STAMPEDE!! (And Other Stuff)

Funny thing happened while we were in Michigan.  The RV park where we were staying was right next to an Equestrian Club, so we were accustomed to hearing horses whinny occasionally.  But one morning Bill and I looked at each other and said, "Did you just hear a cow moo?"  We looked out the front window of our motorhome and here's what we saw!

A whole herd of cows was headed straight for the pond in front of our RV!  They watered for a minute then turned around and some headed back home. 

One little guy stopped to nibble at a little tree right by our rig before ambling off!

Some of them headed for the highway, so I encouraged Bill to use his "cow wranglin'" experience (he grew up on a farm with cows) so off he and another guy went to round up the errant cows successfully.  Should have had a pic of him waving his arms and yelling "HEEYAH!!" at the cows! 

Needless to say, it was a very exciting morning!

Also wanted to tell you--  I had a couple of nice surprises while we were gone.  Went to an Arts and Crafts show and a vendor there was selling aprons she'd made out of my Hydrangea fabric!  She used rickrack (which I LOVED, of course) and they were SO cute! 

A few days later we were at an Antique & Craft Mall and saw these made out of some Rise N Shine fabric!  Again, so CUTE and I loved that they had made little girls aprons, too!

I was a real treat to see these!  So that's it for now, kids.  Blessings~

Let's Talk About Solids!

I found it rather interesting and surprising that so many of you who entered the last give-away did not have any or had very few solids in your stash.  So I thought I'd just talk a bit about my relationship with them!

I started quilting almost 30 years ago and Amish quilts were huge at that time.  I fell in love with the look and, of course, solids are all they use.  So my collecting began.  As I became enamored with Vintage Quilts, I noticed that they also used a lot of solids.  It became apparent that the solids were what made those wonderful old prints really stand out!  So on I went collecting them!  Then when I began using feedsacks, I noticed the same thing.  Although the colors were bolder than the 30s prints, the solids are what really set them off!  AND they even made feedsacks in solid colors!  This is a little piece that I did with English Paper Piecing and feedsacks.

If you have my book, look closely at the quilts to see how the solids play a part.  In an excerpt from my book (Sugar Sack Quilts) on page 30, I say the following when talking about sewing with feedsacks:  "The first thing that comes to mind is solids, solids, solids.  The solid fabrics are what really make the feedsack prints sing.  You need those areas of solid colors to rest your eye and make the quilt patterns pop."

And now I see that even Modern Quilters (which I absolutely LOVE) are using solids to give their quilts a punch!  Tallgrass Studio is a perfect example.  Below are a couple of groups of Amy Butler fabrics that I recently purchased.  Can't wait to use them!  I found it interesting that the solids in her group are very similar to many of those repro colors I've got.

So all this to say...  If you haven't tried working with solids, go for it!  I dare say when you see how they work with the fabrics you love, you'll enjoy the results.

Blessings~

WINNER and TULIP QUILT NEWS!!

Good Monday Morning!  The Random Number Generator picked #22 as the winner of the Quilters Dozen Bundle.  Congratulations, Colleen!  And thanks to all of you for entering.  I'll be doing that more often in the future so keep in touch!  And thanks for all the purchases you've made!  Lots of fabric has left the building, but there's lots more to sell.  I'll be adding Bundles of 10 Half Yard Cuts this week.  So keep checking! 

In other news---  

You know that Tulip quilt that I have been working on FOREVER??  Well, I just got word that it has been picked up for publication in one of your favorite magazines!  I'll let you know the details as soon as I get them.....

Have a great week!  Blessings~

SALE and GIVEAWAY!

When we were doing shows, I sold a LOT of Reproduction Solids and really stocked up.  And, of course, when we quit, I still had TONS of solids in my inventory!  So I have them all listed for $2.95/yd in both my Etsy and eBay Stores and I wanted you to know while there is still a good selection.  I've got over 20 colors listed!

I'm going to be selling Quilter's Dozen (13) Fat 1/4 Bundles as well so I thought I'd give one away to get started!  Leave me a comment by midnight, Sunday, Sept. 12th.  The drawing will be Monday.  Good Luck!

Have a great week!  Blessings~

Michigan Quilt Barns!

So... when I left you last, I was on a Shop Hop and overheard something that put me back on the road for a new adventure! Just as I began looking at the next shop, I overheard one employee telling another that she didn't know there were Quilt Barns on the Old Mission Peninsula. Well, that's all I had to hear! So we grabbed the map and headed for the Peninsula.



I saw there was a historic lighthouse at the point so we went there first. Fascinating! They were out of brochures telling us where the barns were, so we decided to wing it. I think we found about half of them, but it's a good representation for you to see. I absolutely loved every one of these! Some of the pics are not great due to the angle of the sun, etc. (and most probably the picture taker and her $40 camera), but you'll get the idea.

This last one (my favorite) was at an Antique Store which of course, I had to check out. Did a little bit of damage to my cash flow, yessiree!

While we were driving around, I saw a strange looking bird in the middle of the road. I told Bill to get closer and look what we saw!

I was hoping he'd open his tail, but no such luck...

The Old Mission Peninsula is very agricultural and we saw lots of wineries and produce stands. They are famous for their Northern Michingan cherries and when Bill wondered if this next picture depicted an applique block, I knew it was time to leave. So we leisurely drove back to Petoskey with lots of great images in our minds for the day.

I've got some more fun things to show you on this trip. Until next time....

Blessings~