Quiltmakers' "Follow the 100 Blocks" blog tour-Day 2

Good morning. We are on day 2 of the Blog tour with Quiltmaker. My block posted here shows our very popular kissy fish. We were so excited to see our block made the cover too. There are a few links for you. The first one will take you to Quiltmaker to enter to win prizes and even one of the 100 blocks done for the magazine. I would love to hear from whomever wins our block. that link is

www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks

The second link is for a Flicker group for the 100 blocks projects.

This is where people have posted projects using the blocks from the magazine. Make sure to check out these projects. the link for this is,

www.flickr.com/groups/100blocks2009/

Above are four different quilt patterns and kits we offer with our cute fish available on our website. We have kits for I'm Outta Here! and One Fish, Two Fish listed under fabric kits. We have wool kits for Seaworld under wool & felting and finally Under the Sea is available as a pattern under fusible patterns. Also make sure to sign up for our email newsletter as well for free patterns and discounts each month.

www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com

Until tomorrow........

Quiltmakers' "Follow the 100 Blocks" blog tour-Day 1

Welcome readers from Pomona, CA. Kathy and I just returned from our last trip of the year. Oh what a year it has been. I have been from one end of the country to the other as well as the Caribbean this year, eleven trips total. I met so many wonderful people this year at the different shows and events. I have looked ahead to next year and already have eight trips planned just in the first five months. I will be in NY, Atlanta, Northern AZ and Minnesota in the months to come and I look forward to meeting more wonderful and creative souls on my travels. If you would like us to come and visit your group or show just drop me an email or check out the new lectures and workshops on our website at www.thewhimsicalworkshop.com/workshops.asp

This week we are involved with Quiltmaker's "Follow the 100 Blocks" Blog Tour. This is kinda like a shop hop online. Readers have the chance to visit some wonderful artist's blogs and see what everyone is up to. I was very excited to be invited to design a block and I was thrilled to see our block on the cover. Can you guess which one is ours? It was a great chance to be a part of their special magazine issue featuring 100 artists, each doing a 12" block. Not only is it fun to look at all these creative blocks, but it also a great source for the readers to use for future quilt projects. When can you ever find a magazine with 100 ideas!!! I will be posting daily this week about some of the exciting things happening around The Whimsical Workshop.

Check back daily for this week for updates, tips and to enter to win a copy of the magazine from us and other free gifts!

There are two ways to enter our drawing, either start following our blog or add a comment with your email address. We will enter everyone who signs up this week and pick winners on Saturday, November 14th.

Have Fun and Happy Creating. Until next time.....

Fabric Jewelry is almost here!

Hello,

We are all back from Fall Quilt Market, where I promoted my upcoming book "Fabric Jewery-Wrapped, Braided and Sewn". This book is coming out in January 2010 from Krause publications.

I did a lecture to quilt shop owners on the different ways to market the book as well as other products they should carry and sell with the book. I demonstrated how to make some of the fabric beads at the Blank Quilting Booth, Quick Quilts Magazine and Krause Booth. We got a great response. We are also offering a workshop and lecture on fabric jewelry if you have a guild or shop that you would like us to come and visit. Just send me an email. Also this month I did a fabric jewelry feature in McCall's Quilting Holiday issue on how to make an art deco wool pendent set. We have kits available for all three colorways, shown here. Just head over to the website and they are listed under Fabric Kits.

Summer in Finally Over!!!!

Hello all,

Here in Phoenix, summer is FINALLY over. By that I mean in is 85º out and spring-like. Everyone here is as giddy as school girls. People are finding reasons to be outside again and even our dog just wants to sit outside. Fitting that our latest quilt "Indian Summer" has just come out in the Fall issue of "Fabric Trend" just as the summer heat leaves us for another year. Fabric kits are now available on our website www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com.

It has been a hectic and stressful week around the studio. First it is always a bit crazy right before Houston Quilt Market. We are scrambling to finish last minute quilt projects as well as getting ourselves ready to go and walk the show. If this was not enough to keep me out of trouble, our 7-1/2 year old Great Pyrenees, jumped out of my jeep a week ago and blew her ACL in one leg. This happened on the last hot day of the year and between the stress of the injury and the time it took my family and I to get her off the ground into the car for the trip to the puppy ER, Her temperature jumped and she was at the heat stroke level. So when we got the ER they were not concerned with her leg but getting her temperature down, which involved an overnight stay and lots of IV fluids.

As small fortune later, we had to take her on Monday for a Surgical consult from the ER. Now imagine moving a 140lb dog who cannot walk from one point to the next. I am definitely toning up. The surgeon felt Cleo needed surgery, but she did not do this type of surgery. She recommended we take Cleo to a specialist in Tucson. It happens I was suppose to be in Tucson to set up a show on Wednesday, work the show on Thursday and then head home, so this would work out perfect. Kathy (my assistant) and I took Cleo to the specialist on Wed AM and expected Cleo to have surgery on Wed afternoon and be ready to go back to Phoenix with me on Thursday. Except the surgeon is concerned about her age and weight and wants to wait on the surgery until she loses 30lbs. So I boarded her for the night and rest goes as planned.

Now once we are home, I am watching our in-laws dog while they finish up the Tucson show for me. Their sweet dog is really a goat in diguise. On Friday night, my husband believes he saw her with a needle and by the time he gets to her she has swallowed it. Now we have to call the Puppy ER again to find out what to do with Blaze. Another sleepless night of not watching Cleo but watching Blaze. Turns out Blaze is fine and all is well. Blaze went home on Sunday.

Matthew and I finally think everything is going to be okay and calm down some. But Monday, Cleo does not urinate all day or all night. Tuesday, she again does not urinate or want any water. We call the vet who is very concerned. We pack her up one more time and drag her and ourselves to the vet, unsure of how this will turn out. I am happy to report after an ultrasound and test to make sure she is okay, she promptly returns home and pees a river. What sight, Matthew and I holding her up with a sling, while she pees and we are cheering her on.

Now I find myself leaving for Houston in the morning and not ready to go. I can only hope that Market goes much smoother than the last week. I am ready for a calm and uneventful trip. I also know there is a very tall glass of wine in my future. So to all my fellow pet owners who know how exhausting and expensive this past week was, love your furry friends, they are truly a gift that we only have for a short time! I know I am thankful we still have Cleo with us, even if it means we have to help her get around for awhile! Until next time.....

Welcome Tucson

Hello to all our new visitors from the Tucson Sew and Craft. Please make sure to sign up for our new email newsletters on our website www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com. Our newsletters will have free patterns, specials and discounts along with what is new at the studio. Please check out past newsletters on our website if you have not yet received one via email.

I am excited to tell you my newest line of fabric "Polar Opposites" is now available. I have uploaded a free pattern for this collection on the website under "Free Patterns" and the entire collection in now online for you to order under "Fabrics-Polar Opposites". Here is the photo of the polar bear and penguin version for the free pattern. This line will also be featured in the January McCall's Quick Quilts and the January issue of The Quilter.

Well back to work, it is only five days until Fall Quilt Market in Houston.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Well it is back to work around the studio. Quilt market is two weeks away and we have a few more quilts and projects to finish up. We also have another show "Sewing and Craft Festival" next week in Tucson, AZ if anyone wants to stop by. We have everything on sale, including fabrics on the bolt, patterns and fabric kits.

I have been busy working on designing email newsletters to send to our customers. With the drop in business and rise in printing and postage costs, we have to come up with a better way to reach out to our customers. So I have decided to use technology to keep in touch. If you have signed up for our mailing list in the past, I recommend you do it again. I cannot tell if we got all the emails from our customers from the past or not. But the software we are using is smart enough to kick out any duplicates. Sometimes I think the software is smarter than me.

Well today Kathy and I need to finish our next magazine quilt called "Duck, Duck, Goose", make 400 small flowers to string through garlands for someone's booth and 180 leaves that need to be glued onto the 120 fabric flowers I made for a market booth. Every market we get one strange project and this market was to design and make 3-D flowers. These projects are always both fun and challenging. I have first figure out the quickest and easiest way to create the items and still have them look finished and and neat. I have posted the four flowers I came up with here. I think it will be stunning to see all 120 flowers together at market.

Back Home Again

Hello all. It has been awhile. Welcome to anyone who has just joined us from San Mateo, CA. We have just gotten back from doing a show in beautiful Northern CA. It has been an amazingly busy six weeks, even for me. Here at the studio we have been working on show samples for Fall Quilt Market and designing many exciting projects for upcoming magazine features. I have also been taking a class on wire jewelry from Ann Turpin Thayer who is an amazing wire artist who has been very giving with her knowledge and skills. I will post some photos of the pieces I have made as soon as I take them. Anyone who has an interest in wire jewelry should check her local or online classes.

I have also been working on four wool applique projects for our product line. We unveiled them at the San Mateo show and I am posting the photos here. I created these using hand dyed wool from Wooleyladys and Presensia Pearl Cotton. The patterns and kits are now available on our website, www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com. I have always loved working with wool but if you look at my designs you can see I am not a country or primative girl and had to add my own spin on wool applique.

Until next time......