Imagine spending Christmas in the peace and quiet of the country. You are in the fresh air, with good company, a roaring fire, and a bright star overhead. A hammock swings gently in the evening breeze. A lantern lights the words in your favorite book. If only life were so easy!
Here is a Christmas card from the Campground, in quilt form, to make and hang in your home.
The pattern should be ready by next week and available at Maryland Quilter.
Last year around this time I renovated a haunted house quilt. This year, I’m remaking another quilt, Christmas in the Campground. Here is the original quilt, designed in 2011:
A few weeks ago I decided to make a pattern of the quilt to sell in my shop. I thought it would be an easy project. The quilt was already made, writing the pattern should be a snap. I’ll just make another version of the first one, taking pictures and writing the pattern as I go. But then, as I looked at the quilt, ideas came to me. I thought, what if I just did this, added this, changed this, moved this, took out this, and pretty soon I had a completely renovated Campground quilt. It is taking me weeks instead of a couple days to complete and I’m not done yet.
Here is the new 2015 version of Christmas at the Campground, in progress:
Here is a detail:
I hope to have the quilt and pattern done by next week.
Living here in Maryland the weather is often exasperating. Like Goldilocks’ porridge, the weather is either too hot or too cold. If the temperature is okay, then it is windy or rainy or just cloudy. Then there are those few days that are amazing. Perfect humidity, clear skies, chirping birds. You want to tell nature, “You got it right, now don’t stop”. Alas, nature has it’s own agenda.
So, what can a person do? I have decided to forget about the weather. I will instead enjoy the flowers. They are more predictably beautiful. In fact, if you create your own fabric flower garden it will bloom in perpetuity. Here is a flower quilt to enjoy every day, regardless of the weather.
The quilt has been sold, but the pattern is available at Maryland Quilter.
Sometimes I look too closely at the individual stitches in a quilt and forget to consider the design I’m creating. A good quilter keeps her eye on the details but always considers the entire tapestry. That’s not bad advice for living life, either. I don’t want the consideration of small tasks to keep me from seeing the big world around me.
Do you want help remembering the big world? Here is a quilt to remind you to look at the world from a bigger perspective:
The mini quilt will fit on a counter top or hang on a wall. The completed quilt is available here The pattern is available here.
Spring is breaking out here in Maryland. The leaves are unfurling so fast, I think I can almost hear them if I listen closely. All of nature seems to have jumped out of winter’s sleepy bed and into spring’s lively exercise. I am so inspired that I, too, will rush from my cozy sewing room where I quilt all winter. I will run (slowly) to my lovely rocking chair on the porch, where I will quilt all summer. Hey, it may not sound exciting, but I am like a turtle overjoyed with the new spring weather.
Do you want to feel like a tree growing it’s spring leaves? When you sew these, your own leaves can take form while the real ones around you open up. So you will feel even more a part of nature!
This pattern is called Elizabeth’s Tree. I named it for my daughter, who loves to sit under trees and read books. Here is the pattern available in my shop.
I feel a bit guilty about the last blog post. All I gave you were old TV memories. Today I will make it up to you. I chose yesterday’s three most popular free downloads from my Craftsy pattern store to share with you.
You can download this rabbit for free on Craftsy right here.
You can find this raccoon for free on Craftsy right here.
Here is the link to the free snail pattern on Craftsy.
There are 101 patterns in my Craftsy pattern shop. Come check them out on Craftsy. (Search Marylandquilter)
Why is it every time a major holiday rolls around, snippets of silly songs from my childhood pop in my head? I think of Christmas and all of sudden I’m humming “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. Halloween brings to mind the scary drumbeat soundtrack from The Wizard of Oz when the witch says, “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”.
Today I was deciding the title for this Easter blog post and, naturally, I started singing the Peter Cottontail song. So, my Easter gift to you are old TV memories. In the classic words of Porky Pig, “That’s all folks”.
Are you looking for a sweet spring quilt to make or give? Here’s one with pretty flowers and Peter Cottontail:
This is a very fun quilt to make. It goes together fast, is full of colorful fabric and, best of all, it’s guaranteed to look great! Here is the pattern and here is the quilt .
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.
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 🙂
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
Maryland Quilter 