Holly Blog

My Favorite Things...84...Tiny Bears All in a Row & Kitty Cats All Aglow?

In case I haven't mentioned it, things have been absolutely nuts around "The LakeHouse" here since market.  I came into my studio this morning, and the bears were all waiting to see me.  They wanted to remind me to tell you about a "Bearly There Special Event" that we have planned for Xmas.  I will be covering this fun new project in HOLLYBLOG really soon.  But I'm not quite ready to tell you the details yet, so you'll all just have to stay tuned...and keep a watchful eye  ;)

It the midst of all of the excitement here with the bears, Di & Shirley & Jackie found the new Feb 2008 McCall's magazine...

Not one of you mentioned seeing the quilt that I designed that was supposed to be in there too...and since I have yet to actually lay eyes on the magazine, I am wondering if it's even in this issue?...

Meanwhile Sandy Kitty, part of Pam Kitty's posse in the Bay area photoshopped her way into the fray...I am guessing this was originally part of an internet ad (for naughty behavior?...LOL), but I have talking bears in my office, so who am I to judge?

So much more to show and tell, I can hardly contain myself!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...83...Kitty Cats and other Furry Friends!

Here's the (in)famous Pam Vieira-McGinnis of you know who...

I guess she's found the article and sees that her blog Pam Kitty Morning is the first one I mentioned in the McCall's article...

Here's Pam's great-nephew Compton Scott checking things out...Oh, and notice the Terrier-esque black nose and scruffy chin in the upper right hand corner?  That's Rosie, who I am told  "pig-sits"...

Compton's "grand-mama" is none other than Elizabeth Scott  who sends us these adorable pictures...

Since Elizabeth and Pam can probably "bench press their weight" in LakeHouse fabrics, I am extending the prize give-away to two more of you out there in bloggie-land...a photo of you and the magazine, wins you a Charm Square packet from our recent show...

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...82...Enthusiasm is Contagious

We have our first winner for our "Find the New McCall's Quilting Magazine Contest"... it's Tracy from Plum Cute Designs...

Yippeee!

1 down, 2 more to go...I love a challenge.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...81...Editors with a Sense of Humor!

Some of you may remember that I offered a prize to the first person to find the February 2008 issue of McCall's...

No one has actually had a siting yet, but a few of you have reported that you are on the prowl for it...
Apparently there has been a slight delay getting the magazine into the stores...This picture's just in of the McCall's editorial staff:  Kathy Patterson, Beth Hayes, Ellie Brown & Lise Neer...Now you know what you are looking for! 

So let's up the ante, shall we?...first THREE people with pictures of themselves with the magazine (open the to the blogging article) wins a prize...!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...80...Little Acorns!

While I anxiously await delivery of my new McCall's Quilting magazine, I thought I'd add a bit of "Willy Wonka" to our wait...First person who spots a McCall's February 2008 Quilting magazine and sends me a picture of themselves holding it, wins a prize!

In the meantime, let's get back to more pictures from FQM, shall we?  I just can't say enough nice things about Brenda...or as I like to say, "the big ideas behind Little Acorns"...Here's a few pictures of the utterly delicious new quilts she did for our booth.

Next to her Cuddle's quilt on the end, is Brenda's Baby Picnic Quilt. The blue and white hydrangea quilt called Piccadilly is made out of the NEW LH 03007:  Heron ...

Dover Gardens is the name of the pink & green rose quilt in the middle, made with our NEW LH 06052:  Pearl fabric...These pictures just don't do her quilts any justice.  The huge stadium lighting overhead made the quilts and the fabrics look a lot more washed out in these photos than they looked in real life...

That's Brenda's adult sized Picnic quilt on the bench, made with a whole cloth in the middle and a combination of our best-selling blue and yellow Hydrangea LH 03007:  Heather fabric that has been freshened up with a pretty new assortment of new Hydrangea coordinates and some new Library fabrics too...isn't that the cutest border ever? 

The darker pink & green quilt on the right is called Notting Hill.  Peeking out on the right is a new version of Brenda's adorable Emma quilt that uses the NEW Petal Cherry Baby collection.

Oh, and if you haven't heard by now, all of these quilts will be in Brenda's new book "Simple Things & Small Joys" which is due out in December.

I still have LOTS more pictures from market and some really fun new Xmas projects are coming too.

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...79...More from Fall Quilt Market

Remember the sketch of the blue & white quilt that I put up way back in September?  If not, take a peak  here.  Remember, I asked for your help naming it?...And Becky came up with "Around the Block"...Becky, you wrote to claim your prize, but when I tried to email you back for your mailing address, your email came back as "unknown"...Becky please contact me again before the Charm Squares are ALL GONE!

Anyhoo, here's the "quilt in question"...didn't Cheryl  do a lovely job with the quilting?  I just love the border, it reminds me of so many garden-like things...the detail on an English Garden Folly, the wire trim work at a garden's edge...and I Just adore circles quilted over squares, too.

From the left, that's Pam Kitty's "A Little Purse", Penny's Charm Party Bag, and some of Tammy Tadd's  "Etc., Etc." traveller's accessories.  That's another bag by Pam called "Market Bag", Jan Lutz's  Flirty Skirty Half Apron & Tammy's Girly Girl Bag.

Here's my vote for the cutest darn "Pinwheel Anything" at the show! It's "Our Fair Brenda's" Cuddles Quilt!  Is it just me, or is it just PRECIOUS?

Also in this shot, another one of Jan Lutz's aprons on the wire form done in the Hydrangea Petals, Elizabeth Scott's Simple Spring Rosebuds Quilt, Penny's Charm Party bag in all yellow patches, Pooh Bandit, Penny's Pocket Parade & Desk Deli in the new Cherry Baby Petal fabrics, and another one of Penny's Sweet Dreams Pillowcases for her granddaughter Taylor.

That's all for today gals...there is so much more to show and tell, at this rate we won't be finished until 2008!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...78...Quilting Blogs!

You may have noticed that there is a new H2 icon under my "what's new" sidebar...It's there because I just wrote my first magazine article ever, and it is just about to hit the newsstands.  The subject of the article is "blogs I love"...hence the little heart icon.  And as of today, there is a list of all of the bloggers that are mentioned in the article under it in the sidebar.  You can see all of their blogs with the click of your mouse.  The article is in the McCall's Feb 2008 issue which is coming out any day now...

I was told that I had 2 pages and 750 words to tell my story...Thank goodness they weren't counting, because I managed to squeeze in over a thousand words (but don't tell) and a picture, an anecdote or both on about 20 different quilting bloggers.  It wasn't easy, let me tell you; so many choices, and so little space to blather on about my newest blogging friends and my favorite new pastime...I really tried to get a good cross-section of our little quilting community...Designers, sales reps, prolific quilters, etc.

I can't wait to see it all in print...Many thanks to Beth Hayes, the editor-in-chief of McCall's Quilting magazine for all of the encouragement & support.  Extra big hugs and "shout-outs" to Kathy Patterson for editorial guidance & Ellie Brown, McCall's art director for helping me with McCall's first article ever where the graphics and the story were done by an "outsider". (Yep, that outsider would be me!)

I'll post some more on this subject when I actually have the magazine in my sweaty little hands...they told me that nothing drastic changed in the format or content once they got it, so I am keeping my fingers crossed...

Back in two shakes...H2

PS...I just had to show you this picture, because it cracks me up.

I asked someone to take a picture of the prairie points on the Alphabet Soup quilt...If you can guess whose toe-ringed foot that is, you win a prize!  HINT:  it's NOT my foot!

 

My Favorite Things...77...Pretty Pictures!

So many pictures, so little time! 
Post-market continues to be as demanding as pre-market.

First, our LakeHouse Dry Goods  website is now displaying the new Fall 2007 fabric swatches, whoopee!  We are still tweaking the small details (this has been A PAIN with every new project), because on my MAC screen, I see something completely different than my PC based web designer.  So if you see things that are out of wack...we're working on it!  Sharon, get your paper & pencil ready!

And, before the scent of market runs cold, here are a few more pictures...

That's Tammy Tadd's  "To Market,To Market Apron" on the Left, the Threaded Pear's Bull's Eye Quilt in Pink and Yellow, My Cherry Squares (Hint:  that's one piece of the LH 07005: Robin colored fabric in the center an inner & outer border, a few covered buttons & some ric rac).  The bags are from Penny, Pam Kitty & Tammy.  The tiered apron is by Jan Lutz "The Apron Lady" of Threaded Pear.  The bears Lenya, Alex and Kara are bringing you the letters L, A & K!

Tammy's Girlie Girl bag again, with Penny's bags, little Boo & Honey Bear in the blue chairs, that darn "Alphabet Soup" quilt again and Erin, Heidi, Oona & Uma bringing you the letters E, H, O & U...

Sugar & Emmie round out the right end of the display with S & E, oh and that's Pudge on the lower left, with more bags by Penny, Tammy & Pam Kitty. The pillowcase was made for Penny's granddaughter Camille. My Cherry Quilt made with JUMBO covered buttons (so easy to make!) was pretty much the hit of the show for us... seriously, we got more compliments on that quilt than anything else.  I could have sold it to several different magazines too...We had great luck with some of the "Quilt World's" most tasty magazines...much more on that later.  On the right is Elizabeth Scott's Simple Spring Rosebuds quilt, another version of Tammy's new apron, and another cute child's apron done in the new LH 07015: Petal fabric from Jan Lutz!

We've just scratched the surface of my Fall 2007 Quilt Market Photo Album, so come back soon, y'all!

Tomorrow's my day to visit all of the quilt blogs I love and return my correspondence...Thanks so much for all of the kind thoughts and compliments on the booth...most of you know by now that it's the most fun thing I do of all of the tasks at hand here at LHDG!

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...76...Let the Show Begin!

And without further ado...Our first baby line.  I'm not sure what was more fun, the fabric or the reactions to it!  It seemed that something about this line touched the little girl in all of us.

With all of the comings & goings, packing & unpacking, I managed to misplace the little kitty bibs that I made for Kammie and Vickie...(you remember..."who wants to lick the beaters?") that was going to be my little inside joke with all of you. Thankfully, M2 loaned us her lightweight Janome, and Penny (yep! those are all her tote bags) helped me stitch up some new bibs for our two little mascots...Boo & Honey.  The little E-M-M-A garland was made for Kimberly Jolly's little girl...The Alphabet Soup quilt was pieced by Patchwork Maven Martha Hall and quilted by Cheryl Winslow...they were a huge help to me getting ready for market...thanks girls!

Here's a view of the booth taken from the left...too bad about the patriotic color scheme at the George Brown Convention Center, eh?  Also, the color in these photos is more "washed out" than the colors are in reality...I'll make sure to show you some fabric swatches sometime soon that gives you a much better representation...(Meanwhile, if anyone out there has better pictures...do not hesitate...I seem to go through this every market!)

And another view from the right...

The kitties in bibs inspired the Bears...they spelled out L-A-K-E-H-O-U-S-E

I invited some of my favorite designers to make a bib...more on them and the Bears & Bibs project next time.

Still napping every day trying to catch up on lost sleep....lots of pictures & lots more to tell!
Back in two shakes...H2