Happy Fourth of July Anyway

It still surprises me when, from time to time, someone in our big quilt world decides to take advantage of another quilter just to make a buck, to promote a product, to sell a magazine. This little graphic goes along with what our mothers always told us "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Anyway, have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July. We are having a BIG barbecue and, I think, lots of barbecue eaters and maybe some fishermen. And John promised to take me to the parade - watch out for the firetrucks and those water cannons!

Brooke

Rock Creek

I am back from vending at the Martha Pullen Market in Arlington, Texas. While not a "quilt" show, there were lots of things for quilters to see and do and buy! The heirloom christening gowns were a sight to behold and to admire. You should go to one of the Martha Pullen events when there is one in your area - wow!

John is resting for a few days in Dallas before flying out to teach at the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend. Repacking the three suitcases of quilts we had with us in Arlington was one of his projects. Vermont is one of his favorite teaching venues.

Kate and Kevin took this picture of beautiful Rock Creek in high water. Rock Creek is swift enough that you need to be careful of it even when it is low - your feet can go right out from under you. No fishing when it is this high but the water rushing by is great for a sound night's sleep.

Brooke

More Wildflowers

We have had an unusually wet spring and cool days and nights which is saving the snow pack in the mountains. There is a nice patch of Lupine right outside our kitchen door which we really enjoy. I wish it would spread. The Beargrass is in bloom right now too, so delicate.

While we are enjoying the wildflowers and native grasses, our neighbor has paid someone to dig the rocks out of his "lawn" so he can mow it more easily. Everybody is different.

Is this what you Texas quilters call "Bluebonnet"?

Brooke

WOW

Do you like this one? John and Kate are busy getting ready for the Martha Pullen Market in Arlington, Texas (June 19 - 21) and for the Vermont Quilt Festival which is the next weekend.


Martha Pullen Sewing Market
Vermont Quilt Festival


This bright spiral is one of the class projects for Vermont, a pre-cut kit so students don't have to spend all morning cutting - just go right to sewing. John's is almost pieced and I'm not sure what he is going to work on next.

Brooke

Working Weekend

John tried to plant his corn here in Billings, but the ground is still too wet. Too bad, now it is sunny and good weather for corn growing. He will be able to plant sometime this week, I'm sure.

We drove up to Red Lodge with our usual car full of projects. (Including laundry, but that's not very interesting.) We have a new track lighting system in the loft where we sew and, boy, that's nice. John pieced the newest colorway of the 6" Wheel of Mystery; it is from fabric Kate just bought at Market. The colorway is pastel. These are kits for John's Wheel of Mystery class at the Vermont Quilt Festival in July, so if you are signed up for the class, here is your project, hot off the press! We will have these available on the website and at shows, so everyone can have one if they like it.

I quilted on a black and bright 10" Wheel of Mystery top that has been traveling to classes and shows almost too long and was starting to fray along the edges. It is a pretty quilt and I got about 1/2 done before it was time to pack up and head back to Billings. What a monster thunderstorm we saw on the way back - impressive.

Well, back to Monday's sorting out and filing and searching and all that. Three boxes of new fabrics came today, so that is fun!

Brooke

BUSY

It's nice to be home. Kate and I had a fun but fast paced trip to Quilt Market in Portland. There is a lot of new fabric coming our way. Portland is about 1,000 miles away so it was a long drive. I learned that other drivers are a lot nicer to someone driving a Honda than they are to a someone driving a 13 passenger van. Oh well.

John and Kate are busy getting ready for Martha's Sewing Market in Arlington in mid June. One of the classes John will be teaching at the show is Arabic Lattice and Kate designed a new set for it yesterday. John has the top pieced already, isn't it great?

I'm working on the website and getting a newsletter ready. Have a great weekend!

Brooke

Bright Days Ahead

We are back from vending at our last show for a while. The next one isn't until mid-June; I know, it's not that far away, but we are all looking forward to catching up and actually having a weekend off! Kate and I are driving to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for the Spring Quilt Market, but that is to BUY, not to sell.

Our last show was a regional machine quilting show in Salt Lake City, beautiful this time of the year. It is a nice show and not nearly as crowded and hectic as some of the bigger ones. I believe they had some good educational opportunities and there were some very nice quilts there. John won a ribbon, 3rd place in his category. He liked winning a prize, but did not like having his picture taken! I would probably feel the same way! The quilt is "Supernova", machine quilted on the Multi-Frame, of course.

Well, trying to tie up loose ends before the big drive tomorrow.

Brooke