Holly Blog

My Favorite Things...44...Eye Candy!

I just couldn't resist showing you a few more tidbits from the new line...It seems that we are going through a second childhood here at LHDG.  These were my favorite colors back then, and I still adore this "girly" look. 

If you are not sensing how this is all going to go together into a collection, well that's partly by design.  One, it's coming in dribs and drabs from different suppliers, and two, it's a bit like a treasure hunt...the clues don't start to make sense until the end...We're all about the suspense, right?

Stay tuned...the excitement is building for me, and I hope it will for you too!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...43...Rescue Remedy

I have given my "Rescue Remedy Sermon-ette" to far too many people of late.  It dawned on me last night that it would be a good thing to put up a picture of it and then tell a lot more people about it, and you turn in turn will tell your friends...

Talking with Sweet Brenda about her adorable Bailey and his troubles with bigger pups in doggie training class, RR came to mind. I opined.  M2 is getting on a plane with her twins for the first time...Aunt Blabby opines again.  Why do I bring this up?  Because it really works.  I learned about it from one of my old friends, Leslie McGuirk who used it for her two adorable Norwich terriers when they were under stress.

I first used RR on Jasmine, one of our rescue kitties. She had been caught in a humane trap as a wee thing, and never really seemed to get over it.  Of the four kittens and mom that we trapped, she was definitely the "toughest nut to crack".  For the first year she lived with us, she avoided Paton, me and the other cats like the plague.  After learning about RR, and within a few days of putting a few drops of RR in her water bowl, Jasmine was jumping up on the bed and allowing us to pet her. She got relaxed with us for the first time, she even purred.  Then I started brushing her, which she loved, and things just got better from there.  Rescue Remedy opened the door for all of us.

With Fall Quilt Market approaching and so many of us working too hard for too many days in a row, I am doing what I can to make the experience more pleasurable, and I will not hesitate to put a few drops under my tongue if things get tense.

Skeptical?   just google "Bach Flower Essence" or go to the Dr Bach website.

I'm off coffee, but "I still loves my sugar"...The first of our Blog-able Feasts:  "A Dazzling Dozen Delicious Desserts" is coming up soon.  We've put things off a tiny bit, what with kids going back to school and so many of us in the throes of FQM.  So it's looking like mid-September now.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorites...42...Frosted Dots

When I saw Anne Sutton's blog about the Frosted Dots fabric last week, it didn't dawn on me that I needed to do a follow up blog.  That didn't happen until this morning, and frankly I don't know what made it pop into my head now, since I am thinking about a million other things, too.

First let me give you a little insight into my life right now...it's just about time to kick things into high gear for October market.  So my usual 6 days a week turns into a colorful blur of "what day is it?", punctuated with (sometimes fretful) glances at the "count down calender".

We have a fairly standard procedure for market...we make lists based on the lists from last market, and the market before that.  The only problem of course is that each new market has it's own unique set of challenges...

Since this is my first time as a blogger, while getting ready for market at the same time...well, all I can say is...time will tell.  I won't say "I'll do my best", because in "New-York speak"...well let's just say, depending on the tone of the delivery, means pretty much the opposite...(edited out by our Department of Decency & Civility here at LHDG).  I digress.

Meanwhile, I just wanted you all to know that we have a LOT of favorite colors of the Frosted Dots fabric, why we even have a promotion card of cute little swatches...(and they'll be up on the website soon...I promise!)

Champagne, the color that Anne is so enamored of is the one on the lower left.  My personal favorite has always been the Onyx color (thats the long one that takes up the entire row, one row up from the bottom).  I have fantasized about making a pair of Audrey Hepburn-inspired pedal pushers for a couple of years now...wish we could stock that neat polished cotton that has the stretch to it. (Pants made out of that stretch cotton feel like a second skin!)  I digress...again.

So it looks like we are off to the races ladies.  Market is 62 days away, so fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...41...Gotcha!

Ladies, I thought I was too old by now to be shocked by anything...but shocked I was, that NOT ONE OF YOU NOTICED that the fabric under my BLT salad was a new coloration of the Hydrangeas & Raspberries fabric!  This colorway is called Heron...

OK, in fairness to you all...at first glance, it could have been mistaken for the much loved Heather version of this best-selling design...But the new Petal colorway, it's not like nothin' else!...except that this new colorway is very "simpatico" with the colors in the La Belle Rose Collection.

This fabric will be presented at Fall Quilt Market in Houston, (and in the shops in January).  Wait until you see the new coordinates...they're great fun, and WAY different that I bet you're imagining...so stay tuned...like Hansel & Gretel and the bread crumbs...I'll be previewing new goodies all the way to market.

At HOLLYBLOG...stay on your toes...because you never know...

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...40...Midlife Crush

A man who loves to cook, loves to talk about cooking, is a tall, sinewy, sexy drink of water...that man is Anthony Bourdain, cooking's bad boy.  I am am here to bring you a trifecta of hilarious and roudy "reads" for what's left of your summer.

Oddly, I started eating at his restaurant eons before he became a best selling author...why did I make the huge trek down town to 28th and Park when I live 2 very expensive cab rides away uptown?  Great bread, large tables of good looking men to look at, great wine, really cute waiters in ties and denim shirts, the New York City's absolute Best French Fries and that Parisian favorite "steak frites" (steak with french fries).

"Kitchen Confidential" is what put Anthony Bourdain on the map..."A Cook's Tour" memorializes his "global adventures in extreme cooking", and "The Nasty Bits" are some of the gems he's penned since becoming a globe trotting cable network chef & demi-god...Just Google him...I'm not the only one who is reminded of bad-boy boyfriends of days gone by.

Read it, you'll like it. My one caveat is that he is as take-no-prisoners and foul mouthed as one of our quilt community's own---let's just say a famous (infamous?) magazine editor and leave it to that.

Reminder, our blog-able feast starts in early September...think chocolate, lemon, creamy, flaky, crispy, crunchy, raspberry, chiffon, apple, chocolate, blueberry, repeat...It will be a baker's dozen worth.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...39...Star Garden Quilt

Design Studies Part 2...

I added a bit of a pregnant pause with the announcement about the article that I am due to write...just watch, Aunt Blabby will get writer's block...

Anyhoo, keep your suggestions coming in gals, I am hunting for the best quilting blogs...diversity, creativity and joie de vivre:  that's what my article will be all about. 

Meanwhile, I wanted to finish up the Star Garden studies that I started on Monday...

As I was saying, I study every quilt top that we make.  They all start in photoshop, and then we go to the design wall after that.  Since I work everything out "to scale", there usually aren't too many surprises.

Here's a third version...IMHO, the larger flowers in the border were too overpowering, so this version was put aside.

The Fourth version was interesting to me, but it seemed a little busy, with a few too many places to look, and no resting place for my eyes...the darker green diamonds needed to be toned down too.

This one looked a little bit better...

And here's where I stopped...I liked that the stars stood out the most, since they were the focal points of the quilt. I guess I mostly prefer a quieter border, and the 9 framed roses did the trick for me.  You may have a different opinion...?

More soon on our blog-able feast and a whole host of other little goodies, soon.  Keep those quilt blog suggestions coming in, I want to taste it all!

Back in two shakes...H2

 

My Favorite Things...38...Quilts & Quilt Magazines!

Who loves quilts? I love quilts, Paton loves quilts, all 5 cats love quilts, even my doll-sweater-wearing pup Kitty loves quilts! Is she the cutest little an-gel or what?

Great news, I've been asked to write an article about quilt related blogs for a really terrific national quilting magazine.  I am not 100% sure which issue it will be in but the plans are for the end of this year or early next.  The deadline is pretty soon, so I need to catch up and quick!  I have my personal favorites, but I know there are lots of blogs out there that I haven't seen yet. So I am pumped to visit as many quilt related blogs as possible in the next few days.

If you have a blog or a friend does or you are a blogging fan...Please let me know where to go asap! Leave  me a comment, and I will make every effort to get to the blog in your suggestion.  May the best blogs win!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...37...Star Garden Quilt

Hello again Ladies!  A little dose of cute for you, to start off your week with a smile...This is Kammie, aka Kamma-Noodle, aka Noods, & Fattie. She's a sweet, friendly & stubborn little affection junkie.   The best studio mate ever, like my little shadow all day long.  Aren't animals just the best?

Necessity is the mother of invention today.  I seem to be able to go through IMAC's these days like Sherman through Atlanta.  Here at the LHDG studio we have a had a rash of near-misses:  hair-raising, heart pounding & acid refluxing scares with our Apple computers of late...And the Apple telephone and in-store support has been dismal.  My computer guru Jim (we love you Jim!) has told me that in addition to all of my other problems, I have maxed out my storage.  Something like 50% more than what the manufacturer guarantees as safe.  I was warned, "Holly you must start cleaning out some of your old images". To that end, I started going through a lot of files, that in my April pre-market haste were saved in many redundant forms. 

The good news is that I found all sorts of neat things that I had forgotten about...You may remember my  Star Garden Quilt that was front and center in our May '07 booth...(see blog 5 back in early June, darn if I could only figure out how to link that in...(help Mr. Wizard!)

Before I decided on 3 distinct color variations on the quilt for the final printed version of the Star Garden pattern seen above, I did a lot of "studies" on the lightest pastel version to start the ball rolling.

Here are a couple to whet your appetite...

Pastel version "B" above (the "A" version was one of the colorways I put in the final Star Garden pattern)

Pastel version "C" above

I'll have a couple more variations on this quilt next time.  I'll give you my thought process and commentary, too...

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...36...Burst in Bloom Quilt

I just got a couple of quilts back from McCall's Quilting magazine  and thought you all might like to see a few more close-up shots of my "Burst Into Bloom" design...

This is the center of the quilt and a detail of Cheryl Winslow's applique' & machine quilting...She actually did both things at once for this quilt. For those of you with any doubts...there is a reason she is my QOATF-- "Queen of All Things Fabric"...Oh, and yes the magazine is free to write up their version of how to construct something, and frequently it's "way different" from the way it actually was made by Cheryl.  On that note, I have had numerous unsolicited accounts from people who have taken her classes, like "how great Cheryl is at teaching techniques" for a variety different projects, and also how "great she is at understanding fabrics and knowing an easier way to do something" (in fabric)...

Here's a magnified photo so you can see how Cheryl did this...

The left picture is a bit of a funny one...I think it shows a wee bit of the design challenge ahead of me at the Boulders...My white wicker and whitewashed furniture set against the over sized masculinity (the giant boulder patio for example)...Paton's got very masculine taste...except for when it's not, and that's when things seem to get way beyond eclectic...in "what were you thinking?" country...IMHO. My taste is affected by my formal training, so I tend to be way more conservative, and also way more feminine.  I actually do have a plan for how things will look really great, (most of my stuff goes in the little guest cottages!) but at the rate the unfinished projects are piling up around here...it's looking like "not anytime soon" that the "non-construction-grade furniture" aka JUNK that should have been thrown away a long time ago...will be in place!

For those of you wondering about the Blogable-Feast, it's coming right along...It's looking like we may start it in early September, since many of the participants are away in the last two weeks of August and we don't want to have any coordination headaches.  Since we are doing desserts first, the name for this jaunty affair is "a dozen delicious & dazzling desserts".  Some recipes may be more cool whip than dazzling, but we'll have a nice assortment of "from scratch recipes" as well as the ones you can make with 4 ingredients, while talking on the phone, putting in a load of laundry and keeping an eye on the "kidlets" in the backyard...

Oh and B-F participants who are I haven't heard from this week (and you know who you are)---get cracking!  Anyone else who has something sweet & scrumptious to share that I might have forgotten (terrible memory, forgive me) let me know, for the right recipe, we'll work it out, even if you don't have your own blog...Since I read recipes for the fun of it, I can spot a really good one pretty darn quick.  In case you're wondering, I have a three layer chocolate pie that is so sublime it will make your toes curl!

Back in two shakes...H2

 

My Favorite Things...35...Boulder-wood

One more "little goodie" that comes with old houses is old trees.  We had 22 dead trees removed from the property recently, and we still have more to do.

To give you a sense of scale...this old oak tree was easily 36" in diameter at the bottom.  It was completely eaten away in the middle by termites.

This is more of the same tree. It would make the coolest human sized "Habit-Trail" for some little boys!

This is the other end of that tree...it will make some nice firewood once it's dried out.  The length of Paton's  "honey-do" list is just amazing!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...34...Boulder-gate

I wish I could take a shot that would do this new scaffold on the property justice.  Like the elephant burial grounds in the front yard, it's enormous!  It's a sort of post-apocalyptic version of the Swiss Family Robinson, next to the timber and stone of our house...

We are having the chimney's sealed and capped.  There are 5 of them.  This is actually the second set-up our "mason-extordinaire" Raymond has installed by hand, by himself.

Here's another view of things...it's a long way up!

The top of the scaffold is over 40 feet in the air.  My neighbor Kim Novack and I get woozy just looking at it.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorites...33...Boulders Update!

Just thought y'all would like a "renovation update"...This little slice of the beauty of life here at Team Boulders is just outside my window.  Some of you may remember the little "Charlie Brown tree" from the view outside my office window from blog 16?  Well that's the same one on the left of this shot!

So in addition to the weeds, my new view looks like a place to bury a couple of circus elephants!  Trust me, this shot doesn't even begin to tell you how big that darn hole is!  Paton started with the help of some buddies, and all they did was hit bed rock and boulders (gee what a surprise!)  All worked stopped as they tried to figure out a "plan B" for the new in-ground propane tanks.  A couple of days later, a guy with a back hoe shows up at the neighbors to do some perc tests for a new septic field, and voila...here you have it.  That was two weeks ago.  Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh...I want a washer and dryer on site...Is that so much to ask for a gal who's trying to run a fabric company?

Ladies, are you with me?  Paton's cell number is...I'm sure he wouldn't mind your enthusiastic words of encouragement on this subject!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...32...Girly Girl Purses

Tammy Tadd, who has been making projects for our booth since our second market, called me sometime in March to say that she was going to be swamped with the Rosemont show, the Paducah show, and getting ready for Salt Lake City...and would I take a look at some of her new patterns, make suggestions on the fabrics and tell her what I wanted for my booth?  Control freak that I am...(that's the amen chorus in the background) I leaped at the chance to tell her exactly what I wanted...

Here's a page out of our spring sales support booklet...We squealed like school girls when we opened the Fedex package right before market.  Fist fights and arm twisting ensued and guess who won?  Actually, I asked Tammy if she'd donate the lovely little black bag to the ever faithful Megan after market.  Needless to say, she was very generous!

Remember ladies, purses and shoes, you can gain five pounds and they'll still fit!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...31...A Little Charmer!

At the risk of over-using the adorable thing...(I could imitate one of my old bosses with "eeets tooooo fabbooolous...but without the arm and hand gestures, well it's just not the same!) On that note, here is Pretty Penny's adorable Mini Charmer bag.

Those of you who prowl Checker's Top 20 patterns page know that the larger version of this bag called Charm Party is #2 today on the list!  We-hoo Penny, and to think old Hol' had to practically twist your arm only 3 short years ago to get you to write your first pattern!  My how time flies when you are working your butt off!

More soon my little accessory mavens!...

Back in two shakes...H2