I know it has been awhile since I last posted. Those of you that I have spoken to in person about my blog, I usually stress that I am not a daily blogger; not even a weekly blogger! I have such good intentions but it seems I never take the time to sit and relax and talk about what is going on.
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season and have started the New Year with lots of ambition and eagerness for those things that make you happy. For me, its my family and my quilting, and when time allows, my garden. We spent two weeks in Virginia with our son, Donald, his wife (and my biggest helper!) Laura and our two grandsons, Everett and Ben. The boys are just really old enough to really enjoy the wonders of Christmas and our family traditions are cementing in the boys' joy. We usually do a day of gingerbread houses and I was amazed at the difference a year has made in their skills. We also have a "Lego" day which is something Grandma gets that we can all do together and is not counted as a gift. We all love to build with Legos so we all six sit at the dining room table and talk about anything and everything. When Grandma or Grandpa get stumped on a project, the boys are always willing to help us out. Definitely a fun way to spend a cold and rainy day. And of course, we do pajama night for Christmas Eve. We usually try to tie the pajamas into a Christmas movie. This year, it was "Elf" and we all loved it. I hope we are making wonderful memories that the boys will cherish all of their lives.
Now, to quilting...
I recently finished the Marvin's Star Block. When finished, it measures 20" x 20". Of course, you can add borders or whatever you would like to make it larger. I have a series of different Mariner's Compass style blocks that are the same size. When the block is done, I layer it with batting and either muslin or blank foundation fabric and then quilt it. I do add a two inch border all around (after the block is quilted) and then I put it on an artist canvas/frame. They make beautiful artwork to hang on the wall all by themselves.
These two blocks are Donald's Star and Dwen's Star. Eventually, all of these stars, plus several others, will be designed into one large quilt titled "The Stars of My Family" because each block in this series is named after someone special in my family. I will share more of them as they get done. These stars are all available on our website right now. Unlike most all of our block packages, these are complete with full detailed instructions and are considered individual patterns.
I really enjoyed making this new version of the Modern Sampler. I love the colors in this one and the batiks are just so yummy. I have fabric kits for this as well and they include the pattern and all the foundations.
I am always so excited to see other quilter's version of our patterns. This is Jill Eskew's version of our Celestial Ribbons pattern. I think it is gorgeous – those colors are amazing!
I have several more pictures to share but they will have to wait. I wanted to let you all know what our show/teaching schedule is looking like so far this year. We are leaving for Los Angeles in a few days to set up for the Road to California show. We will be in booth # 330-336. From there, we will go to Phoenix for the Quilt, Craft and Sew Festival at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. That show will be January 25-27th.
We will be heading to the east coast in February where we will have a booth as well as workshops at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. That show runs from February 29th through March 3rd in Hampton, Virginia. From there, we will travel to the Atlanta area for the Original Quilt and Sewing Expo on March 7-9th. I will be teaching two workshops at that show as well.
I hope you can make it to at least one of these shows and if at all possible sign up for one of my workshops. We have a lot of fun in the workshops and everyone always seems to do very well.
Hopefully, I will be able to do a blog from these shows to share what is going on and what you might be missing out on. Until next time, Happy Quilting!