Holly Blog

My Favorite Things...222...New Friends & New Fun!

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

On Wednesday, I just finished up...

This is a special tip sheet that I did as an adjunct to the FREE FAST FLOWERS QUILT PATTERN.  When I read the pattern that they sent me for my approval, it left me with a LOT of questions.  Plus I thought, OMG all levels of quilters are going to read this pattern, and there are going to be a lot of questions...How am I going to help these people out? 

Being the control freak (that I admit) I am, I turned on the computer and wrote up two full sheets of notes & diagrams for you all.

I'll go through a lot of these tips with you over the next many days of Brownie Points...but if you want a copy right now, just go to my left side bar...it's the icon that says "BROWNIE POINTS QUILTING TIPS"

My next guest is a darling gal from Florida...Here's a picture of me (the smirk & the tired eyes) with adorable Jenny from Sew Fabulous at Quilt Market a while back LOL...

Imagine my delight when I found out that Jenny was not only a quilter & fellow animal lover, but a veterinarian, too.

Jenny is also selling the Fast Flowers Quilt Kit at the Sew Fabulous site.  As with all of the other Brownie Points shops, I'll be donating $5.00 for every Fast Flowers Quilt Kit sold to Jenny's charity:   The Alaqua Animal Refuge.

Lots more fun & frivolity tomorrow with Jenny, her charming blog & pictures of her fur babies.  Turns out that her kids love the LakeHouse line...

LOL

;oP  H2

PS  I'd love to hear your comments on the HOLLYTIP sheets and the Fast Flowers Quilt Kits when you get them in the mail gals...Kristine's studio (she's our designated kitmaker) is like Santa's workshop right now, there's ribbon & tissue & bundles of pretty LakeHouse Fun Flowers Fabric everywhere!

PPS  Keep those warm wishes for our Velda coming in girls!

 

 

 

My Favorite Things...220...More Fun with Tammy & A Giveaway Too!

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

Tammy is selling the Fast Flowers Quilt Kit from her website, click here for the details.

You'll be able to get the FREE Fast Flowers Quilt Pattern by clicking here.

My Fast Flowers Tip Sheets will be available as a FREE download on the side bar by TOMORROW.

We're having a second day with Tammy, so that you make sure to see her blog A Tadd More, and her bright and friendly website as well.  I'm hoping she'll have some more pictures of her fabuloso store as well...check out her online store here.

Rumor has it Tammy's got some goodies to give away today, so check her out!

From the first time I saw her, Tammy has always loved bright jewelry, clothing & accessories, it's no wonder that she loves our Fun Flowers Fabric line.  She's done oodles of nifty bag patterns, and probably hundreds of quilt designs with her mom Velda at her side.

I wanted to share some fond memories from a trip that Tammy took with friends & family to visit me in New York City.

A few years ago Tammy, Velda, Tammy's daughter and a gaggle of friends all convened in New York.  With me as their gourmand guide, we walked for hours & hours in Manhattan's SOHO, Nolita, Greenwich Village & Gramercy Park.  We ate French pastries at a teeny bakery called Ceci Cela (try the Napoleans with Fresh Raspberries). We shopped till we almost dropped and ended up at Les Halles (Anthony Bourdain's old restaurant) at the end of the day for some yummy "Steak Frites". 

Here's Tammy & her Mom below...(see what I mean with the bright accessories?!!)

 

Recently Velda's been battling cancer, and I know you'll all want to wish her the best in health and a speedy recovery, so that she can ride shot gun with Tammy & her posse' on another trip again very soon. 

WE LOVE YOU VELDA!

For Every 10 people who leave a message of LOVE & SUPPORT FOR VELDA, I'll give away a free ribbon-tied fat quarter bundle from my personal stash. 

So let's get to it girls...Let's feel the love & send out our best wishes to VELDA! 

Please, only one get well wish for Velda per person.

When you leave Velda your wish doesn't matter, as we'll be drawing your names from a hat (collected from this blog post) at the end of this event.

I'm guessing this will be in the new year, so keep checking back for the names of the prize winners.

Lots more to show & tell & give away!

Y'all come back now...

;o)  H2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Things...219...Old Friends with New Projects

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

As promised, the Fast Flowers Quilt Kits, are ready in time for Christmas, for your little angel...see more below!

I'm excited to introduce you to Tammy Tadd Designs.  Tammy & first met when our booths were near each other at our first Fall Quilt Market in Houston.  I've seen her evolve from a quilt & pattern designer into a shop owner, blogger & all around bon vivant.  Tammy's got the most colorful little quilt shop in Sycamore Illinois. 

Here's a close up of some of the beautiful Christmas tree ornaments that Tammy has made with our Fun Flowers fabrics.  Leave it to Tammy to kick off the holidays with this charming assortment of hand made & store bought ornaments.  Notice the jumbo ric rac she's using in her tree as a garland...a girl after my heart!

For more pics of Tammy's shop and clever designs, see Tammy's Blog--A Tadd More.

  

 

Tammy will be offering the Fast Flowers Quilt Kit for sale on her website, along with lots more projects that use LakeHouse fabrics.  As mentioned, I'll be donating $5.00 for every Fast Flowers Quilt Kit she sells to her favorite charity:  Tails Humane Society.

Just remember, the FREE Fast Flowers quilt pattern is available online at the Quilts & More website, so click here to see more pictures of the Fast Flowers quilt, and download your free pattern.

I'll be offering a FREE downloadable HOLLYTIPS TIP SHEET in addition to the FREE PATTERN later this week on the sidebar...(because you know how picky I am about quilt construction).

Come back tomorrow for more on Tammy and some of the fabulous freebies & special offers she'll be offering during our Brownie Points event...

So many of you write to us, wanting information on where to purchase LakeHouse fabrics.   So now's the time to see some of the wonderful independent shops all over the US who carry our fabrics.

Join us won't you?

;o-   H2

 

 

216...My Favorite Things...A FREE Quilt Pattern!

Hi again everyone,

Fall Quilt Market has come & gone, it all happened so quickly.  I got to see lots my favorite people...Beth Hayes from McCall's, the Fat Quarter Shop brigade (minus Kimberly, who was home awaiting her latest), and Gina & Melinda from Fresh Picked Fabrics, to name just a few.

By the end of the first day of market, it was obvious that I was fighting something, and spent the next 5 days in and out of bed.  So oops, no booth pictures.

Right before market, I found out that my Brownie Points Quilt (re-named Fast Flowers), and would be put on the Quilts & More website as a FREE DOWNLOAD. 

Ironically, when the Brownie Points Quilt was on it's way to us at FQM (from the photoshoot at Q & M), it "went missing"...Here's a picture of her...

I love this simple & straight forward quilt, and I am, still hoping she will show up, but she's been missing since October 21st...Come back soon, Brownie.  :@

For those of you who want a Quilt Kit to make the "lovely lady", we'll be having a special Brownie Points Blog-a-thon starting after Thanksgiving.  They'll be lots of fun & frivolity at this upcoming event. We'll have Brownie Points Quilt Kits for sale, FREE GIVEAWAYS from my private LakeHouse stash, some of my favorite "quilties" will join in the fun, and other surprises too.

I'll be back in soon to tell you all the details for the Brownie Points Quilt Blog-a-thon.

3:o)

H2

 

My Favorite Things...202...The Honor Roll

Dolly Blog Post Script

Here's a quick list of the Dolly Blog Event...it's the fastest way to review the Dolly Dress Up quilt projects...

Day 1  Debbie Taylor  of the Fat Quarter Shop

Day 2  Jennifer Bosworth of Shabby Fabrics

Day 3  Lynda Milligan & Friends at the Great Amercian Quilt Shop

Day 4  Jere'e McDade  & "Gidget" of Quilted Quickies

Day 5  Taffy McLaughlin &  Sarch Phillips of Intown Quilters

Day 6  Gina Halladay  & Friends at The Quilted Pear

Day 7  Julie Herman* of Jaybird Quilts

Day 8  Monica Solorio Snow at The Happy Zombie

Day 9  Jenny McLean aka Tula Pink

Day 10  Rachel Griffith of PS I Quilt

Day 11  Sheri Bignell of Freckleberry Farm

Day 12  Tricia Cribbs of FriendFolks

Day 13  Elizabeth Scott at The Late Bloomer

Day 14  Penny Sturges  & Family at Quilts Illustrated

Day 15  Holly Holderman of LakeHouse Dry Goods

You can click on the Dolly Blog Icon in the left sidebar of my blog, to go to the first day of the Dolly Blog-A-Long, and then work your way through the event, project by project.  This also works for any of the other event icons that you see on the left sidebar as well.  X;)

Thanks to all who participated, and all of the visitors that came by to share in the holiday cheer...we do it all for you!

In the words of our little Jaybird*..."make life better with fabric"...in 2010.

Happy Holidays to all...

Peace.

H2

My Favorite Things...200...The Big Two Oh-Oh!

Day 15 of 16

 

The ric rac & ribbon is from my buddy Adam...(quilt shop owners take note!) The Forget-Me-Not millinery flowers are from my personal stash...but I have seen something very similar recently at Michaels.

Well Ladies, it's my day today, and a bit of a coincidence, actually...It's my 200th blog post. I have to laugh, when I think of what my webmaster said about blogging a couple of years ago, when I wanted to add a blog onto my website.  Something to the effect of "be careful with that and make sure you really want to do it and that you won't run out of things to say".  LOL...

Actually, I only run out of time, not things to show & tell.  I have pictures from trips and projects and things that inspire me waiting in files to show you...

Anyhoo, I designed the panel to expand the "circle of friends"...that is, people who liked the Dolly Dresses quilt from last fall & who would like to work with the Dolly Dresses fabrics, but like me, don't have the time to do all of the applique'.  Tick-tock, I say.

So before I even was finished with the dolly dresses panel fabric, I called the Beth "the Beauty Queen" Hayes (it's the cheekbones) at McCall's Quilting.  What I love about working with Beth is that she has even less time to waste than I do.  I send her a picture, she loves it, she hates it...I get instant feed back...Tick Tock.

So the embellished Dolly Dress Up panel quilt that was shown in the LakeHouse booth at Fall Quilt market, (which I showed in a previous blog back in October)...Is going to be in the McCall's Quilting April 2010 issue that hits the newsstands in February.  The timing is perfect, because the Dolly Dresses 2 fabrics will be getting to the stores in early April...For those of you with scraps left over from Doll Dresses 1, I used a lot of scraps from that collection in my quilt...Not to worry though, DD 1, 2 & 3...they all go together, it's a mix & match thing...like Garanimals...LOL

Meantime, it's time for you to give it your best shot...Remember the scene in the movie "Notting Hill"...Hugh Grant's character is sitting around the dinner table with friends?  Each of them had to tell a story about why they deserved the last brownie...Well now's the time...Give it your best shot & tell me why you deserve to win the Dolly Dress Up panels (months earlier than anyone else) from our secret stash here at the studio. 

Leave your story below and I'll announce the winners of the Dolly Dress Up panels tomorrow.

Make Me Laugh!...Back in a Flash,

H2

My Favorite Things...198...Late Bloomers!

Day 13 of 16

I'm happy to say that today's guest Elizabeth Scott is one of my favorite quilting buddies.  I am trying to remember how we met, since we haven't been across the aisle at quilt market...I think it was the blogging connection. It might have been through Pam Kitty, who as most of you know is her BFF.

Rumor has it that Elizabeth is doing something very special with her quilt...She is going to auction it off for Irish Flood Relief...SO YOU MUST go on over to see what's up at the The Late Bloomer, and bid on Elizabeth's adorable quilt!

Let's see if I can make a guinea pig face with a few quick key strokes...?

:x>

That's all I got...a guinea pig with a goatee?

H2

My Favorite Things...197...Me "FriendFolks"!

Day 12 of 16

Tricia Cribbs of FriendFolks was across the aisle from us at Fall Quilt Market in 2008...noticing a trend?  Since it was the slowest market that I'd ever experienced, (right after all the banks fell out of bed) we actually got a chance to chat...turns out she is the woman behind the best selling "Turning Twenty" books...Isn't that catchiest name?  Tricia's first love is applique' and boy is she good at it...Since we first met, she has made some amazing appliqued quilts with our Teatime Floral fabrics, too.

Here's a little looky-loo at what Tricia's done with the Dolly Dress Panel...

 

I can't wait to see what this project looks like...I'm guessing that Tricia has gone off the grid completely!

click here to see Tricia's latest masterpiece!

":ºO

H2

My Favorite Things...196...A Freckleberry!

Day 11 of 16

Sheri Bignell was a neighbor at Fall Quilt Market.  Her charming "Freckleberry Farm" booth was around the corner from ours...it had so much "curb appeal", I just had to stop and say hello.  The rest is history...I'm her newest fan.

click here for Sheri's blog & again here for a complete slide show of all of the beautifully embellished the dresses that Sheri has done for her new quilt..."Sheri's Dolly Dress Up!".

back in two shakes...

H2

My Favorite Things...195...PS Rachel Quilts

Day 10 of 16

Rachel Griffith is our next guest, she's another friend of Tula's.  Like Tula and Julie, she's from a new generation of quilters, one of the young'ns.  I am so glad that quilting is an interest that is being passed along from one woman to another and one generation to the next...I first used a sewing machine in Mrs. Schupp's Home Ec class in 8th grade.  She was infinitely patient, and she made me feel like I had a talent for sewing.  I went on to make a majority of my clothes in high school, and I made my first quilt at 17 for my dorm room in college.

Rachel's blog is "PS I QUILT" (isn't that a darling name?)  Rachel received her fabric a little late, but said that she wasn't worried, because she worked well under pressure...we could use a gal like that a LakeHouse!  I am curious to learn where gals  who didn't have Home Ec in school learned to sew & quilt...

Click here to see what Rachel's been up to with the Dolly Dress Up Panels.

Kick It Rachel!

;@)

H2