It's Good To Be Home!

Wow! Time flies when you are having fun! Since the last post here on the blog, we've traveled through 8 states and spent many a night away. It's so good to be home!
Some exciting news... A new Punchneedle Mini Quilt is published in the current issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects!

I do believe this little quilt, Pomegranates and Pennies, is my favorite Punchneedle Mini Quilt yet. The rich colors are just what I love and say "home" to me. It's a super easy design to punch and works up very quickly due to the large smooth shapes. The finished size is 12" and will be a great addition to my mini quilt wall. I have the magazines and full kits, including that beautiful wool and Valdani Threads, for this little quilt on my website HERE at Traditional Primitives. This would make a great Holiday present for someone special! After all, it is time to be thinking about shopping for Holiday Season.

Do you see something familiar below in the photo of Frond Studio's booth in Sample Spree at Quilt Market?

The light colored quilt is my pattern French Diamonds! What a difference color makes. See more pictures HERE.

Stephanie Brandenburg is the designer of Frond Fabrics. She's an amazing artist with exceptional talent! I have used several of her fabrics for my backgrounds in some of my primitive quilts. French Diamonds above uses her Plaster Of Paris fabric and has the look of leather in my quilt. The background of the original Pennies In My Garden is also her fabric called Brushstrokes.

It's a challenge for us to think outside the box when we see a quilt we love. You can see their light artsy version below on the back wall as well. Look closely at the table and you'll see Brookshire Star!

Wow! Such a different look with different colors and fabric styles! Frond has used their new Barnboard fabric for the background of Brookshire Star. It keeps that rustic look but adds the modern touch with the Frond fabrics they've used. It's that industrial meets rustic that's so popular today! See more pictures HERE.

,

And my version below...

Take a look at Frond fabrics HERE to see if you can find a unique fabric for one of your upcoming quilts to add the rustic feel you are looking for! Sometimes we need to open our minds to create the "look" we're after when making quilts. I search for primitive fabrics in all types of fabric design styles... Try it! You may find it's easier to open the box than you think!
That's my lesson for today!
I'll share a few pictures from Quilt Market and Festival. We found it challenging to squeeze 40 feet of quilts into 18 feet of wall space at Market, but we managed to make it work out, thank goodness!

We enjoyed bringing our Dear Daughter and Son In Law to help handle the crowds! It was a great time! I was so hoping the World Series would finish up before they had to fly south to join us. Unfortunately the last game was played while they were on the flight to Houston. On the good side, the flight was delayed so they got to see most of the game at the airport...it's a good Son In Law who gets on a plane to join his Mother In Law at a quilt event...especially when the most important inning was just beginning as he entered the plane! He's a Cubs Fan so thankfully the reruns of the end of the game were pleasant for him to see the next day! I love him dearly! Thanks to both he and our daughter for their hard work at Festival!

We saw some friends from the past and met lots of new friends! I love it when you bring your quilts made from my patterns. Thanks for sharing ladies! Enjoy these collages of Fun from Festival! We see A Warm Welcome and Gardens Of A King in the photos below.

Teaching, translating by way of the internet and enjoying the rush! English Paper Piecing basting with Starch, rug punch and punchneedle! My favorite pastimes!

The exhibit was stunning. Unfortunately my camera did a reset and lost all of the photos I took. The exhibit at Festival is always stunning. Absolutely takes your breath away when you see these extraordinary quilt from all eras.

It's such a great time to go to Market and Festival. We are rested and caught up and are ready to take on the upcoming Holidays. It's hard to believe this year has moved by so quickly! Before we know it, we'll be writing 2017. Yowza!
Thanks for taking time to check in on the blog today!
Take care,
Missie

Posted with Blogsy

Big News, Exciting News, Lots of News! New Products!

Howdy Ho Everyone! It's been a busy summer with lots of happenings. We have a daughter who is newly engaged so there will be a wedding to plan for next summer! Yay! We are so happy for the couple and look forward to gaining our second son-in-law to join the family.

We also have the oldest and her husband moving back to Iowa, so they will be 2.5 hours away rather than 18! We are thrilled for that! They listed their home and it sold in a week, the very day they found a house to purchase in Iowa. It's a bit of a fixer upper, so we'll have some fun with paint and new furniture and they will plan on a new kitchen. Should be fun to see what they come up with, and we'll be happy to help in any way we can. Of course, both of these couples may need a new quilt or two! Fun, fun, fun!

 

I have a few new products to share with you...first, I have decided to offer my own brand of needles. I offer them in a Magnetic Box Set for both Wool and EPP/Applique and also in a more plain form in a tiny envelope or a small tube once the envelopes are gone. You can read more about them on my website HERE if you so desire...

We are also offering Premium Freezer Paper from Traditional Primitives these days. That's righ, my own brand. It has great qualities for my Starch Basting for English Paper Piecing. It can be used many times over and it does not shrink like other papers! That means we can make more than we think from only a few papers. I counted to about 20 times reusing one Hexie and then came back to it a few days later and found that the dampened edges from my starch basting technique had dried and I could use it even more. I'm loving this new paper! You can read more about it on my website by clicking the same link above. Let me know if you have any questions!

We are also offering the wool thread that I love using for wool Applique, Genziana. It is a pretty good bargain for the large amount on each spool and the colors are so rich and lovely...it sews wonderfully using the wool needles above!

And we are also offering Mettler 60 weight cotton threads for English Paper Piecing without the paper and for Applique. It is so much more invisible than 50 weight...I couldn't believe how effortless it was to make a good invisible stitch. I'm loving it! Again it's on the same notion page on my website. Use the link above to take you there! Look for more goodies soon...

Since posting about Spring Market Adventures, we've been to KY for a family reunion, Tulsa for a great little quilt show, MN Quilt Show, MO for a quick visit with my folks, The Omaha Quilt Show, a family meet up for July 4th, KC to move a daughter, Ankeny Iowa Show, teaching at Quilt NE and I've been home (what's that?!?) for almost two weeks now! WHEW!

Merrie was sure to bring a photo of her pincushion she made from a pattern she purchased last year. I love to see projects, finished or even just started! Thank you Merrie!

In the photos above, I'm showing some young ladies all about Punchneedle. I learned when I was about 13. We really need to teach the younger generation about fiber arts to keep it alive. Share it with someone younger whenever you can!

I made it on the local news while doing a demo on Rug Punching during the Ankeny Show! How embarrassing! Tee Hee!

Do you remember the books 'Where's Waldo?' That's what this picture made us think of...Where's Missie?

Had a quick visit from Renee, an Iowa friend all the way up at the MN show! She brought some blocks to show me from Gardens Of A King! Isn't she doing great!?

We tried a new set up for the Punchneedle Kits. It worked well and they weren't falling all over the table this time! Yay!

Did I say WHEW earlier? Yes! It's good to be home!

I'm working on a new quilt that will be both Pieced and Applique. Can't wait to give you a sneak peak very soon!

In between trips I caught a few moments to sew a few more blocks for my second Gardens Of A King quilt. This one as you see, is a bit bolder in color. I have not decided about the background yet, so I'm holding off on stitching that on the blocks for now.

Look for some of my goodies in the Autum Issue of Simply Vintage coming soon and in the Winter Issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazines.

Take care and Happy Stitching!

Missie

 

Posted with Blogsy

Thanks To My Hometown!

My hometown is Springfield, MO...the Ozark Piecemakers Guild did a wonderful job at their quilt show and welcomed all of the vendors with a helping hand. It was great fun meeting all the ladies who enjoyed shopping at the vendor mall...so fun to chat with others who love quilting! I also enjoy sharing my passion for English Paper Piecing, Applique, Wool and the tricks I use when making a quilt.

I had to set up most of the booth by myself this time and it took every minute to get thing organized. My mom was my wonderful helper the first day of the show and she did an awesome job for me! It was great fun to have a girls day together, even though we were super busy and didn't have too much time for relaxing. Thanks Mom! Love you! My husband joined me for the weekend days of the show and was also a great help! Thanks Jeff! Love you too! I couldn't do it alone, that's for sure...

Above, you can see my new "department", wool rug punching or rug hooking. Thanks to one of my followers from the blog, Colleen, who helped me out and made two of the rugs you see there! She made the one with the pineapple, "Little Bird Welcome" and the circular chair pad on the bottom right, "Wooly Blossum". She will get them back after my fall shows and I will hate to give them up! I am working on my own to have, but she really helped me get these done in time to show at the hook in a few weeks ago. Thank you Colleen! I still have not had time to add these to the website...if you are interested, please let me know and I'll get you the info!

The booth was a little different size and it was nice to have room to show all the quilts well. Usually things are quite scrunched as I design new projects...things get more crowded!

 

This is the Punchneedle department...crowded and packed, empty towards the end of the show!

 

Here's a small group watching my EPP Demo. My table gets so filled and messy, but I love to be able to grab a project and help people lean something new, so it's all right there within arms length. (Just like at home! Lol, I'm a messy gal!)

 

I'm finished with my (first) Reproduction of the King George III Coverlet, Gardens Of a King! It is quilted and delivered to hang in the Des Moines Quilt Guild Show next week. The pattern will be available soon. I'll show you the entire quilt at that time. If you might be interested in purchasing this pattern, please let me know and I'll make sure you get the info in your inbox. It was so rewarding to finish this one! I may have to make another to hang in my home full time! Most of my quilts are not hanging in my home...they are off at a shop trunk show or packed for a vending trip. I have started making duplicates of my faves so I can enjoy them too! I have a long way to go until I get to enjoy all of them at home!

The AQS/Des Moines Quilt show is next week. Another fun week of beautiful quilts and shopping! Can't wait! Then I'll be headed to Kearney, NE for Threads Nebraska October 9-11! Is anyone headed to this fun event?

Thanks for stopping by today,

Take care,

Missie

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Little More Rug Love!

I've been working on another punched rug with the Oxford Punch (available HERE) for the Hook In I will be vending at next weekend, Sept. 6th in Warsaw, MO. This one will go along with Pennies In My Garden wool and cotton quilt! The Hook In is sponsored by Saltbox Primitives and sounds like it will be a blast! I'm really excited!

 

I've had a few questions about what type of frame I use when doing rug punching. This is an antique Edmund's Rug Frame that my husband clamped some legs to, so the frame is held up off the table. It is working great! One important thing to remember when punching vs. hooking rugs is that you can not use a hooking frame for punching. The sharp needles on the hooking frame will snag the loops. When hooking, you work from the front and the needles grab ahold of the back of the rug. When punching, you work from the back, so the needles grab ahold of the loops and you don't want that! This is why I use a different frame when punching.

You can see that we also added some nails to 2 sides of the frame to hold the munks cloth in place. These old frames were made to use thumbtacks to hold the backing fabric in place. But that's too much work for me. These nails are working great to pull the backing fabric nice and tight while I punch.

This picture shows the nails much better! Plus, you can see the rug a bit better too! So far, I have not been able to hang my quilt, Pennies In My Garden ( available HERE), in my home but a few weeks. Once it finishes traveling the country to hang in stores and my vending booth, I will really enjoy hanging the quilt and displaying the matching rug together! It has been such fun creating these rugs with elements of my quilt designs!

The picture above shows my quilting hoop with fabric wrapped around the inner hoop. This is what I used for the smaller designs. Worked great!

Rug Punching is so easy and quick. I am thrilled to have finally jumped in and accomplished something that's been on my bucket list for quite a while!

I will be selling the monks cloth with the designs drawn for rug hooking and rug punching. If you are interested, please leave a reply or send an email and I will custom draw one for YOU! If any of you live near Warsaw, MO, I would love to meet you next Saturday, the 6th...come see me at the Hook In!

 

Take Care,

Missie

 

 

Posted with Blogsy