Thursday, April 28, 2011

Scrapbook Garden Charming Thursday

A wonderful Thursday to you all! Today we're looking back to 2004 when I decided to start scrapbooking for the grandkids. That lasted about 3 months.  Then I realized I had no time or inclination to do anything but buy all the cool scrapbooking stuff out there.  So I decided to buy their Moms all the stuff they needed to scrapbook themselves. It stuck for 2 of them. My own daughter, of course, has all her photos on her computer and phone and in boxes. I tried.

Our book, Scrapbook Garden, was fun to put together because I used neat metal photo corners on the pictures and made the cover with a pocket on the inside to stash notes and fabric swatches. Cost an arm and a leg to do it. Now I can move on. Here are a couple of my favorite projects from the book.




Leave a comment about your scrapbooking adventures - or not - and you'll be signed up to win a Scrapbook Garden charm pack & book. Check our website under KT Specials and you can purchase the book for only $4 - what a deal!

The kids and grankids are home this weekend for pretend Easter (as Aleece is calling it), so I'll see you all Monday morning with the winner.
Lynne

Monday, April 25, 2011

Goose Talk

Happy Cottage Quilter should be very happy this morning - she's the winner of the Prairie Christmas charm pack from our Charming Thursday giveaway. Congrats!

Back to work after an enjoyable, relaxing Sunday with the parents. Dad got a couple of good shots of the geese showing off their 7 new goslings. Amazing that they look like little yellow fuzzballs, but they could be flying and gone in just a couple weeks. It's quite comical watching Robert's dog, Gus, as he waits in the tall grass, slinking closer to the water's edge, thinking he'll have a chance at snagging one of them. At first, R yelled at Gus to quit, but after seeing how the geese are always one step faster and quite protective, he's let the geese outwit Gus at his own silly game. That seems to be why all the pictures of the geese when Gus is around are of them swimming away!

Better keep stitchin'. Lots to do before market in 2 weeks - Yikes!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter!

It's a cool, cloudy Easter weekend here in Kansas, but we'll take it considering so many other places are having terrible storms.  Just my parents and Robert and I for Easter dinner tomorrow. The "big" event will be next weekend when all the kids and grankids come home. Works for me since all the goodies for the Easter Egg Hunt will be half price this week! Dusted the porch and gathered a few things from around the house (plus my brand new chenille carrots) for a semi-holiday display.


Thanks for all the input on the charm pack quilts. Sure helps me plan. Here are a few more for your consideration.

From top to bottom, Herb Garden, All Wrapped Up, Kansas Troubles and Deck the Walls. Pick your favs and they will become patterns.

You still have time to get in on the Prairie Christmas Charming Thursday giveaway. Winner to be announced Monday morning.

Have a great weekend with family & friends,
Lynne

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Prairie Christmas Charming Thursday

Just a note to all commentors out there - please email your address to ktquilts@twinvalley.net  if you're a winner so I can send your booty. That means you, Bertiequilts!

Congrats to Nancy E - you've just won yourself a bit of Strawberry Jam! But don't stop there, sign up for another Charming Thursday today and you could win a charm pack of Prairie Christmas, too.

My first holiday collection was inspired by a vintage holly/berry print. It debuted before charm packs really existed and only has 20 pieces in the line. Moda cut some 4" charms for market and we made a little quilt with squares and stars - very simple, very small. Glad the charms now have 40 squares even if they have to double up a few. Makes it easier to design charm quilts, that's for sure.

Speaking of charms, I've designed a charm quilt for every line (more than 20!) since charm packs arrived on the scene over than 5 years ago. We've been selling exclusively to quilt shops for our Charmed Club, but are thinking about going mainstream and offer some of our favorites as KT Classic Charms. I need you to vote again and let me know which ones you like the best. We'll do a few more later in the week. I so appreciate your input, ladies!

Just 1,2,3,4 from top to bottom works for me. (Don't tell anybody, but if the big brown truck doesn't drop off a box of BRAND NEW fabric tomorrow, I'm taking whatever they've got as ransom!)
Later, ladies.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Thursday again - so soon?

It's pre-market mania around here. We're still waiting on the guy-with-cute-legs-in-brown-shorts to deliver the newest flat folds of Cattails & Clover. As soon as I can see it, touch it, fondle it and make a quilt, send it to the quilter, bind it and get a photo taken by next week, I'll share a peek with all of you.

With no fabric yet, I took time this weekend to clean up the flower beds. The weather was perfect and my tulips were barely peeking out of last year's deadheads. I even uncovered some of my silverware markers amidst the mess!


Now on to the task at hand. Bertiequilts is the winner of Lucy's Feather Bed charm pack & the Hugs & Stitches book - thanks for commenting and congrats on that new great-grandbaby coming this summer! Send pics of your quilt when you can.

Since I missed last week's Charming Thursday, we're pretending it's Thursday on Monday, then it'll be Thursday again on Thursday. Anyway, we're offering a freshly preserved Strawberry Jam charm pack...


and the Strawberry Jam book today. Comment now thru Thursday morning at 8am. for a chance to win! Here's one of my favorite quilts/pictures from the book. If you're not the lucky winner, Strawberry Jam is only $4 right now on our KT Specials page!




 The next Charming Thursday (actually on Thursday) features my first Christmas collection, Prairie Christmas. Don't miss it!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Farmyard Sentry

I've shared tidbits about my quilting life, road trips and even about the grankids, but so far, no stories about my Dad. To set up this little tale, I'll share a bit of history about him, the man-who-retired-and-now-has-too-much-time-on-his-hands-so-he-tries-to-come-up-with-ways-to-get-a-rise-out-of-his-eldest-daughter guy. When Robert and I built the cabin 3 years ago, I was delighted to live by the pond where many happy childhood memories had been made. My Dad seemed to delight in dragging large objects into my front yard to see how long it would take me to call and ask "What the H---?" After all, it's still his farm and he can pile stuff anywhere he wants, right? Okay, noted, but do we really need the deer blind that is falling apart as yard art? Or old 50 gallon oil drums lined up in a row just in case I wanted them for planters? Really? Usually, these items remained for just a day or two or until I called him on his latest scheme. There was always a chuckle on the other end of the line, then the item would disappear as quickly and quietly as it had appeared. As another example, last spring, while walking past the apple trees, my 6-yr-old granddaughter, Aleece, commented "Cool Gramma, Grampa B. has a dead squirrel hanging in his tree." The younger granddaughter, Delainey, screamed and ran to the house, not nearly as interested in getting a closer look. As Aleece and I investigated further, turns out it was one leg of pantyhose filled with hair to keep the deer away.

Human hair is commonly used for this purpose, but a handful of hair in the toe of the hose works just fine. My Dad? No way, bigger is ALWAYS better - so he fills half the leg with hair and scrunches it just so, wraps a rope around it and hangs it in the tree. He claims he didn't think anyone would notice. Sure thing, Pops. After a few days, I noticed not just a leg of pantyhose, but the actual panty part of the pantyhose full of hair on another apple tree. Really, Dad? So I got on the phone, gave him the appropriate amount of complaining to satisfy him, and the next day, it was gone. So......when I returned from my 11 day trip to WI, he was by the road taking down barb wire fence. I stopped and we visited for a while, then I commented on the large rolls of barb wire by my driveway, wondering out loud if they were to become the new spring yard art. He just grinned and changed the subject. The next day, on my way to work, the 2 rolls of barb wire were piled one on top of the other. I paid no attention. The next day, there were branches sticking out of each side and a face added from carefully cut chunks of tree branch. Still, I remained silent. No need to egg him on. But today, our barbed wire guy had a new plastic bucket hat, so I broke down and called.

When I asked if we would be selling tickets for the new attraction, he claimed he had plans for a billboard on the highway, just wanted to check with me first to make sure the extra traffic wouldn't be a nuisance. I politely explained that if I'd put up with him for 50+ years, a few more annoying people wouldn't be a problem. He got his chuckle and said he'd take it down the first of the week, but I asked him to leave it there until after Easter so the grankids could see it. I certainly hope he doesn't take that as encouragement!


That, in a nutshell, is my life with the nut I call Dad. I must say, he does make life on the farm a little more interesting. Just be careful what you say!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Charming Thursday with Lucy's Feather Bed

In November 2000, my first grandson, Cooper, was born. Of course, I was delighted and wanted to wrap him in quilts I had made myself. Here I was, a fabric designer, and I had no fabric for a baby quilt! Moda was very gracious in indulging my wish for a line of prints to wrap my grankids in Hugs & Stitches. A vintage curtain panel with adorable ducks was the starting point done in a pallette of pinks, blues, yellows & white.  By the time Lucy's Feather Bed was delivered, so was our second granchild, Rowan, in March of 2002. Soon after, I was finally able to stitch up some of the pink fabrics in the collection for Aleece, in August 2004. The brushed prints were perfect layered with matching plaids for receiving blankets and "drag around" quilts. I often use a layer of plaid instead of batting in baby quilts for extra squooshy, wrappable comfort.


All of my grankids still request plaid pillowcases for Christmas each year and pick their plaid at Thanksgiving. One of their gifts is wrapped in their pillowcase - a double present!

Projects I made for my grankids are in a book called Hugs & Stitches with pictures of Cooper & Rowan as little guys. It still makes me smile whenever I run across them. We actually had to borrow a girl for the photo shoot, so my quilting friend, Emily Waldo, happily offered her grandaughter. Hugs & Stitches is still available in limited quantities on our webstore under KT Specials for just $4.00 - check it out grandmas!

As always, comment here to win the Lucy's Feather Bed charms AND a Hugs & Stitches book. The winner will be announced Monday morning with a special edition of Charming Thursday featuring Strawberry Jam. I'd love to hear from any of you out there have been quilting long enough you've made quilts from or own some of Lucy's Feather Bed fabrics.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

After a week of workshops/programs beginning in northern IA (Quiltmaker's Shoppe) then trekking across southern WI (Millhouse Quilts & Lodi Valley Quilt Guild), Lois and I thoroughly enjoyed a few days of sewing/shopping while camped at The 2nd Story over The Quilt Sampler in Spring Green with my good friend Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts (http://www.heartspunquilts.blogspot.com/) We tied up our trip with a giant bow at Patches & Petals Quilt Shop in Belleville, WI on Sunday afternoon. We were greeted with the most glorious homage to KT in their front window display - thanks so much to Lynn, Sue, Adrianne and all the staff and quilters who made us feel so welcomed. We left mid-afternoon with hail/tornado/high wind warnings all around us - we even passed a group of storm chasers in a field -  but made it to Des Moines, IA for the night unscathed. Lovely week with lovely shops, quilters and friends.

If you're like me, when you have a chance to shop hop, you try to have a list of what you "need" and end up buying everything else, too. I really don't need fabric, but love to collect other Moda designers charm packs. I've recently started hunting for charms for my 6-yr-old grandaughter, Aleece. She loves to lay out the squares, rearranging and petting them, talking to them and making up stories about the fabric as she goes. One of her favorite designers is Sandy Gervais (http://www.piecesfrommyheart.com/)  so I try to find one of her charms each season as a treat for Weese. The latest is Lollipop which I'm sure she'll adore. Another fun charm pack is Max & Whiskers by Basic Gray. Weese will go nuts for the puppies, kitties and fish prints - too fun! Just one more way to justify my obsession. The basket was a must have from a delightful shop in Lodi, WI, Cottage House Primitives. It's full of wools, rugs, furniture and all things wonderfully prim. It will hold brochures and charm packs perfectly for market.



My entire decorating scheme for Easter this year (in 2 weeks - yikes!) is adding these cool chenille carrots to a couple of bunny Williraye's already on my shelf. Simple, primitive, done.

Since I missed last week's Charming Thursday, we'll post this Lucy's Feather Bed this Thursday and the next charm pack in the series on Monday when the winner is announced, then again next Thursday to "catch up".
See you then!
Lynne

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Quilting Treats in Lodi, WI

We played nicely with about 30 ladies from Lodi Monday evening and Tuesday where they worked on mini table treats quilts. Most skipped away from the class just 4hours later with a finished project. Nicely done!




On our way to our retreat at the 2nd Story above Country Sampler Quilt Shop in Spring Green, WI (awesome,btw) we saw another quilt block on a barn- very cool!




No service at the retreat, so we'll delay this week's Charming Thursday until next week. Don't miss my first baby collection, Lucy's Feather Bed. Lois and I plan to stitch, stitch, stitch while we're technically unavailable to family - a truly quiet vacation.

See you next week!




Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, April 4, 2011

On to Millhouse Quilts...

The winner of the Charming Thursday giveaway is Gidget - congratulations! I hope you enjoy playing with the Seeds of Time charm squares. Please email your shipping address (this week only while I'm out of town) ktqrmh@twinvalley.net.

We spent a drizzly Sunday afternoon with a group of 50+ quilters with very sunny dispositons - they made our day - what a good time! Dianne, the owner of Millhouse Quilts, and her staff (including her husband who carried our heavy suitcases full of quilts up the stairs - thank you so much!) were so welcoming and accomodating.



The shop is full of samples with little nooks at every turn packed with vignettes of all varieties of bolts, precuts, books and patterns. Lois and I both found a few choice items we couldn't live without :).

The next stop on our trek across Wisconsin is the Lodi Quilt Guild Monday evening and Tuesday. More to come...

Sunday, April 3, 2011

On the Road Again

Friday evening, we arrived in Manchester, IA, greeted by the smiling faces of Kathy Wilgenbusch, owner of The Quiltmaker's Shoppe, and her event coordinator, Carol Dighton. The Methodist church hall had been "spring-ified" with lovely bouquets of flowers on each table and a great display of KT Stash Society quilts. More than 30 enthusiastic Quilters attended a morning program and afternoon workshop featuring our Sunflower Mini Table Treats topper.

After a lovely day, we packed the car, plugged in the next destination into the GPS and ended up following what amounted to a goat trail across back country. Oh well, it's one more interesting experience added to our trek.


Now we're on our way to Millhouse Quilts in Waunakee, WI for a trunk show this afternoon. Watch for more on our road trip tomorrow.

Location:N Nelson St,Bennington,United States