A Little Imagination, a Lot of Cheer!

We have a pretty creative family, if I do say so myself.  John's sister and her daughter came up with the idea to give us all boxes of assorted Christmas decorations (bells, angels, a toilet paper roll, pattern tissue, sparkly things) and challenge us to make a sculpture or collage, whatever you want to call it.  And because these are competitive people, it was a contest with the deadline of Thanksgiving.

Our two grand nieces had the largest displays, very impressive with lots of detail.  We really admired them all and then we had to vote; John won!  He wasn't as happy when he found out that first prize was getting to plan the challenge for next year!  So the little Smilebox show is pcitures of the contest "entries".  If you have any ideas to help John out for 2012, please let us know!  email

Create your own digital ecard I have got to get busy Christmas shopping.  Christmas Day will be here soon!  Take care and have a wonderful holiday season, however you celebrate. Brooke 

The Orphan Quilt Kit

We ended up with a pre-cut quilt kit for the Storm at Sea that was rejected by the original owner.  She sent along a note that said something to the effect that the colors would never work and it wasn't going together right and she had been sewing for 40 years and never had any trouble before.

Well, all that negativity spurred John to put the kit together himself; just to prove her wrong.  Here is a little Smilebox of the progress.  And, she may have been sewing for 40 years, but not with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance, which does help.  Seriously, how do you think it turned out?

This photo slideshow made with Smilebox

Don't forget that there is a discount in effect right now for 15% off the merchandise price on orders over $75.  The discount code is NOV  Website

And, details are coming together for the 2012 Quilt Retreat here is Montana.  We will be sending out registration forms next week; if you want one, please email so we can put you on the list!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving to our US quilter friends, to the rest of you, wherever you are in the quilt  world, have a great weekend!

Brooke
Flynn Quilt Frame Company

More on the 2012 Quilt Retreat

John and Kate have stitched the last demo stitch and packed up the last of the pre-cut kits and left the big quilt show in Houston.

They had a fabric budget, and I think they spent it all at Market, so some beautiful batik will be showing up soon.

So, I have three bits of news for this blog - first, I am trying a new format for the blog, did you notice?  I hope it is easier to read and you can search it if you need to.  Second, we now have an Android app to go along with the iPhone app for three of John's "tricks"; strip pieced rings of triangles, an almost infinite number of combinations of the Braided Border and Diagonal Pieced Backs.  I used the diagonal pieced back trick just this weekend when I had to make a back for a 42" wide quilt out of 42" wide fabric.  Very handy to know how to do this.  The app is called John Flynn's Calculator.

And last but not least, we have more details on the Quilt Retreat scheduled for this August in Red Lodge, Montana.  The first thing I would do if I were you is get your reservation made at the Rock Creek Resort.     Rock Creek Resort  Toll free number 800-667-1119  A block of rooms is set aside for "John Flynn Quilt Seminar"; the dates of the block are 8/7, checking out 8/11/2012. You may want to stay longer and use the Resort as a base camp for other adventures in the area.  Yellowstone Country

The retreat will be 3 days, with 6 hour classes.  The cost for the 3 days, including lunches and a famous Flynn family barbecue, is $300.  (We may decide to offer pre-cut kits which would be extra - what do you think?)  We haven't chosen classes yet, so if you want input, send me an email at flynnquilt@gmail.com or post a comment here.  Check out the classes John offers here.

This free photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

So, if you are interested, make your lodging reservations, plot your summer adventure, round up friends and family and get ready to head to Montana.  Email flynnquilt@gmail.com or call 800 745 3596 for a registration form.  We haven't done a retreat in Montana for a long time and are really looking forward to this one.  We all hope you can join us and let us know if you have any questions.  You will love it here!

Well, John just called me from Arkansas.  He has a teaching job there and then it is home for the holidays!  I have some house cleaning to do soon - family is coming here for Thanksgiving, but John's sister is the cook, not me!  Take care.

Brooke