News from the Past Few Months!

Hi Gang!
It's been a while since I've had time to post, but I have been very busy indeed.  Since my last post about teaching in my hometown of Springfield, MO, we had a great time in class!  I was so thrilled that all the students loved the techniques taught, and they did an Awesome job!  Merrily We Quilt Along has an exceptional classroom and knows how to put on a good show for sure!!  If you are ever in the area be sure to stop in and so some shopping.  They have a great selection of fabrics and notions of all styles- a little something for everyone!  They are right off Sunshine and 65 so they are very easy to get to.  Last I checked they had a little Rustic Homestead, my second fabric line, left in stock, so be sure to check it out!!  They made the nicest display...💕

Speaking of fabric lines by yours truly, I do have another line called Barn Dance which is being sold to stores now.  Click HERE to see the fabrics up close and personal and be sure to let your local shop know it's time to order now so you can purchase it next May!  Your local shop can call Blank Quilting direct or reach out to their sales rep to place the order.

The colors are rich and will make a great quilt, or two or more! I love these rich tones for mixing up in a scrappy quilt, how about you??

I can't wait to get it in my hands...gotta make something pretty pretty!

Other exciting news is I will be returning to teach at The Academy of Applique' in Williamsburg, VA in early March!  You can check out the classes I'm offering by clicking HERE.   Then click on 2020 classes.  Wait for it to load, as it can take a while.  My classes are shown a few pages into the document.  I only have a few spots left and the sign up deadline is Jan 15, so Hurry Hurry and decide to join me!  I will teach you some advanced applique techniques as well as get you started on my EPP techniques.  The projects are a block for a new quilt, Coeur d'Alene shown below...

I am so thrilled in the look of this beautiful block as I make more blocks to have it down perfect for you when you take the workshop.  The block shown above will be for the workshop and I'll reveal the full sized quilt with 9 blocks at the Academy.  I can't wait to show you!  Won't you come and join so you can see it in person?  

And several blocks and advanced techniques for The Gardens Of A King, which you should already know about if you have followed me for a while!  If you are new here, take a peek on my website at TraditionalPrimitives.com in the English Paper Piecing section.  This quilt is still very popular and I love teaching these difficult looking blocks in a way that makes them go together like magic.  You will learn a lot if you attend!  

The experience of going to the Academy of Applique is so wonderful!  You'll be surrounded by those who love applique' as much as you do!!  The location is stunning and there is so much history all around to explore and learn from.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I would love to have you join me so I can help you become better at Applique'!  I have tips and tricks to make difficult projects easier-I promise!!  Don't forget, the deadline is approaching fast so act quick to save your spot!!

More exciting news is that Jeff and I are expecting our first granddaughter in March!  Paxton is such a joy and makes our hearts so full, but we are so very excited to welcome another into our world.  I've been told for so long the love of a grandparent is special and we know how special it actually is now!  Here's a little collage of the afternoon they found out we will be loving on a "SHE" this time around!

In October the Winter issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects was released and I happen to have a quilt in this issue called Winter Blooms!  This magazine is one of my favorites and this issue is quite stunning!  My quilt is inspired by the first blooms we see popping up through the winter snow in late winter... a little old snow with bursts of color greeting us with a smile for Spring!  We have kits and the magazine available on the WEBSITE on the Books and Magazines tab!  They won't last long so grab one while you can. 

Recently, I was quite surprised to learn that my quilt, English Wedding was put on the cover of  the winter issue #134 of Quiltmania!  I was so thrilled and quite honored!  A dream come true...

We have just restocked kits for this and we do have the magazine in stock if you are interested.  You will find it on the English Paper Piecing tab as well as the Books and Magazines tab on the website at TraditionalPrimitives.com .

My last bit of excitement is that we have finally launched our new website!  It has the same web address at TraditionalPrimitives.com  but it looks so much better than my old site.  It works well for mobile devices or computers and we are so happy about that!  Take some time to look around and please let me know what you think!!  I hope you like it!

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Take Care,

Missie

Traditional Primitives

It's Been a Very Busy Fall...

My Goodness, time has passed once again and I finally have a few moments to get a blog post done.  The last I wrote we'd been to Spring Market and were enjoying lots of time with our new grandson.  He's still cute as a button of course and we are amazed at how fast he is growing.  He'll be crawling around any time now so I'd better get our living room area ready for a 9 month old by Christmas time!

I have a few new products that we introduced at Fall Quit Market ~ The first is Premium Starch!  For those of you who have the Starch Brush, this is the easy fill solution for you!  The Traditional Primitives Premium Starch is packaged in a bottle that will squirt easily right into your Starch Brush.  Voila!  Easy fills every time!  You'll find it on the Notions Page at TraditionalPrimitives.com.  It's wonderful to have on hand.

I have also written a booklet about my Starch Basting Technique for English Paper Piecing.  It answers the questions I repeatedly get when I teach workshops.  So far it has been very well received!  It has close up pictures to show you just what you need to see to answer those questions that come up as you are learning this technique.  You'll be a master before you know it!  You will find it at the bottom of the Notions Page.  Click Here.

The most EXCITING news I have to share with you from Market is the fact that I have my first line of fabric that was introduced by Blank Quilting Corporation called Ginger & Spice!!!  SO exciting!  There are 24 fabrics in the line and of course they are my favorite colors to work with.  Here's a little tease of the folder that fabric shops are seeing now.  The pattern on the front will be one of two free patterns I designed available on the Blank Quilting website.  

You can take a look at the fabrics up close on the Blank Quilting website by clicking HERE.  Please pass the news of a new Traditional yet Primitive line of fabric on to your favorite quilt shops and have them contact their Blank Quilting reps or call the company to order.  Thanks for spreading the word!  It will be available in Quilt Shops in July '18.

It was great to see some friendly faces at Market.  It's nice to see some of the same folks year after year now that I've been a few times!  And also great to meet new friends too!  I enjoyed meeting a few ladies I know here from Blogland as well.  First is Sallieanne from the UK.  We are standing in front of Dreaming of Spring because she made a similar small quilt of a pattern I'll mention a bit later.  We met last year at Festival and have kept in touch!

Next up is Paula who brought her version of The Gardens Of A King.  So pretty in brights!!  I love it when you ladies bring your quilts to show me!  In case you have not heard, I have a FB group for those who have purchased my patterns and I invite you to share your quilts there with others.  You can join it by clicking HERE and requesting to join.  Please let me know if the link does not work!

And some new friends from down under...Margaret Mews, Judy Newman and her daughter.  Such nice ladies.  We had some nice conversation!  These ladies have books published with Quiltmania titled Quilts from The Colonies and Quilts for Life Made with Love.  Such LOVELY books!

It was wonderful to meet some of the folks from Blank Quilting Corperation too.  I have really enjoyed working with Diana who is pictured on the left side of the photo.  It's always good to put a face to the voice on the other end of the phone!  Janice, Amy and Cliff are on the Sales Rep team!  Friendly folks!!

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Heidi is another gal who worked with me on Ginger & Spice...

It's always good to see the friendly smile of Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings...So many friendly folks in this business I never would have met otherwise!

And look who is at my booth interested in what I am doing!  It was an honor to show Yoko Saito my method of basting English Paper Piecing with starch.  She purchased some of my tools and I do hope she enjoys the technique.

I thank Jeff and two of my girls, Trisha and Katie for helping out during Market and Festival.  I couldn't do it without their help!  We had such a great time working together.  I am so thankful they enjoy helping us out with our little business.  We will cherish these memories in the years to come.  Trisha loves helping us as often as possible.  She is a stay at home mom and if you've purchased a Hexie Pressing Mat from us, she most likely made it.  She does a good job and loves chatting with the customers.  It's nice to hear her talking and able to answer more and more questions properly the more she joins us!  It was Katie's first time at a retail show with us and she stepped in and gave me a break from the demo now and then and that was super helpful.  It was her First time to do the starch basting technique and she did good!  We kind of blend in with the quilts, but look close and you'll see us!  Haha!  

                                

It was fun to hear the girls telling about ladies who would come in one side of the booth and speak with one daughter for a while, then progress on over to the other side of the booth and encounter the other daughter.  Often times they were surprised to see her on the other side only to realize that it was the other daughter!  They look so much alike!  We are constantly asked if they are twins, but they are 8 years apart in age.  I think that happened more than a few times at Festival!  We have another daughter, Melanie, and when she is with the other two they are asked if they are triplets.  We are constantly calling them by the wrong name!  Here they are together in August at Melanie's wedding. When they wear their hair long and straight is when most folks ask if they are triplets.   Anyway, I thank them all for their help!

After returning from Quilt Market I went to my first ever retreat!  My friends Julee, Karen, Chris and I went over to Shipshewanna, IN for a retreat where we took a class from Di Ford (who I also saw at Market).  It was so much fun to meet new people at the retreat and of course to take the workshop from Di!  Such a warm and friendly, talented quilter.  We had lots of giggles and got a wee bit of quilting done during the 4 day retreat.  Fun fun!

I was thrilled to have a few quilts published in my favorite magazines this fall.  First was Two Ole Crows in Quiltmania's Simply Vintage Autumn...  I am sold out of the magazines, but we do have the pattern which is called Vintage Friends.  This pattern contains two designs.  Two Ole Crows and A Pair Of Hares which is a cute little bunny runner.  Quick and easy projects!  Find the pattern or kits HERE.

                                      

The most recent quilt published in Primitive Quilts and Projects Winter issue is called Warm 'til Spring and was SO much fun to make!  I loved every exciting minute sewing it together!  It is made in an unusual way which avoids any tricky piecing of the background.  Makes this a fairly quick quilt for such a large size.  The wool applique can be done by machine or hand.  Notice the couched yarn for added accent.  SO fun!!  You can find the Magazine and the Kits HERE.  It's a large twin size and can easily be made larger for a bigger bed or smaller for a super warm lap quilt.  This is the quilt that Sallieanne (above) brought a picture of to show me.  She made it mini!  So cute!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job?  I certainly do!  Thank you all for your continued support and kind words, which keep me inspired to make new goodies for you!  

As always,

Take care and thanks so much for taking time to stop by today!,

Missie

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig!

I've been on another whirlwind vending and teaching trip and it's so fun to do those things, but so nice to get back home as well. It has been so enjoyable to meet so many women and teach them a few tips and tricks in the workshops. I love sharing those tips and tricks as well as turn the light on for something new to someone. We all enjoy getting excited about doing something new and it's so fun to share that joy! Now it's time to finalize preparation and plans for Market and Festival! Will you be attending? I'm in row 7 so be sure to come see me!

One of the things that gets ladies so excited when they see it for the first time is Punchneedle! It's exciting to see many interested in this old art because I feel like it is a dying art. Not many shops carry Punchneedle and I fear it may be gone if we don't start getting new folks to enjoy the art. It is super easy to learn and so quick to finish the project. As many of you know, I have a different way of presenting the final product and love to make mini quilts from my Punchneedle projects. Here is a new version of one of my first Punchneedle projects as an adult.

A few years ago I sold my sample for the Punchneedle project titled My Primitive Baltimore. I should have never done so...I miss that special project because it was finished so uniquely. I've found time to make another one and decided to add it to my collection of mini Punchneedle Quilts. It's simple in its finish with big stitch quilting all around the design and a simple binding. Can't wait to have my mini quilt wall up in the house once the year of shows is over for a few months until they begin again! This will be a nice addition! The pattern is available for purchase on my website if you are interested HERE. (Look at the bottom of the page)

"I'm working on a Woolie version now and it's turning out nicely! It's been a while since I have been able to hand stitch and once again it's so nice to enjoy that peaceful time. It's football season so I'd better get some more stitching ready! (I stitch while my hubs is watching EVERY game! Haha! ). The fabric in this project looks like wool, right? Well it's not! It's a new Moda Line from Minick and Simpson called Cotton Works. It's thick and so nice to handle. Everyone I've shown this little project to thinks it's wool and then they get close and have to do a double take to see what the fabric is! For those of you who are allergic to wool, try to find this line at your local quilt shop and check it out! I am using Genziana wool thread and I'm taking very small stitches to cover the raw edges of the cotton Applique. I do love working with the Genziana wool thread because it is so nice to stitch with as well as it looks so nice. This wool thread also lets the beauty of the fabric show through and be the highlight of the project. Most of the time I prefer to use the whip stitch when stitching Wool Applique, but for this project I'm using a very small blanket stitch. Remember this specific project is made from cotton, so I want those edges covered well. This thread does the trick! You can find it on my website on the Notions Page HERE.

See how beautiful this fabric is up close and personal?!

This is another new pattern called Spool Candle Holder Quilt Cozy. Talk about a fast little project! It can be done in no time and the kit comes with the spool candle holder. It's about 5" tall and let me tell you these spools were hard to find. I have a limited number available while they last! You can find them HERE if interested. They would be darling in wool as well.

 

I was thrilled to see my quilt Pennies In My Garden on the cover of Simply Vintage! I never dreamed that would happen! We have a few more of these lovely magazines left if you'd like one for yourself. Inside you will find many lovely projects including one of my other small quilts, A Warm Welcome. The way the designers of this magazine present the projects is so lovely. A joy to look through again and again. You can find the order button on my home page at TraditionalPrimitives.com

New on the website along with the needles and patterns above are kits for various quilts. We are asked so often if we have kits, I've started making a few here and there when I have a moment. You will find them in the choices on the shopping buttons when they are available.

 

 

The next big project I'll be attempting is to organize my sewing room again. Remember that photo from about two years ago when we had a graduation party? We had to literally shove things back into a part of the room so we could use the basement for the party. I promised to show a photo when the room was all fixed up. If you read my blog often, you may have noticed I've not shown a photo of my nice organized room. This would be because it has NOT happened yet! I don't even know where to begin... So November is set aside for organizing my room. It will probably never be a pretty studio like I see in magazines, but my hopes are that it will be well organized. I plan to label things at least for a while so I don't have to spend a lot of time searching for specific things. Is there anyone else out there who needs a reorganization of your sewing space? Would you like to join me for a Sewing Room Oganizing Challenge to show our spaces and be inspired by organizing ideas from others? Let me know and we can link up on a certain date in November. I need some inspiration! Want to join me?

As a beginning to this Dear Hubs has taken the old ping pong table and attached it to a big long table frame we had on hand. So now I do have a large table to work on and hopefully I can figure out a way to keep the projects and piles below and break the habit of a multi project filled table. Recently I purchased a few plastic storage drawers to put under the table. I had visions of it looking beautiful, but for now I'll just use plastic drawers. Perhaps once I get organized I can transport the projects to something prettier. That's the first step in my reorganization plan...having space on my table to work from! Yay! It's a small thing to be excited about, but it's a beginning.

Well, back to work I go! Sorry if the blog seems to be a sales pitch today, but with so many new items on the site, I want to make sure you know where to find them! Don't forget to let me know if you want to join me in the Sewing Room Organizing Challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by today and as always,

Take Care,

Missie

#showmethemoda

 

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This The Season!

It's just about Christmas but it sure doesn't feel like it! My goodness, today was another 60* day here in Iowa! Hardly feels like winter, but we are expecting about 2" of snow this weekend, so that should help us get in the mood for the Holiday. Our tree is a bit sad this year. We got rid of our old one because we had more fake needles on the floor than were left on the tree. I really loved that tree and had it for many years. This year we are using the poinsettia tree we usually put by the front door because I have not found one I like just yet. My kids will have a fit when they see this poor little tree! Maybe they will help me find one. That would be a great "together" activity!

I've been working on a new quilt using the Hexies that I've made during my demo at quilt shows this year. I had about 50 Hexies cut from a double layer of C.Jenkins Freezer Paper and made a whole box full of multi colored Hexies during the year. I'd guess I have close to 500 ready to be sewn together. I'm excited about combining two of my favorite quilty things...English Paper Piecing and Wool Applique!

That's a half inch Hexie there! Looks a bit giant since I zoomed in so far! Tomorrow will be an afternoon sewing with a few friends and I'm happy to be seeing them! We'll have a great time and I'll be starting on another new Applique quilt. It's been quite a while since I've done needleturn and I'm getting excited about that too. So fun to have new things in the works!

If any of you need a nice little gift for someone who loves quilts, I have a few of the 2016 Agenda Books from Quiltmania left. They are such a nice size for putting in your purse or on your desk! Only $10 and its full of lovely quilts! I was surprised to learn my little Hexie quilt and pincushion is on the first page! Pretty exciting!! They are available on the website on the Notions Page if you are interested!! I also have a few of the Autumn Simply Vinage Magazines left if you happen to need one of those too!

Be sure to find me on FB, Pinterest and Instagram! I'm posting there more often there these days as its so much quicker and I'm finding time a bit harder to come by these days. I'll be starting another Gardens Of A King and posting about it on FB soon if you'd like to join the fun there. (I'm sure I'll show the pictures here too so you won't miss out!) you can also find others who are making some of my quilts at yahoogroups.com and search for Traditional Primitives.

 

Ginger is ready for Christmas and wishes you the best!

Have a wonderful winter weekend and

Take care,

Missie

 

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An Exciting Morning!

It's been such a long time since I had time to write a post! I'm still here, still working on quilts and trying to do my best to manage this growing little business. Though I'm not blogging quite as much, I am finding time to post quickly on Face Book and Instagram and once in a while Pinterest. Be sure to find me there if you are interested, but any big news will be posted here as well.

Speaking of big news, while at Quilt Market in May I was grateful to meet many wonderful people! One group of ladies were the women from Quiltmania publications. I am thrilled to say that I will have a few of my designs in their magazine titled Simply Vintage this Autumn. It should be available any time now! This magazine can be found at Barnes and Noble, but Quiltmania now has an office in the U.S. so ordering your subscription should be much easier now. You can look into subscriptions HERE if you are interested.

My heart just skipped a beat as I went to the page that is linked in the word "here" in that last sentence, for when I clicked on the Simply Vintage page in Quiltmania's website, the Autumn issue was shown...look at the bottom right photo! My projects made the cover!! What a nice surprise! My method for Starch Basting English Paper Piecing will be presented with these projects. I don't think I can wait to see the issue in person! I am also thrilled to say they will be publishing a few more of my designs next year as well.

Whew! That was pretty exciting for an early morning wake up!

I'll be vending At the Gems Of The Prairie Quilt Show in Peoria, IL this coming weekend and I'd love to meet some of you if you are able to come over that way! Click on the name of the show for more info. Looks like a fun time!!

Have a wonderful day!

Take care,

Missie

 

 

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