Guilty as charged....



"Life is Beautiful" Block of the Month

 Guilt is an interesting thing....it nags at me, my constant companion, until finally I say enough already and finally take care of  whatever it is that needs taking care of!  I seem to have a lot of "whatevers" and, as you know, I'm fond of crossing things off my list, so getting a blog post done is one of my whatevers. Now I'll be able to quit feeling guilty about not speaking to any of you! 

And poor Riley, my dog, hasn't been on a walk all of August and September.  She absolutely had my guilt meter over in the red especially if I happened to walk out the back door with my tennis shoes on, as she starts leaping for joy, turning circles, and dancing thinking we finally get to go only to be sadly disappointed as my guilt quadraples, because if I'm not walking the dog, that also means I'm not excersicing! So, Riley has been a happy camper this week and I get to dump some stress as well as some guilt! 


Star Light Star Bright was beautiful hanging at the show!


Our 15th Quilt Show has come and gone and it was great fun and beautiful weather.  Have been wanting to post pictures of the show and have found that so many of you already have, that I will redirect you to give you great places to go, see, read.  Sue Spargo has a great blog posting about her time here (see Buggy Barn Quilt Show and Teaching at the Buggy Barn).  We so enjoyed having her, as did all of her students!  My only regret was that I didn't get to take the class also!  We also enjoyed Lynn from Kansas Troubles, Gloria from Old Green Cupboard, and Sean from Threads That Bind.  It really was a fabulous slate of teachers. 



Jennifer Keltner speaking for the first time from the bed of a trailer!


The Garden Party went off on Thurdsay night with only a slight hitch to our plans as Todd decided to harvest the morning of the party right up against the yard so we had to stop and re-clean tables, chairs, the pool and decks-UGH! I'm almost over it! We had great food made by our life long friend Ann, and our gal Lorri made all the chocolate covered strawberries and cut all that watermelon into stars! Jennifer Keltner, editor of American Patchwork and Quilting spoke, regaling us with all manner of tales and making us laugh!  She is a gem! We love her dearly! It was the highlight of the party. 


Jennifer & Sue take a ride with Ron on the combine


Friday was quilt sorting day for Pam and me.  We never know how many quilts we will have and spend Friday sorting by size and putting them in pile for each building, fence, or line.  It's amazing to us that our people always come through, bringing their quilts to display making the show "show-stopping".  Take a look at this video from Connecting Threads and see if you don't agree!  We truly have the best group of quilters that choose to share their quilts with all of us. We owe it all to you- you make the show what it is, so thank you! Saturday morning it's up at 4 am to hang quilts by the lights of our high beams on our vehicles! It always takes longer on the first day to hang them since we are still figuring out where they all will fit; that's the part the makes my husband crazy- try this one-oops too big/too small so, no let's try this one-sorry still not quite right!  After 15 years, I am way better judging where they will fit than I use to be!  We do eventually get them hung then it's off to the shower to officially start the day!  Cherly Wall from Country Quilts was here during the show signing copies of her new book and she also has a blog posting of her time at the barn.  She is another one of our favorites-we love her scrappy (and plaid!) approach to quilting and her directions are good which I always appreciate! 

Since quilt show, I have been madly trying to get a book ready for Market.  Here are current pictures of my sewing room.  I think this is really why my husband went out of town this week because he can't stand to live with me right now!  More guilt piles on as I hand out a ton of applique to good friends Sandi & Valerie and welcome them to my nightmare!






Bramble Berries and Put Your Heart in It yardage is overflowing!



Friday is my drop dead day to get quilts to our quilter in time for picture day on Monday.  As my mom use to say, "this, too, shall pass" so I best get back to my applique.  But, darn, that pesky FedEx man just brought me another overnite package from our fabric people.....that makes a stack of four sitting there staring at me adding to all that guilt because I know I'm delaying them also, so I best deal with them first then I'll be guilt free and ready to stitch like crazy!

Last Week for Christmas in July!

There's still a few days left to enter to win a quilt designed and pieced by us!  With every purchase either at the shop or online, you will be entered to win!  The drawing will be August 1st.  And speaking of Christmas, Gloria made this fun "Winterberry Lane" quilt for us.  The panel is very cute as are the piecing details with the cute pieced Christmas ornaments, presents, and candy cane borders.

We just received our newest "Creamery Neutrals V" fabrics that include some new patterns as well as some of our old favorites.  We used a lot of them to kit "Calendula Patterdrips Cottage", a new Halloween quilt that you color with crayon then stitch with variegated thread.  Valerie has been busy stitching our sample and it's really cute!  When I look at it, it's really hard to keep that 10th commandment about not coveting your neighbor's goods...I'm really good coloring-I've got that staying inside the lines thing down, but I'm not a very good stitcher....This is really cute though, and you know how we love Halloween at our house!  I'll probably end up with another kit stashed in my cupboard!

 We also just received our sample yardage for our newest flannel line, "Flannel Essentials V".  That means the fabric's not far behind!  I've been waiting for it because it's a perfect alternative to wool for our "Winterberries" quilt.  And yes, I did actually plan it that way!  It just so happened that I was working on the line when I was making that quilt and thought they'd be perfect together!  Mary Ellen loves flannel and so she used it to whip up this cute Jan Patek quilt, "Star Light"

About now, you're thinking it sounds like everyone is busy piecing except me!  That's because chaos is reigning at my house!  I'm working on fabric and a new applique quilt for fall and that means my "items" are no longer contained in my sewing room and office, but are oozing out to other parts of the house, like the kitchen and living room! 

I did get more of my "Fresh Picked Posies" blocks done on a trip to Chelan last weekend, when we all took part in the Chelan Man triathlon.  Tom and Zack did the sprint which starts with a half mile swim, but Ross and I are much more cautious and elected to start with the quarter mile swim, then we all biked 13 miles, and ran 3 miles.  I did a lot of walking but I did finish, and I wasn't last! Here's a picture of the boys while they were waiting for me.  They look like they had a lot more fun than I did!  I did enjoy it and it keeps me exercising!

Ok, I think I've got you all caught up!  Will talk again soon!

Christmas in July



Sunny Side Up


Each July, we give you a chance to win a quilt designed and made by us; this year, even the fabric was designed by us!  With each purchase, you can enter to win "Sunny Side Up".  Online customers are also entered to win.  The more you spend, the more chances you get!  Even though I'm late getting the word out to you, there's still time to win!  As I was taking the picture, I was thinking I was going to be sad to see this one go but I'm sure one of you will give it a good home! 



I Touch Case, Pincushion Stacker, and In the Pasture





There are some great new things to tempt you so you can get entered to win including the I Touch Case and a new "Pincushion Stacker" pattern  and new books including "Country Quilts"  "How Many Days"  So get shopping and get entered to win!  Good luck to all of you!  The drawing will be August 1st. 

Autumn Blooms & A Little Porch Time!

I was beginning to despair that we skipped right through summer and into fall!  It was sure feeling like Fall as I stitched this Autumn Blooms kit!  This fabulous pattern is designed by one of our favorites, Maggie Bonanomi and the kits are available at the Barn, along with three other new designs, each one cuter than the next.  If you love Maggie, like we love Maggie, you, too will have to have them all!  I love these colors any time of the year! 



Two Birds



Americana



Garden Basket



Thankfully, it's beginning to feel slightly more like summer; we had our first 80 degree day of the year so Dudley and I are ready for a little porch time! 

And just in case it continues to stay chilly, my "A Little Porch Time" quilt just returned from the quilter to keep me warm out there on the porch!  Once again, Karen, our machine quilter, has outdone herself!  She added butterflies, dragonflies, and ladybugs in the quilting.  I tried to get a detail shot but I don't have the where-with-all!  I'm not much of a photographer!  But, I will have to try and get a photo of Dudley's new hairdo; his hair mats so every spring he has to go in for a shave. It's been so cold that he just went in. This year he's looking especially cute!  Just like a miniature lion, but he's still a little embarrassed so I haven't been able to get a picture! 




My two




This past weekend, Spokane hosted Hoopfest, the largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the world.  My kids have been participating ever since they were old enough; it's great fun.  So this weekend, we had two mens teams and one womens team plus all their friends for a total of 17 kids staying with us.  It was fun to have the house full again:  I've washed 4 loads of towels, restocked the frig and cupboards, but still haven't gotten all the quilts put away that they prefer to sleep under!  Did I just call this "fun"?  Good thing I have quilting to keep me sane!  Happy Quilting!

Fresh Picked Posies

Since Summer took it's own sweet time arriving, I just couldn't resist these bright and happy posies!  Designed by Piece of Cake, we are running Fresh Picked Posies as a block of the month through the Barn.  Becky's version called for random (no ruler) cutting and piecing of the background blocks.  Since I'm a controlled chaos, method to my madness kind of girl, I'm not very good at free motion cutting, so I decided to use a Buggy Barn Crazy block for my backgrounds.  We've included the pattern for these blocks in your first month, along with the fabrics for all of the backgrounds and your applique for month one.  I love this quilt!  It really is my happy quilt!  How can you not help but smile when you see it?  Have a sunny and happy week!

Happy Flag Day!

 It's always fun to hang a flag outside, and when it's a flag quilt, it's even better to see it gently waving in the breeze, unlike a flag that gets whipped nearly to shreds in our mach 90 wind!  This is our "Old Glory" hanging from my porch.

We hung our "Flag Day" quilt at the barn; it's still one of my favorites!

Besides celebrating Flag Day, my husband and I are also celebrating the graduation of our oldest son.  He was so happy to have achieved this milestone and we are so proud of him!  Now it'll be on to grad school for either physical therapy or a physicians assistant program.  Here we didn't think we'd be able to keep him in school and now we can't seem to get him out! 

More Gathering Baskets

Pam just got her Gathering Baskets quilt (by NeedleLove) back from our quilter, Karen, and hung it in the barn this morning. Isn't it wonderful?  And just look at what Karen quilted in each basket- I hope you can tell that every other diamond in the basket is heavily quilted to make it look like a basket weave.  What a fabulous job!  And best of all, there's still time for you to have one too!  Have a great weekend!