They're Here

They are digging a hole in front of our house.

I haven't gotten close to it, but I believe the hole goes on to infinity.  We are getting a new road.  The construction has been going on for a month.  Sigh.  We have been told it will go until November.  At least by November the windows will be shut.  We have had really lovely weather here the first 2 weeks of June.  Lovely weather.  The kind of weather where you want all the doors and windows open.  It's not just the dust, and it's not just the "tearing up and digging noise", it's the BEEP BEEP BEEP every moving vehicle makes when they are in reverse.  If I lose it - and start talking in tongues - it will be because of that BEEP.  Never have I looked forward to hot weather. I will this year.  It means the windows will be shut and the air conditioning turned on full blast.  And don't get me started on our driveway.  RIP driveway.

In other news......

Polly has started to list some rug hooking kits on our Etsy site. They will be on our website too in a day or so.  

You can find the kits HERE - and there will be more posted in the next couple of days.  

Ta Ta

Laurie

Slow Pace

While we have more than enough stuff to fill our days, the last week or so has been more relaxed.  My "to-do" list can be written on one page.  I am currently chipping away at all 4 things on my list.  Pretty happy about that.

 This is how I will spend my evenings for the next couple of weeks. Hand quilting my Nightingale quilt. I decided to use a big-stitch technique for this and am liking it so far.  That is basically the same hand quilting I always do, but with an embroidery needle and 12wt Aurifil thread.  I believe the 12wt correlates to the 12wt in pearl cotton.  This Aurifil is dreamy in this weight.  A delight to hand quilt with.  This top will go super fast.  The quilt is 90" square and I expect that I will have it just about finished by the end of the month - and that is only sewing on it in the evenings.  I'll keep you posted as to my expectations.

 Here I have started to mark the cross hatching lines that will go behind my vines.  I used a hera marker  to make the top - my favorite tool for straight lines.

I haven't decided on how I will quilt the nine patch "crosses" yet.  I have a day or two to decide before I get to them.

Polly is at a workshop in Florida this weekend.  She says "Hi" and wanted me to tell you that there will be a new Semper Fi Rug Kit posted soon here.

Paula asked in our last post - to list all of our fabric collections.  Wow, I just wrote them down and it sure sounds like a lot.  35 to be exact.  Lissa Alexander mentioned the last time I saw her that we had over 30 collections.  I said that couldn't be right.  Well, I guess since Moda Fabrics counts the woven and wool collections as separate - then it is well over 30.  My, my - how times flies.  I'll list them here - they can also be found HERE on our website.  Over on the left - they are in 2 places - Past Collections has the first that we did before we had the website - and then the rest are listed under Moda Fabric collections.  All are here except for the one that ships in September - Midwinter Reds. 

Nantucket

Nantucket Wovens and Wools

Coming Home

Coming Home Wools

Christmas Past

Christmas Past Wovens and Wools

Vintage Reserve

Vintage Reserve Wovens and Wools

Scaredy Cat

Scaredy Cat Wovens and Wools

The Hamptons

Prairie Paisley

Prairie Paisley Wovens

Winter

Winter Wovens

American Primer

American Primer Wovens

Flag Day Farm

Flag Day Farm Wovens

Jingle Flannel

Wiscasset

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor Wovens

Halloween Night

Clermont Farms

Charlevoix

American Banner Rose

American Banner Rose Wovens

Prairie Paisley II

Independence Trail

Independence Trail Wool

Indigo Crossing

Indigo Crossing Wovens

Midwinter Reds

Midwinter Reds Wovens

Have a relaxing weekend everyone

Laurie

Yes! We Have Kits!

The long awaited boxes from France have arrived.  Along with our quilts and rugs that furnished our "house" in Nantes - we have a few kits.  That in itself is a story..... we were advised, by needle artists that had gone before us, that small kits were it.  Europeans had smaller homes and thus, less wall space as compared to Americans.  We noted this and shipped tons of small kits - both quilts and rugs to France.  I had to buck the trend and also add some of what I like the most - large quilt kits.  Guess what? Every small rug kit that Polly sent over sold. Every LARGE quilt kit I sent over sold, but I do have some smaller kits left.  Leave it to me to be abnormal.

Star Table Runner

Game Board Quilt

1868 Quilt

This is what we have, the Star Table Runner kit, the Game Board kit (both out of Indigo Crossing fabric) and the 1868 Quilt kit out of Independence Trail fabric.  You can find them here on Etsy.

Don't worry Rug Hookers ...... Polly is working on a new Semper Fi kit to be unveiled here on this blog very soon.  Keep watching.

Have a great weekend

Laurie

A Few Quiet Days

Yes, a few quiet days before all the hustle and bustle starts again.  We've been lucky and have had perfect June weather.  I am making another Nightingale quilt.

Nightingale

I will hand quilt this one - with big red stitches using Aurifil 12wt thread.

The nine patches are all done and I'll be working on the leaf applique for the next couple of days.

I'll be showing pictures in progress along the way.  The quiet time of hand quilting should be helpful to get my brain working.  It's time to design some more quilts for the future fabric group.  

In the next couple of days you should see some more kits added to out ETSY site.  These are the kits from the workshops in France.  

Hope you get some time to sit, relax and stitch or hook during this perfect June weather.

Laurie

Quilts And Rugs Book - The Winner!

Thanks everyone for all your tips!  The winner of the new book - Quilts and Rugs is Hanske from The Netherlands.  Email me HERE Hanske, and it will go out to you very soon.

Here are a couple more projects from the book - Here is Polly's checkerboard rug.

This is my wool appliqued quilt - Hearts

Sorry for the lame pictures. I scanned them from the book. I don't have the jpegs of the pictures from the book yet.

There is lots more! I hope to post more pictures soon.  You can find the book HERE.


What else....... I put on the latest border on my Mrs. Billings quilt.

I have the corners taped down to the floor to kind of lay it out straight for this picture.  The last border is not pressed, (and it is hand pieced) so if it isn't held down, it scrunches up like an accordion.  Again, I long to press, but good sense and suggestions in the accompanying directions discourage it at this point.  WAY too many bias edges right now to start pressing, but I'm confident (after it was stretched out) that it is laying straight and true.  That last border was a big one.  Everyone says it all downhill at this point.  The Mrs. Billings pattern and templates are flying their way here right now.  If you want to take the plunge, the pattern/template kit is available HERE.

Laurie

Rotary Cutting and Potato Salad

I made potato salad yesterday. Some of you might have also.  This is the recipe I have used for the last couple years and we like it a lot.

I was once told by an elderly German woman that the secret to good potato salad is that you add your vinegar to the potatoes when they are still hot. The Martha Stewart's recipe that I used suggests this also.  That is one reason why I didn't make it very often - that part is a chore.  If you have ever wondered where the phrase "hot potato" came from - I'm sure it is somehow related to making potato salad.  There were juggled and dropped potatoes in my past.  Kitchen towels were used, as were paper towels.  I don't recommend those.  Messy.

Imagine my delight when I discovered a new way to make potato salad.  AND it's a quilting tool that came to the rescue!  I used these......

Yes, rotary cutting gloves.  I bought these (I have 2) a few years ago when I was demonstrating rotary cutting to a group of people - that included children.  I wanted to be a responsible adult and use the gloves that prevented you from cutting yourself.  After that demo I tried to use the gloves in my own quilt making.  I found them cumbersome, and quite frankly, just another thing to clutter up the cutting table.  I know. Bad quilter. I just try to be careful with my cutter and so far - //knocks on wood// - no problem.  The gloves found their way to a box in the quilting room.  A few years ago when I was juggling and dropping potatoes in the sink trying to make potato salad, I remembered them.  I ran them through the washer and dryer and made a batch the next day - BRAVA!  No burnt hands and the little grippy dots on the glove hold the potato like a vise while you  CUT THE POTATOES IN YOUR HAND!  The rotary cutting gloves now get thrown in the wash after each use and now live in the kitchen drawer.  

YOU'RE WELCOME!

My apologies to all you safety minded quilters.

Have you ever used a quilting tool for another use? Have you ever used an unconventional tool in making your quilts?  Can you tell us please?  Just make a comment about it here before Midnight Wednesday May 29th and you could get a copy of our new book - Quilts and Rugs....

I'll be spending the afternoon adding the next border on to my Mrs. Billings quilt.  Pictures soon.

Laurie

Minimalism in Portland

So you want to see our booth?  There wasn't much there.  It was GREAT!  The new Moda Designer Booth concept was sure a hit with us.  You see, no shipping crates and cartons. No getting in a day early to build and furnish a booth. Nope. We all had 6' of space on the whitewashed walls.  Floors, shelves and tables were already there put up by the wonderful staff at Moda.

 Minimalism. Yeah.  We had everything we needed to show shop owners.  We even had a little table and chairs to catch up with our buddies.

Polly, Camille, Edyta, me, Mary, and Barb

 One of our big hits at the show was this scarf made with the ikat wovens from Midwinter Reds.  The fabric will ship in September. But......remember that the same fabric (in blue and creams) was in our Indigo Crossing collection. If you have this - or any of our wovens (the same design on the back and front of the woven fabric) than you can make this scarf.  Here are the simple directions.

We hope you are having a nice long holiday weekend with family and friends and also getting in some stitching or hooking.  This is my diamond border for Mrs. Billings piled on my little red wagon.  All four borders are finished and I am working on the corner pieces.  I should be able to post a picture in a couple of days.  To all those who asked - Mrs. Billings pattern and templates will be in stock once again - just as soon as they get here from down under.  I'll let you know when they arrive.

As always, our thanks to all who serve and those who have paid the ultimate price - honor them on this Memorial Day weekend.

Laurie