Quilt Market is over!

Quilt Market in Houston, Texas is finally over and what a week it was!  The weather was the talk of the town of course, with a looming hurricane (or at least a tropical storm) somewhere on the horizon.  As fate would have it, our weather was milder than predicted, thank goodness.  We did get lots of rain and the wind made itself known, but quilters are not deterred by the weather!

Inside the convention center, it was business as usual.  So many beautiful quilts hanging and that is not taking into account the quilts hanging in the Quilt Show.  I am always in awe of the talent and creativity of the exhibitors/designers on the show floor.  We are talking major sensory overload.  You have to almost feel sorry for the quilt store owners who are there to find the items that complement their stores and appeal to their customers.  There are so many beautiful things to choose from.  

Here is a couple pictures of some of your friends and mine on the show floor.  Here is Jenny from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  She is a tall girl too, how fun!

And here I found Celine from Perkins Dry Goods looking gorgeous in her booth.

And Alex Anderson excitedly demonstrating some new products at Market.

Here Edyta with Laundry Basket Quilts and her adorable elephants!

A line is forming at the EE Schenck booth for my book "Stitch on the Double" signing.  Now that was so much fun!  Look at that red carpet...crazy red.

I took quite a few pictures of the quilts hanging in the Quilt Show area and I thought I would post a couple of them.  The workmanship is wonderful and it was easy to stand there and admire.

It is time to get back to work designing.  Spring Quilt Market will be here before I know it.

Thanks for enjoying the show with me just a little bit.

Happy Stitching!

Kathleen

The Time Has Finally Arrived!

A year ago I thought this day would never arrive.  I am here today with tomorrow's release date of my first book upon me.  Wow!

The book is titled "Stitch on the Double" and can be found at your local quilt store or Amazon.  The book contains 14 take-a-long  projects using the Double Stitch.  The Double Stitch is a simple running stitch you do by hand to piece your projects together and then using a simple running stitch to quilt.  This is definitely no stress piecing and quilting.  You will love the look and feel of your projects and you will be amazed at how quickly they go together.  There are several pages dedicated to showing you step by step photos of the Double Stitch process and you are on your way.

Here is a photo of the book's cover.  Beautiful, isn't it?

Here are a few of the projects in the book.  There is a variety and kept I kept the projects simple to get you excited about the process.  You will love taking your stitching with you wherever you go.  Most of the projects are fat quarter and charm square friendly and all are scrap friendly.  I love scrappy projects, don't you?

 

 Here is a cheerful tablerunner with some wonderful embroidery and tiny buttons for embellishment.   The embroidery is kept simple so don't let that scare you!

Isn't this guy adorable?  Whoo Me?

And who doesn't love a coneflower?  Gentle Breeze is piecing using the Double Stitch and some easy applique for the flowers, stems, and leaves.

And I love Fall and pumpkins, so I had to include some seasonal fun for your wall or table.

I hope this little glimpse into my book "Stitch on the Double" gives you the bug to try something easy and fun.  Come learn the Double Stitch.  You will not be disappointed.  

The publisher, Martingale, did a wonderful job taking my words and drawings and making them into this finished product.  I thank all their editors, they were great.

Let me know how you like the book.  You can leave feedback here, or you can email me, or leave it on Amazon.com 

Happy Stitching!

Kathleen

Bug Repellent Summer Mason Jar Luminaries

As I was perusing through Pinterest, and I came across these cute luminaries.  I love using mason jars for just about anything and a natural bug repellant for the porch that is this cute, well - I needed to pass it along.

 

Claire's Blog is fun and you should check it out. A Little CLAIREification

Since I love (love, love) my essential oils instead of using chemicals for things like this, I could not resist these easy luminaries.

I love that they can help to ward off the bugs and they are just so beautiful as well!

 

I got the idea to add the fresh rosemary and citrus from Kellie at Nest Of Posies. Have you seen her blog?? Sooo many amazing ideas up in there!

Let’s whip these up, shall we?

 

Supplies You Need:

• 4 Mason Jars (you can also recycle jelly jars, etc)
• 40 drops each – Cedarwood, Lavender, Lemon and Thieves essential oils (or use your own combination of oils but these are known to help to repel the buggies). This equals TEN drops of each oil / jar.
• 2 fresh lemons
• 2 fresh limes
• 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
• water
• Floating tea light candles

To Assemble these are just so easy. I lined up my 4 mason jars and here’s what you do:

• Slice the lemons and the limes and set aside for a moment – I like to have two each just in case but you can possibly use one each
• Place two sprigs of rosemary into each jar
• Fill each jar 3/4 full with water
• Add the essential oils of your choice – 10 drops each per jar – and swirl slightly
• Place a slice each of lemon and lime into each jar
• Add more water if needed to raise the level to almost full
• Place a floating tea light candle on top
• Set outside, light and make some magic once you light them*
• Replace tea lights as needed – I recommend having some extras on hand!
• Discard fruit and liquid in jar after 2 – 3 days depending on your climate; rinse jars and start fresh as needed

*Never leave candles unattended or in reach of small children; Make sure the mixture in jars is not ingested.

So how pretty and easy are those? Perfect for an outside gathering or party, right?  Here’s to a beautiful summer ahead with many fun gatherings and wonderful memories (and less bugs).

 

Claire's Blog is fun and you should check it out.  A Little CLAIREification

 

 

Enjoy your summer and Happy Stitching!

Kathleen

 

 

www.mountainpatchwork.com

I love a pin cushion!!

I have to admit, I love pin cushions. I have them everywhere. There are at least two next to each sewing machine, next to the couch where I sit and sew, in my travel bin, at my two cutting stations, well, you get the idea.  I have no idea what started this love affair with pin cushions mainly because I am not that enamored with the pins that go in them!


I have a couple pin cushions that are just simple and easy to make and then give away or use.  Here is a simple, no-sew project you can get done quickly.  I love using wool as a natural fiber for pin cushions as it is easy on the pins.  The materials list you need for this simple project is short....a small container and a few scraps of wool. For this small pin cushion, I used one of those plastic cups that come with liquid laundry detergent.

 I took it outside, spray painted it a pretty red color. 

Next, you will measure the container's height and cut several wool scraps to this width.

One piece of wool, that will be used for the outer ring, should be folded and then cut to the same width as the other wool strips.

Lay the strips out, the folded piece down first. It shouldn't take too many and lay the shorter strips end to end as shown. Keep it fun and use lots of your smaller pieces of wool or that great wool find from the thrift store you felted.

 Keep rolling the group of strips until it is wide enough for the container you have selected.  Cut the excess strips and tuck the folded end down for a nice finished end.

Add you pins and enjoy your natural fiber wool pin cushion.

Enjoy making one of these quick pin cushions for yourself or a friend!

Happy Stitching

Kathleen

More Book Editing

I am so excited to have received a closer view of my upcoming book! 

Yesterday I received a package full of pages, with pictures this time, to look over and edit anything that may or may not make sense to the reader.  This is such an interesting process to me and to have so many talented people all doing their part to make this a great book to have in your library.

I can't show too much as far as pictures, but let's see if I can show you the process of the last year, so far. (In the least amount of words)

  
When I was asked to submit a proposal for the book, it seemed like a fun project.  I was looking forward to getting some more of these designs out of my head!  So I submitted a rough idea, a table of contents, and my drawings of all the projects.

This was submitted to the board and they loved the idea and we were a go!  The first order of business was to try and breathe and get my stress under control.  All of a sudden it hit me of my pending and looming deadlines and would I be able to draw, write, and sew everything in time.  Wow! How much pressure do we put on ourselves.  So my solution was to break apart each task, write it down in my To-Do Journal, and as each little step was complete....check it off.  That worked wonders.

First deadline - write one project's complete instructions, audition fabrics, and sew the project up to give them an idea of what direction and flavor the book would take.    Done! 

Second deadline - write all the instruction and sew the projects.  Took a while, but Done!

Third deadline - visit with different editors, especially my technical editor, to insure everything makes sense and flows nicely.  I cannot  say enough wonderful things about the editors at Martingale & Company.  I felt as though I had control, but always someone willing to help make it sound better, less confusing, and fun.

This brings us to this deadline - next to the last editing, complete with pictures this time.  I loved seeing my drawn illustrations come to life by the hands of a graphic/computer person.  This is amazing to me!  We all have our special talents, don't we?  So this week, I will be going through all the pages and will be making any final notes for changes, etc..

In a month or two, I will get the final edit pages to review and approve, and then we'll be done.  The publisher will print it, hopefully all of you will love it and buy it, and I will start this process all over again.  I have another 12-14 projects drawn on paper - and thankfully out of my head - that with any luck, make it into another book.

Wow! What an exciting ride this has been so far.  I will post updates as the dates get closer and I hope I will be able to share some pictures soon.  I cannot wait for you to see the cover!

As always, Happy Stitching!

Kathleen

Simple Storage Solutions

I am always looking for simple, storage solutions for my quilt room and craft room.  I especially enjoy finding solutions that use things I already have around the house and just re-purposing them.  Of course they don't always work out, but other times it is a stroke of genius for whoever thought of it!

I have had several mug trees in the past and when I saw this idea I was excited.  You can always find your scissors and if you are like me, you have several pair you can grab at a moments notice. 

I am also very big on not always having storage solutions on my horizontal surfaces.  After a time, there is no place to work.  So having things hang above your workspace is a great idea.  The PVC in this great caddy for pencils, pens, paint brushes, colored pencils, etc. is easy to make and the PVC is inexpensive to buy at your local hardware or lumber store.  I think it would be cute to experiment with contact paper or paint to coordinate with your personality or your room.  This would also work great for the kids above their desk or homework/art area.

 And then there are all those templates and specialty acrylic rulers we have with no easy way to store them.  This quick idea I love because I have a cute longer hook I was wondering what I could use it for when BAM! I saw this idea.  The hangars (curtain rings) are in the curtain area in a store like JoAnn Fabrics or WalMart and run about $3-4 for 10 each to a dozen depending on the size ring you get.  Now I know where all my little rulers are.  I also keep the cardboard instructions all attached on one of the hangars at the back, just in case I need to refer to instructions.

I hope you enjoyed a few of these ideas.  If you have others, share them please.  You can always go to Pinterest and do a search for more ideas.  Let me  tell you it is very addicting.....I Love It!!

Happy Stitching!

Kathleen



 

Tip for appliqué

As I was doing a bit of appliqué yesterday, I thought I should repost a tip that I have used after reading it somewhere here in cyberspace.  You know I do alot of hand sewing and I am not crazy about using pins. I have to pin sometimes but, no matter what you do - your thread gets caught.  Although I know this will happen, anytime I can prevent it I'm all in!  In the photo, you can see the fix when doing some wool appliqué.   I wouldn't use the staples with your cotton fabrics in case it catches and pulls,  but stapling the wool works great.

Hope this little tip helps with some of your appliqué projects. 

Happy Stitching!

 Kathleen

Happy New Year!

Wow!  Can it really be 2015?  I don't know about you, but the time really seems to fly by for me anymore.  How about you?  My mother tells me it is because I have so many projects I want to do, designs I want to get out there, and too many fun things on my plate.  I really can't argue with her, she's right!

Living in Western Montana, the weather has finally turned to winter.  We even had about 5 inches of snow last week and then it turned cold....I mean cold, not just cold but, COLD.  Winter gives me some time to draw and sew, especially when the Grandchildren don't even want to go sledding.  I have been very creative this past month and can start sewing up my drawings to see how much I like them finished.  Should be fun and exciting.  I can't wait to share them with you.


Other exciting news around here is guess who has a book coming out this summer?  Yes, you guessed it, me!  It is a book with projects all using the Double Stitch and I hope you will love them.  More information will be released as soon as the photography is complete.  This has been such an amazing process.  I have so many more designs I would love to share with you in a second book.  Let's see how it goes.

Happy 2015!  
Remember to take care of yourself, mind-body-& creativity.

Happy Stitching,

Kathleen