Big News!

Wow, another blog post, what's happening?? Actually all sorts of things are happening and have happened, so it's time to get you caught up on the fun.

Paula and I had a great time at the retreat last week. We sewed, we made a bowl out of clothesline, we ate some fabulous meals, we enjoyed happy hour with a great group of ladies and we relaxed.  Paula is off on another retreat this week - yup, 2 in a row.  She's with Deb Luttrell and some friends that cruise with Stitchin' Heaven and they are at Mary's Cimarron Ranch retreat in Marble Falls. Beautiful house and History Quilts, a quilt store chock full of 1880's reproduction fabric.  I can't wait to see what "surprises" Paula is bringing me back from there. Now I mentioned making a bowl out of clothesline at the last retreat and if you follow Stitchin' Heaven on Facebook, Deb did a Facebook Live this afternoon with Paula demo-ing one of the clothesline bowls.  This is Paula's new fun craft and the bowls are fabulous.  The FB Live shows some of the bowls she's already made and one in progress.

This is clothesline she is using.  

It is only available at Walmart (it's a Walmart product) and you want the Hyper Tough - it makes the bowls/baskets stiffer so they will stand up.  Regular clothesline is too soft. It's absolutely impossible to find this in the store, but if you go online and order it you can do a store pickup (apparently they know right where to go). In the FB Live, you will see some bowls with color, she's dyed these using Rit dye in a bucket. Follow Paula's demo and you shouldn't have a problem making one or more of these. Trust me, they are addicting.

Big news - Book #2 will arrive in Spring 2019!! Step Back in Time will feature new large and smaller projects in reproduction fabrics. Martingale just sent us the book cover and we can share it with you. We just worked on editing, so we got to see what the book will actually look like and again the wonderful people at Martingale have done a fabulous job.  We're so excited. 

More news - Last time I mentioned that we were going to do another Block of the Week this year and it is time to share some of the details. We will begin in mid-August and it will run for 10 weeks. The quilt showcases Paula's Bristle Creek Farmhouse fabric collection and will use one of our patterns. We will have a limited number of kits available. Paula is coming here next week for another retreat, yes another retreat, and our plan is to do some video recordings for the program and we will share a picture of the quilt and the details for ordering kits.

Last, but not least, our very own retreat:

Red Crinoline Quilts and Olde Green Cupboard Designs

November 13-19, 2018

Primitive Gatherings Retreat House

Menasha, WI

visits to: Primitive Gatherings Christmas Open House

JJ Stitches Quilt Shop

 Country Sampler Quilt Shop

2 new Paula Barnes quilt designs

day of demos

Olde Green Cupboard Designs.com - registration form and info

Limited spaces still available.  We would love to spend some time with you. Personally, I'll be looking forward to some cooler weather!

The list of new quilts and re-do's is growing, so I should have plenty to work on at the retreat. I always plan to just work, work, work, put time with friends leads to laughing, joking and relaxing, so I never achieve quite as much as I hoped!

Until next time, happy quilting,

Mary Ellen

What's Happening at RCQ

Yes indeed it's time for another Red Crinoline Quilts blog post and yes I know it's been months since the last one, but trust me we've both been busy - traveling, teaching, designing, sewing, planning and relaxing. We've done a lot of planning lately and it involves new quilts, new fabrics, new programs, new events; so now it's time to share some of the stuff we've been planning.

Head's Up, a new Block of the Week!  Everyone enjoyed our last BOW and requested we do another one, so we are. We will be sharing more info at the end of this week, so watch for our next blog post. We may even include a picture!

Next: a new event! Red Crinoline Quilts and Olde Green Cupboard Designs are hosting a retreat at Lisa Bongean's Retreat house in Menasha, WI.  Paula will be teaching classes featuring 2 new small quilt designs (kits will be provided at no additional cost) and Mary Ellen will be demo-ing fun tools. In addition, we've planned shopping time at Primitive Gatherings Christmas Open House and a day trip for more retail therapy to Country Sampler Quilt Shop and JJ's Stitches Quilt Shop. Mark your calendars for November 13-19, 2018. We hope you can join us!!!  We promise it will be a lot of fun! For more information, details and the all important registration form, please click on this link:

Red Crinoline Quilts Wisconsin Retreat

Next: we've been working on all sorts of new and re-do quilts.  Watch the website for a mini version of Lincoln's Watch, a new color variation of Lydia and quilts featuring Paula's new collection Baltimore House.

Finally: we're getting in some much needed recharging time, so we're heading out tomorrow for a retreat. This time I traveled to Paula's and we're going to a retreat in TX. The projects have been selected, the snacks have been purchased and the car is packed. 

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen