Jan Patek Appreciation Day

Today is Jan Patek Appreciation Day here at Minick and Simpson.  You all know of Jan's work.  A lifetime committed to folk art quilts!  You probably should appreciate her just for that.  We do.  But, wait - there's more!

Jan is trooper.  A great gal.  A good friend.

My little bug I brought home from Quilt Market has been diagnosed as pneumonia.  Hey, I'm fine, just not at my best, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, Polly and I have a workshop next week at Hen and Chicks Quilt Studio in Conrad Iowa.  It looked like the workshop would have to be cancelled, but Jan came to the rescue and is going to teach my Summer Roses quilt.  You lucky ladies who have signed up have just gotten an upgrade.  You can thank me later.

Thanks Jan!

Here is Jan and her latest line at the before mentioned International Quilt Market.

Wordless Wednesday

1937 - July  Cover of Town & Country

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day/Weekend everyone!  It's beautiful here this morning in Michigan, but I hear 90 degree humid weather is fast approaching.  I'm going to close the house up and turn on the air shortly.  Not a good weekend to have the flu, with a side helping of asthma.

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This is a Memorial Day rug Polly made and my attempt at a quilt using the same imagery.  There is a story about how Polly got inspired to make this rug.  It includes a long ago memory of parades, ice cream cones, bicycles, and flags.  You will have to take Polly's word for it - as I have no memory of the event.  It does include people and landmarks I know to be true - so I believe it.

Have a great holiday with family and friends, and remember those who have served.

Laurie

Remember Us?

Hey, long time, no blog post.  Sorry about that.  A little something like International Quilt Market came and went.  Not only was I away from my computer, but I had NO time to look at the Internet.  I just logged on and saw that on google reader I have 749 posts waiting there for me to read.  Heh.  I guess I'll try to whittle away at those on this long holiday weekend.

So, "How was it?" you ask.   It was great!  I trust that you have all seen the pictures and read the posts from others who are more Internet connected than I.  I'll post a couple pictures - just to prove I was there.

Here's a good one!  This is Blackbird Design's booth BEFORE it is decorated.  Yes, this is what it looks like after the car is unpacked and dumped into their booth.  So basically, just unpacking their car, their booth looks better than anyone else's.  Later, in this booth, there was this quilt.



It was my favorite quilt there.  It will be published soon in their new book.

These darling coin purses were in Oliver + S's booth.  She had patterns for these and other adorable small projects.

Oh, there is so much more, but you know that.  It was all posted earlier this week on other blogs, with much better pictures.  I bet I have some pictures that no one else has.   I have 7 photos almost exactly alike.



After scrutinizing this and it's cousins..... I finally came to the conclusion that this picture is the inside of my pocket - where my camera was.

With that.... I'll leave the market re-cap to more capable reporters.

Now on to what's coming up!!  June 5th and 6th we will be in Conrad Iowa at Hen and Chicks Quilt Studio to do a workshop on this quilt.  Polly will do a rug hooking workshop and we'll have a little trunk show and lecture too.

Later in June, on the 22nd and 23rd - we will be in Oregon at the Holly Hill Quilt Shop!!  Yes, back to the finest shop on the Northwest coast.  Polly will do a rug hooking workshop making hooked stockings and I will be teaching Lizzie's Big Flowers..

Time is getting close!  The rooms are filling!!! make sure to get your reservations in now.  Thanks!!

Laurie

Road Trip

Today and tomorrow will be spent crossing things off my list.  It's a list that has things like "packing", "haircut", and such.  Bright and early Wednesday I will get in the car and leave for Kansas City.  Kansas City, the 2012 spring home of International Quilt Market.  Kansas City is also home to many other things like BBQ, Jazz, and this place - which has been on my list for quite awhile - The Negro League Baseball Museum.




Polly and I have several Schoolhouses schedule for Thursday afternoon, but with a little luck, I will find my way to the museum beforehand.  I've already mapquested it and it's 2 miles from the Convention Center.  Either a nice morning walk, or a short cab ride.  I guess it's no surprise to anyone who has read this blog for awhile that this might be something I was interested in.  Baseball - check.  American History - check.  Inspirational stories - check. Awesome vintage uniforms - check.  Don't forget, the best nicknames in sports: Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Bunny Downs, Rats Henderson, Spoony Palm, Steelarm Davis, and King Tutt.  They also had a kid who played once named Jackie Robinson.



We often try to get to Comerica Park in Detroit every year when they celebrate the Negro Leagues.  Ironically, this year, it will be the weekend I am in Kansas City.  The Detroit Stars, the local team that was a member of the Negro Leagues is always represented there.  The Tigers offer many events and the team will don the replica jerseys of the Stars.

I love these old jerseys.  This was the home jersey and the visiting jersey is pretty cool too.

I hope to take lots of picture of the museum AND Market.  Later

Laurie

Glitches and Snags

Things aren't running exactly the way they are supposed to be.  Nothing major or horrible - just not copacetic.  If you were still wanting a hooked stocking kit - there is one left - a blue one.  If you go to our website it looks like they are sold out.  Email us HERE if you are interested in the last one.

Our whiz-bang website lady - Lisa - works evenings.  We email here things we want done on the website and the next morning they magically appear.  We don't think this kit will last the day to make it to the evening edit. Polly will have some more in red and white later in the summer.


I went to the farmer's market this morning.  It was way past my usual time.  I try to get there early, between 7 and 8 am when the parking is a bit easier and the booths are still stocked with the good stuff.  There are the usual suspects there at 8 am - the local cooks.  The same folks are there week after week scouting out fresh greens, asparagus and heirloom vegetables.  This morning I got there at 10am.  What I found was a seething mass of people who may or may not be interested in buying vegetables.  There were dawdlers, tourists, and slow walking hipsters.  Oy!  {shaking my cranky old-lady fist at aisle-blocking, pierced and tattooed youngun's, sipping espresso}  Thanks, I feel better now.

You may remember I posted a few days ago that Polly and I won't be having a booth at this Quilt Market.  When it was time to register for a booth last winter Polly and I found we had other plans.  We both needed to leave early on the last day of Market and it is verboten to take down a booth before the end of Market.  So, with a quick conference with Lissa Alexander - the guru of Marketing at Moda and the brains behind the Moda presence at Kansas City - we decided to be in the shared booth at this market.  There will be a few of us there - the last I heard it would be Aneela of ComfortStitching, French General, yours truly, and a few others.  Of course, since then, those plans have changed and now it looks like we COULD have had a booth.  It's too late now.  What were those plans?? Well Polly is having a house guest in Naples.  Quiltmania is coming to photograph her condo for an upcoming feature.  The photo shoot was to be on Monday, the day after Market, but now it will be on the Monday before.  We are pretty excited about this.  We LOVE Quiltmania! It will be lots and lots of Polly's rugs and her impeccable decor, and of course, a few of my quilts.

I had plans to leave early on the last day of Market also for an exciting adventure.  Now, it looks like I'm staying till the close of Market - and then my adventure begins.  I'll be posting a lot about that in the next few weeks.

Until then, Happy Mother's Day to all.

Laurie

Christmas Stockings on Sale!

Polly has joined in on the Mother's Day Sale and found 3 linens of the Christmas Stocking kit.  We don't expect these to last the day.  Here they are on sale on our website.

There is one blue kit and 2 red kits.  Polly can ship out to you tomorrow.  The kits - for a very limited time - are $150.00.

I'll be posting more later.....

Laurie

Mother's Day Sale

Just a quick note to tell you that our 2 kits on www.minickandsimpson.com are on sale.  Perhaps you need a gift for Mom?  For yourself?  Take a look HERE.  They can be shipped same day - or at the very least - next day.  That is, until I leave for Kansas City a week from today.    

 Center Stage Kit

Mexican Flowers

Both of these kits are 25% off.  

I'll have pictures of our new quilts back from Kari, our long arm quilter in a day or so.  I'm picking them up this afternoon.  And I'll have tales of WHY we aren't having a booth in Kansas City and all the ensuing hullabaloo.

Laurie

Don't Tell Anyone

Don't tell anyone, but I'm sort of caught up on all the pre-Quilt Market frenzy.  It's probably because we won't be having our "own" booth this market, but a shared booth with some other Moda designers.  If you read blogs (quilt and fabric blogs particularly) with your morning coffee like I do.  The one overwhelming theme currently is the hurried frenzy to get to Kansas City.  We are waiting for 2 more quilts to get back from Kari our long arm quilter that we need to put the binding on.  That's it.  That sound you hear is the cursing of all the other quilt and fabric bloggers who don't have their stuff done.  Sorry.  Besides the booth issue - which takes a whole lot off the "to-do" list, we got our fabric a little early.  So, no harried, hurried, screams coming from me.  What am I doing?  Working on a a Christmas quilt.   

Seriously, I should be banned from having a blog.  It's hard to say what's more boring - this picture or the fact that the only thing I can report is that my work is all done.  This is just lame.

What else?  While the stitching was being done and some quilts were being planned Bill and I raided the Ann Arbor District Library for any and all British detective DVDs.  We are hooked.  Some of the ones we have watched and enjoyed: Vera, Single Handed, Luther, Life On Mars, George Gently, MI-5 and some non detective stuff like Doc Martin.  Nothing like a good mystery, and the Brits do it as good as anyone.  That reminds me - SHERLOCK season II starts Sunday!  The game is afoot!

Laurie