Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, 2011!  It's the new year somewhere; I'm just a bit early!  I still haven't gotten totally comfortable writing 2010, and now I have to move on to a new year!  Do you all have a new calendar  for the new year? Ours is still available and we've got one in the works for 2012.  After many requests, the 2012 version will have  a free pattern.  We selected our popular Flutterby Garden pattern.   Pam wanted me to let you know she found ONE kit and the fabric is out of print.  So give us a call or email and it can be on it's way to you!



Flutterby Garden- one kit left!



This is the last day of our "We don't want to count it sale" before inventory starts!  There's still time to place your order!  All fabric, notions, books, & patterns are 20% off!  Have a great New Year's celebration-be safe, and we hope to see you next year!





Baby it's Still Cold Outside!

Goodness!  With all this snow, all I want to do is quilt! On one of the snow days when I worked the barn since no one else could get to work, I picked this kit and Gloria pieced it for us.  Isn't it cute?  It's called Annandale by Jo Morton and is a free download on the Andover website.  Jo made her's in her classic black & burnt orange which is what we had planned  to do but when I saw her border fabric in brown and pink, I decided to change it up! Can't wait until it's quilted! We have the kits for this version which does include the pattern, but we are happy to cut the black and orange version.  The kits will be up on our website soon but are available immediately if you have to have something to piece on these cold winter nights!

During our first big snowstorm, our good friend Debbie fearlessly drove her big Dogde pickup to the barn.  On her way out, she must have been checking out her purchases instead of the road and ended up drifting off the driveway into the pasture until she was stuck!  But never fear!  We are a full service quilt shop!  When I arrived in the pasture with my trusty Ford Expedition to pull her out, she was a bit incredulous: "you're gonna pull me out with that?"  Never fear- just like in Crazy Camp, we'll tell you when it's time to panic! Once we got her out and on her way, what did our Lorri do but follow her tracks right on out into the pasture but she stopped in time when she noticed that the sign was on the wrong side of the road, or rather she was on the wrong side of the sign!

Now maybe you heard on the national news this morning that yesterday, Spokane (that includes us!) had another 10 inches.  That's not so bad until you factor in the wind that's constantly blowing out here.  So I call Lynda and tell her to stay home, that the roads hadn't been plowed, checked in with Kallie who's husband was gonna get her to work, but I forgot about MaryEllen....that is until she called to tell me she was stuck on Tramm Rd just before the railroad tracks.  Yikes!  So I pull my husband off the tractor, and we go to her rescue!  We've got her pulled backwards about a quarter mile almost to Bisson Rd when here comes our shipper Jan!  Oh my goodness- with stronger words to follow!  She stops and can't get moving again, so we unhook from Mary Ellen, squeeze by Jan, and pull her backwards out to the highway.  Then back for MaryEllen!  Both arrived home safely and hopefully have forgiven us!  They're both at work today so we can hope!

Needless to say, snowy days are a great time to applique (when I'm not rescuing stranded motorists!)  Here's a "Little (more) Porch Time".  These are months 3 & 4-it's just missing a couple birds at the bottom by the geese. I do have some corrections to the directions in the book for section E as follows:
1.  The zinnia backgrounds, block E2, should be cut 7-3/4" x 21-1/2".
2.  The filler beneath the zinnia, block E2, should be cut 1-3/4" x 24".
3. The house background, block E3, should be cut 18" x 20-1/2", OR to  make it look like the photograph, cut the house background 16-1/2" x 20-1/2" and stitch a cut size 2" x 20-1/2" filler to the top.  The side squares on the background in the upper left corner are undetermined; I just appliqued scrap rectangles so it looks somewhat like the photo.
Hope this helps!  Hope everybody gets lots of stitching done!  Remember, busy hands stay warm!

Merry Christmas!

The Winter Quilt

Christmas came a little bit early to my house...well, not really, but Pam ordered us an iron to test out.  When we were teaching in Florida, Marlys was using her's in class and we liked it and thought we'd give it a try. I've been using it while I've been working on a new pattern and I love it!  For one thing, it never shuts off until you turn it off!  My husband hates that feature, especially when I forget and leave it on for 18 hours!  Thank goodness he didn't notice!  The water reservior is pressurized, but there's no extra tank.  It has the button for the burst of steam, but what I've found that I really like, is the continuous steam for clothes or drapes or whatever.  When I'm piecing a crazy pattern, I turn the continuous steam on low, and it works great for pressing my chain pieced piles. Merry, Merry Christmas to me!!



I am almost ready.....the presents are wrapped, the food prep is pretty well complete, and I've finally sent out my Christmas cards.  I'm ashamed  to admit it, but this may be the one time of year that I correspond with alot of my friends and family.  As I page through my address book, it's like a newsreel of our life so far....I get to remember friends we've made in the places we've been, remembering those who are no longer with us, but I still haven't scratched from my book.  I miss most of those people, and the fun times we've had, but life and distance have gotten in the way.  It's like they say, each of us leaves footprints across the hearts of all we come in contact with.  Some leave bigger footprints than others but they have all touched my life and I'm thankful for each and everyone one!  Both here at the Barn and as we travel and teach, Pam & I find so many people who touch our hearts and share a bit of themselves, and leave those footprints....It's hard knowing that I will probably never see most of these people again, but I will always remember their kindness, and hope we'll meet again!  Like our friend Stormy shared with us, "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless" ~Mother Teresa  In the rush of the holiday season, let's each take a moment to be kind to each other and leave an echo that will be endless!  May each of you have a very blessed and merry Christmas! 

Are your Stockings all Hung....

So, how's everyone doing?  Making a list, checking it twice? Stockings hung?  Presents wrapped?  Wait a minute, what presents?  I have to admit, I've done next to no shopping!  How many shopping days left? Yikes!  I'd better get busy! 

Donna & Lynda

We did have a cookie exchange at the barn and gots lots of goodies!  I thought it was so nice of Donna to monograph all my cookies with a "J".  They were all delicious and went straight to the freezer (after I sampled each kind, of course!)

We had a great time!  Merry Christmas from the Barn Chicks: Gloria, Mary Ellen, Kallie, Lorri, Pam, Jan, Donna, Lynda, & Kathy!  (me, too!  I'm behind the camera!)

King Size Flower Baskets

Hi everybody!  Loraine asked about a quilt on the line and so I thought I'd share with everyone! "Flower Baskets" is in our most recent crazy book, "Positively Crazy".  One of the reason you haven't seen much of it, is because it's on my bed!  I just love it and it was way easier to make than the king size applique quilt I was pondering!  The photo is so large that it didn't fit well on a single page so it takes up two pages and we joke that it's our "centerfold"!  And no air brushing was required!

And the winner is.....

The lucky winner of my blog hop give away is number 113, Paulette, who wrote "Love the project.. Thank you sew much. Take care & thanks for being a part of the BlogHop....I loved it."  Please email me with your address so we can get your prize in the mail!  Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!  Hope you all had fun! 

It's the Happiest Season of All

Remember as a kid, sucking on an icicle?  This is our 7 month old lab, Riley, and she loves ice cubes!  The minute she hears the ice maker start to rumble, she dashes in to "sit" for her treat. Yesterday she, too, discovered just how delicious an icicle can be!  I can't believe I'm letting her eat it on my rug though!  Good thing she makes short work of it!  

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on yesterday's post.  You were all so kind!  I forgot to tell you when I'd be drawing for our give-away and decided to close it at the same time Henry Glass closes theirs, 8pm EST on Thursday Dec 9th.  So you all still have time to enter to win at both places!  Carrie Nelson has a hilarious rendition of Twas the Night before Christmas that has all the special words in it for you to post for the Grand Prize giveaway. Good Luck!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Hi, it's me, yet again! Only this time, it's finally my turn, along with Kim Diehl, to share with you for the Henry Glass Holiday Project Parade!  For those of you who don't know us, let me tell you a little bit about us.  My sister, Pam, and I have owned and operated our quilt store, Buggy Barn, for almost 15 years.  Because we live out on the edge of nowhere (in God's country!), we developed our trademark "crazy" patterns to try to get you all to stop by for a visit, but you just wanted the know-how and so our pattern business began! I've just started working on our 20th book, "Still Crazy", in honor of our 15th year in business.  All of our books are still all in publication, as well as numerous single patterns. 

We have been designing fabric for Henry Glass since 2003. Our most recent fabric line,Three Cheers, is in shops now and is showcased in our Farm Fresh quilt & book.  A  Christmas line named "Merry & Bright" (that was a little sneak peak above!) is due to hit the store shelves in May.   We are very thankful for all of you who continue to support us in our endeavors! 

 I'm also thankful that the Christmas season is upon us!  I just love Christmas!  I love the childlike excitement and the anticipation......and yes, as I sit here, anticipating, I am giddy with excitement!  My boys will be home, the rest of the family, too, that we missed on Thanksgiving, there's snow on the ground, presents under the tree, fun to be had together on Christmas day, and best of all the birth of our Saviour!  Too commercial you say?  I understand, but if it gets us thinking about doing for others, either by words, deeds, or a token that says "I'm glad you're in my life!" then it can't be all bad! 

The anticipation at our house starts as soon as the Christmas decorations come out and the tree goes up.  I have always wrapped each ornament in tissue paper as I put it away. The boys each have a box of their own, with their own collection of ornaments, made by their own hand or gifts from aunts, uncles, parents, or grandparents. The putting away part is a total pain in the you know what, but as we decorate the tree each year, and they unwrap each ornament, it's a gift and a special memory, and so totally worth it! (until I have to do it again!)  And I'm so happy to finally be able to enjoy my (formerly) new Tree Skirt after many years on display at the Barn!

 Pam & I each have our own box of  "goodies"!  And it's like an early Christmas gift to unwrap each one! 

 

Janet's

 

Pam's

Like our Santa collections, we also have shared traditions, since we gather together at holidays: we love to play games.  Aunt Mable always had a new game for Christmas but my favorite was a card game called "Be Nasty to your Neighbor" which everyone now knows as Uno!  If there's snow, we like to play in the snow.  One year, when Pam's girls were little, we'd lay down on the sleds and let the little ones ride down on our backs.  Well, my Uncle Jess made the mistake of heading down the hill by himself, and we just couldn't allow that!  So as we're walking back up the hill and Jess came by, we all hopped on, one after the other.  Now we've never been petite, and when that poor man had three of us piled on his back, he couldn't even hold his feet up off the ground and ended up wearing holes in the toes of both of his brand new Christmas boots!

I've always known exactly how many shopping days are left, because we've always had advent trees.  It was always a big deal with my two boys, who got to be first, and who got to be able to have the last day, which was the star for the top of the tree, and they couldn't have them both, which is what they really wanted!  Well, one year, I was so proud of my oldest because he'd decided he'd let his little brother go first!  How nice! What a great kid!  Until, the last day, number 24 when I figured out he knew the difference between even and odd!  Not only is he a great kid but he's always been smarter than me, too! From then on, we had to take turns!  And now it's time for your free pattern, that cute Tabletop_Tree_Skirt.pdfhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byo5r4yacYIANmYxYzU0NzUtMjkzNi00Zjg4LWEzYzQtZTk0OGZjNTlmYjM4/edit?usp=sharing  under the Advent tree!  Please enjoy!

 
This year, with the addition of some of my mom's Christmas things, I've decided to display her ornaments in a bowl- they're so pretty on top of the wool Christmas Mat.   And I've tied her silver bells to the wreath (my special word) at the door so each time I go in or out, they give a little jingle, and I think of her!  This morning, as I get to the barn, I may have shut the door with more force than necessary, and I think: ahh...I've been jingling those bells and thinking of mom! 

OK then, are your eyes glazed over yet?  As your reward for reading through this entire post, anyone who comments will be entered to win these goodies we've put together from some of the designers you've met this week!  Now don't forget to post all 17 of the designer's special words on the Henry Glass's blog to win the Grand Prize!  Good Luck!

Let us pledge, each of us now, to hold the joy of Christmas in our hearts the whole year through!  Be good to each other!  Be honest, be kind, and have fun!  The Very Merriest of Christmases to each of you!

I Just Gotta Believe!

At Thanksgiving, my husband made reference to the thought that I might be a hoarder, and all because he had to dig out the table leaves from behind the Christmas decorations where I strongly cautioned him not to store them the year before! So here we find ourselves, hauling out all those same decorations just a few short days later because, seriously, how can I blog about holiday traditions without my decorations in place?  I'm still a little stressed about this PDF business...the pattern is done; I just hope I can deliver!  I'm sure it will be fine-I just gotta Believe!!  Speaking of believing, last night, the boys took a break from studying for finals to go with us to the Living Nativity.  I've always wanted to go, and aside from being bitterly cold, it was fabulous!  And so begins a tradition! But wait! It's not my turn! So until tomorrow, you get to check out two more fabulous designers, our Caboodle in a Box lady, Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle and Dana Brooks of Lazy Daisy Cottage.  Just click on the links on my sidebar to go straight to their blogs.  Have a Great day and we'll see you again tomorrow!

I've been Going in Circles trying to get ready for my Blog Post; thank goodness I get to go last!  

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in the neighborhood!  Just had to share this beautiful blue sky!  The picture just doesn't do it justice- it truly was a beautiful day! 

Hope everyone is having a great time on the blog hop, visiting with this great group of designers!  We're on the down hill slide!  Just Click on the links on my side bar to go straight to their blogs.  Have fun!
Day 5: Pink Fig Patterns-Chelsea Anderson
           Brenda Pinnick Designs-Brenda Pinnick
Day 4: Quilt Soup-Barbara Jones
            Rose Cottage-Laurie Bird
            Lizzie B Creative-Beth & Liz Hawkins
Day 3: The Noble Wife-Jacquelynne Steves
            Jillily Studio-Jill Finley
 Day 2: Kati Cupcake-Amy Hamberlin
            Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.- Carrie Nelson
            Fresh Cut Quilts-Kari Ramsey
  Day 1: Anka's Treasures-Heather Mudler Peterson
             Linda Lum DeBono
             Little Quilts-MaryEllen, Alice, & Sylvia

I've Been Good all Year

Santa Baby, hurry down the chimney and place this under the tree for me! Just what every good girl hopes for, quilting supplies under the tree for thee!  And just how is everyone doing, gathering their special words during the Henry Glass Deisgners Blog Hop for the chance at the Grand Prize to slip under your tree?  And what about all those great patterns and fun ideas that you've been collecting?  Did Christmas come early or what?  Isn't this is great fun?  Day 4 brings you the chance to meet three more designers; just click on the links in my side bar to go to their blog.  It's not too late to gather
                                                                            all the special word to win! Have Fun!

Day 4: Quilt Soup-Barbara Jones
            Rose Cottage-Laurie Bird
            Lizzie B Creative-Beth & Liz Hawkins
Day 3: The Noble Wife-Jacquelynne Steves
            Jillily Studio-Jill Finley
 Day 2: Kati Cupcake-Amy Hamberlin
            Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.- Carrie Nelson
            Fresh Cut Quilts-Kari Ramsey
  Day 1: Anka's Treasures-Heather Mudler Peterson
             Linda Lum DeBono
             Little Quilts-MaryEllen, Alice, & Sylvia