Teaching Local

Starting in March, I'll be teaching at Quiltworks Northwest in Bellevue, WA!   Some of the classes are designs from my book or pattern line, but others are brand new, like my floral vest, embellished bag, and stamp carving for quilters.  To see more and sign up for my classes go to their website HERE.

Floral Vest:

Sunflower Garden:

Stamp Carving for Quilters:

Crepe-Paper Poppies:

Beaded Bags:

Summer Blooms:

Sunflower Garden

Earlier this year, I taught my Sunflower Garden quilt class at Gossypium Quilt Shop, and Shelly L. sent me a picture of her finished quilt.  Isn't it beautiful!!!

Airplanes for Dad

Some airplane fabric has been hiding in my stash for a few years, while I tried to decide the best way to turn it into a quilt for my dad.  I decided I'd better make something made that he could use, have around him all the time, was washable by anyone, and finished in time for me to take it to him for his 92nd birthday.  Since I had two fabrics with airplanes, one with a white background and the other with black background, a simple block would showcase them best, but sashing and a touch of red would give it a little spark of color.

He loves the quilt!  Told me all about the airplanes, if he had flown that type or had a friend that had had one.  He even complained some were not "exactly" correct, and of course I had to keep reminding him the planes were artwork that may have been drawn and colored by someone who might not have known anything about them. Unlike the real thing, you can only fit so much detail on a tiny plane that is printed on fabic :-)

New Patterns and Shop Hop!

This year I'll be doing quilting demonstrations at Quiltworks Northwest during our Western Washington Shop Hop, so stop by and say hi, I'd love to meet you!  I'll have patterns with me as well as extra books, just in case the shop runs out:-) The samples are at Gathering Fabric, along with patterns as well.

Just in time for our local shop hop, I have 2 new patterns!  With shop hop starting tomorrow, I’m hoping to get them up on my website later today, as well as an updated snail mail order form.

Summer Bounty:

This is my idea of summer!   The piecing is quick and easy, and weaving fusible strips of fabric for your basket for texture is fun, especially when you add some paint to it.  Fuse your fruit and flowers in place, and you’re ready to quilt.  After you’re finished quilting, add some beads to the flower centers to make it sparkle, and you’re done.

Fall Basket:

By the end of summer there are so many flowers blooming in the garden, I just had to create a basket full of them!   The piecing is quick and easy, and weaving fusible strips of fabric for your basket for texture is fun, especially when you add some paint to it.  Fuse your fruit and flowers in place, and you’re ready to quilt.  After you’re finished quilting, add some beads to the flower centers to make it sparkle, and you’re done.

Book Signing and Party pictures

For those that weren't able to make it to my book signing party yesterday, I thought you might like to see a few pictures, because it was the most beautiful, over the top book signing ever!  Gathering Fabric and my friends Ellen and Becky outdid themselves with all the decorations, food, flowers, and even a couple gifts, that I'll save for another post!

On the way into the shop, there was a mini-gallery, and tables full of food so that everyone could stop and have a snack and drink,  including a beautiful cake, which was decorated with the cover of my book!  Everything was beautiful, and it was so nice to be able to spend time chatting with everyone!

Most of the quilts from the book were hung in the front corner of the shop, where they have a sofa, so that quilters could sit and have their picture taken with me, if they wished.

From left to right, Susan, owner of Gathering Fabric, Ellen, Lynn (me), and Becky.  I had hoped to post one of the pictures without us holding the book, but this was the best one (I wish I had had my camera with me, but didn't, so these are some of the ones my husband took, and I'll post more later, if others have some they can share).

   

Here's my pattern section.  Amazingly, I have 24 different patterns there, and more on their way, as soon as I finish writing them up!

The back of her clasrom is where she has most of my quilt samples, but my smaller, more embellished fish quilt is on the table, along with Wine Country Picnic.

My Book is Here!!!

It's here!  It's here! It's here!!!!!!

Imagine opening a whole box of your very own books.  Not one, or two, or three, a whole box!!!

If you pre-ordered a book, and didn't ask for it to be endorsed to you or a friend, please let me know asap, as I'd like to get them all in the mail as quick as possible, so you can hold it in your hands and start flipping through it!

If you didn't pre-order, and would like to order a book from me, signed, or signed and endorsed to you or a friend, please contact me, and you can either fill out a snail mail order form and mail it back to me with a check, or you could pay me through Paypal. [Unfortunately, my hope to finish my website updates and get a shopping cart is not complete as yet, because my computer decided to die, so I'm busy reinstalling programs and moving the files I had saved on a portable drive into the new computer.  I'll continue on when it is ready, but I also need to get lots of things done for quilt market, because I'm doing a schoolhouse presentatio, and have things to finish for that as well.]

If you plan to purchase my book from your local quilt shop, or elsewhere, they should be arriving soon, if not today, as my local quilt shop received them this morning.  If they haven't ordered them yet, I'll bet they would if you asked!

Christmas Quilt Ideas

As it's getting closer to Christmas, and I thought some of you might be looking for ideas.  These two look equally well in everyday fabrics, as well as Christmas prints, because they are composed with traditional block designs.

Checkerboard Stars was designed to take advantage of large motif fabric.  I've also made it up as a lap quilt, by adding two more rows, as seen in my other Checkerboard Stars posts.

Christmas Sleigh Ride has a large border, which is also designed to take adantage of large motif fabrics, and would also look wonderful with border prints.

If your local quilt shop doesn't happen to have my patterns, there is a list of suppliers on my blog and website.  I'll be uploading an order form to my website soon, so that you will also be able to order directly from me, and have updated my calendar, begun adding pages for my book and trunk show, as well as adding more large pictures to the gallery.  (It would already be up, except that the computer that happens to have dreamweaver installed on it is currently down.  I'm happy to have my old laptop right now, as I still have access to email and the web!)

It's here!!!

OMG, it's amazing to finally be able to touch, hold and flip through my book, so I'm floating on air!!! Flowers also arrived today from my publisher, That Patchwork Place / Martingale & Co. - THANK YOU! Here's the book and flowers pictured on one of the table runners that is in the book:

However, I must get to work, finishing preparations for my demo at the local Stray Threads Quilt Guild tonight, and yes, I'll be bringing my book to share, although it won't be available to others until October.

Mukilteo Lighthouse

is on the Quilt Inspiration blog, along with other nautical quilts!

The Word is Out - My Book!

OMG, I just Googled my book title, and it's all over the web!!!

Lecture tonight

Today is a busy day. Yesterday I picked up quilts from my local quilt shop (of course, I forgot one, and am hoping to have time to pick it up on my way out), and am busy sorting and packing quilts. I take a lot of quilts for trunk shows that are within driving distance. Some old, some new, and I do my best to have at least one sample for each of my patterns.

Here's the quilt that started my business, my first pattern!

Quilt for Donnie / Checkerboard Stars Pictures

I'm back from a trip to visit my family in Pennsylvania, but while I was there, I remembered to take pictures of the quilt I made for my stepmother Donnie.

Since it doesn't have a sleeve, it was more difficult to photograph, but I did the best I could. (I wanted to post the quilt label, but am still looking for the file, and will have to post it when it is found.)

The quilt is an enlarged version of my Checkerboard Stars pattern. Instead of 9 blocks, there are 12.

Hearts, Flowers, and Swirls - quilt finished!

Just a quick picture with my pocket camera, so I could show you how it came out. For quilting, I ended up stippling the background of the smaller hearts, and using multicolor thread to quilt swirls on the striped border. Now off to finish the pattern.

Hearts, Flowers and Swirls - quilting progress

Just a few quick pics to show you the quilting I'm doing....

I decided I wanted the hearts to have feathers around the edges, but it needed more... I tried just stitching just inside the edge, but it wasn't enough, so tried a row of loops, and really like them! There was too much open space left in the center, so I decided to use leaves to fill up the space. They're a bit irregular and wonky, but this is a FUN quilt, designed to be fun and easy, not precise! I'm really trying not to quilt as close as I usually do, because this is a lap quilt, and I want it to drape over the person using it.

For the swirls, I stitched twice near the edge, in a kind of sketch-like way, and began the flowers in a similar way, but added a couple more rows inside the petals, and a swirl for the centers. The background fabric design looks like tendrils found on some climbing plants, so I decided to use a larger version to quilt with, but didn't want it to stand out too much, so it may be more difficult to see.

Once the background is complete, I'm thinking of stitching in the ditch, between the decorative (loose) dark pink flap, and the striped border, and then maybe I'll use transparent thread to quilt over the stripes, so as not to detract from the piecing.

Hearts, Flowers and Swirls

pattern is coming soon! It's a fun, colorful quilt designed to be quick and easy with a one piece background, simple strip piecing and fusible applique. (I wish I knew how to add that little accent mark on top of the "e" in "applique", but can't seem to find how to do it with blogger.)

I've been using Misty Fuse lately, and although it does take a step or two more than using the paper backed fusible web (I've been experimenting different ways to use it), the designs don't need to be reversed before tracing, and I do love the way I can layer appliques without them getting too stiff.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show - my quilts

Here are some pictures from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show that is at the Seattle Convention Center through this weekend. They are all pictures of the seasonal garden display that was created as a collaboration between Olympic Nursery and Gathering Fabric Quilt Shop, here in Woodinville, WA. Some of us were asked to participate by lending quilts for the Patchwork Garden, and we are all so proud to be a part of it, and extremely happy for them that the garden has won a silver medal!

The quilt on the back wall is my Woodinville Wine Country quilt, which was made for Susan's first quilt shop challenge (Gathering Fabric), and won best of show. After many requests, and being shown in Quilt Sampler, as part of the write up on the Gathering Fabric Quilt Shop, I wrote up the pattern, and it is now available from LAM Designs (my company), or through quilt shops, and distributors (links on the right).

This little floral quilt hanging from the ironing board was my first pattern, and the reason I started my pattern company. The block was the first shop hop block I designed for Gathering Fabric, and grew into a quilt sample, and then a pattern - so I had to start a company to be able to sell them the pattern, right???

My Sunflower Garden quilt is brightening up the window in this garden. A little different construction for this one, but so fun to make. It's also available from LAM Designs.

I made this tulip quilt from a watercolor quilt book, although I can't find the book to confirm which one it was made from.

My Grape Fairy quilt flew above the crowd, and is another quilt that was made to compete in the applique category of that first Gathering Fabric challenge. After many requests, it also became a LAM Designs pattern.

Tom Quigley and Susan Webster, the master minds and collaborators for the Patchwork Garden display.

Here is Susan in her Gathering Fabric booth at the show. If you are able to get to the show, please take a minute to stop and say hi, and congradulate her for helping to create the Patchwork Garden. My Dragonfly Pond quilt is at her lower left, and not only does she have the pattern for it, but also for the other LAM Design quilts that I have in the show.

In case you didn't receive Susan's email about the show, here it is:

On the eve of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, I am filled with awe and amazement over the incredible efforts and creative process on the part of the show organizers, garden creators, volunteers and staff to bring to our region, a show of all shows. Every single element of time and energy going into each garden is truly worthy of a hardy applause. The mounds of sawdust, compost materials, heavy equipment, manual labor and plant material is being transformed around the clock into a magical arena of garden spaces that cannot adequately be described, only seen.

Bee sure to visit the show starting Wednesday, Feb. 18-22nd. http://www.gardenshow.com/

Thanks to Olympic Nursery, volunteers and staff, our Patchwork Garden is coming to life. The quilts are staged with tall trees and lush landscaping and are perfectly presented in the atrium of the Washington State Convention Center. Thank you everyone who has made a contribution to this garden. It is a beautiful blend from the quilt artist and garden artist, a remarkable sight to see.

Stop by Booth 315, where Gathering Fabric Quilt Shop will showcase quilt kits, small projects, books, patterns and garden inspired items, all with the quilter and gardener in mind. See just how quilters and gardeners share a love of color, design, texture and dimension. In this our very first patchwork show on the road, we are excited to share our quilting world with northwest garden lovers.

Spring has come to the garden show this week. We hope you'll make a visit. And please, send this to all your quilt and garden friends.

Thank you! See you at the show.

Susan

Urban Scraps pattern ready for sale!

The Urban Scraps quilt pattern has been designed to make the most of one jelly roll, one layer cake, and border yardage. Those cute little fabric packages are fun to buy, until you get home and wonder “what can I make with this?” With this pattern, all you need to do is select coordinating border fabrics, and you can start sewing as soon as you get home. This 90” x 90” quilt will look great made from any manufacturer’s fabrics, and since it is designed using simple blocks, even a beginner could make it.

Gathering fabric has already put together some kits with this exact fabric, and it is on it's way to Pattern Peddlers and Quilter's Warehouse.

My very first pattern

and how it all started......

Yes, this is the first pattern I ever made (not including instructions for classes)! It all started with a request for a shop hop block for my local quilt shop, Gathering Fabric, by it's owner, Susan. We had met soon after she opened her shop, and hung the coming soon banner - I couldn't believe there was going to be a quilt shop less than two miles from my house. Slowly I showed her quilts that I had made, purely a sharing thing, not looking to get into business, and before I knew it I was teaching at her shop and she asked me to design a block for her first shop hop. We learned the rules as we went, and this is the block and quilt that I designed.

Of course, I thought all I had to do was design it, and make a sample, well before long it grew to making the block, and then those words "if you made a pattern we could kit it up", and I was off researching how to go about starting a company, and publish a pattern. From there my company has grown, with the Urban Scraps pattern being number 23!

Urban Scraps - photography

This quilt is the largest I've worked on for quite a while! It was fun to design, cut and sew all the blocks, including assembly and even mitering the borders, but it a was a challenge to find a place to baste, and now a challenge to photograph because of it's size. My husband is helping, and eventually, I'll have a photograph good enough to use for the pattern cover. In the meantime, at least I have something to show you, with more to follow.

Urban Scraps - progress

Wow, this one is taking much longer than the smaller quilts I've been making in the past few years. I was hard pressed to find floor space large enough to pin baste it, but managed to do half at a time in our entry. Of course, only being able to tape half of it down, means I could only tape on three sides, which really isn't the way I like to do it, but sometimes you have to just do the best you can with what you have to work with. Once the first half was basted, I pulled it up, turned it around, taped and basted the other side. While I'm quilting, I'm finding that there are a few places that I'm not so happy with, and I think it is due to not being able to hold the backing as well as I'm used to, but again, I'm doing the best I can - at this time - while mulling over my options for the next large quilt. Right now, I'm thinking maybe when I have others that are too large for my floor space, I should try having it basted by someone with a traditional long arm - after all, this is a full size quilt, and I have some king sized quilts for our beds that will eventually need to be quilted. Now, I wonder, how much does it cost to just have one basted????

In case you're wondering how large this is, it was about 90" square before I started quilting, and I'll have to see how much it shrinks with all the quilting I'm doing. Each block pattern has been quilted with a different pattern, and now I'm working my way out, presently quilting the red, innermost border. When I'm finished, I'll have to find a place large enough to photograph it flat, as it is going to be a quilt pattern - yeah, another challenge (good thing I like challenges).