Back from the Sea

Well, the freezer is full now! John is home from Alaska with lots of salmon and one rockfish. He really had a good time and, from the stories of the flights in and out, he will never, ever get Brooke up there. Maybe that's the plan?

The king salmon weighed about 35 pounds.

The sunset is shot from Deer Harbor in the Gulf of Alaska with the Fairweather Mountains in the background.

Stay cool and have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Hot Summer Days

Kate pieced all weekend on her Sprocket project. It is going to be a big quilt.

Brooke put John on the plane for Alaska early Saturday morning and then headed for Red Lodge since the weather forecast was for the mid 90s. It is usually 10 degrees cooler at Red Lodge than in Billings, at least that's what we tell ourselves. Brooke got out her eternal applique project and put it on the design wall. And admired it but did not work on it. There was a little housework to do as we are having company a couple of times in July.

John called from Juneau to say he missed the small airplane out to his fishing rendezvous but was going out on "Air Chuck". Brooke asked when he was leaving on "Air Chuck" and John said as soon as Chuck finishes his sandwich.

Every spring John digs holes in the rocky, rocky ground at Red Lodge for hostas or daffodils or water iris. This spring it was perennial sunflowers, more hostas and some salvia. After all the digging is over, Brooke always promises that she won't ask John to dig anymore holes but she forgets in January when the seed catalogs come. These Oriental Poppies were planted a long time ago and bloom the last part of June at our altitude.

Stay cool!

Works in Progress

Here are three of the pre-cut kit samples in progress. Kate is working on "Sprocket", in Depression Era fabrics with counterpane blocks. It will be a big quilt, about 60"x80".

John almost has the sample for "Pine Burr" done. The kit will be about 40" square and we used some Civil War Reproductions and similar fabrics.

The little "Pinwheel" is done in batiks and nice Kona Cotton for the black "border". Brooke is piecing the sample for the "Pinwheel" which will be about 30" x 36".

These will all be available on the website soon. Well, back to work!

One Show Down...

We are back from the Minnesota Quilt Show in beautiful St. Paul. Except for having to buy new brakes for the van in Bismarck, North Dakota, we had a pleasant and uneventful trip. We missed all the severe rain and thunderstorms and got to enjoy the greenery that comes from lots of moisture.

I wish I had a picture of the winning quilt to show you; but sometimes photography is the last thing on my mind. Here is a picture of our booth; we had lots of pre-cut kits with us.

Two rival soccer teams were staying in the same hotel as we were. No fights, but the wait staff kept them separated by quite a margin and they were rooting for opposing teams during the Gold Cup.

Our next summer show is in Nashville in August.

What's in a Name

"Quilting at Windmills" is a variation of John's ongoing "Spirals" series. This variation spirals out from a triangle while the original spiraled out from a hexagon. The same principle as a "Snail's Trail, spiraling out from a four patch.

So that's where the name "Quilting at Windmills" comes from. Quixotic Quilting.

GREETINGS!

We, John and Brooke Flynn and Kate Flynn Nichols, are Flynn Quilt Frame Company. Our little company started March 17, 1989; we just had our 17th anniversary.

You may be familiar with John Flynn's No Baste Multi-Frame. We have been selling it for over 10 years. We also spend a lot of time cutting quilt kits on our lasers. Benartex sells a lot of these to quilt shops and we sell some direct to quilters at quilt shows and via the website.

Enough of that. John is a civil engineer, Brooke is an accountant and Kate has an Art degree. We are kind of an odd bunch but get along most days. John has taught quiltmaking for almost 20 years and Kate has been designing quilts for about 2 years now. Brooke makes sure all the bills are paid.

Here is an image of a little quilt top (15" x 18", it really is little!). John just finished piecing it from scraps from our newest pre-cut quilt kit.

Our next quilt show is the Minnesota State Guild Show in St. Paul, Minnesota June 13 - 16. Maybe we'll see you there!