My Favorite Things...229...Families & Friends at Christmastime

WELCOME TO DAY ELEVEN OF OUR BROWNIE POINTS BLOG-ALONG-ATHON!

This is our second day with Kimberly & her gang over at the Fat Quarter Shop.  Since it's getting so close to Christmas, I'm feeling particularly nostalgic today.  First, I have to show you a picture of Kimberly and her brood, because it is a testament to multi-tasking, hard-working women everywhere...

I first remember meeting Kimberly at the Kansas City Quilt Show several years ago.  Almost every time I've seen her since, she's been walking the show (and pregnant) or she's not been at market because she was too pregnant to travel.

First there was Emma (on Santa's lap), who is looking almost grown up now.  Then the twins (in the matching snowman t-shirts).  Aren't they the sweetest little "toilet tissue" babies you've ever seen?  And in  November, another boy named Christopher.  Yet in the midst of all of all of this "family expansion", Kimberly's created an empire over at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Kimberly, her husband Kevin (who works with her) and all of their kiddles, are living proof that the American Dream still exists. 

As a fellow small business owner, I'd like to commend Kimberly and her "Stay Calm & Carry On" attitude.

Let's all take stock in Kimberly & her success ladies, and look forward to a prosperous New Year.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll remind all of you that Fat Quarter Shop is also selling the Fast Flowers Quilt Kit today, and their charity is the Make A Wish Foundation.

I'll be doing a little guest post over at the Jolly Jabber, so click here to go there...hint, more free stuff for deserving fabri-holics.

As we "wrap things up" (no pun intended) for Christmas, one of quilting's funniest is waiting in the wings to be introduced.  Can't wait...LOL

Back in two shakes...H2

PS  if you are here for my stash giveaway, pls leave your comment on this page!

PPS if you are involved in a group that does charitable works, pls click here

 

Comments

[Virlinda]

Your fabric is the best fabric ever! I absolutely love the colors and how it shines. I drool over it ever time I go to my local quilt shop. Almost five year ago I made a baby quilt using your candy toss and frosted dots lines for my soon to be born great nephew. Fast forward 4 and a half years later great nephew's mom is pregnant again with a girl. She painted the baby's room lavendar and mom discovered the candy toss quilt looked fantastic with the wall color so my mission was to find more of the lavendar candy toss fabric to make a dust ruffle and pink frosted dot for a sheet. Mission accomplished after an online search I was lucky enough just this past October to find just what I needed. Lesson learned: You can never have too much Lakehouse fabric. My stash is a testament to this.

[Alice S]

Holly, I always love your fabric lines. The sweet little calico prints are perfect for dresses for my 3 year old daughter and I loved the baby boy fabric you had some time back (called Oh Boy! maybe?). I'm expecting #3 now and its a boy! I could put little boy fabric to good use. :)

[Sandy A]

Happy Holidays! Your fabrics are hard to come by here, so I would love to have some of them come join me. I do have one piece, a blue hydrangea one, and it is looking for some company and others like it for a quilt. That way it would feel useful and not all alone. :( Thanks!

[Nancy]

Hi Holly, I'm also visiting from your post on Jolly Jabber. I have been reading many of the comments left regarding your giveaway and I have been put to shame! I was going to tell you how here I am 60 years old, just started quilting about 3 years ago after being diagnosed with an illness that robbed me of the ability to do the intricate needle work I have enjoyed all my life. Anyway, long story short, hubby brought my sewing machine out of storage where it had been for 13 years while we raised our two grandsons. Okay, point is, just a few weeks ago I finally got my very own sewing room and my shelves are sorely lacking in fabric stash so some of your beautiful fabric would have been a welcome addition...HOWEVER, having said that, as I pointed out earlier I read the comments from other quilters, so many of them make quilts for wonderful causes. My stamina is very low so I'm and extremely slow quilter and have yet to donate any as I have made just a few. But quilting is my refuge from stress and pain so I truly love it. But my hope is that you will select one of those quilters that unselfishly gives of their time and talent to put a smile on the faces and warm the hearts and bodies of those less fortunate and having troubled times. I have so many blessings in my life already. Thanks so much for the lovely giveaway I do adore your fabric! Best wishes on your new adventure! Hugs, and I hope you have a blessed Christmas and a very wonderful New Year.

[robin]

I'd love to give some of your fabrics a new home. I'm new to quilting, and have very little fabric yet. Last Thursday my step-mom had a stroke. She has lost a lot of motion on her right side and has a hard road ahead of her to regain what she's lost. Monday or Tuesday she is to start an intensive rehabilitation program two hours from her home. I'd really like to make her a quilt to remind her of our love and care while she's away from loved ones and going through all this. That's what I'd use your fabric for.

[Mary on Lake Pulaski]

I've been in Minnesota for fifty-nine years and I'm stuck here the rest of my life. As we age, we get colder and colder. Don't you think some of that fabric should be made into a quilt to keep me warm? Thank you.

[Marianne]

How to let you know your fabric will find a good home with me - let me see... I would love it to pieces (no pun intended), it would have lots of friends to share a space with, my grandchildren would love the wonderful, wonderful colors in the quilts I would make them and last, but certainly not least, I love, love, love your fabric and your blog!!! Happy moving.

[Debra]

Hmm... Let's see. I am a new quilter and have finished three so far. These have been given to my friends daughters whose mother is dying of brain cancer. I plan on making more in the future for donating. Plus everytime I see a cool quilt pattern it is from an old stash that cannot be purchased anymore (Like heather ross's fishies). I should have started this years ago. Thanks for your consideration.

[quiltjane]

To be honest I would love to adorn my shelves with your beautiful fabric but since I joined the blogging world I see so many charitable people who really deserve your fabric to make quilts for people who have met hard times. Merry Christmas and May your new year be filled with love, hope and happiness.

[Sharon]

I used your Oh Boy line for my nephew in Norway. It was a hit. I try to incorporate bits of your brights into my children's quilts. They're my favorites. As a quilter, I feel it is my duty to take some of those fabrics off your hands. I can clear a space for them in a jiffy. Enjoy your new home!

[Deb A]

With the economy down turn and the fact that my husband has had to take furlough days this year to help with the State's budget, I've had to quit buying fabric since it's not a necessity. In August our first granddaughter was born and with the cut backs, I've had to surpress myself from buying fabric to make her a quilt. Your fabric line with the bright colors and fabric would be beautiful in a quilt for a baby girl. Please consider me for your giveaway. Thanks!

[Ruth B]

Oh my, after reading the pleadings of others I can see this is going to be tough. Well, here goes. I was a single mom for 8 years with 3 amazing kids. I could only afford a 2 bedroom apartment so I slept in the living room on the pull-out couch for 8 years. No privacy whatsoever! No place to put my stuff except in the one and only hallway closet. I always thought my kids needed privacy more than me and I adore my children. Anyway, now I have a wonderful bedroom with an old quilt and curtains made from a $5 sheet from Pamida. I want this bedroom to be an oasis of prettyness. And, pretty is what Lakehouse is all about, right? Thanks for the chance Holly and have a wonderful move!!

[Renee Steele]

I am always looking for "free" fabric, especially as nice and beautiful as the line from Lakehouse Dry Goods. I use donated fabric to make baby / small quilts for the Project Linus Program. I have also made up quilts and donated them to our local police to use when they have to deal with the little innocent ones through the work they do. Thanks for reading my plea and making an offering of some of your stash!

[PeachRainbow]

Hi,I Just came here from Jolly Jabber & have fallen for your lovely fabrics :)

Thank you for the chance and may your affairs be easy for you during this moving period & I wish you all the best.

I am a beginner in sewing and crochet, from Sri Lanka. Quilting & crochet supplies including good quality fabric are not so easily available here. Therefore, I'd love some of your beautiful fabrics for my stash :)

Thank you for the generosity & Happy Holidays! :)

[lasomnambule]

Score! Another beautiful blog to bookmark!

Here's my funny/sappy story about your Fun Flowers fabric. I hope you'll agree I deserve some extra raw materials!

When I found out I was pregnant in August, I started watching Fat Quarter Shop's new releases like a hawk, determined to make the prettiest possible baby quilt. But I had a feeling that I was having a boy, though I had fallen in love with my "girl name". On 9/29/10, I read about your Fun Flowers collection. I bookmarked my favorite color group: Lucy Fun Flowers, knowing I'd probably still have to order blue boy fabric.

Three months later, I know I'm expecting a girl, and she's been named Lucy from the start. I can't wait to make her dresses and quilts and bibs and all kinds of fun stuff from a line that so closely reflects my taste and what I hope will be her personality! :)

[Betty]

I would love to be considered for a little bit of stash. Most of my quilts become charity quilts, but I always use good quilt shop fabrics which make it a little spendy. However, it is what I enjoy and I pray the quilts will be a blessing to the recipient. Sometimes my quilts are just an outright gift, and sometimes they go into a silent auction for a fundraiser for people with medical bills. Thanks for the consideration. Merry Christmas.

[Jan Taylor]

You need to send me as much fabric as you can get into a box because it's to expensive to put all that beautiful fabric in a moving truck and move it across the country. I will give all the fabric a great home and see to it that it is used to make beautiful quilts and relocated to someone's loving home. (I donate 99% of my quilts to charity.)

[Stephanie Zito]

I found you from FSQ and absolutely adore your fabrics! Good luck on your move! I absolutely need some of your fabric stash! I've been a SAHM for the last 4 years and haven't worked. Since I became addicted to sewing earlier this year, purchased quite a bit of fabric and have used most of it up doing quilts! My husband has recently stated that "that's it - no more purchases"! I'm not due to return to work until next September after my last little girl starts school so I really need some new fabric to play with until then! Thanks for the very generous giveaway and considering me! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed! Merry Christmas!

[Susan]

Downsizing your STASH???? Oh my, I have often thought if I moved what would I do with my stash...I think that would go with me before the sofa...the furniture can be replaced, but the shopping hours for the perfect piece of fabric can't!!!hehe My entire house is cottage colors, and your lines are just wonderful for that....let me tell you, I started collecting Vintage Florida stuff when the oranges started appearing in your lines of fabric, those were just such inspirations to me, so now I have an entire room with "old Florida" stuff because of the oranges in the fabric. My mother loves to remind me of the fact that when I turned 13 and could decorate my bedroom with my taste I decided on an orange room with all orange accessories...blues and pinks played well with those...who would have thought that I still would be playing in those colors, huh??? Well, thanks for an awesome give away that totally matches my house...even if NOTHING ever got made, it is all in the presentation, the fabric looks gorgeous with my things!!!hehehehe Okay, I will work hard at creating something...Merry Christmas...Susan

[Catherine Zerr]

Greetings from Northern Saskatchewan CANADA! I almost envy your move to a warm sunny location! We are having a surprisingly warm winter so far, so for now, unless I could pick up our farm and move it, I have to stay put! lol As Dorothy put it - "There's no place like home!"
I am truly blessed to have enough fabric to keep me going for quite awhile. But if I would be lucky enough to win your basket of goodies I would give it to my mom. We have a wonderful Christmas tradition. We exchange Christmas stockings with only stuff that we got free! Nothing bought - only stuff we get throughout the year that was free or won! It is so much fun! We have kept Christmas in our hearts all the year through this way. (Dickens would be happy!)
Well have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Good luck with your move!
Catherine Z

[Dorian]

I've found my way here from the jolly jabber. I am a Northern Californian, so am not too far from where you will be locating. I LOVE fabric, and you have some cute lines. I don't get to buy much right now, with 3 kids and medical issues to both me and my hubby, it gets hard. But I love browsing blogs, and seeing what new fabric lines are coming out. I love designing patterns too, and am hoping to start a bit of an etsy shop, or something, in the New Year. With patterns and bags and such. Thank you and Merry Christmas!!

[Deb]

Good luck with your move and new adventures. Packing everything up is tedious, but well worth it in the end.

[Pam]

This message won't be very clever. But I do a lot of sewing for a group called Bundles of Love in Minnesota. I make quilts for them which are put into bundles of baby items and given to low income Moms who have babies. I could make some really cute little quilts with Lakehouse fabrics. Please send them to me!

[Lisa]

I have been inspired by a dear friend to make it a goal to give a quilt to each dear friend and family member. This Christmas I completed three, so I am on my way. I would also love to teach some of the young ladies at our church to quilt and a gift of fabric would be just the thing to get us started. I can't afford to buy for them and their families would want them to start with low-quality fabric, which we all know would not be a good use of time and effort. I have these great beginner patterns, so any homeless fabric would be put to good use.

[Alice Price]

Holly, For years now my sisters, daughters, friends and I meet every Friday for a quilting day. We began this tradition years ago at our mom's house and made quilts for family members, friends and anyone else who needed a quilt "quilted". Our Mama passed away over 5 years ago but we continue the tradition of meeting, eating, and quilting. We do hand quilting and always enjoy our fellowship on those special days. Your gift stash would be LOVED by every member of this quilting group and beautiful quilts would be made from your gift fabric. Enjoy your stay in sunny CA!!