Headed for Kentucky

Well, the time came for the kit making and quilting and last bit of binding to stop and the packing and traveling to begin.  There are lots of new kits going to Paducah along with templates, frames and books.  Kate and Kevin fly out tomorrow and John leaves too, in the trusty Ford van.  

I thought it was fun to take pictures of the quilt packing.  I'm not sure Kate and John were that entertained.  John uses hard sided suitcases for his quilts and two of the suitcases have names.  Doesn't everyone name their luggage?  Mustard and Ketchup.  Yes, we do have a checklist so that we don't forget anything.  It works about  90% of the time.  I took a picture of the van with the back doors closed just to prove that all that stuff really did fit in the van.  There is even room for John and his clothes in front.  

So I hope they have safe travels and a good show and I hope everyone headed for Paducah travels safe.  The dogs and I are keeping an eye on the home place.  Brooke

Make your own free digital slideshow

April News

First, I have a little photo of Montana daffodils.  I know the rest of the country (and hemisphere!) has already had their spring fix of beautiful daffodils, but spring comes late here.  These little guys are only about 3" tall and have already survived two snow storms.  So the snow is gone for now.  The bigger daffodils will open soon; these are tough flowers aren't they!


It is almost time for that great quilt show, the American Quilters Society Show in Paducah, Kentucky.  I will tell you, Kate and John have been busy as bees getting ready - of course there will be an ongoing demonstration of the Flynn Multi-Frame but there are lots of new pre-cut kits; some elegant, some whimsical, all really accurate and a joy to sew.  A little slide show of some of the new kits follows.  I will work hard at getting these in to the web catalog; I'm not kidding there are really a lot of the new kits. 

Customize a free slideshow Everyone leaves for the Paducah show this weekend.  Kate and Kevin will have a day or two sightseeing while John drives down - I have the fun job of dog sitting; I predict many walks and some sessions of catch.  I will wear out before Maggie, and that's okay.  Enjoy early spring, wherever you are! Brooke

Four New Pre-cut Kits

Kate and John have been busy cutting and piecing these four new variations of the Floating Log Cabin.  This is such a cute quilt and goes together fast.  I love the optical illusion you get of kind of wonky blocks even though they are all straight lines and symetrical and so forth.  I can't decide which one is my favorite although the plaid one is looking pretty good!  Catalog

A free photo slideshow by Smilebox

The next shows are in Puyallup, Washington SewExpo and in Hampton, Virginia Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.  This is the three week period when everyone is spread out literally from coast to coast, Kate in Washington state and John in Virginia.  So I hope you will get to take in one of these shows; the AQS Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania is next, then Paducah!

I see that it is finally snowing again; we have had a real dry spell. Two weeks ago, I put up some of that bright orange snow fence south of our long driveway; about 100' of it.  I did the best I could, but is a pretty ugly job, since the snow was already at least 2' deep where I wired it to the existing barb wire fence. Well, if the wind comes up this week, we'll see if it stops the drifting ...or makes it worse!

Happy Valentine's Day; I am taking my sweetheart to dinner at Bridge Creek, how about you?  Brooke

Back from California and New Kits

John and Kate are back from Ontario, California and the great Road to California Show.  There were lots of quilters and they got to visit some with our vendor friends, but it was BUSY in the booth; that is a good thing.  The bad thing(s) were that the cash register died an untimely death somewhere on the long trip down and so did the radio credit card swipe machine.  Poor Kate had to use one of the old fashioned card imprint machines while a new radio swipe machine Fed Exed its way to the hotel.  But things calmed down after that.

The kits that sold well at Road were the Woodsy colorway of "Carnival" and the plaid "Floating Cabin".  You can see both of them hanging in the booth in these photos Kate took one morning before the crowds arrived.And, just in case you are interested, here are links to the kits in our catalog.

"Woodsy" Carnival Pre-cut Kit, 48" x 60""

Closeup of "Woodsy" Carnival Pre-cut Kit

Plaid colorway, "Floating Cabin" Pre-cut Kit, 39" x 46"

John's quilt "Piano Rag" was included in an exhibit at Road, "All That Jazz", curated by Ricky Tims; very appropriate for the theme.  Here are all the exhibited quilts from Ricky Tims' website  All That Jazz

Friday, while Kate and John were vending and I was happily doing bookwork in the Billings office, the furnace repair guy came to replace a motor (I believe) on the elderly forced air furnace.  After a few clanky minutes, he reappeared to tell me that he needed another part which had to be ordered and that he had disabled the furnace as it wasn't safe now.  Well, that would have been tolerable if it had been in the 40s or even the 30s but it was TEN BELOW ZERO and we had 8 inches of snow.  I had to buy three quartz heaters to keep the pipes from freezing in the office and shop over the weekend.  The new part has come in and has been installed and Kate says it is now toasty in the office.  Toasty is better.

Kate has just finished piecing a cute and clever pre-cut quilt kit for Valentine's Day.  Watch for our newsletter in the next few days for a look at it; there are limited quantities and you have time to get a good start on it before Valentine's Day flutters in.

Take care
Brooke

A Christmas Holiday Project

There was a big pile of snow at the bottom of our driveway after it was plowed last week.  The snow was just right for sculpting.  Here is a little Smilebox of the project!

This photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox I hope to get a little quilting done this week; John is working on another red and white miniature; they are so cute.  Have a Happy New Year and we will have lots of pictures of new kits to show you Next Year! Brooke

A Few of Kate's Projects

Kate and John bought a lot of fabric at Quilt Market in October and they both have been busy designing, cutting and sewing new laser cut kits out of it.

Some of the new laser cut kits will have Braided Borders - but instead of having to cut them yourself, Kate cuts all the strips, the exact right size, on the laser and you just sew.  Don't you love pre-cut kits?!!   Wait till you see the one that John just finished, WOW!  More pictures next week and the new kits will be in the catalog soon.  Here is the web address in case you want to look at what we have in stock now.

And, for Christmas, Kate has made a darling quilt for her friend's little girl, Charlie.  Of course, it was machine quilted on the Multi-Frame.  I really like the puzzle design she used for the quilting pattern.  But the interesting thing is that she used a plush Minkee-like fabric on the back.  We always tell quilters not to do that, since it is kind of stretchy, a little bulky and unpredictable.  But the back turned out fine and I think the quilt is going to be a big hit with Charlie - she is five.

John just finished piecing a plaid version of "Charlie's Quilt" out of light and dark plaids.  He is just starting to quilt it; it is a lot different look because of the colors and I like it too!

 When you see pictures of Kate in our advertisements or if you seen her at a quilt show, you have probably noticed her long hair.  She doesn't cut it very often but last week was the day.  Here are before and after pictures.  They cut off 21" and she was able to donate 17" to "Locks for Love".  She has such pretty, thick hair - that's her Mom talking.

Wow, Christmas is approaching fast!  I am still waiting for one gift to arrive and am planning some very short sessions of cookie making.  We are looking forward to seeing our family and to quiet, happy times.  We wish you the same!

Brooke

August's Class Projects

Okay, finally, I have the photos taken of the class projects for this August's Quilt Retreat here in Montana.  There will be three classes and John has chosen "confident beginner" to intermediate projects - one for each day. 

The 9" Glorified Nine Patch is a great introduction to curved piecing with its gentle curves.  If you want a challenge, John will teach you the 4" miniature.

Pine Burr is a good way to solidify the 1/4" seam skill and to gain confidence in set in corners.  This is a big block, 17.5" and you can go on to make a beautiful bed size quilt that really looks classic.

Then there is the "Galaxy" Wheel of Mystery or the Rectangular Wheel of Mystery.  John designed both of them; the Rectangular Wheel of Mystery is the easier version.  "Galaxy" has six different sizes of blocks (I would really recommend you get a pre-cut kit for this one!)

Customize your own slideshow design Here is a link to the registration information if you don't have it already, or call us at 800 745 3596.  We still have some spots open.    Please let me know if you have any questions about the retreat; we are getting excited!

Hope your holiday preparations are coming along; be careful out there and have a great holiday!  We are starting to plan our Christmas Eve and Day celebration, I do not think we will be short of food.  Best wishes to you for this special season!

Brooke