Red Crinoline Quilts: August 2014

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Labor Day Sunday

Today brought back so many memories. When I taught school in New York, this was always the "last hurrah of the summer" day. Labor Day was the day to make sure you had everything ready for school because Tuesday was Teacher workshop day and Wednesday was the first day of school. I found myself eager to do something different, maybe even be outside and then I remembered I live in Florida and we are currently experiencing sauna-type weather. Being outside isn't really on anyone's list at this point - unless you plan to sit in the pool all day!! So I decided to have a personal sewing day instead.

I turned the TV on to NCIS and spent the afternoon making baby quilts with Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva, Ducky and Abby - a perfectly wonderful day. I'm in need of 2 baby boy quilts, so I dug out my charm packs of "Oink-A-Doodle-Moo" from Moda and with the Stacked Coins pattern in hand (Moda Bake Shop), I completed two baby quilt tops!!!! Hurray for me!! They need a good pressing, but here they are with the pretty turquoise fabric that will the backing and the binding. Cross 2 baby quilts off my "Long Term" To Do list.

I also promised you a picture of the blue/brown quilt. I pressed it up on Saturday, so now I can share. It is on its way to the quilter - thank you FedEx!

I also wanted to tell you about our upcoming sale - "Seven Days of Sales". Starting on Monday, September 1st, we will have 1 quilt kit on sale per day. That's 7 different kits over the next 7 days. Each kit will be 30% off. Tomorrow's kit is Old Abe, but you will have to check the website each day to see which one will be on sale next!! Hopefully it will be one you've been eying!!

My other plan for today was to be able to share a sunset picture with you. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so Peter and I planned on dinner out at the beach with a side of sunset to go with it. About an hour before we planned to head out, the thunder rolled in and then the rain. Needless to say, no sunset picture to share! Bummer!! Another one of the joys of Florida summer weather - late afternoon storms!!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen

Friday, August 29, 2014

Retreat Update

Another fabulous Camp Blanding quilt retreat is over! Thank you Gloria (Olde Green Cupboard Designs) for planning such a fantastic weekend. It's a 3 hour drive from St. Pete to Starke, FL, so I leave on Thursday and help Gloria and the gang set up for the ladies that arrive at 8 AM on Friday. Tradition requires our Thursday dinner is at Sonny's BBQ in Starke and I certainly didn't miss out on my chance to have wings, mac & cheese, Diet Coke and some Lance crackers (love those things!)

My yummy meal!

Gloria's daughter Heather was preparing a jewelry sale as a fundraiser for MyHaloProject -
"a Christian volunteer organization dedicated to supporting and giving a voice to the orphans of Christ's Children's Home in Liberia, West Africa through financial sponsorship, relationship building, supervision, training, and oversight."
It was a pre and post dinner activity and at some point "the ladies" decided to "bling it out" and wear some of the jewelry. The fundraiser was a huge success as the quilters shopped for family and friends, and of course themselves. If you are interested in making a donation to this very worthwhile cause or in purchasing some jewelry, Heather has begun to post the jewelry on the website. Check it out here: Jewelry Fundraiser. They are also collecting items and funds for the orphanage as they prepare to contain themselves during the ebola virus outbreak. Information is on their website.

Heather, Vicky, Pat and Gloria - blinging it out!!

The days (and nights) were spent sewing, chatting, eating (there's a lot of that) and basically just having a great time. I finished the blue/brown quilt - pictures to come later - and started on the new 2-color quilt. Oh, I forgot, we shopped too! Karen, owner of Cinnamon's Quilt Shop in Jacksonville, sets up a mini-store and I bought a couple of things in there! Heaven forbid I should go home empty-handed!

One of the ladies shared her completed Cotton Club quilt. Congratulations Sandra Sontag on a job well-done. Check out the quilting by Sharon Robinson. What a team!!

Sandra and her finished Cotton Club

Sharon's exquisite quilting!

Camp Blanding sits on Kingsley Lake and we stayed in one of the houses that is right on the lake. Beautiful morning views and great sunsets. It's really everything you ever wanted in a retreat!! Oh yeah and men in uniform - Camp Blanding is an Air National Guard Joint Training Center!

We also had a special friend join us at this retreat - Joyce Weeks of Geoff's Mom Pattern Company. Joyce was with us on Gloria's quilt cruise in June and had such a great time that she decided to join us at one of Gloria's retreats. Joyce is from Utah, so being in Florida during the summer was quite a different experience. We may talk about our heat and humidity, but you have to experience it to really understand it!!! I don't think we scared her away!! I saw her writing down the dates of future retreats in her calendar!!

Just a reminder that today is week 5/block 5 of the Marcus Fabrics Friends and Companions Sew-Along! We're half way done!! Today you will meet Gloria Parsons of Olde Green Cupboard Designs. Gloria will probably tell you that she is 1/3 of Olde Green Cupboard Designs and that Vicky and Heather complete the team. She probably won't tell you that it took forever for Paula and I to realize that she and Vicky are twins!! At the first Festival we both vended at, Paula and I thought Gloria and Vicky were the same person and we couldn't figure out why her clothes and hairstyle changed every time we saw her!! Yeah, pretty embarrassing (and dumb)!! We have all enjoyed your comments and are very glad you are joining us on this adventure. We hope you are having fun too, because that's what it is all about!!

I checked our kit inventory and we only have 6 kits left for the Sew-Along. You can still order the kits on our website. We will not be reordering the fabric, so order now if you still want a kit.

Time to get to the sewing machine. The 2 color quilt and a backing for the blue/brown quilt are calling my name!!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Retreat Time

First, just a reminder that tomorrow (Friday, August 22nd) is week 4/block 4 on the Marcus Fabrics Friends and Companions Sew-Along. This week's block was designed by Pati Violick of Marcus Fabrics. Pati is Director of Advertising & Marketing. I think you will enjoy meeting her and hearing about her exciting job - hello, she gets to play with fabric too!!! She probably won't tell you that she is also the person that plans all of the fabulous designer dinners we have when we are at Market, so I'm sharing that. She manages to find the best restaurants for these dinners and we have a fantastic time!!! Hmm, making me hungry just thinking about it!! Wonder where we'll be going for Fall Market in Houston???

Also, we have just a couple of kits left and we will not be reordering fabric for any additional ones. If you are interested, check out our website. Get one before they are gone!! Marcus Fabrics Sew-Along kits. You can still join us on this Sew-Along adventure. Here's the schedule for the designer blog posts. This is week 4, but all of the designers are including a downloadable/printable version of their block, so just go to their post for their block and print. You can still catch up. Be sure to sign up on the other blogs to receive emails for the remaining blocks.

8/1 Pam Buda ~ Heartspun Quilts www.HeartspunQuilts.Blogspot.com

8/8 Paula Barnes ~ Red Crinoline Quilts www.RedCrinolineQuilts.Blogspot.com

8/15 Sarah Maxwell ~ Homestead Hearth www.HomesteadHearth.Blogspot.com

8/22 Pati Violick ~ Marcus Fabrics www.MarcusMentions.com

8/29 Gloria Parsons ~ Olde Green Cupboard www.OldeGreenCupboard.Blogspot.com

9/5 Nancy Rink ~ Nancy Rink Designs www.NancyRinkDesigns.com/blog

9/12 Mary Ellen Robison~Red Crinoline Quilts www.RedCrinolineQuilts.Blogspot.com

9/19 Dolores Smith ~ Homestead Hearth www.HomesteadHearth.Blogspot.com

9/26 Lisa Shepard ~ Marcus Fabrics www.MarcusMentions.com

10/3 Red Crinoline Quilts ~ Quilt Revealed! www.RedCrinolineQuilts.Blogspot.com

And now to the retreat: YES, today I am leaving for another retreat at Camp Blanding - friends (about 100+ of my closest), food, fun and fabric! There can't be a better way to spend a weekend!!! The car is packed: sewing projects, sewing machine, chair, SewEzi table, assorted other tables, sewing supplies and some snacks. I even baked this morning! I guess I should have given you a warning about that! I hope you were sitting down! Now don't get too excited, they were just that frozen cookie dough you buy from your grandchildren, nieces, nephews and random neighborhood children! They are back in school and will soon be pushing a new fundraiser, so I figured I had better bake up the ones I had in the freezer. Tasted 2 and they are good to go!! Don't they look yummy!

I'll be working on Market quilts at the retreat: blue and brown combo and a 2 color combo. If there's time, I'll probably work on the Churn Dash exchange that is due at the September retreat! Rumor has it, Paula is working on a plan for our next one!! They never end and I never say no!!

I actually have the blocks done on this one, so it just needs to be pieced together!

The fabric is all cut and ready to go! Let the piecing begin!!

Time to get on the road. A group of us have meals planned for Friday thru Sunday, but tonight is our visit to Sonny's!! I see wings and mac and cheese in my future and maybe Diane will order those corn nugget things - they are pretty yummy too!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Tomorrow - block #3

The Sew-Along continues tomorrow with block #3 from Sarah Maxwell from Homestead Hearth. Thank you so much for your great comments. It sounds like you are really enjoying the Sew-Along and we love to hear that. In case you didn't see Pam's post from the other day, we now have a Yahoo Group for the Friends & Companions sew-along!! Our thanks to Erica H. from Alaska for taking the time to set all of this up and be the group moderator. Click here to see the Yahoo Group site.

Now it seems like I had a bit of a Senior Moment the other day. The picture of the finished block in the downloadable/printable version of the directions was actually a mirror image of the block, so I corrected it and posted it in the next blog post and then discovered that the link didn't go to the directions - ugh!! So, I reposted with the corrected directions again, but realized that you might not have even noticed because the post looked exactly the same as the one with the incorrect link. Soooo, I figured I would just put the corrected link here - corrected downloadable/printable version of block #2. Thank you for bearing with me through my Senior Moment!!

Paula did a kit inventory the other day and discovered that we have a couple of kits with very low inventory - 1,2,or 3 kits only. I thought I would share them here. All of these kits contain the fabrics that are in the samples. Most of these fabrics are no longer available and once the kits are gone, we will no longer be kitting these quilts. Each kit listed here links to it on our website, so check them out. Baskets of Plenty, Harper's Ferry, A House Divided, and Legacy.

Summer is drawing to an end and many of us are starting to think about possible vacations for next year. Paula and I love quilt cruises and she's been invited to teach on another one - YAY!! Rose Ann Cook of Quilter's Emporium in Stafford, TX has planned a quilt cruise on the Carnival Magic from February 1-8, 2015. The cruise leaves from Galveston, TX. Three days at sea for classes and stops in Key West, and Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas. For more information, check our website: Carnival Magic cruise.

I've been working on Soldiers' Waltz, our new quilt with Landon Creek. You've seen some of the fabrics, so I thought I would share some of the quilt itself. All I can say is WOW!! I'm almost to the border stage - oh yeah, 3 of those borders to be exact. Fabric for quilt #2 has arrived and is waiting in the wings. #3 is designed also and fabric should arrive any day now. Looks like I'm going to be busy for a while - YAY!!!

Remember to visit Homestead Hearth tomorrow for block #3!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen

Monday, August 11, 2014

Congratulations to our winners!!

Week #2 of the Marcus Friends and Companions Sew-Along has come to a close and we would like to thank all of you for your wonderful comments. You certainly boosted our self-esteem!! We also had a couple of sharp-eyed readers who noticed an error in the downloadable version of the instructions. Somehow the picture of the finished block flipped and became a mirror image of the actual finished block. I don't know how that happened and probably never will, but we've gone in and corrected it. Click here for the corrected printable/downloadable version of the instructions. (corrected 8/11 AM)

And now to our lucky winners!! All of the comments were great and thank you again, but the random generator selected 3 comments that will each receive one of our newest patterns, Parker's Crossing, and 5 fat quarters from R & B Taverns, the collection that was featured in the quilt.

Jeannette: I love sew alongs! Thanks for this one. Any civil war Repro fabrics that Marcus Brothers does always become my favorites. I especially like red and tan fabrics. They always look so good together especially if blues and blacks are added. I don't do plaids or stripes. They intimidate me! I think you have a golden retriever

Rosa: Love your block and love your fabric choice.
My favorite color is green but I`m doing Dear Jane in blue fabrics and so this summers I`m playing with blues.
There are many favorites collection and hard to choose only one.. Prairie stitches,OldeTownhouse,Victoria par,home for holidays...
I love stripes and plaids.
You have a Shepherd?
Have a great weekend!

Angiebaby: I love all the reproduction prints any thing primitive. Maybe your dog is an English springer spaniel like mine. What ever she is I'm sure she special. Love the blocks I'm excited about doing this quilt. My first sew along quilt.

Winners, please send an email with address information to: info@redcrinolinequilts.com .

We loved all the comments and Paula particularly enjoyed your "ID Paula's dog" answers. All great answers and good dog breeds, but sorry no one got it right. Claire is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is a sweetie and as is evidenced by the picture with granddaughter Sophie, also a princess! She is the fourth Cavalier that has been part of Paula's family over the past decade!!

This week's blog post also sparked a reader to send in a photo of her own Lizzie's Scrap Bag. Louise, from Washington, just finished hers at a quilt retreat. Congratulations Louise on a job well done. Your quilt is beautiful!!

Are you ready for your next block? Block #3 from Sarah Maxwell of Homestead Hearth will be available on Friday, August 15. If you are just joining us, here's the schedule of the blocks and their designers: