A watched pot never boils...that's just completely crazy!

I had hoped to be shipping my new book, "Completely Crazy" by now, but just like the watched pot that refuses to boil when you stand by waiting for it to do so, my books have yet to arrive!  I was told the press went down last week and they are waiting for a part so it will be the end of this week, around Nov 20th.  So another mom-ism, "all things worth having are worth waiting for" will have to be put into play....But truth be told, I'm not a very good wait-er, as in having patience, not as in serving someone a meal, although, I probably wouldn't be very good at balancing a tray full of food either.  I'd be way better picking up the empties when it wouldn't matter (as much) if I dropped them!   But I digress!  

Here's a picture of me and my husband, Tom in my booth at market.  I thought he might enjoy spending our anniversary going to sample spree (not!) and  since he'd also spent time prior to market trying to herd Sonny the pig for my photographer, Bruce and me,  I thought it might be better to take him to dinner and feed him instead! 

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 Trying to get a photo for the book cover, Bruce and I had visions dressing Sonny the pig in googles and angel wings and Sonny was having none of it!  Pretty soon, neither was Tom! But he's a really good sport and will do just about anything for me! Including trying to herd a pig!  

 

Another crazy project he and my son Zack tackled this summer for me was to help me lay the pavers for this crazy star in our driveway....now if that's not completely crazy...it took a pick axe to chisel across the driveway after all the years of the gravel being compacted.....I know, I know,  I've heard it all already! What was I thinking? But I really like my star! I'm thinking it's marvelous!  We'll see how it makes it through it's first winter and the snowplowing!  (But I'm pretty sure I'll still think it's marvelous!)  

So, to tide us all over until the book arrives,  did you notice this cute table runner, "Christmas Cottage" in your December edition of American Patchwork and Quilting?  I just love Lynette's Santa fabrics from her "Winter Village" line, and used them in my Santa quilts, but if you decide, that like me, you need a kit for this project, or just have to have some fabric, you can get it on my site.  Hopefully that will keep us all busy until the book comes!  

Home from Market with "Stitches to Savor"

I was lucky enough to snag one of these "Stitches to Savor" books by Sue Spargo while I was at Quilt Market last week, and I've been paging through this absolutely gorgeous book, each time finding something different to marvel over!  

What I've always admired about Sue, besides the fact that she's such a genuinely nice person, are her absolutely unique quilting and stitching abilities.  As a quilter, I love to look at the way she blends, not just color, but textures: she uses wool and cotton, and adds in velvets and brocades. You can see in this picture the interesting mix of cotton and wools as a base. And then she goes even further, and layers on the texture with her beautiful handwork.  

Here too, in her "Travel Journal", she mixes the textures of her threads with simply stunning results!  

Just look at these animals!  I will admit, that I'm not much of a stitcher, with my pitiful chain or back stitch! Not that I don't have ambitions to make these long-haired angora sheep one day!  But seriously?  I'm not sure I'll ever accomplish all this!  But I can dream!

So my hope for the future is that I'll devote myself with more than a little determination and challenge myself to pick one of my Sue Spargo kits out of my suitcases and get busy working on it!   I just need to keep paging through this book......and remember Sue keeps telling me it will all get done; I just need to keep taking "one stitch at a time"!


And today, November 2, the wait is over and you too, can have you very own copy!  You can order it here.   Be sure to check out my selection of wool thread; this is the same brand that Sue recommends and it's wonderful to work with!  That's all for today, but I will be back later this week with more from market!

And the winner is....

The winner of the fabric bundle is Kathy E. of Dubuque IA!  Please email me with your address.  

And thanks to all of you for your help in naming my new book, "Completely Crazy"!   The final tally was:
Completely Crazy: 78
Absolutely Crazy: 43
Undeniably Crazy: 39

Keep those comments coming!

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far and helped me with the "book naming"!  It's been fun to read all of your comments!  You are diverse in your opinions - I think you all just want to be sure that I'll be good and crazy after counting and tallying up the results!  But keep those comments coming!  It's going to be fun to see what name finally wins and who wins the bundle of fabric!  I'll select a winner on Friday!

Terry is working on this class sample for me....finally we are getting to see "Sunflower Fields Forever" made with the "Note to Self" fabric!  Terry is doing a great job and the quilt is turning out great!  I will have kits on my website as soon as the fabric is available, or you can email me  @ onesisterdesigns@gmail.com to reserve one!  If you will be in the area,  I will be teaching this class in Spokane at the Quilting Bee on Nov 14, 2015.  See my website for further details!  I really liked the comment about leaving the note to self that I'm really not crazy...if only I would have thought to put that down on fabric!

Day 28: Jaftex 85th Anniversary Blog Hop!

I'm happy to be a part of the Jaftex family through Henry Glass & Co, where I have been designing for the past twelve years, first as Buggy Barn, and now as One Sister.  It truly is a family enterprise and we are all very lucky to be a part of such a great organization!  Linda LumDeBono asked us all to participate in this blog hop (she's a great organizer!) to help inspire your creativity, and in the process give away some great fabrics and a chance to win fabulous prizes!  

It's been a fun month to see what each designer has done with the fabric bundles and how different the projects have looked! I received a bundle of Folio Basics and I'm sharing a block, with permission, from the quilt "Crazy Hot" that will be coming out in my upcoming book from Martingale, "A Crazy Summer at the Lake", due out Summer 2016.  Here, I've used the folio prints in the rays and used a new One Sister "Note to Self" stripe 8459-35 in the center and  Buggy Barn yarn dye 8102Y-88 as the background.  I love the darker background with the brighter prints!  And, yes! The block is a crazy block!

I was designing this block this summer, when fellow Henry Glass designer Kim Diehl came to my house to photograph the quilts for her next book.  Since it's a Christmas book, it really was Christmas in July at my house!  We had fully decorated Christmas trees and stockings hung by the mantle with care, and it even snowed -indoors!  I must admit that I had absolutely no idea what went on "behind the scenes", but I sure learned a lot! Truthfully, it was organized craziness, as you can see in the photo, and right down my alley!  Kim is fabulous!  You will all love her book!  The best part had to be Kim's home-made Christmas cookies that we got to sample!  My sister stopped by with her grandsons for a visit and Briggs got to be a hand model in one of the cookie shots!  I sure hope the photo it makes it into the book-no one will know that's his pudgy little hand except us!

More recently, you know I've been getting ready for Fall Quilt Market, and that my production samples for my "Note to Self" line have arrived so I was able to add the floral word prints, pattern 8456, to this new pattern!  The pattern will be available in my new book next month!  Sign up for my newsletter on my website to be the first to know when the book and fabric are available for order!

And don't forget about the great anniversary prizes being given away by Jaftex!  There are lots of ways to enter and lots of chances to win!  Check it out HERE!  I  will be giving away a fat quarter bundle of Folio Basics...just reply here on my blog and help me name my new crazy book!  Should it be "Completely Crazy", "Absolutely Crazy", or "Unbelievably Crazy"?  Any are pretty appropriate don't you think?  

Piecing Like Crazy!

My husband keeps coaching, that with a little preplanning, it wouldn't be so crazy around here getting ready for Quilt Market, with the mad dash to finish quilts, and books, and fabric lines.....seriously?  Stop being crazy?  When pigs fly!  Just one of several new quilts in my upcoming book, due out  next month!  I'll keep you posted!  

And since I've been madly piecing, that means winding bobbins! I thought I'd share how I store my newly wound and used bobbins...I was tired of stabbing my fingers as I tried to dig a bobbin off my magnetic pin holder where I use to keep them along with the pins!  Not such a great location!  So after one poke too many, I'm looking for a solution and had a spool of my appliqué thread and a child's paint brush (don't ask me!  It was in my pencil cup!)  That lasted all of about 5 seconds since the spool was too tall and skinny.  So I used these old, sturdier ones and the paint brush!  This lasted much longer, until after one tip too many with bobbins rolling everywhere, I decided I needed something more permanent!  Then came the dowel and glue!  I just took a couple of old spools and glued them together and put a dowel down the center.  It works great for me and there's something very satisfying about dropping that used bobbin on the dowel and hearing it clink together with another!  I must not have had enough of those kind of games as a baby, or else too many of them!  Anyway, I meant to share this after the last book came out, but if you haven't learned this about me yet, I'm chronically behind!  Behind my new bobbin holders is my journal cover from my "Down this Country Road" book and I made the thread box on the right to match but didn't have room in the book!  I was down to my last journal kit, because I ran out of that blue plaid, but on a recent trip with friends, below, I scored and found some so if any of you have been waiting to get a kit, you won't want to wait too much longer, but now you do have a little bit of time! 

Here we are, minus Darlene, who's behind the camera!  L-R: MaryLou, Robin, Sandi, LeeAnn, Valerie, and me.  We had a great time quilting and shopping and laughing!  But now it's home again and back to work and piecing like crazy!  Speaking of Piecing Like Crazy, I will be teaching this Friday, the 25th and Monday the 28th at Pinelow at Deer Lake, WA through Ed & Jean's Quilt Shop.  I believe they have three spots left so if you'd like to come be crazy with us, give Ed or Jean a call at (509) 276-6678 or edandjeansquiltshop@gmail.com  I will also be doing a program  at the North Idaho Quilt Guild on Monday night  and will have a couple of my new quilt tops with me to share so hope to see you in one or more of these locations!  

Hope you are all enjoying the Blog Hop that is ongoing in honor of Henry Glass's and their parent company's 85th birthday!  I thought you might want a chance to pick up this book, "A Flair for Fabric" that 14 of us at Henry Glass put together to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  And best of all it has a special birthday price!  Enjoy!

Nothing but Craziness!

It's been nothing but craziness around here as I've begun my new adventure as One S1STER!  My first book, Down this Country Road, came out at Spring Quilt Market.  There are six quilts, seen in the header of this blog (except for "Crazies Shine On" which is out on a trunk show), and a journal cover included in the book.  It was a fun book; there is lots of variety of piecing and appliqué.  I even have another plan for that crazy border pattern...I will get it done one of these days and share it with you all here so you can make another quilt too!

Today was a very good day since the FedEx man arrived bearing gifts - the production samples of my first One Sister fabric line "Note to Self"!  Yeah!  Time to get sewing!  As if we haven't been!!  I can hear my two helpers extraordinaire, Sandi and Gloria wondering if perhaps I've lost my mind?  Just what do I think they've been doing all summer?  Because you see, I've kept them quite busy helping me make quilts for a book for Martingale that will be out next summer--  "Crazy" and "Summer" will both be in the title and both of those words have certainly applied to our summer here!  But we made our deadline, just barely, as the quilts get shipped out tomorrow after Kathy quilted all weekend and even stitched binding!  These girls are the best!  And they really must be crazy because they've agreed to jump right in and do it again before market so I can get a One Sister book done for all of you so that you won't have to wait until next summer! Aren't they the best? 


I will be selling the One Sister fabric on my website, but because there's no way to preorder online without paying now before the fabric is here ready for resale, I'm waiting to get it up on the site. If there's something that you absolutely must have, you can always email me with what you want!  I'm so happy with how it turned out!  The large floral and word print can have the words fussy cut and used in the centers of the sunflowers in the quilt on the cover of my book, above, and yet the print is busy enough that you can go ahead and just cut it up and use it!  The fruits of the spirit print also turned out great!  And I love the little daisy dots and of course the word print is awesome - Henry Glass did a great job with this one!  

And speaking of Henry Glass, their parent company, Jaftex, is celebrating their 85th year in business!  Jaftex Corp. was founded in the 1930’s when Jacob A. Fortunoff started selling fabric on the streets of New York.  At that time, the mainstay of the business was women’s sleepwear and lingerie.  In the 80’s, Jacob’s grandson, Robert, dramatically changed the business of the company.  The business focus was transferred to the over the counter quilt industry when Robert purchased companies like A.E. Nathan, Henry Glass, Stylemaker, Chanteclaire, Fabric Editions/Studioe and more recently The Blank Quilting Corp.  Robert is now joined by his two sons, Scott and Greg.  Scott currently is the President of Studioe Fabrics, The Blank Quilting Corp. & A.E. Nathan Co., Inc.  Greg just joined the business in late 2014 and has successfully spearheaded the company’s foray in to precut fabrics among other contributions.  To celebrate this milestone, there are many of us who will be participating in a bloghop beginning tomorrow, Sept 1.  Here's the official lineup:

September 1 - Kim Diehl guest posting @ American Patchwork & Quilting

September 2 - Pepper @ Pepper at the Quilt Studio 

September 3 - Anjeanette @ Anjeanette Klinder 

September 4 - Leanne @ The Whole Country Caboodle   

September 5 - Mark @ Mark Lipinski's Blog

September 6 - Heather @ Heather Kojan Quilts  

September 7 - Heather @ Trends and Traditions  

September 7 - Martha @ Wagons West Design  

September 8 - Linda @ Linda Lum DeBono 

September 9 - Heidi @ Red Letter Quilts 

September 10 - Jill @ Jillily Studios  

September 10 - Dana @ My Lazy Daisy  

September 11 - Penny @ Sew Simple Designs  

September 12 - Ida @ Cowtown Quilts 

September 13 - Liz and Beth @ Lizzie B Cre8ive  

September 14 - Melissa @ Sew Bitter Sweet Designs

September 15 - Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl    

September 16 - Amy @ Kati Cupcake 

September 16 - Barbara @ QuiltSoup2 

September 17 - Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting 

September 18 - Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure 

September 19 - Margot @ The Pattern Basket  

September 20 - Sylvia @ Flying Parrot Quilts   

September 21 - Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts  

September 22 - Kim @ Aurifil Threads  

September 23 - Rebekah @ Don't Call Me Becky   

September 24 - Julie @ The Crafty Quilter 

September 25 - Mary Ellen @ Little Quilts  

September 25 - Mary Jane @ Holly Hill Designs 

September 26 - Daisy @ Ants to Sugar

September 27 - Melissa @ Happy Quilting

September 28 - Janet @ OneSisterdesigns.blogspot.com

September 29 - Jenny @ Martingale& Co.

September 30 - Teresa @ Third Floor Quilts

There are GREAT prizes, for both you and, your local quilt shop!

1st Prize:

Blog Readers:  A Janome Skyline S5 sewing machine

Your favorite quilt shop:  30 bolts of fabric

2nd Prize:

Blog Readers:  15 Fat quarter bundles and a box of Aurifil thread [48 spools] 

Your favorite quilt shop:  15 bolts of fabric

3rd Prize:

Blog Readers:  6 Fat quarter bundles and a special edition tin of goodies from Schmetz Needles  

Your favorite quilt shop:  6 bolts of fabric

Good Luck!

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