And the winner of the Mystery Quilt Is.....

Peony who said "Love the goldfish". Me too Peony. If you'll email Tara at info@janpatekquilts.com and give her your information, she'll mail you the blocks for the first two months and the border and sashing.

I loved reading the comments and wish you all could have won. We do have a few spaces left, I think. If you want one, check with Tara. I'm sure she can fix you up.

Right now I'm going to the loft to make some pillowcases to go with Zoie's Baskets.



We're setting up a bed with the quilt on it at Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton and I think it needs pillowcases. I ordered a sham from Moda to put in the middle. I am soooooo ready for spring.

Miami Valley Album Quilt - Mystery Quilt 2010 and A Contest, A Contest

A few months ago I bought a quilt book that someone had recommended on Amazon. When I bought it, Amazon did one of it's "people who like that book also liked this one" things. I thought this book looked interesting so I bought it too. I can't remember the name of the original book but I absolutely LOVE this one. It is chock full of my kind of quilts and all the history I love to go with them. So when I was thinking about the Mystery Quilt this year I decided to do a quilt patterned after theirs. I added some blocks of my own, of course - like the fishbowl block from an antique quilt I saw at Festival. And, also of course, I didn't use strictly solid fabrics.

And I'm making mine an "Album" quilt also. Before I finish it, I'll embroider a name or names on each block.

This is Pep and Dueces - Pep is a cat person. I'll embroider the name of his first cat "Sylvester" and of course "Deuces" on the cat block.

And these guys are Dotso and Jeremiah. (The water is really clear - the wall behind them is gold.) There's a long story behind these goldfish. It all started when Jake asked if he could have one of the 12 cent goldfish they sell at Petsmart. I have found out a lot about goldfish since then. They don't live in a little bowl like in the block - each mature fish needs 10 gallons of water and can live up to around 25 years. For my birthday Pep got me a 37 gallon tank. I find them very restful. They are my quiet friends.

Anyway, anyway..... each block will have a family member's (human or otherwise) name or names on it. The names don't necessarily have to have anything to do with the block. They can if there's a link but otherwise just the name of someone you know and care for enough to remember. Of course there will be flower blocks, etc. I can't give away too much - it's a Mystery Quilt. I am enjoying this quilt very much so decided to share the fun.

Make a comment - anything at all between now and Feb. 24th. The morning of the 25th Tara will draw a name and we'll give that person the Mystery Quilt this year - a block at a time of course. If you already belong and we draw your name, we'll give you next years blocks free.

Have fun and good luck to all.

Flower Patch and the consequences of aging :)

In 1989 Snowbound was published by Red Wagon. Since then I've published I don't know how many books - by myself and in conjunction with other designers. As I've gotten older, I no longer have the energy to publish books of my quilts - so I'm pretty well just doing patterns. I leave the books to younger folks or organizations like the KC Star. (By the way, the 2nd block in our Star BOM came out in the paper today for those of you in the area. For those that aren't in the area or can't get the Star see my February block picture to the right to download or order the pattern from the Star.)



Anyway .... larger quilts don't show up well on patterns. Flower Patch is an awesome quilt - I really like it. Shannon used it as the wallpaper this month on the Home Page of the website, she liked it so much. And I really don't like the way it shows up on the pattern or even the individual blocks. The color is too dull on one and too bright on the other.



But then, color was always a problem in books too. At least you could see the detail though - even if the color was right. Aaah well........I'm doing a book for Quiltmania next year. I think I'll put Flower Patch in it and let them do the struggling. For right now you can order it as a kit and see the color for yourself. If you like flower quilts and my quilts, I promise you'll like it. :)

Across the Wide Missouri

This is "Across the Wide Missouri" the Kansas City Star BOM for 2010 designed by Edie McGinnis and myself. Edie and I each made the quilt out of different fabrics from the "Blessings" line Linda and I designed. This is my version of the quilt.

The patterns for one of the blocks will be in the KC Star on the 3rd Tuesday of each month as well as some information on a woman who lived during the frontier period. These histories are written by Edie and are really fascinating. So you get to make a great quilt and learn a lot about some of the women who settled this part of the country. Both quilts and some projects to go with them will be in a book that will come out this fall. Meantime you can make a block each month if you get the paper. If you're unable to get the Tuesday Star for that months block, you can go to the Pickledish website and order either the individual pattern for $7.00 or download a pdf for $3.00. Be sure to click on our "Across the Wide Missouri" and then go to the month you want.