I just returned from Oconomowoc, WI (yes, it really is spelled like that ) where I taught EQ7 classes at the Machine Quilting Today show.  Go on, just try to pronounce that.  I had to ask a local for the correct pronunciation.  I was only able to stay 2 days so I missed the quilt show and vendor mall.  Drat.  But it was a fun trip, and now that husband Bruce is retired I have a driver and porter to haul my stuff around.  Ahhhhh!

The best news of all, is that my darling new daughter-in-law Jess is pregnant!  I am going to be a grandma at last!  She and son Eric are expecting in late January and we found out this week it will be a boy!  They are doing the nursery in a woodland theme (of course, daddy Eric is a big hunter and fisher dude) so I will have to get busy on an appropriate woodland themed quilt.

Eric sent me this picture of Jess last week on an outing to Sams Club.  I laughed so hard.  I know just how she feels!

Jess caught in the Candy aisle at Sams

Been working on my Flower Dance quilt and it is nearly done.  I have a couple in-progress pictures from the last retreat I was at in Houston in July.  This picture is before I put the sashing in.

This picture is after I stared adding the sashing.  I don't have a DONE picture yet. but should post one shortly.  Just putting on the last border this weekend and then it goes to the Quilt Shop to help sell kits.

There are three more BOM blocks up on the BOM page so be sure to get the free ones while they are available.  There are only three more blocks to go after these and we will be done.  Whew, it has been a long 21 months!!!!  LOL

New Patterns Coming

The Countdown to Retirement has begun, and with that in mind, I am becoming re-energized and started designing again.  That whole nasty tax thing had me in a blue funk all winter and spring, but with summer I am feeling better, and ready to work on more quilt projects.

This week I have been finishing up the blanket stitching on my vintage sampler blocks.  I want to have that quilt put together soon so I can start marketing the whole pattern at Quilt Market this year.  I posted Block 34 on my BOM Page today – and will be putting out the remaining 8 blocks this June and July.   If you have been wanting to complete your collection of all the blocks, they will all be released by August 1.
 

Block 34 Tulip Basket block

Here are a few of the patterns I am going to be working on. 
This Iris Quilt will be appearing in THE QUILT PATTERN MAGAZINE Starting in December as a block of the month.  If you subscribe to this completely online magazine you will get all the installments as downloadable PDF files.

I will offer an alternate applique version of this quilt to my newsletter subscribers next year.


I have redesigned the border in my Midnight Posies BOM and it is now available on my website.  I wanted a pieced border to make it easier for beginners, who expressed some chagrin about doing an applique vine border.

Midnight Posies VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Another new pattern will be another version (or two) of my diamond argyle quilts which were really popular.  Two new versions are called Indian Blanket (on top)  and Winking Diamonds (the last one).  If you have a favorite let me know in a comment and you could win a copy of the pattern!

Diamond Quilts VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My Flower Dance BOM is about to get finished as well.  I completed all the blocks and am starting on the sashing and borders.  There are still kits available for this Block of the Month in simply yummy batiks.  If you are interested in picking those up let me know and I will get you started.  Here are the blocks so far:

Flower Dance Blocks VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Stay tuned for more new designs coming.  I am working on a gray, white and red compass block quilt which looks incredibly modern but it is actually a reproduction of a very early 19th century vintage quilt.  The patter will be foundation pieces so it should be easier than it looks to make!  HAHAHA
One last thing.  My page counter is getting closer every day to 300,000 hits.  If you leave a comment on my blog about which of these designs you think I should bring out first, on the day the counter hits 300,000 I will give a free pattern to 10 randomly selected commenters!  You can’t lose with a give-away like that!!
Thanks for hanging in there with me this year.  It has been a tough year for me but it looks like things will be getting better.  Thanks for all the wonderful notes and wishes so many of you have sent.  Everyone of them was special and helped me overcome a monumental case of the blues.
Reeze 

Morning Glory Desigs is now a Dot Com!

Patience is a virtue.  Or so I am told.  Heaven knows I waited a long time for the price to come down on my domain name.  I purchased the .net version of my domain name for about $10 in 2006 when I started my business.  At that time the .com version was not available.  Someone had it, and was parking ads on it.  When it came up for sale the next year I offered $15 for it but was outbid at the very last moment before I had an opportunity to counter-offer.

Yes, bought up domain names are offered for auction on a lot of sites.

So I waited.  It appeared on auction for $750.  Holy S**t!  I was appalled by the hubris of someone looking to make a bazillion % profit on a lousy domain name. I made an offer of $100 which was rejected.  I waited.  The price continued to grow and I continued to wait.  I would make occasional offers, but clearly, I was the only one bidding. The price grew.  No competition.  I even got phone calls asking me to buy the domain, and would be given a special price. . . $1000 off the price of $3700.  I told them to call me when they would sell for $500.  That was my top price.

They kept calling, I kept saying no, and telling them to call me back when they were ready to get real.  I waited.  7 years later they were finally ready to get real and I bought the domain. 

http://morningglorydesigns.com

I lament the days of being able to buy it for $15 but at least I didn't pay anywhere near the absurd asking price of $3700!  I understand profit.  But this was pure greed.

And now a commercial message to interrup my rant on the injustices of the world.  Thought you might like to see how much the kitties have grown.

Now back to my regularly scheduled rant.

One more lament about greed before I go back to work on my design work. . . . Why is it so wrong to have "enough" and not want to strive to have "more and more"?  As a business person I understand the need to make money at what I do.  But according to the IRS I should be making more money every year.  To lose money is the ultimate sin.  In fact, according the the IRS, if you lose money 3 years in a row you are NOT A BUSINESS!!!  The definition of a business, according to them, is someone who makes money.  Why not someone who meets their needs?  Who enjoys what they do and shares it with others?  Why not make some, lose some, break even?  Granted a business person needs to pay their bills.  But why the push for more and more and more?  Greed is an insipid motivator and clearly it motivates the IRS.

Yes, I am still battling with the IRS over my tax audit.  Yes my lawyer is likely to cost me more than I would have paid in taxes.  Yes, my stress level is still through the roof, and my meds to control my BP are only marginally successful.  Yes, I am still mostly unproductive as a result of the stress and resulting anxiety.  All because of greed.  Is it worth it?

I give away free blocks every month and have for the past 5 years.  It brings people to my website and results in occasional sales.  I am not aggresively marketing my work online because I still have a full time job.  When I retire next year I will ramp up my design work and my marketing efforts to offset the drop in the my salary.  I have already proven I can do that.  I invest in my business, overhead, equipment, supplies and support the industry which supports me.  It works for me. 

But you can't give things away forever.  So offering free blocks for a brief period of time, then offering them for sale is a buisness model that works. . . .mostly.  Hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of people download my blocks every month.  And a couple even say thank you.  I appreciate those folks.  Some complain because they missed the free blocks and want them -- for free of course -- because they. . . well, because they want them, and feel they deserve to get them -- for free.  I feel your pain.  I love getting free blocks too.

I had a woman call me, while I was driving through the mountains on vacation, no less, berating me for taking down a free block.  She had been ill and just wasn't able to get to the computer to get her free block, and she had all the others, and it wasn't right that she should pay for one when she had gotten all the other ones free, and how could I be so heartless as to deny her the complete set when she had faithfully downloaded all the other for free???  REALLY? 

I told her she could purchase the missing block for $3 on my website.  OMG, I can't do that, she told me, she was on a fixed income, and had medical problems, and was supporting her grandson, six cats and a dog, and there was no money left over for something as unimportant as free quilt blocks!  REALLY?

Hope you are enjoying your free blocks of the month.  :-)

Reeze

Calypso Carnival Published

Calypso Carnival Published in the Sping 2013 Fons & Porter Easy Quilts.

  

This is a super fun and easy quilt to make.  You can purchase the magazine or buy the pattern via download from F & P's website.  They even have a kit put together for the quilt using Ro Gregg's Calypso fabric line!  Whoo Hooo.

 Here is what the quilt looks like opened out.

 

Brenda Weien did a great job of quilting it, as usual and it really glows with all those bright colors.  And I like the feel of the quilt with no borders.  Wouldn't this make a great quilt for kiddo's room?

So now that the last of my quilts have been published I really need to get on the ball and work up some more designs to send in.  I have a couple on the fires, but I need to simplify them a bit.

Let me ask all of you what you think.  Publishers are telling me that quilters want EASY quilt patterns.  I certainly understand that.  But how many "boxy block" quilts can one person make without blowing a gasket?  OK, what I mean, is what would YOU like to see more of?

VOTE BY LEAVING A COMMENT:

• Pieced?  Applique? Combination of both?
• Bed Quilts?  Lap Quilts?  Wall Hangings or Table Runners?
• Modern Fabs?  Reproduction Fabs?  Scrappy Fabs from your stash?
• Easy?  Intermediate?  Advanced?

Tell me YOUR preference about what you would like to see me design and I will draw 2 winners from among all comment to receive a free pattern.  (Drawing on Feb 1)

And thanks for following along on this crazy adventure! 
 

And the Winner is. . . .

I love giving away patterns to our winners!

And the winner of the free pattern for the F & P Stars and Bars Give away is Comment #17, as chosen by my Random Number Generator.

Comment # 17 is Edie!

Congratulations Edie, contact me with your full name and email and I will send your winning pattern.

Just in case you want to get a bit ahead on the free Block of the Month, I am posting these a bit early.  School starts in a few days, and as many of you know, when I get busy with classes sometimes my time gets limited and I don't get the blocks up on time.  So while I still have one free weekend before all hell breaks loose on campus, I am trying to stay ahead of the game and posted blocks 24, 25 and 26! 

Block 24 Bleeding Heart

Block 25 Purple Pot O Posies

Block 26 Poppies

Hope you enjoy the extra time to play with these fun blocks.

So what am I working on?  Well, I am trying to learn how to do fabric post cards.  I am doing a post card swap with my guild and so far I have received these great ones in the mail:

Any suggestions would sure be helpful!  I printed off post card backs onto printable fabric but I need to get a stiffener for the middle layer.  I am thinking of Timtex.  If any of you have done this before please give me some suggestions.  I could really use some help on this one.

Thanks and have a great New Year!

Stained Glass Stars Published

Fons and Porter’s LOVE OF QUILTING Magazine published my Stained Glass Stars pattern as an online Bonus Pattern in their January/February 2013 issue on page 98.  You can get the pattern HERE!

They did not give credit to the Machine Quilter, Brenda Weien of Ottawa, KS, who did an amazing job on the quilting!
In the magazine they rate the pattern as Intermediate, but on their website they rate it as Challenging!  You pick!  I would rate it Intermediate for setting blocks and Advanced for the star blocks.  I paper pieced much of it, but their instructions have you rotary cut and strip-piece the whole quilt.  Not that difficult in my opinion. The star blocks do take some time because of all the pieces, but they are not difficult.  I did most of them at a retreat and had a blast watching them come together.
If you receive the Fons & Porter’s LOVE OF QUILTING Newsletter, there is a link to the quilt in the December 25. 2012 issue.

Scroll down a ways until you see the picture and the link.

Once you get to their website don’t forget to click on the Designers Page!  You will see my smiling mug if you scroll down far enough!

Leave a comment and one lucky winner will get a FREE Morning Glory Designs Pattern of your choice! 

Gosh I love give-aways!

Winners in McCall’s Quilting Magazine Give-Away

Wow, my random number generator got a real work out today.  I used it to pick the three winners from among all the comments posted about my Rainbow Galaxy Quilt blog post.

First, thank you for all the wonderful comments and compliments on the quilt and the publication of the pattern.  I am pleased that so many of you liked the quilt.  It was fun to see how many people love these CW repros as much as I do.  But then, I love 30’s repros and 50’s repros and just about everything else.  Well there are a few things I don’t like.

Ok, back on task. . . .the winners are comments # 19, 34,and 42.

19.  Rachell

34.  Cynthia in Connecticut

42.  Cat Lady

Congratulations to our winners!!!  You all rock! 

Please send me your mailing address via email [reeze @ morningglorydesigns.net] so I can get your free magazines mailed off to you as soon as possible!!

And thank you to everyone who left a comment.  You are all winners in my book.

Merry Christmas and

Happy New Years from Morning Glory Designs

Reeze

OOPS! Block 22 got a boo-boo

If you are one of my newsletter subscribers and already downloaded your #22 Blocks, please go back and download #2 (12" block) again.  The templates were the wrong size!!  Yipes.  The applique placement guide was the right size, but I put in templates for a 9" block instead of for the 12" block.

The pattern is correct now.  So if you downloaded the block prior to December 9, please go back and download it again.  Here is the link:  Tulip Crossing 2 - 12" block.  It is the same link as the one in your newsletter, but the file is updated.

Sorry about the confusion.  Some days you get the bear.  And some days the bear gets you!


 

Rainbow Galaxy Published!

Hold the Phone!  Its time for a Give-Away! 

McCalls Quilting will give away 3 free issues to 3 lucky readers who leave a comment on this post .  Just leave a comment!  That is all it takes!

I will choose 3 winners from comments on Friday, December 21. 

Here are the OFFICIAL RULES for the contest. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whoo Hooo!  My Civil War Stars quilt just returned home this week and much to my amazement it got a new name:  Rainbow Galaxy.  I guess because it is a lot of stars and they are all different colors, get it?  Hehe, yea took me a while to figure that out too.  Some days I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But here is the best news.  McCall’s Quilting just published it in their special publication called America Loves Scrap Quilts Winter 2012-13. 

My quilt is on pages 66-69.  You can see it HERE.

Let me tell you the story of this quilt.  I was wandering around on eBay one day looking at old quilts and saw this great old red and white quilt.  Now this was way before that big red and white quilt exposition in NY happened.  I just was struck by the pattern.

Being the curious type, I wanted to see it in more detail so I scanned the listing for a close-up.

I loved the secondary pattern which was formed by the white space between the blocks and had to figure out how it was made.  I realized that it was a combination of two blocks:  a variation on the variable star and the counterpane block.   I immediately drew it up in EQ7 and was off!
I tried a variety of colorings, mostly variations of red and white.

Then I turned it on point. . . Yes, the original is a horizontal setting.  Here is what it looks like on point:

Strange huh?  I sorta liked it like that but I knew all those pieced setting triangles would earn me no friends!  LOL  So I returned to the horizontal setting and tried other colors.

I loved the civil war repros a lot but thought it needed a border.  In the red and white versions I created the illusion of a border in my fabric colorings.  But I thought this one needed a real border, but it had to be simple.

Viola!  (pronounced wah-la’)  The Civil War Stars quilt was born.  I sent it to McCall’s Quilting and they wanted to publish it.  It took me quite a while to get all the civil war reproduction fabrics I wanted to make it.  There were 41 stars and I wanted each one to be a different fabric.  I had a lot in my stash but they all tended to be blues and reds.  I needed more variety.  I went shopping in the stash fabrics from some of my quilty friends who kicked in a few fabrics and then I shopped the online fabric sales and purchased a few more in interesting colors and textures.
It went together really fast and the blocks filled my design wall and I was ready to put them together.  Then I discovered I had only made 8 rows of blocks and when I consulted my drawing there were 9 rows of blocks!  Yikes.  I raced to my LQS, picked up a few FQ’s from the repro section and scooted home to make up five more blocks.  Thank heavens I had enough background fabric.
I finished the top and ran it over to my quilter – the incomparable Brenda Weien of Brenda’s Machine Quilting and asked her to do her magic.  I always love how Brenda “reads” the quilt and knows just what it needs to make the pattern work.  She is a wizard with thread and did a fabulous job on the quilt, as always.

Quilting Close ups VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Here are a few pictures of the completed quilt so you can see her work up close and personal.  Now that the quilt is home, the magazine is on the news stands I have to figure out what I will do with this baby!  It is 80 x 80, a bit small for my queen-sized bed.  I think it will become a snuggle quilt on my recliner or perhaps a Christmas present for my new daughter-in-law.  Hmmmmmm. . . . . . . 
Now I discovered I may have to change the label.  Why?  Well look at it.

It was originally scheduled for publication in the December 2011 issue but looked too “Americana” for that issue so they held onto it.  The told me they would publish it in a different issue so I waited patiently to find out which one.  When I got an email from their editor last week saying they were returning the quilt I asked if they were returning it because they were no longer going to be able to find a place for it.  To my delight she told me they put it in their annual Scrap Quilt issue!  Well I knew my quilt would be very happy there and home it came.
I like the label, however, so I may just leave it in place and add a little note to the bottom identifying where it was REALLY published.  HEHE.
Hope you go buy the issue!!  Cuz there are lots of great scrap quilts in there!  If you decide to make this quilt I would love love love to see what your version looks like!  Yup, it’s a Happy Scrappy Quilt.