It's Good to be Home

It is indeed good to be home.

Once here, besides all of the packing and unpacking, washing clothes and generally detoxing from a week away, I had promised my church - which is an hour away in Kansas City - that I would bring quilts and kits and appear two nights at an event they're having. If you're in Kansas City, Missouri Crossroads church at 79th & Main is presenting the musical Big River. It was this weekend and next weekend. It is well worth seeing.

Next weekend - Friday and Saturday nights at 7:00 and a matinee Sunday at 2:00 - my quilts will be there but I will be at home. It's an excellent production.

To back up a bit, I'm rather late posting about Market but better late than never, I always say.

The last day of Market was Halloween. I didn't go with Jenny Doan so I didn't have to be Raggedy Ann. I did take my Witch Is In quilt though. (I always say "it's not a Halloween quilt, it's a 'statement' quilt").

But it is fun to take pictures of ladies in witch costumes. I grabbed my camera when I thought of the pictures but neglected to get the names of the first two ladies. I just love the purple. Sorry ladies.

Here is Susan Knapp. Just love her hat!

And we spotted Mary Ann Nelson and Marsha Harward across the aisle at the Moda booth. If you look closely the tips of their hats are moving. Too funny!

Carole Krag didn't wear a hat but she brought her quilt. Great job Carole.

Nick from Primitive Gatherings was absolutely awesome as Elvis.

Back home, Zoie's Japanese Chin turned purple for Trick or Treating.

Kelly was taking care of the animals and farm while we were gone but had stopped bringing Spike out. He got too upset every time he came and we weren't here. He's only 7 months old and it's the first time we've been gone for any length of time.

She brought him out about a half hour before we got home. When we walked in Spike got so excited I almost thought he was going to have a seizure or something. He kept falling over, wiggling and jumping and running between Pep and I. Dueces (Pep's cat) on the other hand was somewhat aloof. He would follow Pep from room to room and sit down with his back to him.

As we slowly unloaded the van over the next two days, every time we opened the door Spike jumped in and wouldn't get out. As far as he was concerned the van was not going anywhere without him again. I had to leave the door open a couple of times and just go in the house.

Tuckered out but happy!.

To Market - to Market

It's O-dark-thirty and we're off to Market. The chickens aren't even up. Kelly and the kids are coming to stay and take care of Spike and critters.

Spike isn't happy. When we packed the van last night he got in and wouldn't get out. I had to carry him out and he's getting a little hefty.

We will have an awesome time at Market - already looking forward to seeing good friends.

And I think I'll cry half way to Houston :) I miss my Spike.

See you in a week

Look what we did! And a sneak peek, no less........

We're in the usual mad rush around here getting things ready to leave for Market. And, of course, I can't show you any of the quilts I'm working on because they need to debut at Market. So, I decided that this was a good time to show you some of the quilts other people have done.

These first two - the "Bible Quilt" and "Flowers" were appliqued by Ada Voskuilen. Both are Blue Ribbon winners. The Bible Quilt was made for her grandson Olsin and was machine quilted by her friend Megan Best.

Flowers is a Linda Brannock design and Ada asked me to say thanks for her since she didn't have Linda's address. It was hand quilted by her friend Sharon Struiksma.

Thanks Ada, for sharing. Awesome work, all of you.

And this is Gabriel's Ark appliqued by Lisa White for her new granddaughter. We all just love the fabrics she chose. Mine is definitely a "boy" quilt - made for my grandson Gabriel. Her's could be for a boy, I suppose, but I do think it looks like a girl's quilt too.

The next one is "Give Thanks" by Toni Peerbolt (from We Gather Together) and seems to be a blue ribbon quilt too. A lot of hers are.

And last, but not least, in the quilt section is "We Gather Together" by Toni.

I just love her choice of fabric too. Awesome work!

And here's what Zoie did Sunday afternoon. This is the wolf mask & ears she made for her Halloween costume. She's a very creative kid. I never could do 3D stuff and think this is just stupendous.

And while we're all working away, what are the kitties doing. Hanging out in my chair - Dueces on my Primitive Primer quilt -- sleeping! And they don't look like they feel a bit guilty about sleeping while everyone else is busy.

It's supposed to freeze tonight and tomorrow night. I'm going to cover my dahlias and Pep's peppers because it's supposed to get warm again next week. We'll see if they'll make it. They have just outdone themselves this last few weeks.

And Tuesday I'm off to Houston for a week. Here's a sneak peek at out new line, Farmer's Market.

Can't wait to show you the quilts but that will have to wait awhile :)

First we need to at least have the holidays.........Turkeys first - Dresden Turkeys, of course.

Arkansas, Des Moines and Home Again!

Here I am at the Arkansas Quilt Congress with Jeanne, Linda and Ann.

Jeanne (on the left) facilitated at the workshops I taught and was a great help (she even brought candy for us). Linda (in the blue jacket) was the program chairperson and maybe even arranged the whole shebang. She was awesome. Besides keeping everything running smoothly she took time to take me to breakfast each morning. Ann (on the right) is president of the Guild. I really, really want to thank them all for a great teaching and lecture experience. Besides being very competent they are all really nice people and great quilters. If you live anywhere near the area, they are great people to hook up with.

This is "Flags of the American Revolution" - which is part of my trunk show/lecture. And it's really special right now because I

talked Melissa Becker into making me some button kits so you can get the star buttons. It includes all of the very small white star buttons for the Bennington Flag block and the First Stars & Stripes block along with the blue star buttons she designed for the Guilford Courthouse Flag block. She made them for the shops years ago when it was a Girl Gang quilt and very nicely said that she would bring them back into production for me. So if you want to order the book and make the quilt, you can order the buttons too if you want them. Thanks Melissa.

We got home from Arkansas late Saturday night, unpacked, repacked and left for Des Moines on Monday.

Here's a pic of the booth - or part of it. We had a very nice time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves - met a whole bunch of very nice quilters as usual. After a 2 day set up and a 4 day show, it was time to go home again. And I'm really glad Des Moines is so close - about 2 1/2 hours.

Spike was really glad too. He stuck like glue the next few days. Here he is, trying to climb in my lap. I keep telling him he's getting to0 big. He's not a baby any more. His face is looking more and more like a bulldog - getting his big boy teeth.

And we don't leave for Houston and Market until the 25th. I really don't think he's going to like that.

But meanwhile we're at home and decided to have a fall special on Jack at the Gate - one of my favorite Fall minis. This week (Oct. 11th - 17th) it's only $29.00 - that's a little more than 15% off. We sold most of them at Festival so order yours now.

And speaking of stitching, my line for Market got here yesterday.

Let the sewing begin!

Home at Last........And the Winners Are!

After 2 weeks away I'm "Home Again" - for awhile at least. It's about time for Market. And speaking of Market, I have so very little time to post on my blog because Market deadlines loom.

I had a stupendous time in Arkansas at the Quilt Congress and in Des Moines at the AQS Festival. I hope to have a little time next week to tell you all about both of them.

I'm grabbing a minute though to post the winners of the Blog Hop drawing. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments. It was a fun hop, wasn't it? Lissa Alexander always has such great ideas. And thanks to Moda for the Fat 1/4 Pack and Jelly Roll of Together they so generously provided.

Anyway - The winner of the Fat 1/4 Pack of Together is James_Linda who started the comment with HAPPY AUTUMN TO YOU and ended it with BLESSINGS. If you'll send your name and address to Tori at jpqinvoices@yahoo.com, we'll get the Fat 1/4 pack out to you.

The winner of the Jelly Roll is therealfrannie who started her comment with "love your fabrics" and ended with "great idea to put the eucalyptus inside." Also please send your shipping info to Tori.

And QuiltinginMinn who said "That look Spike is giving you" and ended with "It's my favorite time of the year", is the winner of our latest BOM pattern for Cabin in the Pines. Once again, please send your shipping info to Tori and we'll get it out to you.

Congratulations to the winners and I wish you all could have won.

Well - back to work.

I promise to tell you all about my wonderful trips to Arkansas and DesMoines Festival as soon as I get my deadlines met. Quilters are usually such nice people and these were all tops.

Day 18 - Jan Patek of Brannock/Patek

Welcome to Day 18 of the Moda County Fair Blog Hop.

I have fond memories of County Fairs in Harper, Kansas where my brother and I would go spend the summer with our Great Aunt Odell and Uncle Carl Elliot. The fairgrounds was right down the street from their house - Kid heaven!

Aunt Odell and Uncle Carl owned a house in town and they also owned a farm outside of town where we would go for picnics and fishing. Our summers there were a huge influence on my life today. They're pretty well the reason we now live in the country. (Cousins Wayne and Katherine had this great chicken house and my Grandpa Laird who lived in Kansas City had a huge garden and a chicken house in his back yard.)

Lissa Alexander - our favorite marketing guru at Moda asked

"What's your favorite Fair Food"? Caramel Corn and hot dogs.

Since Sandy Klop has already told you about her Caramel Corn, Pep got busy and made our favorite Caramel Corn.

Cranberry-Orange Caramel Corn

12 cups popped popcorn (about ½ cup kernels

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup whole almonds

½ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup light colored corn syrup

2 Tbsp orange juice

2 tsp vanilla

½ tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 275. In a very large bowl combine popcorn, cranberries & almonds. Set aside.

In a 2 qt saucepan cook and stir the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir in orange juice. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Boil at a moderate, steady rate for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda (mixture will foam up).

3. Pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn mixture in a bowl; stir to coat well.

Transfer to a 15x10x1 inch baking pan or shallow roasting pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Transfer caramel corn to a large sheet of greased heavy foil; cool.

When it's cool, put it in a large bowl and serve.

And with four grandkids in the house for the weekend, don't expect it to last very long. :)

Do you have a pet? Boy, do I! His name is Spike. He is 6 months old and he's an English Bulldog. And I'm sorry to say that he's getting rather spoiled. He loves sitting on laps - and quilts.

Here he is asking pretty please can he make a bed on the quilts.

And here he is after he's been told "No!". Spoiled or not there are limits. :)

What's your Guilty Pleasure? Climbing in bed at night with a good book and a piece of chocolate. (And please don't tell my dentist - who is also my son. He says that sugar on your teeth before you go to sleep is a huge no-no.) Ah well, that why it's a guilty pleasure - once in awhile.

What's on your bucket list? 1.) A trip to Alaska and down the coast to see the whales.

2.) A tour of the New England states and Maine to see the leaves in the Fall. The 2nd one may never happen because Market is in the Fall.

Now for the Goodies. I have two to give away - (Many thanks to Moda, of course) - a Fat 1/4 bundle and a Jelly Roll of Linda and my latest line "Together". The line has shipped and should be at your local quilt shop now.

Leave a comment, any old thing at all, between now and October 2nd when I get back from the AQS Festival in DesMoines. We'll have a drawing then for two of the names and send out the prizes.

And here's our free pattern to download. It really is from both Linda and I. Years ago she gave me a Pineapple Trivet stuffed with bay leaves. When we needed a County Fair type project for the Blog Hop her trivet came immediately to mind. You can't believe the awesome smell you get when you set a hot dish on it. So from Linda and I - Enjoy!

Download Now!

Day 14 of County Fair - Barbara Brackman

First, here's "Shoo Crow!", the quilt that's hanging in the back hall. It won't be going to Arkansas or Iowa but is staying home to make us happy when we head to the back of the house. The pattern for it is in We Gather Together, one of my Kansas City Star books.

It's officially Fall at our house - the summer quilts have been folded and taken to the loft and the Fall quilts put in place yesterday. This is Oak Leaves and Turkey Feathers. If you want the pattern you're in luck because it's in Country Paths and Country Paths is our special this month.

The foyer quilts are hung on a board that's painted the same color as the wall. Then the board hangs on hooks on the wall. We used to hang each quilt on the wall but Pep came up with this idea. It's a lot easier to take the board down to take one quilt off and put another on.

Except - of course - when you have help.

Boy, did I get a dirty look when I told Spike he couldn't make a bed on the quilts.

Today is Barbara Brackman's day on the Blog Hop. Besides being a great fabric designer she is, of course, an awesome historian. Her blog is always full of interesting information and today is no exception.

And her free pattern is for a 60's retro Chicken Potholder. I loooove it!!! I have got to find time somehow, somewhere to make some. I'd say somebody could make some for me for Christmas but I'm the only one in the family that sews. Maybe I could talk Wendy into making some for me. And I even want her retro fabric. That I know where to get.

And speaking of finding time to do things, this will be my last post for awhile - except, of course, for my day on the 23rd.

I'm getting ready to leave for Ft. Smith, Arkansas and the Arkansas Quilt Congress. First I'll take Spike down to see my brother (the veterinarian) in Springfield, Mo. for an overall puppy checkup. Then on to Ft. Smith to teach 2 workshops on the 23rd and give a lecture on the 24th.

I'll pick Spike up on the way home, get here Sunday and leave Monday for Des Moines, Iowa and the AQS Festival there from Wed. 28th - Oct. 1st. - Booth 100

If you're in either area - come visit, please.

Then I need to get ready for Market - the fabric from our new line is due here that week.

Whew!

I am getting my blog ready to post on the 23rd and both Michele and Tori will make sure it's posted.

Meanwhile there are lots of great things in store for you on the Moda County Fair Blog Hop. Click here (or on the button on the right) to see what's going on each day.