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...189...A Little Doggie...Told Me

Day 4 of 16

We had our first snow storm near the office yesterday, so here I am all "geared up" today when we took a break from work to get some lunch. Thought I'd wear my Elmer Fudd...aka my "Dog Ear Hat" in honor of our next guest.

Our little bloggie group has nothing if not a lot of personalities, wouldn't you say?...Some with a bigger "bone to pick" than others...LOL!

This little doll is none other than Gidget, Jere'e McDade's (the Quilted Quickies lady) little sidekick and office mascot...I hear that we are all in for quite the show today.

There are two blog sites listed below, one of them will be compatible with your browser, we hope.

Hit-it Gidge #1

Hit-it Gidge #2

Back in two wags, of a you-know-what...

>;ºV

H2

PS  Monday am--Since our guest presentations are as much of a surprise to me as they are to you, I had to comment on Jer'e's post:  SIMPLY ADORABLE--A MUST SEE!

My Favorite Things...175...A Hairy Tale With a Happy Ending!

It's been a bit of a crazy summer here on the east coast.  Lots of rain, wind & lighting storms that have upset the family critter's routine terribly, and me especially.  The humidity has been so bad that it makes me think that the wallpaper is going to unpaste itself and slither down the walls...

And yet I have a lot to be thankful for. 

Here's another quilt that I designed recently that is in the August 2009 McCall's Quilting...

I completely forgot to tell you all about this quilt, until now.  Paton and I have actually been through a bit of a rough patch with the dogs that we've been fostering.

I haven't told a lot of people about my animals lately, because when there is a lot of bad news over and over again, no one wants to hear it.  Heck, I don't want to have to re-live the story by telling it again.

But there has been some good news of late, so I thought I'd share it with you...

First, there's Hi Bit, who I like to think of as "Prozac with 4 paws".

A month ago, Hi Bit was really sick with liver failure.  We thought that he might not make it.  He and about 6 other animals from his pack, had been unknowingly fed aflatoxin-poisoned food at the kennel where he was staying after being rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri.  On top of that, Hi Bit's spinal column has fused discs in at least three places, so that he walks like a drunken sailor, and he has a wicked heart murmur, and he's not a young dog.

But today after a variety of antioxidants & Sam-E to help him regenerate his liver, and a homepathic remedy that has put some spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye, Hi Bit "is back".

Also, keeping our fingers crossed, Lady Bug the heart worm positive foster dog who I told you about this spring, is almost through her 8 week treatment, and she is ever-so-slowly coming out of her shell.
LB clearly experienced the most mental & emotional damage of any of the foster dogs that Paton and I have witnessed to date.

Here's a partial family picture, of Paton and the critters last week end.

That's "the Mrs.", Giulia--she who does as she pleases, Paton & Bitty, and Blueberry, the puppy.

More "Midsummer Days Tales" in a bit...

LOL

H2

My Favorite Things...168...Still Cupcakes & Pupkins

We have been inundated with calls for our Little Cupcakes fabric since Jere'es quilt appeared on the McCall's Quick Quilts cover back in January. (next time:  a little advance warning please!)

I just wanted to alert all of you that we have decided to re-print the pink cupcake fabric (LH 08010 pink) one more time. It should be back in stock again in late April / early May.  (I'll keep you posted.)  You may want to tell your LQS, so that they can get their hands on a bolt or two before we sell through another printing.  We're about 85% committed already.

A few of you have noticed that I haven't blogged recently.  If only there was a way to support our little furry family by writing a blog.  And it ain't getting any smaller...

We've become foster dog parents again...our latest puppy mill fosters are "Blue" and his pack mate, the 3 year old heart-worm positive "Little Girl" who are staying at Paton's until they are socialized and both on the road to health and happiness.  I've been told that the man who owned the farm that Blue and dozens of other Tibetan Terriers lived on was put out of business in early February.  My friend Camille is in charge of finding homes for 14 other TT's that were displaced from this farm. 

Here is Paton with the two of them...Little Girl (who we have re-named Lady Bug) hasn't been able to figure out walking on a leash yet (& other simple tasks - she is still a bit "shell shocked" - the older they are when rescued the harder time they have adjusting to life on the outside).

And Blue (who we've re-named Blueberry) being a puppy...

Both of the new pups are the best-natured creatures that I have ever met.  After a couple of days they got over their initial shock, and have been affectionate couch potatoes ever since.  Paton said the other day:  "Blue, he's just 20 POUNDS of LOVE".

Back in two shakes...H2

My Favorite Things...158...Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods!

For years I have been drooling over Susan Gowers delicious trims and notions booth at antique and quilt shows on the east coast.  What a pleasant surprise to see her at Fall Quilt Market in Houston.  Some of the antique buttons that I used in my blog banner were bought from Susan.

Here she is with Ric & Rac...

Susan graciously allowed me to capture many of the displays that she had in her booth. I took so many pictures of her beautiful things that it made better sense to put them all in a new flickr photo album!  You can see them by clicking on my right side bar titled Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods...

Meanwhile, if you are ever in Providence Rhode Island you can find her things at "REFIND" a store at 436 Wickenden Street.

Hope you find the photos of her displays as inspiring as I do, I just love things done by color palette, and I am endlessly fascinated with trims, buttons & ric rac.  Imagine the possibilities girls!

Back in two shakes...H2

PS on an inspiring and hopeful note, Gretchen one of our recent blog commenters has told me that there is an online petition forming in support of the Obama's adopting a rescue dog at the Best Friends Network.  See what they are up to and support homeless animals across the country...And if you haven't taken 5 minutes to email Oprah a suggestion...What's keeping you ???  X;º)

My Favorite Things...120...Puppy Love!

I promise to return to my "Quilt Market Tales" later this, week...but humor me dear reader, as I bring you a tail of a different sort...

Here she is in her new Maraschino Cherry bandanna I made for her this morning...Meet Sophia, the "puppy mill reject" aka LUCKY DOG, who was given up by her "captor" about a month ago at the age of three, because she couldn't produce enough puppies...She's the sweetest little thing on four paws!

Here's the back story: We were at our vet's office earlier this week, and she told us that she was the foster dog-mother for Sophia, who came to her as "Wendy the Westie" from puppymillrescue.com.  She said that it was Oprah's recent show on the atrocities at puppy mills, that got her energized.

I was so inspired by this that we here at LHDG are going to get involved too.  I started scheming up a plan today...I'll keep you posted.

More Portland "Pics & Quips", and stories of the "Great Northwest" coming soon...

 

Back in two shakes...H2

113...My Favorite Things...New Stuff!

It's been a little while!  In the midst of taxes and getting ready for Spring Market, Paton and I came down with a horrible flu.  It started with sneezing, I didn't think much of it, since things were starting to bloom a bit outside, then the next thing I know it...whammo, flat on our backs for 4 days.  Another few days of brain fog as all of the cold remedies flush out of my system, and wa-la...a littl sneak peak of what's new for Spring market.

Meet BOB, that's short for "Boy Oh Boy"...It's my first collection of boy/toddler designs on fabric.  We'll do charm squares again as a promo at Spring Quilt market, in this new palette, that has lots of my favorite blues and greens, and even some new browns.  (Those of you who have been bugging me to do something in browns (and you know who you are)...a drum roll please!

On a sad note, Paton found our little Jasmine floating in the lake a couple of days ago.  We assume that she accidentally fell in, and in the cold water she didn't have much of a chance to save herself.  Jasmine was such a creature of habit, so we just knew that something bad happened when she didn't show up for meals back in February.  The freakiest part of this story, is that one of his neighbors who live 6 houses down, lost their beautiful Siberian Husky a week or so ago in the middle of the night.  They searched everywhere, and then a couple of days later Tundra also was also found mysteriously floating in the lake.  We are such animal lovers, almost everyone on Paton's street has a cat, or dog or both, it's been a real shock to all of us.

With the temporary set back of the flu, most of the things we've moved to the office are still in boxes, but I'll have more to show and tell very soon...new spring things are arriving every day!

Back in two shakes...H2

112...My Favorite Things...Young Geets

The title of this little story should be "Geeter Helps Out"...Geeter, aka Kitty is the kind of dog who does her "spin to win" move when she sees me put my shoes on, or if I get the car keys out of the drawer.  She's the best little traveler there ever was.  "Where we goes she goes"...

Here she is on one of our recent moving days...is it just me or is she adorable?  Danielle our trusty dog-loving intern took this pic with her phone.

I know a lot of you are chomping at the bit for pictures of the new office.  We've made lots of plans and are in the midst of implementing them right now.  Paton has been terrific helping us get all of our shelving in place. We now have what seems like miles of new shelving (that will fill up in no time, I'm sure.) 

We looked for over 6 months to find the office space that we finally took.  We had several deals fall through (including our dream space), so don't get too excited.  The space is large and we have windows along three exposures.  But the basics are white walls, new gray industrial carpeting, and "standard issue" 8 foot acoustical ceilings (which I really can't stand!).  I must admit, coming from Manhattan where space is $$$ cha-ching, we are getting a lot of space for our money.  But the perks:  Central Park a block away, latte's on demand on almost every corner, and 6 bakeries including a French pastry chef within an easy walk...They just aren't to be had anywhere near our new digs. What's a spoiled Chub-ette like Moi to do?

Anyhoo, things are moving along, and  I am anticipating a (very small) lull before the last big push for market, so I promise to indulge you with "new place pics" soon.

Back in two shakes...H2

110...My Favorite Things...Making a Pit Stop!

I'll spare you all of my not-so-clever racing metaphors today, but we are zooming towards Portland Quilt Market...Between the weather (think snow, snow and more snow) & the work load (11 weeks to go) it feels like I haven't left the house in weeks.

Coming up the stairs today with a cup of tea, it dawned on me that my desktop told my story better than I could...

I'm working on some colorations for one of the new lines...With 30 drawers full of color chips, the mess on the top of my desk is only the tip of an iceberg.  I'm attempting to blend a new idea and colors with some of our LakeHouse Library favorite patterns and colors...Making no predictions yet...fingers, toes and eyes are crossed...

Meanwhile, we've had a lot of drama with the kitties...Jasmine, my "Rescue Remedy Kitty" disappeared over a week ago off the property. Paton and I searched around-the-clock for days.  It's been absolutely heartbreaking, as she had shown such promising signs of accepting us and being indoors this winter.  After spending every night (and a lot of days) in a basket on my desk for the last three months, and accepting a lot of attention, she vanished.

Vickie-Dixie had to have 4 teeth pulled last week.  My guess is that her teeth got bad when fending for herself and her kittens before she got to the shelter where we adopted her.  She has been a model patient these last few days. Here she is enjoying the radiant heating in the (yet unfinished) bathroom.

So now we are caught up a bit...Lots more to show and tell.

Back in two shakes...H2

One more important thing...I had promised three give aways to the first 3 new people visiting the blog after my recent guest posting on the Jolly Jabber.  The winners are Corey, Erin and Babara from Feb 8th.

It looks like two of the first three have no tag back, so I need emails addresses from you  gals  ;)   

My Favorite Things...107...Raising Arizona

Ladies,

It's been a l-o-n-g time since my last post.  So much to do and tell, but so little time to do it in...

So without further ado, here are some of my favorite pics from my recent Arizona trip...

Here's Cindy Taylor Oates at her lovely home, in front of her display cabinets.  We both have an affinity for "old stuff", like  group photos, unusual sewing machines, neat things with original typography and the like...my mouth watered at some of her juicy tidbits...

Loved her little pink chairs too, oh-so girly!

Cindy had Precious Penny and I over for a delicious lunch...yummy southwestern style chicken soup, avocado and orange salad, a delicious sweet corn souffle, and some ab fab smoked ribs made by her sweetie-pie husband William. I've asked CTO to post some of her recipes...but haven't had the time to go blog reading in weeks...So we must all make sure to check in and see what's she's put up on her new blog.

Here's a couple of close-ups of Cindy's vignettes...

Simply Cindy!

Alas, I spent 3 days and 3 of the most comfortable nights in recent memory (on the world's best bed ever!) with Precious Penny & her also-sweetie-pie husband, Bob while I was in Arizona.  We also went model house hunting with Jill, who is Penny's wonderful friend & sister-in-law.  My favorite models were at Fulton Ranch in Chandler, AZ...right up until I realized that the neighborhood that these almost million dollar houses (don't believe the prices on their website!) were back-to-back with the loading dock of the local Loew's!  That really bothered me...am I nuts, or what?
It was great to spend time with them, soaking up the sunshine and the local color.  I was so happy, well fed, relaxed and "at home" with B&P&J that I completely forgot that I needed to document my trip...the shameless-blogger-in-me forgot to take pictures! I will tell you this, Penny has her house decorated in a cozy & comfy way.  Lots of quilts, yummy paint colors on the walls, really nice overstuffed furniture and an adorable new kitchen that the also-very-handy-Bob just remodeled for her.

I took a little side trip to visit of my favorite quilters down Tucson way...Brenda the "big nut" from Little Acorns and her now famous side kick Bailey...

I've got two words to describe Mr B:  "love monster".

Thanks so much to everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules (and bustling pattern businesses) when I came-a-calling in AZ...

Lots more exciting news when I return (finger's crossed)...meantime, this lil' pardner is back on the "designing ranch", what with Spring Quilt Market right around the corner!

Back in two shakes...

H2