Labor Day Weekend

Polly, myself, and our minions (Leigh Ann and Luanne) will be stitching and hooking away this holiday weekend.  We joke that every Labor Day we are the ones laboring.  Timing.  We just got in the new wovens that will debut with our Indigo Crossing collection.  It will be pleasant work at least.  Lovely fabrics and Polly is scheduling lots of college football to watch while she hooks.  I would usually say that I would be watching baseball, but I might not have the heart.  It's been a wretched week in Tiger baseball.

This is also to remind you that there is a pretty neat blog hop starting tomorrow.  The 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge!

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/

 This is the schedule for the hop.  It starts tomorrow, Saturday September 1st HERE.http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/
 
1. Welcome from American Patchwork & Quilting (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
2. Rashida Coleman-Hale (http://www.iheartlinen.typepad.com/)
3. Olivia and Alayna's Pillowcase Project (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
4. Morgan’s Smile Factory (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
5. Pat Sloan (http://blog.patsloan.com/)
6. Northcott (http://pattispatchwork.com/)
7. Betsy Chutchian (http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/)
8. Vanessa Christenson (http://www.vanessachristenson.com/)
9. Andover Fabrics (http://blog.andoverfabrics.com/)
10. Laurie Simpson (http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/)
11. Oak Hill, Ohio (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
12. Robert Kaufman Fabrics (http://www.swatchandstitch.com/)
13. Pam Buda (http://www.heartspunquilts.blogspot.com/)
14. Indygo Junction (http://www.indygojunction.com/blog/)
15. 4-H (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
16. Katie Hennagir (http://baywindowquiltshop.wordpress.com/)
17. Anni Downs (http://hatchedandpatched.typepad.com/)
18. FreeSpirit Fabrics (http://www.freespiritfabric.blogspot.com/)
19. American Patchwork & Quilting Staff (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/)
20. Patty Young (http://modkidboutique.blogspot.com/)
21. Moda Fabrics (http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/)
22. Monica Solorio-Snow (http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/)
23. Moda Bake Shop (http://www.modabakeshop.com/)
24. Andover Fabrics (http://blog.andoverfabrics.com/)
25. Roseann Kermes from Rosebud’s Cottage (http://rosebudscottage.typepad.com/)
26. Ann Kelle for Shannon Fabrics (http://www.annkelle.com/category/blog/)
27. Therm O Web (http://blog.thermoweb.com/)
28. Edyta Sitar (http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/blog/)
29. Fabri-Quilt (http://inspiredbyfabric.blogspot.com/)
30. Cherri House (www.cherryhousequilts.com)

I think you can bet that my pillow case might contain one or more of the wovens that were just delivered.  

When all the quilts for market and stuff is done - I think I would like a shirt made out of the IKATS that we have.  Yes, IKATS!!!  I think a polka-dotted ikat shirt would be fab.

Laurie

Scraps R Us

Polly tells me that 3 boxes of scraps are ready to go.  She also said they are getting a lot of rain, but nothing more sinister than that in south Florida - at least right now.  We hope everyone fares well from Isaac.

I've been working with the Indigo Crossing fabrics and I'm liking them too - just like all you readers seem to.  Thanks so much for the kind words.  

 To answer a few questions, the thread that was in the previous post on the wooden spools is YLI hand quilting thread.  Always nice to add a few new colors to the stash.  The Karen Kay Buckley scissors are fabulous.  The thread that I'm using for the applique is the Aurifil Minick and Simpson collection.   It's fab too and in all the right colors.  Go figure.

 

Right now we are making the quilts that go with Indigo Crossing.  The MAKING is our final proof-read.  Once we get them done - we'll post the new patterns here.  And there will be a surprise regarding those new patterns too.  Patience.

So now for the scrap winners!  

Amy - who said "Blue is my very favorite color, and a box of Indigo Crossing scraps would provide a fabric high!"


KarenM

and Patchysails

Gals, email me here and those boxes will escape the hurricane and come straight to your house.

Laurie

It's The Little Things

I should be doing a lot of things.  I have much to get done and not very much time to do it in, but I played hooky today.  The AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids is today (and tomorrow and Saturday).  Having never made it to Paducah, I thought I should go to this one as it is so close.  2 measly hours of driving on a beautiful day (each way) - how could I resist?

The show was grand and the vendors were sublime.  I saw quite a few people that I know.  Lisa,  Sue and crew, and Deb to name just a few.  The shopping was fun.  It was nice to be on the other side of the vendor table for a change.  I picked up a few modest treasures.  

A few spools of thread, some straw needles for appliqué, and a pair of Karen Kay Buckley scissors. A student had a pair in the class I taught last week - awesome!  They have teeny tiny serrated edges for a good accurate "bite" when clipping appliqué.  Underneath it all is a piece of antique (1850's) Japanese indigo fabric.  I'm hoping I can do it justice and turn it into a pincushion for our upcoming book.  Oh, I was also on a hunt to find a tailor's thimble for Glenn.  Score!

We hand-quilters have to shop for each other occasionally.

What else is happening??  While our Independence Trail fabric collection is in the process of shipping to quilt shops world-wide - our next collection has shipped to us!  This one will be in the next Moda catalog and the Moda sales force will be showing it in a few weeks.  You can expect this to be in your quilt shops in February.  Here is Indigo Crossing.....

Polly and I are very excited about our Indigo and cream collection.  There are 4 quilts in the process of being made and I'm sort of behind schedule.  I need to get back to work.  This time, Moda sent a box of fabric scraps to Polly.  You know, the huge box of strips cut that are left over after they make the salesman sample cards...... Polly saw the pictures of the boxes I have gotten in the past, but it's still a shock to see that huge box, isn't it Polly?  So, Polly would like you to know that there are 3 LARGE Priority Mail boxes crammed with scraps that need a home.    Comment on Indigo Crossing, or big AQS Quilt Shows, or anything at all before midnight Sunday August 26th, and it could be yours.  

Laurie

Back in Michigan

Polly is now flying south to Florida and I am unpacking the dining room where the contents of my SUV were deposited.  How can we possibly bring home more stuff than what we took?  We sold quite a bit of stuff.   It's

because we took off the roof top carrier and Polly went wool shopping.  How could she not??  If you are a rug hooker, Sauder was wool nirvana this past week.  Here are a few more rugs to enchant you while I focus on making a path through my house.

By Barb Carroll

By Joan Sample

By Kaye Miller

By April DeConick

By Maria Barton                                                                                                         

By Susan Quicksall

By Dea Olson

Laurie

Sauder Village Tease

Took a few minutes away from teaching and the booth to snap a few photos. The rugs here are fabulous.... just a couple.  Blogger and I are still getting aquainted....... I'm having a bit of a problem editing this post.  So, the third picture down - the Native American girl is by Donna Hrkman and the last rug is by Barb Carroll - the featured artist this year.

by Mary Jo Lahners

Denise Snively

Sacagawea Winner

Bear with us as we try to publish this from my ipad with the blogger app. If this works - there is no stopping us. Be prepared to get updates from near and far and obscure photos of roadside attractions. I think I'm uploading a photo of our booth at Sauder Village. Rug Hooking week starts today.

But - the big news is the winner of the Spirit of Sacagawea book is Cynthia Nanto. Cynthia - email us at www.minickandsimpson.com/contact.php

Laurie and Polly

Spirit of Sacagawea

A little over a year ago, Edie McGinnis at Kansas City Star asked us to do a Block of the Month quilt for them.  We were honored and excited about the project.  We had no idea where to start and didn't have a clue about what our theme would be.  Edie suggested, since we are known for Americana - that we should honor American women - or woman.  We loved that idea. But how and who?  In many emails we bounced ideas off of each other.  Pioneer women?  Political women?  It all seemed like it had been done before.  I had a list of women that intrigued me: Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anne Sullivan, Babe Didrikson, Sacagawea, to name a few.  I thought we should do a block on each.  Edie - also sensing that all of this had been done before - jumped on one name - Sacagawea.  Of all of the names I actually knew the least about her.  Thus began our homework and the resulting quilt.  Yesterday, the book - Spirit of Sacagawea was delivered.
                                             
We were honored to be able to tell a bit about Sacagawea's life in fabric.  My inspiration for the construction was a photo of an mid 19th century album quilt in red, white, and green.  The predominant colors were red and white and it had a spiky border.  All of the very different blocks of this old album quilt were just smushed up against each other without sashing.  I tried to emulate that look.  This quilt has 6 pieced and 6 appliqué blocks that tell Sacagawea's story while she was with the Corp of Discovery finding a navigable route to the Pacific.  Our research was fun and inspiring.  She was everything that the culture did not value - she was young, female, Native American, and uneducated (at least in western eyes).  Despite the culture bias - she stood out for her bravery and ingenuity.

Thank you Edie for asking us to do this.  We loved all of it.  Thank you too to Glenn, Logan, and Ducky for helping us out with some special projects.

So, have you ever done a Block of the Month?  What was your favorite? Do you like appliqué or piecing?  Make a comment on any of the above - or anything at all - before midnight Monday August 13th and you could be picked to receive this book - hot off the presses.

Laurie

Parties, Green Lawns, and other Stuff

The party went well.  Very well.  Here are Grant (going to Michigan) and Shelby (DePaul) letting everyone know what their future alma mater's will be.  We had a big crowd considering many people came from quite a distance.  Notice the perfect green lawn.  It is the lawn of my nephew Jeff.  The lawn is a bit of a pet project for him - especially with this dry summer we are having.  Here is a picture of Polly and our brother Jeff (Jeff the elder, not the lawn owner).
                                               
Yes, Polly and I and our brothers are easy to spot in a crowd.  We would be the ones with the glasses and white hair.  We really did have a nice time.  Kayce even had a nice time.

Really she did.  And Kayce is not judging you.  It's me she's judging - actually my photography skills to be specific.

What's next on the busy schedule of Polly and Laurie?  We are heading out Monday to Sauder Village in Archbold Ohio.  We will be there for Rug Hooking week - teaching and vending.  If you are in the area, stop by and see us and the other vendors.  It's a rug hooking extravaganza.  We will have quilting stuff too in our booth - a brand new book that will debut at Sauder (More on that later), rug kits, quilt kits, fabric, patterns, and more.

Once again my dining room is ground zero for packing for a show.  There are boxes and bags of all sorts of goodies.  There was a real concern it wouldn't all fit in the SUV.  This was delivered by Amazon about an hour ago.  I hope it takes care of all the overflow.

In the meantime, I've picked up an older project and have been working on it.  I really didn't have any choice as I am waiting on Independence Trail yardage to get here for other quilts - AND we heard that our next fabric collection has just shipped the first printing (for us to design with) and it will land on the porch in a couple of days.  Let's not get too ahead of ourselves though......This is what I've been working on in the evenings while channel checking between baseball and the Olympics.   (OMG! It's been the best week of Tiger baseball in ages).  We have to revel in the good weeks because that bad weeks are unfortunately, not that long ago.

The aqua is all appliquéd and I'm just now appliquéing the lavender star flowers.  The whole thing is a wrinkled mess.  If you have ever done Hawaiian appliqué - it's inevitable.  It all gets balled up in your hands as you sew.  No worries, though.  All the wrinkles will fall out as it's basted and quilted.  What's it for??   It's a gift.  Nevermind who.  All will be revealed eventually.

Notice the NOT green lawn in this picture.  Our poor lawn isn't faring very well during this weather.  This and the fact that I am not a gardener.

Laurie

August

    

I can't believe it's been a week since there was a blog post.  Mea Culpa.  A lot has happened and nothing has happened, if you know what I mean.  The delay in posting was because there wasn't much of substance to convey. But it's time, and when all else fails...... just post the pictures I took with my iPhone this week.  Here's the first.
                                          
This was our booth at the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild Show last weekend.  I had a great time and talked with a lot of folks.  Even a few who follow this here bloggy thing.  I worked on a couple of projects this week, but am stalled until new fabric arrives.

Gibby is taking the dog days in stride.

                                                  

We ate salads.......

                                                   

I multi-tasked doing applique, watching the Olympics (with the sound off) and catching up on some Poirot mysteries on the iPad.  

Today the Olympic tennis has been on while I work in the kitchen.  Two pans of brownies, several platters of deviled eggs, and a big fruit salad while the 5th hour of Roger Federer's match goes on.  

Berries, cherries, melon and white peaches.  There is a big family party tonight.  Two of Polly's grand kids are graduating HS and moving on to the  University of Michigan and DePaul.  We are all looking forward to it!

Let's hope the party is wonderful and something else exciting happens this week, or the blog post will again be pictures of my groceries.  Have a great weekend.

Laurie