In Between

We are in between a lot of different chores right now.  Half of the quilts are back from Kari the long-arm quilter and we are waiting on 2 more.  All the patterns are here, collated, bagged and ready to go.  If you had a pre-order, your patterns went out Friday.

Navajo Trade Blanket

Ellen's Sewing Basket

Rambling Rose

A big box of goodies was shipped off to Kansas City Star for our book that will be at Fall Quilt Market.  The projects are all done, but I still need to do a bit of writing.

All reports from Texas are Tyler the puppy is doing well.

Laurie

Meet Tyler

Meet Tyler.  Tyler is our new grand-puppy.  Tyler lives with Lorelei, Dan and 4 kitties in Texas.  Isn't she adorable?

Tyler is a Golden Retriever, a SHE and weighs 14 lbs.  At least she did 2 days ago.  I'm sure she has packed on a few more pounds by now.

   We are looking forward to meeting her in person.  Hopefully it will be soon.  Gibby is beside himself.

A few people asked about the Rhubarb cake in the previous post.  It was delicious.  I would describe it more of a coffee cake than a cake.  It has a subtle flavor, a lovely texture and not overly sweet.   Maybe next time I make it I would consider putting on streusel topping.   

Now, back to binding quilts.

Laurie 

Teaching an Old Dog

It seems just when I kind of get the hang of things, the rug gets pulled out from under me.  I am writing this blog post in the NEW Blogger format.  Why?  Why, oh why?  C'mon google geniuses - it was okay just the way it was.  That goes for gmail too!  But, enough whining.  I will persevere.

As I anxiously await the new quilts back from the long arm quilter and the new patterns from the printer I am working on a little project for a Schoolhouse for Moda Fabrics.  If you plan on going to International Quilt Market in Kansas City next month - make sure to pencil us in.  We will be there at the Schoolhouse with ALL the Moda designers.  All in one room - together.  Make sure to witness the drama, excitement, and inept public speaking.

I am also going to make this tonight.

 Rhubarb Cake

Photo from Not Without Salt Blog

Believe me - that is not my photo.  Not Without Salt is a great cooking blog - and her pictures as just as yummy as her recipes.  

Oh, what else..... I was at Zingerman's this morning shopping and having a cappuccino when I overheard a couple talking.  "Oh, by the way, I have unfriended your Mom on Facebook."  I fear the couple may no longer be a couple much longer as it wasn't received very well.  I guess "I've unfriended your Mom" is the new "It's not you - it's me."

Ta Ta - and know I will NEVER, EVER unfriend your Mom from my Facebook.  Just so you know - I may be the last human on the planet who is not on Facebook.

Laurie

Can You Help A Gal Out?

Our readers are known far and wide for their intellect, beauty, and general goodness. We are grateful and blessed. Polly and I have noticed, as have several other bloggy friends - that never a catty or cruel word is expressed in the comments. Ever. Okay, so occasionally a smart-ass remark is made by yours truly, but never in the comments.

We've asked all of you to help in our charitable causes and you have always exceeded our goals and surprised us.

Can I ask a favor of you? For me? For myself?

You see, I need some fabric. I'm working on a quilt and my plans have changed as to how the border will proceed. I'm out of fabric and there is none to be found ANYWHERE. That is, except in a personal stash. I know someone has some - somewhere......

I'm needing some of this green. One or both - or a combination of the two. These are from our Christmas Past collection. I need about a yard. Like I said, one or a combination of the two, to equal about a yard. If you have some and are willing to TRADE!! I would be very grateful. Email me HERE and I will make it worth your while. You will get back much more than a yard of fabric.

Anyone??

Laurie

*****UPDATE***** Everyone can go back to pre-alert mode. We are out of danger. I have "scored" the fabric. Thanks again to all our wonderful readers!

Stalling

I'm catching up on blogs and emails while I listen to the baseball game. I have other things to do. Most importantly, to unpack 6 suitcases of quilts and put them back where they live - on the guest bed. There is at least 100 quilts stacked on this bed. I'm telling you this so that you will know to give me LOTS of lead time in case you ever want to sleep here. It's takes awhile to load and unload this bed.

My trip to the Little Traverse Bay Quilt Guild was wonderful! Alas, I have no pictures. Too bad as the weather and scenery there was gorgeous. It was a quick trip and by the time I remembered to take some pictures I was south of Flint Michigan. Oh well.

In other news.......I had an interesting email. In the long list of spam and other instantly deleted emails was this...

Madonna Ciccone started following all of your pinboards. Follow Madonna back.

Yes, THE Madonna is following me on Pinterest. Actually I'm not surprised, as we have LOTS in common. We were both born in Michigan in the same week. (I am a few days older). We both are style icons. We both are a bit delusional, and we both speak in a British accent for no reason at all.

Madonna is a much better dancer than I am.

I've read some reviews of her newest album - and I think I can say that I am a better singer than she is. But, without a doubt, Madonna will ALWAYS have better biceps than me.

In all honesty, it looks like Madonna's Pinterest account is quite new and already she has followed 5000 people, but I'M ONE OF THEM. Also, it looks like Madonna has pinned some very un-Madonna like stuff. Happy Weekend.

Laurie

Road Trip

Tomorrow morning I head out on a short, but highly anticipated road trip. I am heading north to Petoskey Michigan and I will do my quilt song and dance for the Little Traverse Bay Quilt Guild. As many of you know, and certainly all Michiganders know - this is a beautiful part of the world.

photo from USA Today Travel

The car is packed and the GPS is set for the venue and can't wait. By Friday evening I should be back at home, annoying my better half.

The baseball game on Easter was one for the ages. Seriously, if you wanted to put a game on a DVD, stuff it in a time capsule to save for posterity - that one was it. Three come from behind dramatic rallies, the last one with 2 outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. Today's game - uh, ***cough, cough*** uh, never mind.

What else? our friend Logan sent pictures. This is what she made.

Logan needle-punched Polly's mermaid design from American Summer. She did a spectacular job! You can follow Logan's exploits at www.loganmakesamess.com. Logan is 18 and has been doing this quilting, sewing, designing stuff for years. Kind of makes you feel like a slacker, doesn't it?

Laurie

Ellen's Sewing Basket

This is our third pattern using Independence Trail - Ellen's Sewing Basket. We didn't so much design it as reproduce an antique quilt and write the directions for it. When we were designing the fabric line it occurred to me that this group of fabrics would be great to reproduce this quilt -

This is a Star of Bethlehem variation made by Ellen Morton Littlejohn in the early 1800's. It is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's a bit different of course - but you get the idea. Ellen's Sewing Basket measures 88" x 88" and would make quite a statement on your bed or on the wall.

This and our other patterns for Independence Trail - Navajo Trade Blanket and Rambling Rose are now listed on our website for pre-sale. The patterns are at the printers and I expect to be able to ship in about 1 week.

Laurie

Navajo Trade Blanket

Thought you might like to see our 2nd pattern we are debuting shortly - it's called Navajo Trade Blanket.

It was certainly inspired by Native American weavings, particularly the trade blankets made by the Navajo women in the late 19th century. We love them and are inspired by their strong colors and geometric wizardry. It was fun to interpret the look of them into piecework. You will be amazed at how quick and easy it goes together as there are no cut bias - it's all made from squares and rectangles. Of course, it uses our fabric collection - Independence Trail - which is currently being shown to shop owners for order. It should be in the shops for everyone in late summer. Navajo Trade Blanket measures 54" x 72". I expect this and the other new patterns to go up on the website this weekend for pre-order.

It's absolutely beautiful here in Michigan. We have a nice weekend planned that includes our Easter tradition of going to a baseball game. Hey, this year it looks like we will even have a warm day. Happy Holidays.

Laurie

Almost There

I am meeting Leigh Ann today. She is finishing up one of the quilts for Spring Quilt Market. I am finishing up the other two. The center is appliquéd on the second one and I have 3 of the 4 borders done. Homestretch.

This is what is will look like when it's finished.

This quilt is called Rambling Rose. This, and the other two quilt patterns will soon be going to the printer and we should have them up on our website for pre-order in a few days. We sure hope you like them.

What else has been going on while the quilts were being stitched? Gibby has been watching the neighborhood.

Here he is on the windowsill watching all of his buddies out for a walk. This is my view of Gibby watching the world go by.

This is my view from my stitching chair. That's my wagon in front of me with my sewing stuff. To the left of the TV is my bookcase of quilting books. You can never have too many quilting books. Yes. It's that boring here. I'm taking pictures of my TV.

What else - oh, I cooked something new yesterday. Gnocchi. I was walked through the recipe by an Italian friend. Here is how I started - with some potatoes.

Some of the tools....

What can I say..... I had a good teacher. The gnocchi were delicious!!! My only prior experience with gnocchi were the frozen kind from the supermarket. Oh, never again. These were easy and were soft and tender. Bill and I ate them for dinner last night sautéed with butter, bread crumbs, and fresh sage. The rest are in the freezer waiting for another day. Uh, here is the finished pasta before it was cooked. I hesitated to post this picture because they aren't very pretty at this stage - but what the heck, here they are.

Sorry, no more pictures. Once they were cooked, they went from stove, to table, to our bellies. Yum.

Look for the rest of the quilt patterns from Independence Trail fabric soon.

Laurie