Here Kitty, Kitty!

Sarah from Sarah Did It blog reminded me that it is Feline Friday, and we know I always have cat pictures to share!

First, the ultimate in cuteness...

That is Callie, when she was itty bitty.

And reality at my house...

Yes, it looks like all is well, but do you believe it?

 And yes, it looks like Callie is a sweet kitty and is giving Ozzie a little bath.

And even Ozzie is buying into the sweetness.

The real Callie...

 I will stop you with my mighty paw...

 And...the takedown...Ozzie always wins in the end...

 And this is just funny!

I think he's gonna get her!

And Miss CC - pretty kitty.  Still miss her lots.

Thought I would show something quilty too - it has been a looooong time since I posted any of my Civil War Love Letter blocks.  I haven't made any of these forever, but I did find a few that I hadn't posted yet.  I really do love these blocks and want to make some more!  Do you have all of Rosemary Youngs' books?  I love them all - and she's working on a new one!

And one last thing - if you haven't signed up for the classes in Omaha with The Crow Girls - go do it!  Find all of the info on my last blog post.  It's gonna be so much fun!!!  Let me know if you are going - and make sure that you are NOT a "no-reply blogger" so that I can reply to you!

Have a great weekend!

Winners!!

I just drew names for the two winners (under the management of Ozzie and Callie, of course!)of the Simple Quilts magazines and they are....

Gayle

and

Yvette!

Congrats girls - I will mail them out to you just as soon as you send me your addresses!  Hope you like the magazine - and let me know if (when!) you make something from it!

Thanks to everyone for commenting and for following my blog!  I had several people who left comments that are "No Reply Bloggers".  I always reply to all comments, so if you did not hear from me, it is because your settings are "no reply".  Please change that so I can answer you!!

Have a great day!

Giveaway time!

I noticed that I have over 200 followers, so I thought I would have a little giveaway!  The winners (there will be two) will receive this issue of Simple Quilts Magazine.  There is a ton of different projects in here, including the pattern for Poor Lil' Punky - my pin cushion that is shown below.  All you have to do is !) be a follower and 2) leave a comment, and I will pick two winners (with the help of Callie and Ozzie) on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

The Crows are flying in!

We are back and almost recuperated from "It's A Gatherin'" - we had a great time!  There were lots of people and it's always fun to meet everyone.  My friend, Missie, from Hallbrook Designs was there too - this was her first show and she did great and her booth looked amazing!  

Go see her blog to see more pictures of her booth.  I love every single one of her patterns - she gives everything a unique twist.  Make sure to check out her punch needle pieces - some are coasters and others are quilt centers - what great ideas!

My next outing (remember I don't leave home often!) is going to be to Omaha, NE to More Sew For You.  If you haven't heard - The Quilted Crow Girls from Australia are going to be there teaching classes!!  They are the authors of this book...

 

The Crows have their own method of applique and it involves a stapler!  I was fortunate enough to meet them last year at Market in Kansas City, and let me tell you...they are SO MUCH FUN!  If you are anywhere near Omaha I strongly encourage you to sign up for one, or all, of their classes - you will learn lots and laugh your head off!  These girls are coming a LONG way and this is an opportunity that doesn't come along very often.  I can not wait!  And, not only are they a blast to be around, they do gorgeous work.  I have their book, but seeing all of their projects in person was just unbelievable.  You can see them too because there will be a trunk show on Saturday.  To get more information and to sign up for this event go to the More Sew For You website, on the classes tab, scroll down to Events.  If you have any questions, the owner of the shop, Lyn, has the answers.  She is working on the samples and has pulled some really great fabrics and wools for the 3 projects.  You can see some sneak peeks on her blog.  I know that I sound like a commercial - but I'm telling you...this is going to be a blast, and it really is a rare opportunity. I am going to be there all 3 days (have I mentioned that I'm EXCITED!) and will have my jewelry there too.  And you just never know, there may be some special opportunities for class attendees!  Now, go get yourself signed up!

I also wanted to show you the latest charms from our charm bracelet program.  I always try to take a picture of them all together in a big pile - just because they look kinda' fun that way.  I thought we could all use a little bit of spring, so this time I made lots of flowers...

 And for the people who ordered from me (not through the participating shops) they had the option to buy an extra charm.  Here are a few of those...

We have had so much interest in this program that we will be running it for a second year - so if you are interested in joining in on the fun, send me an e-mail and I will add you to my e-mail list so you will be among the first to receive the information on Charming 2.

And of course, I have a few pictures of my fluffies...

Callie has decided that it's fun to knock this quilt off of the footstool and roll up in it.  It's my current hand quilting project...

 Can you see her head in the above picture - she is really snuggled in.

 Thank goodness I just got another case of lint rollers!

And here is Ozzie getting ready to take a nap in the doll bed...

Now it's back to the grind stone - I've got paperwork, unpacking and orders to catch up on!

Have a great day!

A Little Bit of Everything...

I just don't get around to posting on my blog as much as I intend - so...I'm going to try to keep this short on words, but still show you a few things about what's going on here and what we've got coming up!

We've had a lot of snow in the last month - but it's all melted now except just in a few spots.  The birds spent most of their time at the feeders.  We always have tons of cardinals in the winter - I counted 28 one day...

 I received a super fun box of scraps in the mail from Tara Darr from Sew Unique Creations - not only does she design really awesome quilts, she sends the best scraps!  I have been playing in this box ever since I got it...

Instead of hand quilting for an hour or so in the evening, I've been trying to work on this quilt.  I want to give it to some friends as a house-warming gift.  It is called "What's the Point?" by Mark Lipinski and is in the March/April 2013 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting.  I was on a roll, then when I put it all up on my flannel wall, my DH looked at it and thought it was ugly!  He's not dumb enough to come out and say it's UGLY, but he just said..."hmmm...it's got a lot going on - is it your newest design?" (said kind of like...I hope not, because it's UGLY!).  Well, whatever, I don't think it's ugly, it is colorful and I used all reproduction fabrics, but I chose brighter prints because that is what I think the recipients will like.  I need to get back to it, but now I am too busy getting out the next charm for our "Charming" program, so it will have to wait a bit.

 And look what else came in the mail...

These are fabrics from Lynette Anderson.  There's more, but I don't know what happened to those pictures - I will have to retake them, because you just have to see them all!  Lynette sent me some wonderful bundles of some of her fabric lines - one that you will see at Market this spring.  So exciting!!  She will have some new jewelry made out of these pretties!  But unfortunately she has to wait until I return from my next show.

Which brings me to the next topic!
As soon as we get all of those charms finished, we have to get to work on jewelry to take to my next show...

It is in Stover, MO - so if you are in the area, please come and see us, and if you're not in the area, why not plan a little road trip!  With 30 vendors, it has to be fun!  I haven't received a full vendor list yet, but I do know that Renee Nanneman of Need'l Love and Dawn from Sew Cherished will be there.  Hope to see some of you there!!

And you know I can't post without mention of the kitties!  Ozzie keeps very busy taking naps in a basket in my sewing room closet. He occasionally gets little bursts of energy and plays with a mouse full of catnip, but then he needs another nap. And Callie is just...BUSY!  Even though she is 3 years old, she still has an awful lot of kitten energy! Here she is holding down some books, looking irritated!

Now, I have to get busy - it has been crazy around here, and we've got orders stacking up - so thanks to all of you for that!  I also want to thank Lynne Hagmeier from Kansas Troubles - she gave me a little shout out on her blog that led some new people my way, which I really appreciate!!  Lynne is opening a new shop and retreat and is now counting down the days and showing some of the items that will be for sale in the store.  I sure wish I was closer - I would love to visit - it is going to be wonderful!

Have a great weekend - Happy National Quilting Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and Happy Easter!

Don't forget to vote!

Time is running out to vote for The Golden Quilter Awards!  Be sure to follow the link and vote for your favorites!  There are lots of great people and shops that have been nominated, so go help pick the winners.

It's hard to believe that my birthday month (haha) is almost over! My mom brought me lunch on my birthday, and look what else...

Aren't they pretty?  They tasted pretty good too!  She also brought me a big ol' German Chocolate Cake!  I think that I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of it.  She makes the very best homemade GCC.  It is my dad's favorite, so we usually have it on his birthday, but he opted for pie last year, so I was having withdrawals.  It was sooooo good!  Aunt Nancy sent me some fun presents too, but I haven't taken pictures of them.  One was a really awesome towel that she embroidered - she does such good work.

I'm always amazed at how many tempting sew-alongs there are in blogland.  And also how many people seem to follow several of them and actually FINISH them!  Last year, I watched from the sidelines while tons of people followed along with Lori, from Humble Quilts blog, making a cute little quilt called Pink Lemonade.  I kept seeing these little quilts on blogs, and finally couldn't take it any more and just had to make one!  Well, it didn't take that long to piece it.  Then I basted it last year so I could take it along on The Great Fart  to start the hand quilting.  Well, I did work on it a little bit, but put it away when I got home, because I had a bigger hand quilting project to finish.  So, FINALLY, a year after everyone else, my Pink Lemonade is finished.  You can see on Lori's blog that she hosted another SAL this year called Abundance - it is wonderful and last I saw, 45 bloggers had linked up - showing their version.  I AM NOT going to break down and make it, even though the temptation is great!

We've been busy here, as usual with jewelry.  Kathy Schmitz ordered a log cabin pendant from me, and was kind enough to blog about it (how nice was that!?), so we've had a few extra orders this week.  Another exciting order this week came from Lynette Anderson from Australia.  We have a few ideas in the works for some upcoming jewelry, so I'm really looking forward to that.  This weekend we are finishing up some new orders and working on charms - it won't be long and it will be time to mail out the next one!

I posted a new pattern on my website.  These pin cushions were originally in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting, January/February 2012 magazine.  So if you missed that issue, you can now get the patterns from me.

Callie is busy as usual, tending to put a damper on my productivity!

And the view from "behind"!  Now that's just funny.  What's really funny is that she tried to crawl through there and got stuck!  Watching her back her way out was good for a laugh!

I will leave you with that visual!

Have a great weekend!

Fun mail, friends, finishes and fluffies

One of my awesome blog readers took pity on me when she read my plea for THAT fabric!!  Pam sent me almost a yard of that great red, and also surprised me with some of the same print, in purple!  LOVE THEM!  Thanks again, so much Pam.  Even though, between Janet and Pam, I have over a yard of the red, I'm still going to hoard it!

 Recently I met  two of my blogging friends in person!  Missie and Carolyn and I got together and had such a great time!  If you don't already follow their blogs, be sure to go check them out.  They are both so talented. They both design patterns (see just one of Missie's in the photo below) and Carolyn does the cutest drawings and watercolors (see the adorable card in the photo below).  Carolyn gave us each the needle book with the little notebook in it - what a great idea - something small to keep in your purse to jot down ideas, etc.  She also made the little candy holder on the right and included a box of candy hearts to put inside.  Missie made the wool heart pin cushion.  LOVE IT!

We really had fun - spent most of our time chatting and eating, but they did take me to the Adel Quilting & Dry Goods shop.  I've heard about this shop, but had never been there before.  The owner, Jacque, bought a lot of pins, pendants and patterns from me, so if you are in the area, be sure to stop by and see them!  I bought a few little things at the shop...

I think those little flowers will be perfect in the centers of some pendants.

Last week I won Missie's birthday giveaway, so when we got together this week, she gave me this...

 She also gave me a little tutorial on how to use it!  I've never done any hand piecing myself, but would like to try.  Now I have no excuse - I've got the templates and have had a lesson!

I thought you should all see what goes on in my sewing room daily!  Here is Ozzie - do you think he's comfy?  It's a good thing I keep a good stock of lint rollers.

 I also wanted to share Callie's antics with you.  Ozzie was sleeping away in the chair, minding his own business, when Callie decided she needed to jump up there with him. How long do you think that will last?

 Awww...look - she's telling him how much she loves him (really she is just trying to annoy him!)

 Yep...it worked...down he goes.  So much for his afternoon nap...

 Now who gets the nap!

 I actually do have a few "finishes" to show - now remember, my definition of "finished" doesn't necessarily mean quilted and bound!  These blocks were on my design wall forever -all stitched - they just needed to be put together!  MTM came over to sew one day and I decided this was going to turn into a flimsy!  Now it is ready to go off to the quilter.

 Here are the last blocks from Randy's sew-a-long.  Hmmm...wonder how long before this one gets put together?!

 And this one is a true finish.  It took me forever to get this hand quilted - mostly because I rarely worked on it!  CC had decided it was her bed, and I didn't have the heart to chase her off of it, so that was my excuse for not working on it for awhile!  I just quilted simple, straight lines and when I put my mind (and fingers) to it, it didn't take that long to get it done.  This pattern is by Edyta Sitar (love her!).  The blocks were really fun to piece, but putting it all together...not so much!  I hate Y seams and there were plenty of them in here. The hexagons are supposed to extend out, but I got frustrated and just chopped it off!  This was pieced several years ago but was in the "to be quilted" stack for a long time.

I'm glad it's finished, I do love it, chopped off or not!

Have a great weekend!

THAT red fabric!

Remember when I had a plea out for one of my favorite red fabrics?  It was this one...

Well, it seems that no one has much of it, or if they do, they aren't willing to part with it (can't blame you there!).  But, a few days after Christmas, I had a little surprise in the mail!  My friend Janet O was a sneaky girl...and even though she didn't have any left in her stash, she searched for it online and found a piece on Etsy and bought it for me!  And along with that came some of her awesome handmade soaps!  They smell so good, I just don't want to use them up!

 I'm so thankful to have a piece of that fabric, but I find that I am hoarding it!  I did use up a couple of little pieces, though.  Be arlowe the latest charm for our "Charming" bracelet program.  Look very, very closely and you will see, over on the left side - that's right - a little heart charm made with THAT red fabric.  Actually, there are two charms with THAT fabric.  One for Janet (cuz she's in the program!) and one for me!  This way we will both always have a piece of it.  I love how all the charms look when they are together in a big pile.  It didn't last long, though - they are all shipped out and I'm working on the next one.

 Here are a few pendants I finished awhile back.  I think Primitive Gatherings bought all, or most, of them.  I need to make some more stars - since Lisa posted the star on her blog, I've sold quite a few.  I think some red ones would be good.  Hmmmm...should I use some of THAT fabric?  I don't know if I can let go of anymore of it.

 And you will remember the video from the last time I posted - here is my little helper, Callie - still playing on that ugly chair! She's just so cute, you can't help but love the ornery little thing.

Oh, and Ozzie has decided that he is now a lap kitty.  I will have to get a picture of him.  Let me remind you that he weighs EIGHTEEN pounds.  I liked having my little EIGHT pound CC kitty on my lap, but he is kind of a big lug!  But it is nice to have the company - so I won't complain too much!

Have a great day!!

Entertainment

I have never tried to add a video to my blog - so not sure if this will work.  I sat down to do some hand quilting and Callie thought it was time to play.  I hate these chairs - so ugly - but they sure are fun to play on! And you can see that they work well for hanging junk on too!  Anyway, try not to look at all of that - just watch Callie - I think she is too cute.

Addiction

Hi, my name is Julie and I'm addicted to quilting.  I have a large fabric stash.  Some people are appalled when they see it.  I DON'T CARE!  I love my stash and refuse to apologize for it!  I have worked hard to acquire this collection, and I love every last piece in it.

Do you all know Janet from Rogue Quilter blog?  She accomplishes a lot and I always enjoy seeing her latest projects.  It's funny - I will admire her fabric choices, and then think...I have that fabric! We have joked many times about how our stashes must be almost identical. Somehow through our e-mail conversations I told Janet that I would post pictures of my stash, so here goes!

I am lucky enough to have a nice closet devoted only to my addiction.  This first picture is to the left, when you walk in the closet and is behind the door.  It is just a hodgepodge of stuff.  Some notions, bags, BOM patterns, Thangles, etc.  You can't see them in this picture, but my trusty Swiffer and a broom are also in the corner, and my sewing machine cover sits on the floor. This is the least exciting part of the closet!

The closet is about 4 1/2 feet deep and 11 feet long.  The length is covered in shelving and I mainly sort my fabric by color.  99% of my stash is Civil War era reproduction fabrics.  You will see some 1930's prints on the shelves as well - I generally use them for baby quilts.  Other fabrics (non CW) are in totes on the floor of the closet.  So now the pictures will show the goods in the closet from left to right.  The top shelf is all finished quilts, including the samples for the patterns I have designed. You can see my lights/neutrals and below that there are some miscellaneous things - Magic Sizing, quilting journals, quilt soap, etc.  Then lots of pinks, browns and blues.

Below is more of the same - finished quilts on top, then lights/tans, pinks and now you can see some of the reds (my favorites!), more browns and blues and now some of the greens and purples as well.  You can't really see the bottom shelf - that is almost all Primitive Gatherings fabrics (remember those huge boxes of fabric that Lisa gave me?) and some projects that are in the works - my PG Summer Block of the Week, etc.

On the top are my 1930 reproductions and a few baby prints, then more reds and blacks, greens, cheddar, yellow/golds and below that are a bunch of patriotic fabrics.  They are all CW repros as well.  Below that you will see my wool stash - it is in that toile box and next to it.  Also a nice fat quarter bundle of Jo Morton fabric that I really should use - they are really yummy.

I should have taken better pictures (how many times have I said that!?) to show the bottom of the closet - like I said, it is mostly totes, so not that exciting to look at.  There is a big one with non CW fabrics, some Kansas Troubles, etc.  Then 2 that are full of more of the PG fabrics that Lisa gave me.  Another large tote of flannels.  I used to make tons of flannel quilts. Then I have another large container that has all of my printed patterns (my designs) and some other business "stuff" in it.

Ok, now around the corner in the closet - looking at this picture, I think it looks like a big ol' mess!  I don't see that when I look in the closet - it seems organized.  Funny what you learn from a picture!  Starting on the top you see some hand quilting hoops, and containers of scraps - I think most of those are flannel, so not something I would use in my jewelry.  Oh, and one of them is all Minkee leftovers.  The fabric on the top is all for backings.  Guess that means that I should actually make a big quilt to use some of those up!  The next shelf has my toile collection and on the right is my jewelry inventory that is on the website (in those plastic containers). Next shelf has charm packs and a few little kits that I should work on, and unquilted quilt tops.  Many of them I had hoped to hand quilt - but I probably need a reality check and should just haul them to a machine quilter (then I could use those backings!).  The next shelf down looks really messy - it is a basket that has a variety of cloth bags in it.  Hard to believe that I got rid of a bunch of them, and it is still overflowing and I rarely ever use any of them!  Then I have my business stuff and all of those binders are where I keep patterns (NOT my designs) that I have bought over the years.  I have them all in sleeves and half way neat.  I have a lot of Lori Smith patterns, for example, so they are all together in one of those binders.  I have way too many patterns.  I went through them awhile back and gave some away but they are all full again!  I recently have been trying to thin out my magazines, and have just kept the patterns that I really liked, and pitched the rest of the magazine, so that quickly filled the binders back up.  Oh, that is another thing that is on the floor that you can't see...some magazines - they are in holders so look fairly neat, but they seem to fill up quickly.  I need to stop subscribing to magazines!  Back to the picture - on the very bottom there is a box of DMC threads from my cross stitching days, more kits (mostly from my trip to WI last year) and a basket that has parts of my Cotton Club BOM and also my wool Summertime quilt (haven't worked on that FOREVER!).

Now we go around the corner to the wall that separates the closet from my sewing room.  This is where I keep all of my stencils and rulers.  I also have my necklace cords that I sell on my website - they are handy for when I receive an order.  See that hand quilting frame?  That is supposed to work really well for edges of quilts, but I can not figure out how the heck you put the quilt in it!  I have the little PG tumbler template there and also a pattern for a tree skirt that I've been going to make for a year or two!

Also on the floor, out of sight on these pictures, are my shipping supplies - the little padded envelopes that I mail my jewelry orders in, and bubble wrap, etc.  And there is a little stool in there that came from my Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I'm sure he made it - it's just a simple little stool, painted green with lots of paint drips on it.  Sometimes I use that when I need to get quilts off of the top shelf, and other times I just sit on it and look at my fabric and think about how much I love each and every thing that is in this closet!

That's it!  Hope you enjoyed seeing my addiction.  Janet....I bet you see a lot of familiar fabrics, and now it's your turn to share your addiction with the world!