Victory Girl Winner!

The winner of the Victory Girls book is....

Jana

Email me here, Jana and we'll get it out to you asap.

Thanks everyone

Laurie

Cosmic Three Card Monty

Are you a baseball fan? If you are, you had quite a night last night.

It's no mystery to those who stop by regularly that we are.

While there was talk at the beginning of the day that "things might change" and "a lot can happen", no one was prepared for the amazing night that baseball offered. Let's see, the following teams needed the last night to finalize either their chance at going to the play-offs, or to define exactly who they would play in the play-offs: Detroit, New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Texas, St.Louis, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Arizona.....uh, who did I miss?

While watching my beloved Tigers, I was sucked into the drama that enfolded all over the country. I wasn't alone. This is why I love baseball....... anything can happen as long as you still are up to bat. That's a good thing to remember for a lot of things in life.

Our friend Carrie, the genius behind Miss Rosie's Quilt Company is a fan too. We have had plans several times to meet in a Major League ballpark to enjoy the game. But, as what happens with busy people, it hasn't happened yet. Carrie mentioned in her last email that wouldn't it be fun if her Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tigers met in the World Series. That is an actual possibility. What fun! There is a certain grizzled ex-player that manages the Diamondbacks.

He once was a fierce competitor for the Detroit Tigers.

A certain beloved companion might or might not be named after him.

October is looking very exciting.

Laurie and Polly

Victory Girls Hits Florida!

Annie would like you all to know that she thinks Victory Girls is great - and she is much more photogenic than a certain someone in Ann Arbor. Annie, we all agree about that.

Make a comment here about what you liked about the Moda Country Fair Blog Hop and you could win a copy for yourself! Just comment here before Friday September 30th at midnight.

Make sure to stop and visit Kate Spain today and her furry friends, and Sweetwater on Wednesday.

Laurie

Victory Girls Has Landed!

Good News! Victory Girls - our new book has shipped! The boxes landed this afternoon and I just finished addressing the envelopes. If you pre-ordered, your book will go to the post office in the morning. Thanks, everyone. We are pretty excited.

Laurie

Catching Up

Hey everyone, are you enjoying the Moda Country Fair Blog Hop? Today is Deb Strain's day and tomorrow make sure to visit Jan Patek.

I also want you to know that the Victory Girls books is "en route". I promise to ship out same day/next day. Thanks so much for your patience

I don't know about you, but this changing seasons thing has me all up in the air. I have about a dozen things to do and I can't concentrate to do any of them. A week long headache hasn't helped, but I plan to knock a few things off the list today. Another reason why I can't get anything done..... Gibby needs a lot of attention. He is loving the dog park. Here he is running with his pal Puggles.

This is a picture of a picture since my scanner won't sync with my new computer. A new scanner is on my wish list. This guy sure is happy when he is running and playing.

What else.... we'll have a book give-away as soon as the little darlings drop on my porch. Also, we'll show our new patterns that use Prairie Paisley II.

Laurie

Moda Country Fair Blog Hop - Barb & Alma's Day

Are you having a grand time visiting around the web and enjoying the fair? I know I have.

Today is Barb & Alma's Day over at Blackbird Design. They have treats.....

And more treats....

Make sure you visit Aneela tomorrow for more yummy stuff.

I am taking the day off as I was up until 2am watching The Detroit Tigers clinch the 2011 MLB American League Central Division. I know that means nothing to most of you, but it's kind of a big deal for me. Hey, I stayed up until 2am. It must have been important.

Have a great weekend!

Laurie

Winners and More of the Cupcake Scandal

Wow! Thanks everyone for visiting and commenting on our day of the Moda Country Fair Blog Hop. That sure was fun. Before we get to the Prairie Paisley II winners, Polly wanted to clarify a couple of things...

" I was always envious of my friends who lived on the beautiful farms around our village. I spent many a day with them and loved it all. In summer, when I visited, they had lots of help getting in their crops and their lunches were like our Thanksgiving Dinner. The kitchen bustled with activity and great treats came from their ovens. I tried to be like them, but have to admit I was a dismal failure. The real reason for joining 4H was to go to 4H camp. Also, I was not clear with Laurie on the cupcakes, it was only 3 white cupcakes without frosting, that would have been another great disadvantage for me - as it was before frosting mix or canned frosting. That would have been a deal breaker. As it was, I only wanted to compete the best way I knew how - not to scam the judges. "

Good Job, Polly! You had a "can-do" attitude from start.

I have a little news too. Did anyone else make it to Target yesterday morning. I had a doctor's appointment at 7:45 and went immediately afterward - about 8:30. I was too late. The doors of Target opened at 8am and by the time I got there - nothing much was left except for a cloud of dust. The great Missoni for Target collection was a great success. The racks were empty.

Scavenging around the racks I did find one thing I came for. Socks.

Hey, I'm happy. They are great socks! I do wish I could have gotten some of the other goodies though. Did anyone get lucky?

Speaking of luck - here are our winners for the Prairie Paisley II pre-cuts!

The winner of the Fat 8th Bundle is - Trudy

Trudy said...

The cake story brought back memories of the way my Nan cooked too. I loved her bear paw cookies. She passed away when I was 10 and years later I asked for her recipe and the family all laughed because Nan had bought the boxed cookies and put them on a plate. Now I can enjoy "NAN'S COOKIES" still. Cute Project.

The winner of the Layer Cake is Patty K

The winner of the Jelly Roll is Laura

Laura said ~ "What a hoot that the cake mix won the prize :) Thanks for the chance to win some of your beautiful fabric."

Ladies, email me here and I will get the fabric out to asap!

And please remember to visit Joanna over at Fig Tree and see what she has prepared for you.

Laurie

It's Our Day on The Country Fair Moda Blog Hop!

It's our day! What a great start we have had. There will be no pie fights though. I think the best way is to just jump right in. Lissa Alexander, our fearless leader sent us a few questions to get this ball rolling.

1. What is on your bucket list? - That's easy, I've always wanted to go to Ireland - Polly.

Well, that's a good one. I think mine would be to take a summer off and visit all the Major League Baseball parks and watch a game in each. - Laurie

2. What's would be your favorite thing "deep fried" at the fair? - Milky Way candy bar - Polly

I whole heartedly agree! - Laurie

Which brings me to this fun fact - Not all Milky Way candy bars are created equal.

You know the little Milky Way bars that you hand out at Halloween? Forget them. Barely a Milky Way. I Don't know why, but they just aren't. The regular Milky Way - Wonderful. They've been a Minick and Simpson favorite for over 50 years, but the new 2 To Go Milky Way bar - PERFECTION! It is different. Basically, there's a greater caramel to nougat ratio. Genius! Polly told me, I told Leigh Ann, and now there is a 2 To Go Milky Way stash that follows us around. I'm sure there will be some at Quilt Market. One could only imagine the sublime candy ecstasy that would be a deep fried/2 To Go Milky Way. It should be on our bucket list.

3. Your favorite Country Fair memory..... Well, I don't know about favorite, but it's a memory - for Polly. I sadly, don't have any. (Again, if you are new to the blog - Polly and I are sisters who have the same parents, but completely different childhoods due to a 16 year age difference).

Polly joined 4H when she was a pre-teen. We lived in a small rural town and we lived in town.

Most of Polly's friends were farm kids and she wanted to do what they did, so she joined. Soon after there was talk of participating in the County Fair. Animal husbandry was out of the question for obvious reasons. Next was a sewing challenge. A dish towel. With lots of help and guidance (basically her friend Mary Lee sewed it) the dish towel was completed. The baking challenge for the county fair loomed. The competition for her age group was a cupcake challenge. Bakers were to make white cupcakes with white frosting. A plate was given to the contestants so all entries would look more or less the same. Polly tackled the challenge with enthusiasm and submitted her 3 cupcakes. The 4H girls then left the baking exhibit and enjoyed the fair. When they returned they were elated as Polly had won!!! A blue ribbon! Imagine her embarrassment when her friends asked about her recipe and she said she used this.

Not everyone saw the humor in the situation. Today we think it's pretty hysterical. Sadly, our Mother was not a baker. If there was a cake in the house it came from a bakery. Just rounding up a wooden spoon, bowl, and cupcake tin was a challenge for Polly. What else was a resourceful girl to do? Polly was pretty proud of herself that she bought the BEST mix. Obviously. It did win the blue ribbon. Well done, Mr. Duncan Hines! Blue ribbon indeed.

In honor of Polly's long ago Blue Ribbon - here is our project - a Blue Ribbon pincushion. We thought our Grandfathers' award winning horses were a better subject than the infamous cupcakes.

Hey, Everyone!!! Here is where you go to download the pattern!

If you leave a comment here, you could be one of the 3 winners of Prairie Paisley II pre-cuts. Someone will win a Fat 1/8th bundle, or a Layer Cake™, or a Jelly Roll™ - The Random Number Generator will pick three winners. Make your comment before Midnight Wednesday September 14th.

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to visit Sandy of American Jane tomorrow for the next stop on the Moda Country Fair Blog Hop.

Laurie

Prairie Paisley II

Hello Everyone! Have you visited Edyta? Make sure to stop over as she is the star today of the Moda Blog Hop.

We're getting ready for our day on Monday. We think we have a good prize to give-away. We just got in some pre-cuts of our new fabric from Moda - Prairie Paisley II. Look for it in your local and online quilt shop in January.

The original Prairie Paisley was a favorite of ours - and yours too I think. We get lots and lots of requests on it. We wanted to do a follow-up for awhile, but it took a bit of time to get it just right. We think you'll be happy with this. If you missed the first Prairie Paisley than this is what you've been waiting for. It you still have bits and pieces of the original, this will blend in beautifully.

On Monday - come right back here for the Blog Hop for tales of adventure and daring, a project you'll want to make, and a give-away of some Prairie Paisley II.

Laurie

Moda Country Fair Blog Hop

It's day 2 of the Moda Country Fair Blog hop. Make sure to visit Chelsea and Anne. Tomorrow, go to see Barb and Mary - they are sure to entertain you.

I'm here working on stuff to entertain you next Monday.

On other news, make sure to mark your calendar and set your alarms to visit Target next Tuesday. That's the day that the Missoni for Target collection will be unveiled. This stuff will knock your socks off. I missed the Liberty of London collection that was done last year. I could kick myself. Look at the cool stuff I missed.

Don't make my mistake - look at what will be there next week.

LABABE: MISSONI x TARGET PREVIEW from julia k on Vimeo.

See you at the Target check out lanes.

Also - check out this link for helping the people of Texas during the wild fires.

Laurie

Septemberish

It's September. Time for cool sleeping weather, kids back to school, quilts to be stitched, rugs to be hooked, and the Moda Designer Blog Hop.

Today is the first day! Make sure to visit Sandy and read her entry. Tomorrow all the action will be at Anne's place. We'll be coming at you next Monday. There are prizes, patterns, and more. The full blog list is on the post below.

I want everyone to know, all of you who have pre-ordered Victory Girls - that the book is at the printer and we haven't forgotten you! I have my labels ready to go as soon as the UPS guy drops them on the porch.

We're pretty excited that American Banner Rose is shipping to shops too! Have you seen it yet?

If you can stand any more teasing, there just might be a sneak peak of the next fabric collection next Monday on our Blog Hop tour. A sneak peak and a give-away. Some of you have heard the rumors. I am here to tell you it's true. Our next collection is called Prairie Paisley II. Until then, or until something blog worthy happens -

Laurie

Things To Come

There are lots of things coming up soon.... book releases, new fabric groups, Fall International Quilt Market, just to name a few. Starting next week there will be a Moda Designer Blog Hop. Here is the schedule. Make sure to visit every day. The rug above is one of Polly's that is in Victory Girls.

September 6th Sandy Gervais

September 7th Bunny Hill

September 8th Me and My Sister Designs

September 9th Camille Roskelley

September 10th Laundry Basket Quilts

September 11th Basic Grey
September 12th Minick and Simpson

September 13th American Jane (on the Moda blog)

September 14th Oliver + S

September 15th Fig Tree and Co.

September 16th Kansas Troubles

September 17th Blackbird Designs

September 18th Aneela Hoey

September 19th Barbara Brackman

September 20th Bonnie Olaveson

September 21st Cabbages and Roses

September 22nd Deb Strain

September 23rd Brannock and Patek

September 24th Lauren and Jessi Jung

September 25th Lily Ashbury

September 26th Cosmo Cricket

September 27th Kate Spain

September 28th Sweetwater

September 29th French General

September 30th Primitive Gatherings

October 1st Kathy Schmitz

October 2nd Liz Scott

Laurie