Turkey Day

Hi there and HAPPY THANKSGIVING  to all my American friends, and happy Thursday to the rest of you. Unless of course you're living in the future, I'm talking to you Australia, in which case it's Friday already.

 

Hope no matter what kind of Thursday you're having, I hope it's wonderful!

xop

Monday

Hi there! It's Turkey Week!  My turkey is thawing in the garage fridge surrounded by cans of soda and bottled water, right on schedule, hopefully!  Are you busy like bees getting ready?  Low key for us this year.

 

Didn't sew this weekend but I did manage some prep work for future projects done.  Today I'll work on stitching them up.  I love sewing and fiddling around in my sewing room even when I'm not sewing.  Of course it doesn't make for great blogging. And really doesn't make for great photography. 

 

Ok, lets have a great week people! xo

Friday

Good morning.. how did things go this week? It's going to be everyone's big shopping weekend with Thanksgiving coming up, lots of activity at the market for sure.   Maybe I'll try and shop later today, grab the turkey at least.

It's been windy and rainy this week, all good things.  Well except for the leaves.  I think by Monday it looked like Bret had never cleaned them up.  That's just how it's going to be for a while.

Working on future projects.  Here's today's combo.   I like how it's looking. Procrastination is the usually the name of my game, but I'm really trying to be better.  Baby steps.

 

What's on your weekend agenda?  I hope it's not all work.  Sometimes escaping to the sewing room is the perfect stress reliever.  Have a good weekend! xop

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 10

Hi there! Can you believe there's been 10 issues of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine!  It's very exciting, that' s ONE THOUSAND blocks.  And while I missed a chance to get in on the blog hop,  I didn't want a miss a chance to share it with you!  Do you know I've had a block in all 10 issues!!

 

Here's my block for Volume 10, it's called Flower Pops, inspired by cake pops that you see all over the place!  There are plenty of chances to win a copy of the magazine, so head over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog and check out the designers on the blog hop.

Before you head out though, here's the super fun video I linked to last week. 

 

Ok, have a great day Super Friends!

Monarch Monday

Hi there Happy Monday to you !  Did you have a nice weekend?  It's official, we've turned on the heater so it's really fall around here!  There's plenty of leaves around, Bret vacuumed up a bunch but they'll be falling well into January.   I managed to get in some sewing, and some pinteresting and some instagram watching.  You know, the usual.

 

Friday I was in Monterey and took a little trip over to the Pacific Grove Butterfly Sanctuary.  It's prime Monarch migration season, you can read more about that here as well as see some pretty spectacular photos. At first  I thought there  were far less butterflies than before, but then on the way back up the trail I saw more clumps of them hanging off trees in a whole different area than I was used to seeing them.  They just look like dried leaves until the sun starts warming them up.  It needs to be around 55 degrees I believe for them to start flying.  I've mostly come in the mornings, but Friday I was there in the early afternoon.  The docent was saying that there were about 8000 butterflies in the park, and they were expecting a record number this year. The bad news is that butterfly habitat is shrinking in the United States and Mexico.

You can barely see them in this first picture in the eucalyptus trees, then close up you can see the big clumps of them.

 

Farther down the path there is a pocket of sunshine.. usually you can see more of the butterflies down there, but not Friday. I did see some deer pretty close up.  They're not tame by any means, but they aren't totally afraid of humans.  Click over here to my picture on instagram.  A doe just stuck her head out behind a planter, took a look then backed up.  It was hilarious. I had seen her coming .. it's a chicken wire fence!  I have posted about the butterflies before, you can read those posts here if you're so inclined!

 

It was cool in the little wooded area, lots of shade, but it was nice in the sun.  The California Coast is nice in the fall. It was a good day out and about.

 

So what did you do this weekend? 

Friday Fun

Hi there! Can you believe it's Friday? Yesterday we had a lovely rainy day.  It was cloudy and cozy and perfect.  I ran out to Cost Plus just to get out of the house. It's the time of year where people's lovely little photo vignettes push me right over the edge. I was thinking about Suzanne and how she's always finding things that I didn't know I wanted.. but I came home empty handed.  Then I see this post on Facebook about an hour later.  I can only imagine all the cute stuff that basket could hold! 

 

I know lately I'm talking a lot about secret sewing.  An instagram friend, Susan, (follow her here, she's an amazing quilter) said it's like saying "I've been invited to a party and you weren't" and it did get me thinking about it. She said it in a totally fun way, not a mean way, so no need to get upset. But I did think about it and wonder, is it rude?

 

Like today, aside from my trip to Cost Plus, I worked on future stuff, so all I can show is the fabrics I chose.  I have been thinking that it's fun to get teased a little about things to come and I hope I'm right!

 

Ok, I'm off for an outing today.  Hope you all have a super happy weekend! xo

 

 

Wednesday

So how's the week treating you?  So far so good on my end.  I'm working behind the scenes on projects I can't show and trying to figure out stuff to work on that I can! I came across this pincushion on Pinterest,  and absolutely had to make one.  (instructions found here)

 

Unlike a lot of cute people, I'm not all organized (and I'm talking about you Lori!)but I still had no problem pulling fabrics for this project.. everything was in a big  pile just waiting to be used. I took a cue from Suzanne and fussy cut the Recipe for Success fabric as the center of my Dresden.

 

 

I think it turned out pretty cute.  Pretty big, somehow, even though they had those scissors in the shot for scale, it still seemed smaller to me.  I'm almost wishing I made it a little bigger and turned it into a boxy pillow.  But hey, I could do it, that pile if fabric is still, well, piled up!

 

Somehow I missed getting in on the upcoming blog hop for Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, but I didn't miss out on getting in on video fun!  I'll show you my block next week! Until then check out the video!

 

Ok, that's it for today.  Anything new on your end? xo

 

P. S. Thanks again Katie Jean for sending me that mini Dresden template!!! I love it!

Monday Morning

This morning I thought I'd give you a little laugh to start your week off. Normally after quilt market I have tons of people pictures and nothing else, this time I have tons of booth pictures and no people! What the heck? I don't know how it happened honestly, but I'm going with it. If you're sick of quilt market pictures, time to click the back button, but if you're good for a few more, what the heck, keep on scrolling. One of the things I read on instagram during quilt market was about how instagrammers were unfollowing people who were posting quilt market pictures because they were getting 'spammed' with pictures. Yikes! I can see how it would happen if you follow a lot of people who attend. I saw a lot of the same photos in my feed too, but it's an exciting time for shops to talk about all the stuff they're seeing and ordering for their stores, and an exciting time for vendors to talk about all their new stuff... so we're in a Catch 22 situation. I'm sure there's nothing I'm going to show you that you didn't already see I bet, since I'm so late to this party.

 

 Here's Rosalie's booth.  So cheerful.  I love her style and really she couldn't be a sweeter person.  Her colors are happy  and she's got a delightful mix of patchwork and embroidery.
 

 

Here's Emma Jean Jansen's booth.  My bigger photo was a bit blurry but I had loved this little table with all the treasures on it, and I particularly loved the quilt in the background. I haven't met Emma Jean, but I follow her on instagram.. so I am familiar with her work.

 

Here's Lori's spot over at Riley Blake.   I've been watching her make these quilts but I just didn't appreciate how big those blocks were!  They're super fun, and those tulips! I just love tulips. And of course all the bees are adorable.

 

I never got back to Carrie's booth once the show was open, although I saw Carrie quite a few times. Really you couldn't meet a nicer person.  It was great to talk to her about her exciting changes, so if you haven't heard you should click over to her blog and read about it.   Anyway, I cracked myself up taking a picture through the tulle closing up her booth. 

 

I was super happy to see Bonnie back at quilt market this year. If you've seen Kimberly's video of her favorite finds you'll see that Bonnie was named Homecoming Queen of this years market!  Of course right next to her is Camille's booth.  Camille has great style don't you think? I love her quilts and holy cow that Norway quilt is wonderful right? 

 

I was very happy to see Brenda's new line, Ambleside in real life . All her projects are sweet and romantic in Brenda's style as you'd expect.. the fabric is lovely. 

 

 

Totally bummed I didn't see Jen Kingwell at market. I did get a chance to visit her booth though before the show opened.  OMG people. O. M. G.  I know everyone knew Jen forever but the first time I saw her quilts was in Salt Lake City and it was the Green Tea and Sweet Bean quilt that just about knocked me over I loved it so much. I didn't meet Jen till the next show but by then I was a devoted follow.

 

Saw Joanna just for a quick minute too, sad that we have to meet up in completely different states considering we live about 25 minutes from each other!  Her corner of the Moda aisle was busy and cheerful just as you'd expect, love her new Aloha projects. 

 

PAT SLOAN!  Everyone knows Pat. She's everywhere and just a delightful in person as you'd imagine. I did get a chance to talk to Pat for a bit with our friend Roseann! I love her quilts here in her booth, that big basket of flowers!!!  I love the folk arty look of it and the bright fresh colors. 

I'm really going to try and not gush and embarrass myself over Minnick and Simpson.  Quilts and hooked rugs.  Two things I love.  That Austin Bluebird quilt is wonderful.  As is everything they make.  That's all I'm going to say, I've already typed and erased a bunch of gushing fan girl stuff that is a little embarrassing, probably for all of us.

 

Me and My Sister.  Love their bright cheerful style both in fabric and in personality.  If I was as cool as them I'd have photoshopped up a magazine called "Quilt Beat" kind of the way of Tiger Beat and had smeared their faces along with Laurie and Polly's all over, so you see it's just better this way! They're so clever, honestly, just watch this video.  I could watch it maybe another 20 times.

 

Katy Jones! Honestly what CAN'T Katy Jones do? Author, Magazine Editor, quilt television personality and now fabric designer!   I love how her booth came together!

 

And last but most assuredly not least, Bari J! She had the nice big wall to showcase her new line Petal and Plume, and all her fabulous projects and painting!  I don't even know where to start, pattern designer, fabric designer, painter, author.. head over to her website if you don't already follow her.

 

I wish my picture of the Stitches of Love booth turned out. They have so many cute patterns, and they were so nice.  Hop on over to their website to check it out.

 

I had a great time at market, busy but fun.   Its so inspiring to be there seeing everyone's hard work on display.  I've been so lucky to make so many great friends.  If only I could get all the pictures! 

 

It was fun showing people all the new Sunrise Studio prints and Fog City Kitty.  I'm glad to be home actually sewing on Pam Kitty Garden.  I'm working on some projects for upcoming blog hops for some new sensational books.. so stay tuned for that. 

 

Phew. Now lets all get busy ! xop

 

 

TGIF

Hi there how did the week go?  Get any sewing done?  I'm happy to have my trusty Bernina 1260 back from the shop. It needed it's regular servicing along with the replacement of the thread cutter on the side.  I can' t believe how hard it was to retrain myself to cut the threads with scissors instead of just looping them through the cutter. 

 

Working on a fun project, which I'll be showing you soon. I'm excited about my fabric choices, that aqua tulip swirl on top there is looking like it's in the running for my favorite fabric of the collection.  So far anyway!

And I'm already trying to figure out just how many yards of that apple I'm going to need.  You might have seen that I'm on the list for the Vintage Vibe blog tour coming up, my new pal Amanda blogged about her new book and the tour here.  I can't wait to show you what I'm going to work on for that.

 

Yup, lots in the works for me!  What's new with you? 

 

Hope you all have a happy weekend! xo

 

 

 

 

LakeHouse

Hi there middle of the week!  Wednesday always seems like a great day of the week to me, and today is extra good because it's Bret's birthday!  It's the perfect time for me to say what a great guy he is and that I totally hit the husband jackpot when I married him.  So right off I want to say Happy Birthday to Bret! Hope this coming year is extra awesome for you.

 

Moving on to the usual kinds of blog topics, here's a picture of the LakeHouse booth at Quilt Market!  Look at that wall of mini quilts!  Holly designed those blocks using her new Borders on Bolts  Instant Scallops and Fence fabric, along with other fabrics in her Sunrise Studio collection. 

 

They're pretty amazing, she got started and couldn't stop. Our friend Sherri Falls stitched them all up and quilted them for her, and shipped them to the hotel. What fun it was to see Holly open the box and one by one pull out all those colorful quilts. What's great is that they illustrate just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities for the scallops, and you can count on seeing more of those in the future.

 

On the tables we showed off quilts made from the collection and from the Pam Kitty Garden collection, both of which are shipping to stores December. The Sunrise Studio colors are compatible with the Pam Kitty colors so you'll be able to add scallops to your Pam Kitty fabric projects too!  Lots more coming on that topic for sure!  Anyway, you're getting a sneak peak at some future magazine quilts as well as a free pattern for an easy strip quilt.. you might remember seeing me working on it for her before market.

 

I'm excited to show you Fog City Kitty, which is a new color way for the Pam Kitty Garden fabrics.  We had so many requests for grey when shops and customers started seeing PKG  we put together a quick collection starring pinks and grays, but of course you'll see the usual Pam Kitty Suspects, green, aqua and red! I hope you're going to like all the low volume prints we have too!

 

 

Phew! That's a lot for one day!  Better pour another cup of coffee and get busy! Have a happy day!

 

 

 

Monday Catch Up

Good morning! Welcome to November, can you believe we're nearing the end of 2014?  I feel like the time is racing by at a faster pace than I'm accustomed to. Is it just me? 

 

Quilt Market is a great time to connect with quilt friends that are also in the business that you only see a couple of times a year.  My friend Mary Andra from Sister's Quilt Trunk came by, she and her sister's didn't have a booth this time, so we actually had some time to visit. She made this lovely block and wondered if I might like it!  OH MY GOSH I WOULD!

 

Mary Andra's applique is beautiful, as is her embroidery.  I love the embroidered bow layered over the striped handle.  And of course love that it's made with Pam Kitty fabric.

 

Of course I wanted her to sign it, and she came prepared with a pigma pen!  The signature makes it so special.  Thank you so much Mary Andra, what a special gift you have given me.

 

When I came home I also had a Sew Sweet Bee block from Amy.  I love her fabric selections and the little sheep she included!  So cute !

 

I'm cracking up over her note about being nervous about writing on her block. The signatures really make the project to me, and help me remember who sent each block.  My memory isn't what it used to be.

 

Here's the churn dash block I made for Renee.  I had to pull out my Bernina 180 to stitch this up, my 1260 is in the shop for it's cleaning and tune up.  I use it so infrequently it's hard to remember how to use it, not to mention finding all the correct feet! It's a nice machine, I should use it more often. I am late to stitch this up, so I'll get this in the mail asap! Thanks for being patient Renee!

 

Ok, that's it for today! I hope you had a nice weekend.  Getting that bonus hour was a big help, and I like getting up with a little more light in the morning. I'm not going to enjoy how short the days are though.  Oh well, I'm grateful for electricity!

Have a good week everyone!