Name the Kitties Contest

Trouble and More Trouble

I lost my mind and got two new kitties.  My old kitties, Wilma and Betty went off to cat heaven and I have been catless for a while.  These two were adopted from the Kansas City Siamese Rescue and they need names. 

 

There is a little male(left) and female (right) seal point Himalyan kittens, 8 weeks old.  They are little rascals. Playful, feisty, and active, they are a pair of scamps!  They need appropriate fun names and my brain is a bit fried so I am asking for suggestions.  The person who suggests the winning pair of names will win a really nice prize!

Please post your suggestions as comments to this post.  If you post anonymously you won't be able to win as I have no way to contact you that you have won!  I can't wait to see what you come up with for this rascally pair!

Finished Stars and Bars

I finally finished Stars and Bars quilt and it is off to the quilter where she will work her magic on it.  It was a challenge to make design decisions along the way on this one, but I am pleased with the results.  Here is a little sneak peek.  It will be going off to Fons and Porter the end of the week.  Hopefully they will like it enough to publish it!  Keeping my fingers crossed!

 Actually the quilt is really different from this table runner version.  But I can't give it all away, can I? Just have to wait to see the final version if it is published. As a good friend and incredible designer once told me, "free is not a good business model."

Speaking of free, the new BOM for July 15 is posted.  It is one of my favorite blocks and I think you will have fun working on this one.  Here is a picture to tempt you.  Go to my BOM page (see the tabs at the top of this page) to download your free copy.  Remember it is only available for one month then you can purchase the block from my website.

Now I finally have a bit of time between deadlines to work on my son's wedding quilt.  I must be insane because I am going to make him a Judy Neimeyer pattern called Misty Pond.  He is a hunter and I thought the cat tails in the corners were really appropriate for him.

Judy Neimeyer's Misty Pond

I am going to try and squeeze this in between making a cathedral length veil for the bride and working on more BOM block samples.  I really need to quit my day job.

 

Sew Very Smooth Seam Guide Review

After a wonderful weekend of camping with my kiddos it is nice to be back in the air conditioning and doing some quilting.  The new free BOM Block is Posted, Spring Basket.

Be sure and download the free block by July 15.  Are you getting my newsletter?  If not you are missing out on the 12" and 16" companion blocks that go with this block!  Subscribe to my newsletter and you can get them for free each month!

12" block

16" block

I have been playing around with some new products and thought I would share my reviews with you.

Steve and LuAnn Tippets have developed a great new product which deserves to be on everyone's sewing machine table.  Their company, Sew Very Smooth, has developed a set of seam guides which are absolutely wonderful.  I recently tried these and can tell you they are worth every penny.

It is about 3/16" thick plastic guide with adhesive backing.  They come in 4 different lengths so you can choose the length you prefer for your machine table.  (NOTE: They also sell acrylic machine tables to fit any machine, and polishing kits for your table. -- I got one of their polishing kits and it really makes your acrylic table smooth!)  Now for my review:  I tried all the lengths and found the two shorter lengths to be the most useful for me.  If I was sewing long strips together I might prefer one of the longer guides, but while piecing blocks the shorter one worked great.  They are easy to line up and super to ensure a true 1/4" seam, altho you can set them for any seam width.  I loved the beveled back which allowed you to grab the back and pull it up when you no longer needed it.  This is good because I do a lot of paper piecing and needed it out of the way for that.  When I was ready to use it again the adhesive was good as new and stuck right down on my machine and table.

Here are a few things I would comment on.  Press down hard to be sure you have stuck it down tightly.  I didn't have mine stuck down all the way the first time I used it.  Second, if you are using an acrylic table, be sure your table and machine throat are level at the same height.  Even a small discrepency in height can keep the guide from sticking down firmly to both table and machine throat.  Third, I found it more useful for long piecing tasks  (long seams, or sewing rows together) than for shorter ones where a piece of tape works good.  Lastly,  it gets in the way of pins because it is so high.  It does remind you to remove those pins or the load them parallel to the raw edge.

I would give these a big thumbs up, especially for new quilters or sewers.  They are worth the money.  But for me, the shorter 3" or  5" guide was more usefull than the longer ones.

Next time:  The Sticky Roller!!

Memorial Day Sale!

In honor of Memorial Day, I am remembering all of our veterans, families, and volunteers who help  make our homes and communities safe.  I am grateful to live in a quiet town where I can walk down my street and wave at my neighbors and watch the kids play in the park across the street.  The summer weather has brought everyone outside, and yards and gardens are full of blooming plants and trees.

And that seemed like a good time to have a sale on my Vintage Floral Sampler Block of the Month Blocks.

I just posted blocks 10 and 11 so hurry and get those blocks while they are available for free.  Miss any of the previous blocks?  Want some of the larger 12" crossing blocks or 16" wreath blocks?  The sets of all previous blocks are on sale for $4.00 just until June 1!!

Rock on over to my website and pick up any missed blocks for nearly 40% off the regular price.

This is Block #10 Fantasy Flower

This is Block #11 Two Roses

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday.

Now for a GREAT Incredible give-away offer.

Would you like to win a complete pattern and kit for the Market Place Mosaic Quilt? Morning Glory Designs has teamed up with Connect the Blocks.com to offer you a chance to win this incredible package of batik fabrics worth more than $100!!  Your can purchase just the pattern HERE.  But if you want a chance to win the pattern AND a kit full of all the batik fabrics to make this quilt. . . . . . .

Here is how to enter:

1) Go to the Connect theBlocks Facebook page first and "LIKE" the page.

2) Then scroll down to the first comment, click on the link, fill it in, and hit "send" - that will subscribe you to the Connect the Blocks newsletter and confirm you are new to the list. --OR-- After you have LIKED the page you can go HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

By doing BOTH you will be entered into a drawing for the Marketplace Mosaic pattern plus the kit -- with a combined retail value of $114.

All Entries must be completed by May 31 to be eligible for the give-away.  Good luck and happy holiday.

Its May!  Did you ever dance around a maypole?  Nope, me neither.  But my sister did, in college no less.  I think they had to wear white and put flowers in their hair.  One of those archaic traditions which probably passed into obscurity along with punting and freshman beanies.

However, May at Morning Glory Designs always means flowers in my yard, the end of another academic semester, nice weather in Kansas, and graduations.  Plus, more time to sew and quilt!  I hope you are enjoying your May as much as I enjoy mine.

Block 9 of the Vintage Sampler is ready to go.  Check out the BOM page to see the newest free Block of the Month. 

My local quilt shop, Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora, KS is offering my Block of the Month, and they are kitting it with adorable 1930's fabrics.  Here are their first two blocks.

Aren't they cute?  I am so tempted to do them again in 30's fabrics!  Faith made these wonderful sample blocks and used hand blanket stitched edges in matching embroidery floss. Contact the shop if you want to purchase the matching floss along with the kits.

They are offering 2 blocks each month which includes a full color pattern, background fabric and all the flower fabrics.  The price includes sashing and borders.  I know they are only cutting a limited number of kits so if you want to order these you should contact them right away.  They do mail order, and if you pay in advance you get free shipping! 

Rose and Leaf is block 9 of the Vintage Sampler BOM here. It is a sweet variation of the traditional Rose of Sharon block.

And we have a winner!!  Last time I asked for suggestions for a name for the new BOM quilt that I am offering.  And Lynne came up with a winning suggestion.

FLOWER DANCE. 

And let me tell you it was a tough choice and I am glad I did not have to do the choosing.  The gals at the quilt shop chimed in with their favorites and they picked a winner.
 

Congratulations Lynne, you will receive a free pattern of your choice from

Morning Glory Designs.

There is still time to sign up for this block of the month kit.  Contact Quilting Bits and Pieces to enroll.  Price includes pattern, all fabric for blocks, sashing and borders.

Wow, what a busy month.  And it is only May 2! 

Jewel's Debs have their Come Out

Last year I hosted a free Block of the Month called Jewels in the Crown.  Several of the participants have finished their quilts and posted pictures of them, and I couldn't be more proud.  I feel like a mama duck with chicks that are all grown up!  And look at these beauties swim!!



Made by Becky Fiedler



Made by Betty King



Made by Sue Fender



Made by Quiltbreath

Made by Swala

Made by Black Tanja59

My thanks to all these quilters who shared pictures of their wonderful work.  They each have a treasure, unique and all their own with a seriously high WOW-factor.

Go here to see more pictures of these amazing quilts and blocks.

Just in case these inspire you, the pattern is available on my website HERE. 

And thanks to all of you who are participating in this year's BOM.  I hope you are sharing pictures of your blocks on the Flickr Album Vintage Sampler.

March Winners! and Name that Quilt Give-Away

The month of March zoomed by so fast I didn't have time to announce the Winners of the "Post your BOM Photo on Flickr" for the Vintage Sampler.  And the blocks are real winners too.  If you want to be entered to win in the April Give-Away, please post a picture of your completed Vintage Sampler BOM block HERE.  or click on this link:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/vintagesampler

Winner #1:  Pablo_67 (Bobbi)

Winner #2: 06Leka

Please email me at reezehanson (at) hotmail.com with your contact information so I can get your prizes to you!!

If you would like to participate in a kitted version of this BOM using 1930's reproduction fabrics you are in luck!  Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora, KS is preparing to offer this BOM (the 9" blocks) as a KIT in 30's fabrics.  I saw one of the blocks made up yesterday and it was so cute!!!  Contact the shop if you would like to participate.  They ship BOM kits regularly so don't feel as though you have to live in the KC area to participate.  They ship everywhere. 



Quilting Bits & Pieces736 Main St., Box 9, Eudora KS 66025
Phone: 785-542-2080 or toll free 877-639-2080

If you would like to do a sampler quilt with 13 of the larger blocks, you are in luck too.  Quilting Bits and Pieces will also be offering a KIT for this Block of the Month.

It will be made in BATIKS.  I am working up the first two blocks now and it is going to be lovely!  If you want to enroll in this Block of the Month (I am still working on a name for it) be sure to contact the quilt shop right away.  I believe both of these BOM kits will start in May.

I am ususally pretty good at thinking up names but for some reason the "pink and purple star BOM" just doesn't seem to be good enough. 

NEW GIVE-AWAY

Post an idea for a name for this quilt in the comments of this post. 

If we select your entry you will receive a FREE PATTERN of your choice from

Morning Glory Designs. 

Deadline for suggestions is Wednesday April 11, 2012.

Just a little over the edge. . .

I think all the rain this week is getting to me.  I recently purchased this absolutely cool set of bobbin threads in a bobbin saver called a "Frosted Donut."

I just love all of the colors, all in one place, and so wonderfully arranged.  And in a clear plastic bag to allow me to gaze and fondle, but not disarrange or dirty the threads. 

I have taken it back and forth to work with me all last week and had it on my desk while I was grading papers or working on class lesson plans.  Then it came home with me and sat on my desk, near my computer, where I could look at it whenever I needed some inspiration. 

When I get upset about something I look at it and I calm down.  What is it about a little ring of 35 L-style bobbins with Masterpiece thread on them that gives me such incredible peace and satisfaction?  Am I starting to stroll down that path toward senility? Or do I just need a color fix every now and then when the weather gets gray? 

Confession -- I had to stop and fondle my bobbins at least twice while typing this post.  Is bobbin fondling a sin?  Will it make me go blind? Should I hide my bobbin fondling from my friends.  From my husband and the dog?  

I just don't seem to have any control over this compulsion.  In fact, I just ordered a second Frosted Donut from Superior Threads with another 35 colors of MassterPiece thread!  I know, its that extra-long staple Egyptian cotton!!  I have been carrying it around the house with me today.  Is that sick or what?  Should I call my therapist and tell her I am having bobbin overload?  A bobbin fetish?  Bobbin mania?  Obsessive Compulsive Bobbin Disorder?  Is there a cure?  

Please leave a comment with any advise you have for me.  Gosh I love these bobbins!  

I Found an Old Collection of Vintage Blocks

BOM Block 6 is posted! 

A few years ago I bought several CD's on Ebay that contained scanned images of old blocks from vintage newspapers -- the the Kansas City Star -- and other newspapers and magazines.  Someone had gone to a huge amount of trouble to scan and edit all those old clipping.  In addition there were a number of catalogs and booklets with designs which could be mail ordered.  I was thumbing through one of these called The Farm Journal and found some interesting blocks.

Now I digress for a moment because I remember growing up and seeing The Farm Journal in our house.  My dad, a fruit farmer in northern Ohio for many years, used to get The Farm Journal.  And I recall that they had quilt and embroidery patterns for women "back in the day."

This was a catalog which both contained some patterns and then offered others for sale by mail order.  I believe this was from the late 20's or early 30's but perhaps some of my readers may be able to help pin down the date better. Check out this blog for a clue to the date.

Block 6 of the Vintage Sampler is the Purple Posey.  But as you can see it looks a great deal like this Prairie Rose block from the Farm Journal Magazine.

The Farm Jornal called this a May Apple, but doesn't it look remarkably like Block 5 - All Thumbs?

Clearly, the quilter who made this block for This Old Quilt had to have the May Apple block in mind!  Oh, there is more!!

This is the June Lily and it looks a whole lot like the block I am calling Blonde Tulips.  The stem and leaves look remarkably similar and the flowers are much the same.  Only the small set of upper leaves on the central stem is missing.  I have read that some of these patterns are not really paper patterns at all, but actual fabric blocks.  They were made and distributed as patterns and many of them found their way into quilts.  But they were made up from a master pattern and sold as "patterns" to guide the quiltmaker.  Wow do we ever have it easy today.

This is the Rose of Sharon block and strangely, I used the same name for it when I drew the block.  Uncanny how it resembles it, complete with the little buds in the corners.

 

This Tiger Lily applique block is very similar to this block I am calling Tulips.  But it might not be tulips after all if we believe this old illustration!  Don't you just love how the patterns have evolved in the hands of quilters?  The new block I have drawn (on the right, above) is an exact duplication of the one in This Old Quilt, which likely dates from the same time as these old pattern illustrations.  Yet each quilter made them uniquely her own.

The next one is the closest of them all.  It is a practically identical verion of the Tulip Crossing block.  It is called the Tulip Circle in The Farm Journal.  Scarey, huh?

WOW!  When I discovered these pictures I was so excited and couldn't wait to share them with you. Now I am motivated to go digging some more to see if I can find some more old blocks that could have been models for This Old Quilt.

My theory is that one of the organizers of this Friendship Quilt must have had this old catalog.  I can picture the quilters sitting around the kitchen table in their aprons drinking tea and planning this quilt.  They hauled out their patterns and catalogs and paged through them and selected these designs.  Then they went home and made up their own versions of each block for the gift they planned to give to some lucky recipient.  The owner's name is losts, but the names of all 42 of the friends who planned this quilt are memorialized on the quilt, embroidered in each block.  WOW.

This old Poppy Block is quite similar to the one in This Old Quilt.  It was one of the few patterns in color in the Farm Journal pattern book.  I expect that these pattern were fairly popular at the time and widely shared from quilter to quilter.

The last block I found is called the Rose Wreath, and it shares a lot of similarities with this rosey wreath in This Old Quilt.  No not exact, but those funny blue blobs look alot like the three buds that appear on this old drawing.  I can see how the quilter simplified the block and made their own hand-made templates.  Not being a good artist clearly did not deter the quilter who made this Rosey Wreath block (on the right, below).

Ahhh, it was so fun to discover these.  I hope you enjoyed seeing the similarities between thes old Farm Journal magazine blocks and the blocks in Vintage Sampler.  I will post more if I find them.  Always on the trail of a mystery.

New Blocks

It seems like the only way I can get any real sewing done is to go to a quilting retreat!  LOL  I can be totally focused for a few days and actually accomplish quite a lot in a short time.

My project at the retreat I attended last weekend was to get a start on my set of Vintage Sampler Blocks.  I gotta tell you, I had a blast working on these blocks, and never got near a sewing machine until I got home!  Look what I got accomplished:

I did the first four rows of blocks (there are seven rows) in three days!  Now before you get all impressed, I did raw edge fusible web (machine applique) and didn't stitch down any of the edges at the retreat.  I just traced, fused, cut, and pressed all the parts onto blocks.  Also, they are not in order, so don't panic that you didn't get any of the blocks in the top row yet.  Those are actually row 4 blocks but I didn't have room on the design wall to put them below row 3 so I stuck them up above!

I used Moda Bella solids for my blocks.  I wondered if they might prove a bit dull with just the solids, but as you can see, they came out looking pretty vivid, and that is before edge-stitching or embellishment!  Whooo hooo, I am so pleased with how they are coming together.

Once I got home, I started blanket stitching the edges down, and have a few blocks completed.  If I do a little bit each night I should be able to get them done and start on the next three rows over my spring break in March.