Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  In honor of the patron saint of Ireland, here are a few green items available at Maryland Quilter:

The dragon above reminds me of another famous saint, St. George, who slayed the dragon and rescued the princess. My green dragon is part of a quilt, the pattern and quilt are available in the shop, here.

Wouldn’t a green kitchen set of 2 pot holders and 2 tea towels be the perfect way to welcome spring in your home? You can find them here

What a lucky baby or grownup if they get a blanket like this one! Beautiful green and so so soft. It’s available at Maryland Quilter.

Advertisement

A Valentine for You

Yesterday as I was going through my daughter’s book bag, I found a crumpled information sheet for a class Valentine’s Day party. Yippee! I smoothed the paper and started to get excited. Valentine’s Day is almost as fun as Halloween- I mean, you get to eat chocolate, right. In fact, Valentine’s chocolate is even better than trick or treat chocolate. I love a big heart shaped assortment of candies, yum yum.  Enough day dreaming, it’s back to work, back to dieting. Here is a kitchen set that reminds me of Valentine’s Day without the calories:

The kitchen set is in the shop here

My Valentine’s gift to you is free domestic shipping through February 14 on any purchase.

Just use coupon code “val2015”.

All You Need is Love

Sometimes life is really hard. It’s cold winter here in Maryland. Not a lot of daylight. The bad news seems to overshadow the good. But spring will come. Flowers will bloom. As Taylor Swift says, “Shake it off”. And when you shake off the bad, don’t forget to put love in its place. Because, really, all you need is love.

Want to send this message on a quilt? Buy any Maryland Quilter quilt or baby blanket and I’ll applique “I Love You”. Just tell me you need love and I’ll put it there, for free 🙂

Good, Better, Best in the New Year

Most people have two times of the year when they stop and reflect on their lives; these are New Year’s and their birthday. Well, New Year’s Eve is also my birthday so I do a marathon of reflection this time of year. Looking back at the business side of my life,  Maryland Quilter grew over 10% in revenues this year. Expenses were a whopping 50% less than in 2013.

Now the fun part begins– planning the future growth for 2015! I am going to sort through the myriad of possibilities using the good, better, best method. I’ll take all the ideas for projects, expansion, marketing, etc., evaluate each one and label them good, better, best. The best ones will then be prioritized. Then the work begins 🙂

Here is a quilt in the shop called Seize the Day, appropriate for a New Year and a birthday:

The quilt is available for sale in the shop here

Christmas Can Be Ghastlie, Too.

The top and bottom of this Christmas quilt has a border in my favorite fabric design,The Ghastlies, by Alexander Henry. The Ghastlies remind me of the Adams Family or the Muensters. Remember those shows? Kinda funny, kinda scary, weird. That’s the Ghastlies. The particular Ghastlie design used in this quilt is “a ghastlie holiday” in red.

This holiday quilt will make you smile instead of stress:

The quilt is available in the shop here

So Many Snowmen

Every year in November I design a new Christmas ornament. One year it was redbirds, last year was Beta fighting fish. This year’s ornament was suggested by my daughter, Evelyn. She wanted a snowman. She was probably thinking of Olaf, but I was thinking traditional.

I love making the ornaments in batches. Making so many allows me to streamline the pattern, improve it, and experiment, too.

So here is the Maryland Quilter 2014 ornament:

If you want one, buy any item in the shop and mention “snowman ornament” in the comment section at checkout. I’ll include one in your order through December 20, 2014.

Fear Is a Liar

It’s bitter cold this morning in Maryland, wayyyy below average. I looked out my window and the birds are slow to come to the feeder because of the cold. For an instant I was afraid for them, that they would freeze on the branches. But then common sense took hold. They have been cold before and will be fine. God takes care of them.

What are you afraid of?  Whatever you fear, it probably won’t happen. Fear is a liar. I tell myself that and have a poster to remind me.

Here is a quilt and pattern I made awhile back. It features some of the chilly animals I care about:

The quilt and the pattern are available in the shop here .

Secret Squirrel

Fall is the season of squirrels. Everywhere I look, there they are running up and down the tree trunks. I love them all, even the ones that figure out how to raid my bird feeders. It’s amazing to me how the animals have a complex society in my backyard. They live, fight, love and die right outside my window, whether I notice or not.

So here I am, sewing virtual squirrels on baby quilts, while the real squirrels carry on outside my window.

This baby quilt is available in my shop, here

Free shipping on everything for the holidays!

A Ghastlie Picnic

Let’s set the picnic table for a Ghastlie Halloween celebration! The table placemats feature four of the most interesting Ghastlie family members: Mathilde, Daria, the Widow Ghastlie, and Garrick Ghastlie. The background fabric has Sebastian the cat cavorting.  Your plate of Halloween hot dog fingers and boiled egg eyeballs will taste better than ever 🙂

Creep over to Maryland Quilter and check them out!

Frog and Toad and Bats

What is the best size for a baby blanket or quilt?  I’ve been asking myself that question for a couple years and I have the answer:  Babies need some of every size. When they are newborn and need swaddling, bigger is better so their feet don’t stick out.  When they are in the stroller, smaller is better so it doesn’t drag on the floor. When they start to crawl, any size works.

I have many large baby blankets in the shop. Now I’m stocking the virtual shelves with smaller stroller quilt blankets. Here is one of the newest and cutest, with Frog and Toad fabric:

And since I’m still stuck on Halloween, here is a bats quilt:

Frog and Toad is available here

Halloween bats quilt and the pattern are in the shop here