Richmond BOW Video 6

Thank you for your patience as we struggle through the technical issues involved in producing a video! Steven Spielberg we're not! Just when you think you have it right, it goes and does something crazy, like running in slow motion for no apparent reason!! But without further ado, here it is, Video 6! This is the last video for the Richmond BOW program and it focuses on the steps for finishing your quilt top. Here's the link and you know the drill!

BOW Video 6 

We will leave these videos on our website for awhile, so if you haven't had a chance to watch them or started and don't have time to catch up, they will be there for your convenience. If you are just getting started and would like to purchase a pattern, complete kit or starter kit, we still have some available.  Click here to place your order:

         BOW Kits and Patterns

Did you notice the change in the backdrop in the last video? Some segments were filmed in Paula's studio. You got to see a little bit of where the design magic happens.  Maybe someday we'll do videos of each of our sewing rooms. First, we would have to make sure they were clean!!

 

I'm finishing up my 3 weeks of travel with a visit to Louisville, KY. My son-in-law is in Belgium with my husband and two of my brothers-in-law as they tour WWI battlefields where their grandfather fought.  One sister-in-law calls it the "War Tour", but my son-in-law calls it the "Beer, Battlefields and Bikes" tour. Whatever you want to call it, they are having a great time and I'm enjoying my time with Megan and my grandson Adam. Little Man is just adorable and keeps me laughing. He still goes to daycare during the day because I've needed the time to work on a quilt for Fall Market! In addition to my regular suitcase, I hauled a sewing machine and sewing projects with me. Let me just share a couple of pics of this little cutie!

Yes, that is a strainer he is holding! He loves his kitchen utensils, but strainer is his favorite. Great for a quick game of Peek-A-Boo, too

Paula designed a number of quilts using her Baltimore House collection and I'm working my way through them. Baltimore Baskets and Baskets of Stars focused on using all of the fabrics in the collection, but the next two quilts feature 3-4 fabrics each. I brought the Blue and Brown quilt with me and I'm proud to say that the top is done, except for the borders! I'll be home Monday afternoon and should be able to add the borders pretty quickly and then it is off to the quilters! Up next will be the Pink and Green quilt.

 

Four patch blocks - I made a lot of these for this quilt

All those great four patch blocks in some big blocks

A couple of weeks ago I shared the picture of the Little Debbie's Fall food, but today I have the real Fall food - Pumpkin Spice bread! Now this is what Fall is all about - anything pumpkin.  I know there are many of you that look forward every year to the arrival of Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte, but coffee is not my thing.  I need a good carb and Pumpkin Spice bread does it for me! I suggest cream cheese as your topping!

Many of you may have received an email today about our November 2018 retreat at Primitive Gatherings Retreat House in Menasha, WI.  There are only a couple of spaces left and we would love to have you join us - the more the merrier! You can't guarantee much in life anymore, but I am confident in promising that you will have a great time - quilting, old friends, new friends, shopping, eating, and of course laughing. What more could you ask for!! The retreat house is a fantastic location for teaching, plus you will have the opportunity to shop at some of the finest quilt shops around - Primitive Gatherings, JJ Stitches and Country Sampler. For details, cost and registration form, go to:

 Olde Green Cupboard Designs

For all of you in Florence's path, please stay safe! Heed the warnings and follow the evacuation mandates and suggestions. 

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen

BOW Video 5

Ok, so it's Thursday and we're just getting around to putting the next video up and sending out a blog, but trust me, we have good excuses!! Labor Day totally threw us off and we thought Wednesday was actually Tuesday, I was traveling home from NY and Paula was in The Woodlands for a lecture and workshop! I have to say, it's been one busy summer, but here you go, Richmond BOW Video 5 is on the website! You know how this works - click on the link that takes you to our Homepage, find the Intro video, find the link that says "Click Here to See More Videos, and find video 5!

BOW Video 5 

We hope you are enjoying our BOW video series and that you are following along with us.  There are still some kits available if you are interested.

BOW Kits and Patterns

Today I have a rather eclectic blog - vacation photos, upcoming quilts, bees, and food. First up, bees. A couple of weeks ago I promised that I would share a picture of the quilt that Paula worked on during our last retreat.  It was a birthday gift for her oldest daughter Alison (who's nickname is Ali B) and I finally have a picture to share! Honey Bee is the second quilt (first one was Abilene Cow) that Paula has done by designer Laura Heine. You can buy complete kits for these collage quilts. I've been looking at the Sea Turtle one myself, but I'm just a little too busy right now. I would really love to make the fox one, but the kits are gone and there's no way I could do this without a kit!!! Beautiful job, Paula!! And to think it was all made and quilted in just 2 days!

Paula and her daughter Alison - Ali B!

 I'll combine vacation and food because we ate one of my favorite foods on our vacation - salt potatoes! These are a Syracuse clambake/summer staple - 4 pounds of small potatoes boiled in 1 pound of salt and eaten with lots of butter! Yes, heart attack on a plate, but OMG they are so good!!! Here's a little history from Wikipedia:

  The Syracuse, New York, area has a long history of salt production. Salt springs located around Onondaga Lake were used to create consumable salt that was distributed throughout the northeast via the Erie Canal. Salinated brine was laid out to dry on large trays. The salt residue was then scraped up, ground, and packaged.
Salt potatoes originated in Syracuse and once comprised the bulk of a salt worker's daily diet. During the 1800s, Irish salt miners would bring a bag of small, unpeeled, substandard potatoes to work each day. Come lunch time, they boiled the potatoes in the "free-flowing" salt brine.
 

I did manage to bring a bag home with me!!!

Our last day of Grandma/Grandpa Camp was a trip to the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown. In addition to the Living History farm and village, they also have the Empire State Carousel -  a unique, handcrafted merry-go-round based on the history and culture of NY State that was created over 2 decades by over 1000 volunteer carvers, quilters, painters and woodworkers. The girls loved riding on it and I enjoyed the small quilts that were hanging in the building.

I think this was actually rug hooked.

I loved this one - Rip Van Winkle for the Catskills Region quilters

We're making progress on our journey through Paula's Baltimore House fabrics.  Two quilts are done and fabric for the next 3 has been selected. I started working on the Pink/green quilt, but I'm waiting on more light fabric, so I've switched to the next one - Blue/brown. It's going with me to Louisville tomorrow. There's still a Blue/cream one to go too!
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Pink and green with a touch of red

 

 

 

 

 

Brown and blue

September 12th will be our final video - #6 - and it will be all about finishing your quilt - Piecing the Top, Trimming the Sides and Adding the Border. It's to believe that our BOW is almost over! Hopefully we can actually have everything ready on Wednesday!!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen