Notes from the Patch

You've voted and I've declaired a winner

This is the day many of us have been looking forward to.

You've reviewed the candidates and you've made your selection.

No, I'm not talking politics here, I'm talking fabric.

Charm squares to be exact.

Thank you to everyone who voted for their favorite charm squares. I wish I had enough fabric for everyone who took the time to play along. It was such fun seeing your choices and reading your sweet comments. I'm the real winner here with such lovely readers (and generous sales reps)!

But sadly there can be but one winner and our lucky winner's name is...

Tina N!

I have emailed Tina and will be getting her five charm squares off to her.

Thanks again. It was fun. We'll be sure to do it again real soon so stay tuned.

Encourage one another,

 

Sharing the Moda Love

Today my Moda sales rep paid us a visit and he came with gifts!

Norbert knows how much I love my blog readers and he thought you guys might like to be the first to own some of Moda's hottest new collections. So here's the deal:

Tell me your favorite five collections shown here and I'll randomly select one lucky winner and send her the five charm square packs of her choice.

These collections won't even hit the quilt stores until Spring of 2013 so this is your chance to be the very first to see and own a 5" square of every piece of five full collections! Give them as Christmas gifts, make five quilts or just flaunt them. Come on, you know you want them.

Here they are:

1. Comma, by Brigitte Heitland for ZEN CHIC

2. Snowman Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings

3. Glamping by Mary Jane Butters

4. Spring House by Stephanie Ryan & MHS Licensing

5. Posy by Aneela Hoey

6. Avalon by Joanna Figueroa - Fig Tree & Co.

7. Pheasant Hill by Kansas Troubles

8. Lario by 3 Sisters

9. Collection for a Cause - Mill Book Series circa 1835

10. PB&J by Basic Grey

11. Boho by URBAN CHIKS

12. Paint Box by Laundry Basket Quilts

13. Simple Marks by Malka Dubrawsky

They all are so great and I know it's hard to choose, but list your favorite five charm square packs in the comment section and someone will win. Good luck!

Encourage one another,

Thank you for playing along - we have a winner, Tina N. Comments are now closed

Bringing home the perfect souvenir - it's not always easy

When we travel I usually don't buy much, but I did have two things I wanted to bring back from London:

1. A mug from Emma Bridgewater

2. Fabric from Cath Kidston

My interest in pottery by Emma Bridgewater goes back to the 80's. I remember seeing her darling hand made English coffee mugs at a local gift shop and being totally infatuated with them. They were expensive and I could never justify their cost so I just admired them thinking, maybe, someday...

Then about a year ago I started reading Susan Branch's blog and her love of Emma Bridgewater rekindled my interest. I thought a Emma Bridgewater mug would be THE perfect souvenir of our trip to London.  

You can imagine my surprise and delight when I opened the cupboard in the kitchen of the house we rented in London and I saw these.

The woman that owned the house had an impressive collection of Emma Bridgewater and I enjoyed my morning coffee from a different mug each day we were there.

Okay. That's the background. Here's the rest of the story:

Friday our kids left for home and since we didn't leave until Sunday, Bill agreed to take "a little walk" to the Emma Bridgewater store with me. I Goggled directions and since it said it was just under two miles away we set out to get momma a mug. We walked, and we walked and we walked. Five hours later, in the driving cold rain we gave up, hailed a cab and went home empty handed and defeated. (At this point in the day I may or may not have muttered something under my breath about never going on another trip to Europe again).

Next day after a good nights sleep Bill asked if I wanted to try again. This time we hopped in a cab and let the driver find the Emma Bridgewater store. Not only did I find these two precious gems (it was so hard to choose and to limit myself to just two)

but we found the most charming shopping area called Marylebone High Street. The streets in this area are lined with small independently owned stores that create a most charming and unique atmosphere. I was in heaven!

We stopped for lunch in one of the darling little cafes and just as we were about to call it a day I spotted a Cath Kidston store across the street. Not just any Cath Kidston store, but the only one in London with a good inventory of fabric! (I know because I had already been to all of the other Cath Kidston stores in London looking for fabric).

Hallelujah....the heavens parted, the angels sang and the sun shone down upon us for the first time in ten days. (Just kidding about the sun part).

Yes, I know I have a store full of fabric but you can't get this stuff in the states and these came wrapped in RIBBON!

Awk, the cuteness...

Can you stand it?

Did you notice this trim matches the fabric I bought? Oh, yes it does!

I'm thinking I'll make zippered pouches from these hankies. Maybe not. We'll see. I probably will just look at them for the rest of my life, but I don't care they make me happy and did you see the ribbon?!

Here are a few things I learned on my trip:

1. The most fabulous house in London is just a big empty house once your family leaves.

2. Google maps are seldom reliable.

3. My husband loves me a lot.

Encourage one another,

Crumpets with Marmalade

Bill and I got home last night from our wonderful week in London with our family. I think we both will need a few days to shake the jet jag and get back into our regular routine.

Today it was back to life as usual. We barely got the doors unlocked at the store this morning when this arrived.

It's Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille. Forty pieces of fabric scrumptiousness in flavors like lime, orange, strawberry, raspberry and tangerine. Is that Earle Grey I see mixed in there? I love the blend of modern graphics with vintage florals. So fun!

 

Would you like Marmalade with your afternoon tea and crumpets deary?

Oh, yes please!

 

Cheerio.

Encourage one another,

I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I bought while I was in London. A girl has to treat herself to a souvenir or two don'tyathink?  

 

It's all but a memory

The house is so quiet tonight. Our family flew back to Kansas today .

Tonight we're high on sweet memories.

This house was such fun - huge by London standards: four bedrooms, three and a half baths - five stories. Vertical living at it's finest. Wait until you see my gluts! I swear if I have to go up on more flight of stairs...

Tonight Bill and I had a quiet dinner alone and lingeried over a bottle of wine reminding ourselves that Michael is only ten (that boy can negotiate a deal like you can't believe) and discussed Sarah's fierce need for friends and staying connected to them night and day. This trip confirmed that our baby boy is the most loving husband, patient dad and thoughtful son we could ever hope for and that our DIL is perfect for him, them - and us!

We are so proud of our family!

So glad we came.

Encourage one another,

Weekend in review

How was your weekend? Mine was just about perfect, doing the things I love:

A little crafting

and sewing

some rearranging and display work at the store

and I even finished up my packing for our trip to London.

Hopefully I didn't forget anything.

Encourage one another,

I just had to tell someone

I just came home to a dark and quiet house. Bill is in Ventura watering the house plants one last time before our trip to London on Thursday. I stayed in Bakersfield to finish packing and to receive delivery on our new fabric cabinet at the store. Dennis delivered it after we closed tonight and OH. My. GOSH. It's GORGEOUS! I certainly don't deserve such beautiful fixtures.

I promised Bill I'd come right home after Dennis left but I couldn't help myself; I had to stay to fluff and puff a bit. Of course I didn't have my camera with me but I'll go back in the morning and snap a few photos to show you.

I stopped and got a latte on my way home and plan to sew and craft into the wee hours of the night. I foolishly have Ghost Adventures on TV so will probably scare myself to death!  I doubt that I'll be able to sleep much tonight anyway because I keep thinking about what fabric I'm going to fill the new cabinet with and how I'll decorate the top.

Tonight I'm one happy camper.

Encourage one another,

 

My past, present, future

Tap.Tap. Tap...is this thing on?

Just popping in tonight to let you know I'm alive and well. We were in Las Vegas for a trade show the first of the week and came home to no email service. If you think you're not dependant on the internet, try doing without it for 48 hours! (Breathe Suzanne. Breathe).

Bill and I had a great trip to Vegas. I found lots of new fabric and some fun do-dads that I think you'll love. It's a good thing our uber talented cabinetmaker Dennis called today to say our new cabinet is ready because we are definitely going to need the added shelf space once these fabric orders start arriving.

This weekend I'll be finishing up packing for our trip to London next week. We'll be spending ten days in central London with our son Bryan and his family. Bill and I are especially looking forward to sharing this trip with our kids and grand kids. Hopefully we'll have an internet connection there so I can share some of our trip with you all.

Encourage one another,

 

The Raven

I know it's a little late to be showing you Halloween fabric but this just came and I couldn't let another day go by without showing you.

Oh. My. Gosh. I love this so much. It has everything I'm loving right now: flourishes, lots of script and yes, skeletons! For a gal who normally goes for lots of color this is definitely a departure for me, but I can't help it. It's fall, Halloween is right around the corner and this Michael Miller print just makes me happy. Or is that creeped out? Whatever.

I think it would make such an awesome hostess apron or maybe a tablecloth for a super cool Halloween party.

Happy haunting,

 

Sewing Seeds of Joy

Every time we go to market I tell my team, "Don't let me buy panels"! Panels can be so tempting but our big plans to make some fabulous project with them never seems to materialize and they almost always end up on the sale table.

Last spring we had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Janet Wecker Frisch in the Quilting Treasures booth. We told her what huge fans we (and you) are of her work. We reminisced about her legendary Animal Alphabet collections and then we bought her panels.

I have been dying to show you these. I know you girlfriends, and I know you are going to love these.

Janet has combined two of our favorite things, gardening with sewing in these sophisticated and inspirational prints.

There are two sizes of panels perfect for pockets on bags, pillows, apron patches and quilt blocks.

Sewing Seeds is an amazing collection and although I cut a piece of each of the  fabrics to take home, models won't be necessary to sell this group

they will sell themselves.

Encourage one another,