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Friday, July 29, 2011

A Fun Fabric Week!

Tuesday, I posted about how I love red fabric and showed you the fabrics I chose
for a new quilt for the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle ~ Journey Three.
I had a great time making that quilt and am over the moon happy with how it turned out!! 
I can't wait to show it to you, and oh.... I hate to tease you, but 
must ask you to bear with me for the big reveal coming in September.
Now, I don't want to be a big meanie....after all.... don't I have the words "Be Kind"
at the top of this page??!!  So, here's a hint of what's in the quilt....


When I went stash diving last week, I pulled fabrics for four quilts altogether.  What fun!!
I'm on to the next quilt which will be a bit scrappier. 
Here's a look at the fabrics I chose for this quilt.


Another reason I had a fun fabric week is because I received two boxes of new,
upcoming fabric collections....coming soon to a quilt shop near you!  
One box was from Marcus Brothers, and the other was from Windham!! 
I'll post photos of these luscious fabric lines on Monday.

Until then, I hope you can escape the summer heat, but feel warm and wonderful
playing with fabric over the weekend!
Thanks so much for visiting!!  You all keep me going!!
Pam

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Madly in love with Red

If I were a famous painter, someday the world would look upon this era in my life
as my "red" period.  I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with red fabrics.
I love almost every red piece of fabric I find and I have no idea why this is happening.
I don't question it....I just buy it!  Teehee!!

That doesn't mean that red quilts are all I want to make....I just want more of them.
During my recent stash invasion, I pulled fabrics for several quilts.  These are the
fabrics I'm using in a new Prairie Women's Sewing Circle ~ Journey Three quilt.



I blame it all on the red fabric at the bottom of the photo.  It's from the Cocheco Mills I collection by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics and I think it's divine!! 
I wanted to use that fabric and designed the rest of the quilt around it. 

I hope I've picqued your interest a bit.  You'll see the finished quilt sometime
in September along with all of the new Journey Three projects. 
Sewing this little quilt is what I'll be doing today. 
I hope you're doing something you enjoy. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  Pam

Friday, July 22, 2011

Stash Diving

In my last post, I mentioned that I was about to embark on a serious digging expedition into my stash to choose fabrics for several upcoming projects.  Well, I did just that.  For two days, I scoured my stash making quite a mess.  My son came to talk with me, and standing at my sewing room door, gasped at the sight of me and my creative fabric mess, asking me "exactly what happened in here?  Is this what you wanted or did something terrible happen?"  As you know, he's now a firefighter trained to look at disaster scenes, and I think he thought it was death-by-fabric.  (What a way to go!)  With a big smile on my face, I answered that all was well, and that I was quite fine and very happy.  Has this happened to you, too?  I wasn't brave enough to take a photo of the scene Ryan witnessed, but here's a picture of the my ordered, neatly stacked stash ready to go back into the closet.  (One of my favorite quilts hangs on the design wall.....Union Sampler, design by my friend, Evonne Cook of Clothesline Quilts.) 



Non-fabric lovers just don't see the love!  I probably spent a lot more time digging than I needed to, but I enjoyed the time I spent, getting reacquainted with some fabric pieces I've forgotten about.  Then, there are those fabrics that you are madly in love with.....that will always be among your all-time favorites.  Perhaps you bought a fat quarter, brought it home and thought ...gee...this is really wonderful!  I think I need more of this....so you go and buy yardage - enough to last your lifetime because you never want to run out.  I confess....I do this.  NOT ALOT, but I do. 

So....there's this fabric, you see...I really love it.  I have it in blue and love it in blue.  It also came in red.  I bought lots of the blue.  I pine for the red....I adore red fabrics & red quilts.  I want to make everything from red fabric....but I digress.    Every time I go to design something on EQ, I choose that red print for a border (at least I own a digital picture of it!)  I torture myself with this fabric, because I love it so much, and have none!  I'd hate to confess how many years I've pined for this fabric.  (Perhaps I shouldn't be confessing that I pine for fabric at all!  Oh well...I do!)  It's several years old and long gone.  A dear designer friend used this red fabric in one of her scrappy quilts.  Oh, it was so lovely....could she spare a scrap?  Don't go there....I told myself....a quilter's stash is sacred!! 

York County by J. Rothermel for Marcus
Well....guess what?  While emptying my stash closet I made the most amazing discovery! 

I don't remember buying this fabric and here I've owned it all along.  DUH!  And...I own yards of it!!  Yahoo!!!!  Where had it been hiding all of this time?  Well, I had pulled it along with several other "favorite reds" for a quilt I intended to make several years ago and set it off to the side.  In the meantime, new purchases (just a few) were stacked on top, in front, and buried my favorite red, and I forgot about it. 

Guess what fabric is going to be the border on one my new projects?!!!  Maybe now, I'll get it out of my system and move on.  Geesh, Pam....nothing like being obsessed!

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 23rd, I'm going to be at the Countryside Village shop in Braidwood, IL.  Please come and visit the shop and say hello if you have time.  I'll be there from 10am to 1pm and we'd love for you to stop in the shop, browse all of the shop goodies, and the fabrics of course!  I'll be giving my lecture, Making-Do ~ Honoring our Quilting Heritage, all about the history of Making-Do in quilting, and will be bringing all of my antique Make-Do quilts with me! 

I hope to see you there!  Thanks for visiting with me today....Pam


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Weekend Away

I enjoyed a wonderful weekend away from home with a bunch of terrific ladies at Farm Fest, the summer quilting retreat sponsored by The Quilter's General Store in Rockford, IL. 


This year's theme was "Camp WannaQuilt" and boy, did we quilt!
Several quilters produced finished quilt tops before they went home!
Everyone accomplished so much... it could be because we were fed so well. 
After all, you need energy to quilt! We didn't want for anything. 
Shop owner, Deb Peterson, always serves
the most yummy meals and goodies and takes great care of us. 


I've made many friends over the years that I've traveled to teach
at The Quilter's General Store, and love seeing them when we
reunite at Farm Fest each summer.
Isn't it the best way to spend a weekend, catching up with everyone,
sharing stories, and learning new things?  I had a great time!

Deb has a large group of Prairie Women in her club.  Some of the ladies brought
show-n-tell for me that I want to share with you!

Heartland Crossing - Journey One

Mrs. Olson's Hatbox ~ Journey One
Scraps from Home ~ Journey One
Heartland Crossing ~ Journey One

The Quilting Gathering ~ Journey Two

Prairie Huswyfe ~ Journey Two
Practice What I Preach ~ Heartspun Quilts Hints Book
Today, I will be digging deep into my stash, pulling the fabrics I want to use for several
new quilts.  I love choosing fabrics!  I'll have my EQ drawings pinned to my design wall for inspiration and I'll play my "prairie" music....it really takes me to the 1800's and just sets the perfect mood while I go thru piles and piles of fabric,
sorting and digging until I find just the right pieces! 
Maybe I'll be brave and take a few pictures of my creative mess.
Stay tuned and I hope you have wonderful day away from this scortching summer heat!

Pam

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Very Berry Delicious!

My heartfelt thanks to Pat Sloan and everyone at
American Patchwork & Quilting magazine for inviting me on
the radio show yesterday!  It was great fun!

Also, thanks to all of you, my quilty friends, 
who tuned in and listened, and
for the many, many emails I received afterwards!
Your kind words and encouragement always touch me more than you know!

Beginning Friday, I'll be teaching at
Farm Fest, hosted by The Quilter's General Store
in Rockford, IL.  There are still a few spots open and it's
not too late to sign up!  We'd love to have you join us.
I'll take pictures and post about it next week.


But....for now, I just had to share this with you! 
Summer brings my favorite fruits in plentiful supply....
Berries!  I just can't get enough of them, and
when the prices fall, they're even better!

Very Berry Fruit Pie

This pie is so easy and so super delicious,
I just had to share the recipe with you.
It's loaded with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries & raspberries.
The beauty is that you can mix and match your favorites.


Thanks for stopping by!  Pam

Monday, July 11, 2011

Tune Into AP&Q Radio Today!



I’m so excited to say that today, I’ll be a guest on American Patchwork & Quilting’s Radio talk show hosted by the delightful Pat Sloan!  I’ve you’ve never listed to her show, you’ve been missing a good time!  Each week the show has several guests from all areas of the quilting world….truly something for everyone. 

Take a few minutes to give a listen and see what’s in store for today’s show.  What will I be talking with Pat about?  Tune in to find out!!  It’s easy……to listen to the show, just go to


If you were unable to listen live, you can always listen anytime, and catch up on all of the other wonderful shows by visiting www.allpeoplequilt.com. 

Visit Pat's website for all kinds of cool and quilty things at www.creativetalknetwork.com

Thanks for stopping by!  Pam

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tune into American Patchwork & Quilting Radio!


Have you been listening to the American Patchwork & Quilting radio show hosted by Pat Sloan?

  If not, you've really been missing the fun!!  But fear not! 

You can catch up by listening to the shows you missed.  It's easy.....

Go to www.AllPeopleQuilt.com and click on the radio show icon!  There, you can see the list of all of the guests and listen to all of the shows.  They're really wonderful and entertaining covering a wide variety of quilting subjects!





I'm very excited and tickled pink to tell you that on next Monday's show,
I will be one of three guests talking with Pat!  





So tie a string around your finger or tack a sticky note to your computer and remember to tune into

American Patchwork & Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan!!

on Monday, July 11th

4-5 pm Eastern
3-4 pm Central
1-2 pm Pacific

Enjoy your day!  Pam




 




 

Monday, July 4, 2011

Greetings from a Patriot!

Happy Birthday America!


I thought I'd share this post card with you.  It's from my vintage post card collection and is one of my all time favorites.  I love the 4th of July celebrations with all of the barbeques and fireworks, and I do so love making and collecting all things Americana for decorating the house.  Ryan's room is
all done in Americana, so I add things there all year thru.

Over the weekend, I decorated the house and thought maybe you'd like to see the
vignettes I threw together here and there.











I hope you had a wonderful July 4th weekend with family & friends!

Thanks for visiting today!  Pam