Thursday, December 26, 2013

Endings and Beginnings

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday with family and friends. Robert and I spent a very quiet, very calm Christmas Day at home alone watching a marathon of movies and baking cookies. It's time well spent recharging for the arrival of chaos at our house very soon. Santa is coming on Saturday when the kids/grankids are ready after hectic holiday schedules to relax and spend the night upstairs at the retreat space. I finally dragged the Christmas tree out today, wrapped some presents and hummed a carol or two while trying to figure out the last minute grocery list. Everyone's pitching in for an eat-all-night buffet full of our favorites. 

KT Winner

Congrats to Nancy E (quilt4fun1@gmail.com) for commenting. You're the winner of the KT Christmas bundle. Please send your address and we'll get it packed up for you.

Endings

It's been quite a year here at KTQ - new store front, new Bernina dealers, KT retreats reopening and lots of new quilting friends. In just a few months, we've rearranged/expanded the store 3 times, moved my office twice and built a wall upstairs in the retreat space. Jamie Swanson, our general-all-around cleaning/maintenance/building/painting diva, has spent the last couple weeks leading the charge to get this place back to shipshape before New Year's. She's sucked up gallons of sheetrock dust, sanded and painted walls & ceilings, ripped up carpet and moved a ton of furniture/bookcases from upstairs to downstairs and back again. Now, I'm finally moving into my NEW office, sorting thru piles of quilting books, magazines and vintage fabric swatches, trying to organize my life for the new year. The fun part is about to begin, bringing in some of my favorite things to decorate my very own space. We're installing a shelf about a foot down from the ceiling all around the room to hold the fat 1/8 bundles of fabric from each of my collections and assorted sewing needfuls.

Beginnings

2014 is full of new adventures - Pam Buda and I are off to St. Augustine, Fl for a week long quilting retreat in January, then to Mackinaw Island in September. I'm partnering up with Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. for a 3-day retreat the end of March in Salina, KS with more in the works. I'm also delighted to be included in the all-star list of quilters speaking at the Nancy's Notions Sewing Weekend in May. As for what's coming in fabric next year, we're stitching up quilts for KT's 2014 Christmas line, Holly Wishes, I just edited a new line of fabric for Spring Market (Paisley Park), and I'm digging thru old quilts for inspiration for next fall's new collection. As the year unfolds, I can share more fun surprises, but for now, let's just say it's gonna be another busy one, for sure! I hope you can take some time and join me along the way.

Watch here for the ten finalists'quilts from The Old Country Store KT Quilt Contest on New Year's Day along with a great giveaway to kick off 2014. Enjoy the rest of your year!




Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Let's Celebrate the Holidays!

Holiday Open House at KT Bernina

Join us this Saturday, Dec.14th, for specials on KT Christmas fabrics, patterns, kits (25% off) and decor (40% off). We'll be there from 10am to 3pm to share a cookie and jolly holiday smiles. See you then!

KT Winner

Congratulations to Paula A. - you're the winner of the Bees Knees pattern & ruler. I hope you enjoy the fast & easy layered patchwork technique for a simple but really cool quilt. Please email your mailing address to lynne@ktquilts.com. I wasn't sure about the Honeycomb hexagons at first, but have found them to be great fun to play with. We'll have more fun with Honeycombs in our new book this spring! See if first here!

Christmas Magic

Our Blog Blowout for December is a magical trio of Christmas patterns just for you - or a quilting friend. It's not too late to make a small quilt or pillow topper for that hard-to-buy-for special person in your life.
Holiday Ties uses easy 4-patch piecing to create bow ties with just a little
layered patchwork square stitched on top while you're quilting!

Our December Star pillow topper is great for the holidays but wonderful in any colorway to match your
home decor for all year enjoyment. 14" square to button diagonally over an 18" covered pillow.


Christmas J-O-Y begins with just 3 Layer Cake squares for the ornaments and their trim utilizing the
pinked edge as a design element. It's a quick project anyone on your list is sure to love.

All 3 Christmas patterns are just $9.99 total on the KT webstore at this link: Christmas-Trio-of-Bonus-Patterns. Offer expires December 24th.

Oh My! We Have a Giveaway!

I totally forgot to include the fat 1/8 bundle of KT Christmas fabrics from over the years. 40 different prints from more than half a dozen Christmas lines - too fun! Comment here for a chance to win by December 20th.

Thanks so much to all of you who follow my blog, send words of support & encouragement and enjoy quilting as much as I do. I love to travel and meet quilters all over the country. Hope to see you sometime soon! Or, come visit us at the KT Retreat! Check availability on our website at KT Retreats.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year to you all!
Lynne