Who's Going To Schoolhouse?

Who's going to be in Kansas City next week for Quilt Market? I am and I am inviting you to come and say hi at my Schoolhouse for Martingale or at my Demo at their booth! If you can't see me then, please stop by the Henry Glass Schoolhouses! I don't have a new fabric line this time but I will be there to help out!

xo, L

I can't wait.

Hello!

I wrote this a little while ago and it just occurred me that it was written in March and it is now May. Sigh!

Hi, remember me? I still own this blog but have been pulled in many directions since fall that I have neglected to keep this up to date.  I've kept up with Facebook since it is so easy. Do look for me there if you're there, won't you?

We've just had a lot of things happening around here. Last fall my husband's company had announced changes in his company. He didn't lose his job exactly.  His company needs his expertise but we declined the move that the company wanted his group to take. Instead, my hubby has just finalized plans so that he can still direct his group but with some traveling, and some work from home. As a result, we had questions that we had to answer and things that we had to plan. That takes us to today.

I've taken steps to make changes in my design career. I do some work behind the scenes and I took a look at the business model of my own company. [I had been doing a lot of thinking about this for a long time.] I haven't self-published patterns for a long time but had come to the point where it became a question of figuring out the next step. I like PDF patterns but I am not totally convinced that the printed pattern is dead. I still like some sort of printed form as an option. I finally found something that will hopefully work for me and am working on it. I'm very excited.

I have a book release coming up in July and I am totally stoked by that! Martingale did a fabulous job with the design of the book! It's called "Sew Merry and Bright" and guess what? It's about the holidays! Could you tell from the sneak peek?

I will have a Schoolhouse at Quilt Market. Come and see me Thursday, May 17, 2012 in Room 2205 from 12:10-12:40. I will be doing a demo at the Martingale booth on Friday, May 18 from 2:30 until 3:15 p.m. I look forward to meeting you there!

I have started working on some new fabric again. It feels so good. I hope to show them by fall at Quilt Market. I am going to teach some classes at CraftArtEdu and to design some more patterns for Patterns Gone Digital. Please support my designs there until I can reveal my next adventure.

I am excited to be able to move forward.

L

Cool Girls Quilt And Other Stuff!

Exciting news for Martingale & Co. fans. Martingale has just introduced ShopMartingale! Cool Girls Quilt is still available in print but you can now get the e-book version! Whoo! Hoo! 

Have you embraced technology and started buying e-books or .pdf patterns yet? I still love a great book but for some things, a digital download works too!

I recently told you about my new patterns with Patterns Gone Digital. Kindred Quilts is carrying them so give them a call or e-mail to ask about the patterns. 

They turned out great, didn't they? 

I still have my on-line class up over at CraftEdu and I will be working on more. 

Now start clicking and exploring! I know, I am such an enabler! 

Have a great weekend!

xo, L

Goodbye Pinterest ... Sort of

I spent the past half hour deleting Pinterest. I had mixed emotions. I was sad but I also knew that the legal liabilities were more than what I want to deal with right now. Perhaps it doesn't matter to you but as an author, I just feel a bit uncomfortable for now. It is a personal thing. Please don't think that I am telling you to delete your account.

Let's back track. For a long time, I both admired the photo inspiration from the site [don't get me wrong, I love Pinterest] but I also wondered about copyright and such. Then this past week I read this blog post and then this follow-up post. I made up my mind immediately but I had to let it all sink in for a day. Then I saw this [I don't know much about this] and it was a double definite delete of things that aren't mine. Now when I post, I will post only my own images or images that have the "Re-pin" button. I totally get the desire to pin and re-pin. Am I being premature about this? I could be but with my business, I can't afford to wait for some solution. Besides, I still have my account and it will be fun to re-pin things.

How do you feel about it all?

xo, L

Easy Photography Backdrops

We had a Snowball Dance recently at school and I was the photo booth photographer! It was a blast. I had ideas for the backdrop and C [above with the white hat] came through! She made this simple but gorgeously effective backdrop from ribbons that she bought from Michael's. She tied ribbon to dowels and we hung them from the ceiling. I loved it. I made up the moustache on a stick from my templates from the Halloween blog hop. So fun. C and her family were so awesome to photograph too! Thanks, C, for the great backdrop and frame. Big A had to get in on the action too! 

For Valentine's Day, I made fans and taped them to my background for a fun effect.

It is really quite simple, inexpensive and easy to make simple backdrops. Give it a try and have some fun!

xo, L

Whoo! Hoo! I Can't Wait For Christmas!

The awesome folks at Martingale & Co. just sent over the cover for my new book, "Sew Merry and Bright." I love it!

With each publication, there's a lot of people in the background who provide support or wonderful products that inspire me to design these projects and to write these books. Fabric companies like Henry Glass Fabrics, Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Michael Miller Fabrics, Moda Fabrics and Adornit are make beautiful products. Aurifil makes equally lovely threads and Kindred Quilts provides me with much great friendship and support. 

Thanks to all.

You deserve it.

Really, really love all that you do.

xo,  L

Random Things

I just posted this new challenge in the Inspired Workroom on Facebook. Join us there won't you?  I love mini artwork and I thought it would be fun to pick a favorite word to stitch on a hoop. There are a few other little things in the challenge but you'll have to join us there.

Meanwhile, my latest patterns, Modern Quilt Sampler and Happy Days are officially available. My local quilt shop, Kindred Quilts,  has a few left. Call them, they'll gladly do mail order. Here's how the patterns look.

At the bottom, you scratch off the code like you would with a lottery ticket and go to the website to download the pattern.

Last week on Creative Mojo, my buddy, Mark Lipinski, asked me why I chose to publish patterns this way.  Others have commented here that they may not be able to get the pattern. It is no different from a printed pattern in that a quilt shop can send it to you.  This is something that works for me on many levels. I have a lot of commitments and other things that are going on in the background. It is one step between my self-publishing again and going all digital. Neither of the previous options were viable at this time for me and I was able to keep the quilt shops in the loop. I hope that you enjoy these patterns and more that I have planned in the future.

xo, L