice size to snuggle in. I'll be giving it to her this week.

 Thanks Wendy for sharing your quilt with me and giving me a chance to share it with others!

P.S.: This free pattern is available at www.patchalotpatterns.com

WRAPPING UP AN ANCESTOR QUILT

I have been puttering around with so many odds and ends, trying to finish something! Well finally I can call this top complete and ready to be quilted! In fact I made two just alike. One is for our family reunion and one is for me! The family reunion this summer is for the descendants of Will and Carrie Payne of Mt. View, Alberta, Canada. Will was born in Cottesbrook, England in 1866. He went to Canada as a young man and joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Carrie was born in Utah in 1875 and traveled with her family north to Alberta to settle just over the U.S. border in Mt. View. She and Will came together there and at the age of 19, she married him.They raised ten children in a cabin on a sheep ranch. I have no idea how many descendants there are of these two. Several hundred is probably a low estimate. My grandmother used to say that the good Lord must have loved them because he made so many of them!

This reunion is to bring us together to recall our history and our heritage and to honor those who paved the way with sweat. sacrifice and service. These were honorable hardworking people who set a standard that the rest of us are continually trying to live up to.

Making this small quilt has been a joy as I embroidered the names of this beloved family on each block. I know my grandmother would have loved this!

ADDENDUM:  I got this pattern at the Corn Wagon in Springville, UT, 801-491-3551.

The pattern is from Leslie Ison and Norma Whaley of Salt Lake City, UT.

DO YOU SMELL LIKE A GRANDMA?

 A couple of years ago my granddaughter remarked that, "It smells like a grandma in here". "What does a grandmother smell like", I asked? Well, she couldn't really give me a definitive answer, so I am still wondering, does a grandmother smell musty? Does a grandmother smell like lavender and rose water? Does a grandmother smell like sugar cookies? Naturally I prefer a pleasant fragrance of flowers and herbs or sugar and cinnamon. 

I have tried to recall what my grandmothers smelled like and nothing really comes to mind. I have all kinds of good feelings that surface, but no particular fragrance. My mother, on the other hand, was a perfume junkie and usually smelled of Giorgio or Chanel #5. Everyone in my family remembers that and can be taken back to her memory in a heartbeat with just a whiff.

What do I smell like? Do I offer an unforgettable odor? When my granddaughter remarked that it smelled like a grandma was she referring to me? She would admit nothing! But last week I got an e-mail from her saying that she took some children that she was babysitting over to their grandmother's house and was offered a treat of Diet Coke and Hershey's Kisses. She wanted me to know that she immediately thought of me. I smiled of course, because if my grandchildren know anything about me, other than quilts, it is Diet Coke and Hershey Kisses! I feel quite better now!

THE RETURN OF THE QUILTER

I haven't posted in quite a while, but life seems to fill in the cracks and there is always something going on in my life. I made this quilt last year and just got it back from my quilter, Rose Skinner, here in Virginia Beach. She did a great job and even bought a new template so she could do just what I wanted: Baptist Fans!

This is a big quilt and boy did I go through lots of strips of fabric. I will show more of this at a future time, but for now it is getting packed off to McCall's Quilting Magazine and we shall see what they do with it!

I began this quilt over two years ago, and in fact I had planned to have it finished and a pattern out by spring of 2008. I don't know how on earth this got shoved aside for so long, but I am once again making flying geese like crazy in an attempt to finish it. I still like it, but I can't seem to focus on one thing for too long and this really has A LOT of flying geese! Luckily, if we start to get bored with one process we can move on to another process, or project, as the case may be.

Saturday was the Open House at the LQS. As we sat around visiting with customers and each other, the woman next to me was appliqueing circles down on Western Sun blocks. Oh I remember that quilt, that one is waiting for my return as well. So many UFOs waiting patiently for my return. There is a book title for you: The Return of the Quilter!

Later my friends!