Our new logo

I'm thrilled that we have finally settled on a new logo! I so love the stone and flower title border on our blog that I will be keeping it for just a while longer (the whole yin/yang thing), but we will be debuting our logo on everything soon!

Plain Jane Series

This is the latest in the Plain Jane Series. The Plain Jane Series was created because sometimes I just want to do something simple. Simple block, anway. Letting the FMQ speak for itself to add dimension and depth.

I love the blueberries and flowers in this fabric! It's just so "summer picnic"!

My first...

This is my very first ever attempt at a quilt. I saw the book. I bought the book. I made the quilt. It was a long time ago and to this day it is my favorite of all I've done. I oh, so carefully picked out the fabrics and cut the blocks. Every stitch is by hand. It took about 2 months to finish. When I was done, my mom actually said of my Amish raised grandma, "well, you know that even your grandmother used a sewing machine to piece the blocks...". I think she said that only because I was mentioning that I didn't think my fingers and shoulders were ever going to feel the same after that much handwork. It was a lot of work and it definitely has a beginner look to it, but it was well worth it and I treasure it. Every time I look at it, I keep telling myself that it's time to do another sampler, but I'm afraid the next one just won't measure up to this one!

So, thank this little gem above for giving me the quilting bug and, as they say, the rest is history! Luckily for us quilters, history is always in the making...

Oh, happy day!

Quilty Giveaway!

Sign up Now for a Chance to WIN FREE FAT QUARTERS!!

Fill out your contact information by clicking here to be entered to win our Retro Fat Quarters. Last day to register is June 30th and the drawing will be held on July 7th. Winner will be notified by email.

Good luck!

Shipshewana, here I come...

Finally! I haven’t been home since Thanksgiving and the ‘powers that be’ have finally approved that darn vacation request. I’ve already started my list of Shipshewana and Nappanee stores I’ll be hitting. DH will either have to come grumbling along or it’ll just be my mom and me in search of fabrics and goodies galore. If you’ve never been or never heard of the Shipshewana Flea Market , all I can say is oh my goodness. Busloads of folks from all over the country trek to Shipshewana for their Flea Market, Auction house, antique stores, Amish Acres and their Round Barn Theater (where I saw their version of It's a Wonderful Life when I was there last!), etc. Their season starts around Memorial Day (if I remember correctly…it’s been an awful long time since I worked at the Flea Market during summers home from college). Just thinking about sitting in the auction barn watching folks bid on horses and such brings such fond memories. And don’t get me started on Yoder’s Department Store…that’s where I hit my last goldmine of Moda and Thimbleberries fabrics {sigh}. I know most every community in northern Indiana can use my retail therapy money since the RV industry isn’t doing so well up there and I’ll be more than happy to oblige. Working in the RV industry myself, I've got to help where I can! Well, time to get back to my list of items to search for...quilt stuff...purse stuff...bag stuff...table runner stuff...redwork embroidery stuff...forget the sugar plums, I'll have visions of quilting notions dancing in my head! Every trip to back home is for me like remodeling...plan on twice as much time and 3 times the money in the budget.

Quilts and purses and notions, oh my! Follow the Yellow Brick Road pattern, Dorothy!

Appreciating What's Left Behind...

For the past few weeks I’ve been finding some wonderful fabrics. I’ve always been drawn to anything that’s been “left behind”. Whether it’s grabbing the end of the bolt, rummaging through the “discontinued” table, gladly taking the small scrap that a friend didn’t have a use for, or saving the shirt that has a hole, snag or stain too big to fix, I love taking those that could easily be left behind or, God forbid, thrown out.
I put “discontinued” in quotes because I’ve never quite understood why any fabric is discontinued – at the very least there are always new people learning to craft that would be seeing that decade-old fabric for the first time and love it like we did. And when I find something at the back of my storage area that I remember buying way-back-when and wishing I had more of it yet can never find it again, it’s kind of sad. To say that it makes me nostalgic may be a better way to phrase it. I’m not sure, but it’s not a great feeling no matter what label is put on it. Maybe that’s because I don’t think I’ve ever met a fabric that I didn’t appreciate and want to bring home with me…

Quilting in the South

One of the wonderful things of being a quilter in the South is that it is so warm so much of the year. When others may have hung up their hobby for a few months while temps exceed 100 degrees is one of the best times of the year for me to stock up on fabric and go on my annual search for “LBs” (Left Behinds). Sales sales and more sales! June through September (some years even through Thanksgiving!) no one seems to want to hand quilt. Go figure…who wants 15+ pounds of fabric and batting across your lap when you’re already sweating buckets with the AC cranked up in a usually futile attempt to counterbalance the 95% humidity trying to sneak in every crack your house has! Once you've lived here for an extended period of time your blood thins and what I used to think was a comfortable 60 degrees now feels like a rather cold 60 degress. We always have those Winter months to really buckle down and get everything done while it’s cold…we actually had about a dozen nights this year when we had freezing temps and several days/weeks with temps under 60 degrees, so don’t think it’s always hot and balmy in good ole Florida. Almost everyone keeps a ready stack of burlap in their garage to cover all the Hibiscus and fruit trees ( though a good freeze really concentrates the sugars of my oranges!) If nothing else, we have Hurricane Season when several times a year for hours at a time it isn't advisable to leave your house - you've seen the news, I'm sure!

While growing up in northern Indiana I found that I was able to quilt year-round. Since transplanting to Florida several years ago I have simply become more cyclical around the temps. Spending summers on purses, cutting many, many quilt kits, maybe assembling some lighter quilt tops or hand-tying then transitioning into assembly for hand quilting when the weather cools. To have spent all summer cutting every intricate square, rectangle, triangle, whatever shape, plus all of the measuring, matching, seeing what fabric ‘goes’ with what, there is something so relaxing and relieving when the weather cools about just being able to then flip through all those kits and just start sewing.
I am so looking forward to Spring and Summer to start cutting again! My fingers may be sore from the stitching through the Winter, but before long I'll be complaining about my wrists from the pressures of cutting all Summer and 'round and 'round we go...