Thursday

I'm a pretty bad procrastinator, so  since market is just freshly over and I have two free patterns to go with  Pam Kitty Garden, I decided not to wait so long to get started on the instructions.  Tulip Garden is a quilt that I'd been working on for a while, long before Holly and I decided that this collection would be garden inspired. 

I decided to whip out a test block for the applique one day and I had the shapes cut out and fused in no time. Except of course I had forgotten my shapes were cut for the original smaller size block I'd planned. So it worked out well that I decided to check it out first.  Note to self: mark your photoshop files with block size information.

The tulips were significantly bigger... too bad my leaves were fused already.  Darn it. But I'm glad I got it all worked out in advance.  Yesterday I cut out everything I needed to make myself a little kit to stitch up.  I'm sure you'll see this tulip shape again, I really love it. 

 

 

 

Now after cutting all those tulip shapes, I'm wishing I had a die for cutting, tulips in 2 or 3 sizes plus some leaves would be awesome. I have a lot more ideas for it.

 

Ok people, hope you're having a good week. In case I don't get back here tomorrow, have a great weekend! xo

Tuesday

Yay for 3 day weekends right?  It's always nice to have that bonus day with my working peeps home and this was the first time when no one  had any big work projects to take time away from relaxing. Of course there's always things to do around the house, aren't there? I got in some good sewing time. 

 

It's late in the month, but I've got my Sew Sweet Bee  block done for this month. I'm sending it off to Jennie today. It was very fun to make. I like the strips for the middle blocks, and how it's all pretty low volume. 

 

No more toddler sewing for me anymore! I ordered myself a nice red Bernina chair just like Alex's from the Dublin Sewing Center. I am in love with the red red RED. (you can check out  a video with Alex and the chair here) I'm back sewing at the right height and it's great.

 

 

I've been doodling around the sewing room lately, low pressure stuff, and it's been fun.  What did you do this past weekend and what are you sewing on? There are so many great projects that I've seen over on instagram.  I'm inspired and intimidated! 

 

Have a great week everyone! xop

Friday

It's Friday and the end of a long busy week! Hope yours was a good one.  I did a variety of  things we all do during a week, you know what I mean. It's not particularly exciting, but you know sometimes that's not all that bad!

 

 

 

It's been nice weather so I've had some coffee on the swing.  I have a friend keeping me company a lot of the time. He's pretty bold when there's birdseed available.  I buy a mix that has fruit and nuts and everyone loves it, birds, squirrel and little dogs a like. 

 

 

Any big plans for the long weekend?  We usually stay pretty close to home on a long weekend. There is always a lot of traffic through our little valley, so coming and going isn't easy on a holiday, unless you want to join the throngs of people passing through. Which most of the time, we don't. 

 

Today is my brother Brian's birthday.  When he was little he didn't like to eat, he'd always say 'if only my sister would feed me'.  Today if I was feeding him there would be cake. 

 

Have a great day everyone!  I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend! xop

Sunrise Studio

Hi there!  Yesterday I was a bit of a slacker.. no post.. but I'm back here today with the Sunrise Studio pages for you.  This first collection's colors coordinate with the Pam Kitty Garden colors.

 

There's a great Grandmother's Flower Garden print, and the colors are scrumptious.  It's paired in the above quilt with the new scallop  fabrics! That's right! Scallops.  Holly has designed this with a corner unit that you can cut out and use to border a quilt.  No mitering needed!

 

There's also some very clever fencing.  It has it's own corner piece as well  that you can cut out and use to finish of your borders.  Paired with the large flower pots and the scallops it makes a darling fast and easy quilt. 

 

With this collection, she also showed an idea page, where you can jump start your imagination and think of ways to use the new fabrics!

 

This collections also includes 4 new solids and 5 dots that coordinate. I'm crazy about it all!!

 

Well that's just about all the fun project pages in the booklet.  I hope you're just as excited for all these new fabrics as I am.  The hardest thing about this collection will be waiting for it to arrive next January!

 

 

Monday

Good morning and happy Monday!  Quilt Market is in the rear view mirror now, did you follow along on Facebook and Instagram like I did?  It was so fun to see all the people and the booths.  Everyone puts so much work in preparing for those 3 days it only seems fair to look and enjoy it! 

 

I'm finishing up with the Pam Kitty Garden booklet pages today.  I have two free patterns that will be available to download once the fabric  starts shipping.   First off is Flower Patch.. It's a simple on point flower block, flower in the center with 'buds' going around the edges. It's easy to make with the alternating chain blocks. 

This is my favorite, Tulip Garden.  I love that little tulip shape and wanted to incorporate it into another quilt after last years free pattern  Tic Tac Tulip. Holly showed it in two color variations in the booklet, navy here and then down below  a pretty apricot variation.

 

It's hard to decide which one I like best. I'm going to start working on a version in Pam Kitty Picnic while I wait around for Pam Kitty Garden.

 

Did you know LakeHouse had a line of neutral basics?   The Crème De La Crème collection goes from white to taupe and includes some pieces with the classic LakeHouse Pearl.

 

Tomorrow I can't wait to talk about Sunrise Studio and show you what Holly has in store for her new division of LakeHouse. 

 

Ok, that's it for today!  Hope you guys have a great week. xo

 

 

More Booklet

Market is in full swing today!  Yesterday it was fun watching all the excitement on Instagram and Facebook. Seeing the booth set up pictures helped keep my sad feelings in check, I don't miss that at all.  Seeing all the happy people showing off their hard work,  yes, I do miss that. The enthusiasm and excitement of the show is pretty invigorating. 

 

Today I want to show off the hard work of some of my friends.  Brenda Riddle designed Bloomers for the Pam Kitty Garden collection!  It's a block of the month program and we have two versions here, one with a pieced border and one with a solid border.  Both totally cute. 

 

This page is is showing off 6 different versions of Jera's  Summer Star Mini Quilt. It's so cute and it looks like you could finish one in a day!  Jera has a new book coming out later this year, Quilt As You Go Made Modern.  You can catch up with Jera on her blog Quilting in the Rain.

Allison's new Morning Glory pattern just seemed like it was perfect for Pam Kitty Garden.  We're showing two versions of it here. Allison is at market right now showing off her new line of fabric Oh Clemantine and all her new patterns.

 

Because we won't have fabric until later in the year, it's great to see digital versions of projects, just like you'd see actual quilts in a booth. Thanks to Brenda, Jera and Allison for allowing us to use their patterns in our booklet!   I'll have more projects to share next week. Happy weekend!

With this Ring

Since it's quilt market week I thought that since I can't show off the booklet at market this time, I'd show off some of the pages here on the blog!   This is Holly's pattern This Diamond Ring for Cut Loose Press.  I made the quilt up for her in Sausalito Cottage for the presentation. I think it turned out so nice. Sausalito Cottage should be arriving at shops in June.

 

 

Here's her digital representation of the quilt in several colorations in the Pam Kitty Garden Collection.

 

Once you see them, it's hard to decide which one to make.  I am working on one now in Pam Kitty Picnic while I wait.  It's an easy project that looks complicated.   Shops can order this pattern though Checker, it's With this Ring, Cut Loose Press Item #CLPHHD001.

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the booklet!  If you're at Market you can catch Holly's presentation at 4:40pm in room 360.

Quilt Market!

Hi there! Today is the day I get to spill some of the LakeHouse Beans!  I'm excited to show off the front and back covers of our Sales Booklets for Spring Quilt Market 2014. 

Did you notice?

Not only will we be showing Pam Kitty Garden, let me tell you just a bit about the newest division of LakeHouse, Sunrise Studio!! Moving into her new-old cottage in Sausalito has been a long time dream of Holly's and with the achievement of that dream has come new inspiration. Early on we made the decision to skip having a booth this market due to personal obligations for both of us, and Holly has  used the time and energy that would normally  be put into booth preparation towards  her first collection for Sunrise Studio,  a collection of engineered prints and designs for a modern sensibility. I can't wait to share them with you.. but if you look closely at the covers you might get an idea of what's coming.  All the prints in the Sunrise Studio collection will coordinate with Pam Kitty Garden. 

Shop owners and market attendees can see a presentation at her School House with Checker, Cut Loose Patterns  and It's so Emma in Room 360 at 4:40pm .  You can view the collection at Checker Booths 609-709, E. E. Schenck Booth 2015 and NeedleCraft Inc Booth 1119. But if you can't see it at market, don't worry, as usual our sales period lasts into the summer, so plenty of time to see what's new and think about how it can work for you!

I am so excited about the new prints and I hope you'll share in my enthusiasm.  Holly has worked hard to bring together three collections of designs that will all work together and bring something to that is fresh and different to your shop and to your sewing room. 

I'm skipping this market so I'll be watching Instagram and Facebook like everyone else, waiting too see everything that's going on.  It's the first time in quite a few years, and I'm already having a tiny bit of remorse, but I'll be back at it this fall in Houston when we'll have our booth, as usual. 

So... keep watching, I'll be sharing our digital projects with you soon!  xop

Mother's Day Weekend

Well, it's the end of another week! Hope it went well for you.  I had a busy week.  No sewing to show off, but I did clean up a few things in my sewing room. Like the floor.  Here's proof. Sure it's a small section.. I'm not a miracle worker!

 

My old sewing chair gave up the ghost this week. Its  permanently in the lowest position and now I'm sewing like a toddler in front of my machine.  Its a nice plush chair that I got with my sewing table, so I decided, with some encouragement from Bret, to get another nice chair.  Kind of a 'treat yo self' moment for me. I had to order it, should be in next week, I hope. Toddler Sewing is for the birds.

 

I also spent some time getting some flowers.  Last weekend we had a big yard clean up so we're ready to do some planting.  I haven't spent a lot of time in the yard in the last year or so, and I want to get back to it. It's porch swing season and I want it to be nice out there.

 

Ok, that's about it here. I'd love to hear how your week went. Any big Mother's Day plans? My people have been so busy it's going to be low key around here. It's all fine with me!  Hope all you Moms have a great weekend!  Live it up! xop

 

 

Surprises

Lucky me I got some very fun mail from my friend Roseann over the weekend! She sent me this adorable pin cushion!

 

It might look familiar to you, it's from the Summer edition of Quilts and More.    It's the actual pin cushion from the magazine! HOLY COW.  I couldn't believe it when I opened the package. Roseann is such a great friend!

 

This edition of the magazine is chock full of fun projects by super friends Carrie, Vanessa,  Monica and Sherri.. and of course a lot of other fun people as well.

 

This adorable flower is so cheerful, I'm just carrying it around with me where ever I go here at home! That's what everyone does, right? 

 

 

Ok, time for me to get busy around here! What are you up to?

 

Monday!

So how did the weekend go? Super busy on my end.  Saturday I headed over to Holly's early after a healthy dose of coffee.  We needed to get some photos of the finished quilt. I can't wait to share that quilt with you, it's really great. I got to see some of the fun things she's working on and I'm dying over them, and I really can't wait to share them with you. I think working in her new space really has supercharged her creativity. 

I had some easy fun sewing too.  I had this little idea for a bag and it worked out pretty good I think.  I remember having a bag like this for my jacks. I loved to play jacks for hours. My mom taught me, and she was awesome at it.  We had those little metal jacks and a red ball.  Now they have the very cheerful plastic jacks, also cute but how the heck to you scoop up all those in one hand?

 

Anyway, I love the little bag, and I've filled it with some goodies, no jacks though, and have it ready to send off to a friend. It was totally some happy sewing fun. 

 

Now because I forgot about picking a name on Friday, the winner of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks magazine is   Laurie Parrack  who said:

"I love the block. I love all the wonderful things you create. Congrats on being in the magazine. Thanks for a wonderful giveaway."

 

 Email your mailing address to me Laurie and I'll pass it along to Quiltmaker ! Thanks everyone for your nice comments and of course for the time you spend here with me! You friendship, support and encouragement are wonderful!

My Precious

Good morning!   So what's going on in your world?  I've dropped off that quilt to the quilter and now I've moved onto some other things.  Yesterday with the help of the internet I figured out something on Photoshop and felt like a genius for a better part of the afternoon. Don't worry, the world has a way of righting itself and within a few hours I was back to my old self, you know, the totally not-genius one.

 

But hey, I don't let it get me down.  It just wouldn't make sense.  So  how cute is my new coffee press?  Or as I like to call it My  Precious.   Yes, I did go there.  Honestly, I'm not in the acquisition mode most of the time, but sometimes Pinterest really gets me and serves up a photo that has me in it's clutches. It all started with this pin.  I've used a coffee press for years but always that big Bodum Chambord Press that's plain and not exciting like one WITH A PINK TOP AND A RED HANDLE. Lets don't even mention how adorable that aqua knob is. 

 

You can only imagine how this story normally goes, something adorable like this cannot be acquired through normal channels. I spent days obsessing about it, then pretending that I didn't care and then trying to search for it one more time.  And then I found it here! And they ship to the United States.  So now I have one.   Phew.

 

 

Here's the link to the blog post at Coco Rose Diaries where the photo originated. What a lovely kitchen Vanessa has. If you want to just see pins of her home, check here.

 

Ok, that's it for me today. Just in case I don't get back here, have a happy weekend friends! xo

 

Hey! Happy May Day!!