Outside the box....

It's always fun to see one of our "crazies" made up in different fabrics...Here, our shipper, Jan, has used our "Rambling Rose" pattern from "Crazy for Applique" (seen in the background), and left off the applique for a quick baby quilt.  She and MaryEllen had been discussing that it was the perfect size for a baby quilt and it's pretty darn cute, too!  Way to go, Jan, for thinking outside the box and seeing past the applique (she is one  who considers applique, if not the four letter "A" word, but a word she'd rather not have in her vocabulary!)

And see what our gal Kathy has been up to.....Here she is with her (not surprisingly brighter) version of our "Quilter's Village".  How fun is that?

And here is her "Spring Fever" quilt.  She's been a busy bee, but that, too, is not surprising!  

And here's a clever idea sent in from one of our customers, Jane Davis.  She made this cute "Crazy Cats" wallhanging for her office.....notice how one of the cats is facing a different direction from the other two and from how it's shown in our pattern?  How'd she do that, you ask?  Jane shared, that because she was working with batiks that don't have a right or wrong side, she essentially flipped everything wrong side up and stitched the block together "wrong" side up to get a cat facing the other direction!  Clever girl!  Now that's thinking outside the box! Thanks everyone for sharing!  We are all such visual people and it's fun to see things made up in different colors or with a new twist!  Hope this gets the rest of you thinking outside your box, or at least outside your usual colorway!  Have fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Diane shared this "Star Bright" quilt with us which will be a “Quilt of Valor” for her son and will be presented to him soon.  Diane shares: "He was badly wounded in the war in Iraq. He took a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade which blew off his lower left leg.  Even with this injury he went on to become a police officer.   We know we were lucky to get him back and are thankful for every day we have with him."    Thank you Diane for sharing, and thank you to your son and all of the men and women who have and are serving and sacrificing for us, our freedoms, and our country.  Let's all take the time and make the effort today to personally thank our service men and women.   May God bless each of us.  Happy Birthday America!

Happy Flag Day!

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Happy Flag Day!  We are off to teach crazy camp today!  Everybody have a great day!  Our flag quilt, Old Glory, is found in our book, Celebrated Craziness.  Enjoy!

Cabin in the Woods

I've got the first block of Cabin in the Woods appliqued and blocks 2 & 3 glued down as seen here. We've been  contemplating this block of the month for awhile now, but could never figure out exactly how to stitch the blocks together, but after talking to the designer, Jan Patek, at Market, I feel confident that I can explain it to you all so that you will also understand and won't hesitate to get started! My instructions for putting the quilt together will be included with the last block.  I just love this quilt!  It's classic Brannock and Patek and a joy to work on!

Strip-Smart Quilts

Gloria has been busy testing out a new book and ruler, Strip Smart Quilts and the Creative Grid 90* ruler, and we've all given it a big thumbs-up! Gloria gave us all a quick demo that I thought I'd share!

Basically you start with strip sets, align the ruler with the raw edge of the strip set, and cut.

As you get to the middle valley, there's a circle cut-out in the ruler so that your rotary cutter can finish the cut and then begin up the other side.

Working with half strips, or strips cut from fat quarters, you get these three triangles.  The next strip set, you flip around and cut with the white strip at the base of the ruler so then you have three triangles that have a green base and three triangles that have a white base.

Then you stitch four different fabric triangles together for a scrappy block that may look difficult but are a snap with this ruler!  The Strip Smart Quilts book offers many different quilts all using a variation of this technique. One of our new favorite tools!  Thanks, Gloria, for sharing!

Harvest House has arrived!

Our newest fabric line, Harvest House, has finally arrived and is in the shop.  I'm so happy with the way it's turned out- I love the big paisley!  The word prints are fun, as are the two checkerboard star prints, and I've even used the Barn/house print as a border on the churndash quilt that you see in the picture. The Barn stripe cuts up nicely in 2" increments; this quilt, which will be in our next book, Absolutely Crazy, has a 4" border, but 6" or 8" will work well also. It seems that I always have my fingers crossed when waiting for a line.....I never know exactly what I'm going to get because those little 6" fabric strike-offs that I approve always look way different in big pieces on the bolt!  Our next book won't be ready for a bit, so be sure to pre-order a kit before the fabric is gone!

Here are a few more market pictures....  Pam with Alma Allen- Barb was late this morning!

Both of us with Jan Patek.  Even Linda Brannock stopped by our booth.  She's not usually at market, so it was a surprise to see her.  I was so happy to see her that I didn't think to get a picture. Darn!

Our fellow Henry Glass Designer, Annie Downs.....we can't wait for her Christmas line to get here!  It should be coming any day and boy is it cute!

And this is Paula Barnes, who will be here to teach Quilt Show week.  She was formerly Bonnie Blue Quilts, but had to change her name to Red Crinoline Quilts, but she's still the same fabulous piecer and fabric designer.  Both names have a "Gone with the Wind" reference, we're told.  Whichever name, we can't wait for her to arrive!






Thanks for checking in with me! It was a difficult spring for many different reasons, but I will try an keep you up to date!  Will be sharing a couple new Blocks of the Month that we have started as soon as we have something to photograph!  Have a great weekend!

We made it to market

I know it's been a long time coming,and you haven't heard much from me, but the new book is done and we've made it to market in Kansas City and back and thought I'd finally take a minute to get you all caught up.

We have Bird Brain,

and Prince Charming, because you have to kiss a lot of toads before you find your handsome prince!

There are Heavenly Days,

and Pumpkins on the Vine,

Oh Christmas Tree

and the newly rewritten and updated Crazy Cats

and here they all are in our booth! Ron made us stay in the booth to help him the first day but we made it out to shop the next two days. It was a great market: we've found a ton of favorite things and I can't decide what to do first..... Seriously, I can't decide where to start. You'll have to check back to see more pictures and to learn what we each start first!