Lazy Days of Summer are Gone!

I know, you thought we were just lying around the cottage drinking frappe's and munching on scones.

Well, we weren't. We've been busy, and here are the results.

!!!!!!  13 New Wall Hanging Patterns  !!!!!!

 "Bison of the Plains" Wall Hanging Pattern makes a piece about 11" x 11"

We promised Palouse Divide Lodge, a dealer in wools for quilters, in Princeton, ID, that we would design some patterns especially for them. Hence, all the small pieces here which can be done in cotton, flannel, wool, satin, velvet, etc.

"Cuddles" Wall Hanging Pattern makes a piece about 7" x 8".

Instructions in the patterns are for freezer paper applique' with special techniques for woolens and cotton, both.

 This trio of Halloween/Autumn patterns is being re-introduced in a new set of colors. I don't have samples of all my patterns, yet, but these three are done. My dear friend, Joan Kowano, over at Moose Stash Quilting made these samples for us.

This one is called "Harvest Ghost" and finishes at about 36" x 36".

"Harvest Kitty" about 30" x 30"

 "Harvest Mice" about 30" x 30"

" Lamb Totem" finishes about 10" x 15"

 "Quail Run" finishes about 10" x 14"

"Snowman Bell Ringer" finishes about 6" x 12"

"Squirrel" finishes about 15" x 15"

 "Woolie Owl" finishes about 7" x 9"

 "Yule Glow" finishes about 7" x 10"

 "Sioux Baby finishes about 8" x 13"

"Tweedy Trio" by my friend Shari Wilson finishes about 12" x 18" 

Buy our patterns at Etsy, Craftsy, Experience Quilts in Odessa, WA; Palouse Divide Lodge, in Princeton, ID, and Grammy G's Quilt Shop in Palouse, WA

I Think We Need to Cool Down a Little......and a Give-Away!!!!

Well, we had Christmas in July - now we'll have Snow in August. I didn't get these photos posted during the winter, so I'm posting them now.....hoping it will cool us down a little.....at least, in our imaginations!

Last year, we had our first snow just before Christmas.  It was the day we were to take gifts to some friends who were living rough while building a house. We had a basket of food and goodies as well as presents and supplies for them.

So we bundled into the Explorer. It was snowing heavily. I'll tell you our route through the sage brush along Crab Creek, as we go.

Here we are turning onto Laney Brother's Road from Coyote Heights Road. I love the names of the places out here. That's my forehead in the rearview mirror. It's been so dry out here (alright, I know it's semi-arid, but there are degrees of semi-arid and we have been hitting a mark close to zero rainfall for weeks on end.); the snow was definitely a  source for excitement.

No one else was out on the roads. Actually, we don't often see anyone on this road, at any time. In fact, in our little town, three cars at the main intersection is considered rush hour.

Here, we're approaching the high point on the road, just south of Sylvan Lake and just west of the big meadow where there's a dairy.

Okay, we didn't photograph the dairy. Don't ask me why. The road goes right through it between the house and the barn, so I'm always busy watching for cows, equipment, calves, ponies, dogs, cats and, most importantly, children. Now we're almost to the crossing of the creek. Up to the left in the next two pictures, are eagles' nests.

Bald eagles are quite common along Crab Creek where the palisades line the flood plain. I didn't see one on this day.

These palisades were formed progressively over thousands of years from massive lava flows and eruptions, three different times. The basalt that we see here, can also be found on the seashore at Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Many of the palisades are high and massive. Now, we've made the turn and are on the bridge across the creek. In the background are the palisades we just went past..

 And another view of the palisades.

Then, at the top of the hill coming up out of the coulee, we turn onto Lamona-Kramer Road. It's a primitive road with no warning signs and very little traffic, ever. One of our favorite parts of the short trip. It runs, here, through sage brush and pasture land.....no wheat right here, but plenty of it a mile or so to the south (to the right).

There's our friends' building project in the distance as we're turning onto Downs Road. 

The house is coming right along!

Well, have you cooled off yet? Feel any better? I know I do. I turned up the AC! That, plus the snowy landscape, did the trick.

Hey, you can win a free pattern of your choice by leaving me a comment and telling me 

HOW YOU KEEP COOL IN HOT WEATHER.

I'll draw the winning name on Monday, August 18, 2014,

 at 5 PM PDT.

Thanks for coming by and visiting. We love to hear from you!

New Pattern - Winter Sports Wall Hanging

 Take advantage of all the Christmas In July fabrics now and make this cute little wall hanging.

It's simple, easy and quick with instructions for fusible web applique.

And an easy, old, snowball block. What could be more simple? 

Sue and her puppy out for a skate.

Easy shapes and pieces. Sounds great, doesn't it, when the temperature is reading 90 degrees in the shade!

"Stay cool", says Sue.

You can buy this pattern as a pdf download or a physical pattern on my Etsy site.

And, when you have a moment, go on over and tell Joan, at Moose Stash Quilting, she did a great job for us on our first sample of this pattern! We love you, Joan. You're the best! Thank you.

New Quilt Patterns for Christmas and Winter

"Dashing" is one of our newest quilt wall hanging patterns for winter and Christmas. It's fun to decorate these little projects. With this one, I found some lovely brass bells for the harness of the horse. They really jingle.

These models were machine quilted by Lise Ott at Experience Quilts! quilt shop in Odessa, WA.

This is a pattern for the less-experienced quilter wanting to learn applique' techniques and a little piecing. The directions in all these new patterns are complete for one wanting to learn. These are good patterns for classes in quilting. The projects are small, usually under a yard in dimension, and the shapes are quite simple. The patterns even include the embroidery stitches needed to do the embellishments.

These patterns include instructions for fusible web applique' and freezer paper applique'.

The corner of the blanket is blowing out behind as the pony trots swiftly on, weighted with a little bead and some stem stitching. Below, is the center block for "Midnight Feast", a small wall hanging done in violet batiks, for the most part.

Winter is a hard time for some of our little forest friends. On this frigid night, some bunnies receive a present from Mr. Snowman! He's all decked out for the season.

Here's some of the detail work, below, and a complete picture of the center block with borders and snowballs (above).

We used some sequin-like leaves for Mr. Snowman's decorations.

"Twas the Night" is the name of our third winter decorative quilt. The pattern includes the words to Clement Moore's poem as well as a recipe for old-fashioned Sugar Plums (seen dancing over the child's head).

Mom reads to her daughter, warm and cozy.

Here's the whole piece. The blocks for these quilts are simple and the patterns include all the directions needed to assemble them. We hope you enjoyed this preview. You can purchase these 

patterns at Pattern Peddlers. The model for "Dashing" will be at the Fall Market.

Christmas.....that special time....

It's almost here, friends.  Another Christmas.  The Christmas cards are arriving (I tape them to the inside of the front door).

Decorations are up.  Each one is a memory.  These straw angels with trumpets were my mom's.  They swing gently from the chandelier in the dining room.

An angel flutist candlestick that has been around for years on top of the mahogany hutch.

The Holy Family in the creche, angel guarding.

A music box that was a recent gift to us....an ornament heart with the Holy Family inside and the quote from Neal A. Maxwell, "Each of us is an Innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus."

The shepherd waiting and keeping watch at the nativity.

A bowl of pot pourrie with the scent of Christmas about it.  The lace bowl was made from a doilie with "Stiffy"

Tins of cookies (ginger snaps and chocolate chips) giving off their sweet aromas.

Stockings hung with care.....we made these a few years ago from scraps....and adjusted the shape a little to hold more stuff!

The angel atop the tree.....serene.....

The winter figurines, out in plain view, again......

all the sights and smells and sounds of Christmas coming to life again.  My favorite time of the year.  Happy Birthday, Jesus Christ.