It's a parade . . .

Have a safe holiday weekend . . . and

Remember those who "keep" and "kept" us safe.

Lori Ann

Well . . . This will be fun!

My box arrived from Quilt Market ! YAY !

I shipped home my purchases as well as those heavy catalogs, much better than lugging them on the plane . . . but it was a test for my patience knowing what treasures I'd bought only to wait for their arrival!

Much of Quilt Market is not geared towards my business...BUT...much of it does fit!

Just look at these colors . . . . amazing threads fromValdani & Weeks Dye Works. Luscious wools from,Primitive Gatherings, Hooked On Rugs & The Wool Den. I even found a few lovely pieces of early "turkey red" and "indygo blue" fabrics and some amazing silk covered French buttons!

Looks like I'm gearing up for Patriotic and Halloween pieces and I can't wait!!

Enjoy,

Lori Ann

Business & Pleasure intertwined . . .

Last week I headed to Minneapolis for Quilt Market and what fun I had !

Quilt Market is a trade show packed with fabric companies, needlework suppliers and vendors of all sorts related to sewing and quilting.

I had not been in quite a few years so it was an inspiring and fun trip. I met up with friends Melissa Becker and Sue Spargo who were working Sue's booth. You might remember them both as teachers from my "Workt By Hand" post.

Sue was selling her quilt books, patterns and her wonderful new book that is in French and English. She travels extensively teaching and sharing her needle arts. Just look at the detail on the quilt top pictured . . . it's amazing!

I re-connected with a dear friend Jo Morton . . . when I met Jo, many years ago she was designer and creator of the most wonderful miniature quilts . . of which I am pleased to own a few. She now has a fabric line with Andover fabrics . . . her fabrics are mostly early to mid 19th. century reproductions and are BEAUTIFUL! They are about the only reproduction fabrics I use. I am honored that she has often used pieces of mine from her collections as props in her books . . . what fun!

I also got a peek at the newest fabrics coming out in Jo's line and I can't wait!!

Making new friends is wonderful too!

Through Sue I met Annie Downs . . . her work is amazingly detailed and sweet! Annie is a designer and teacher from Australia , where they also have a shop and her husband Pete hand dyes amazingly colored wools!

I wish I'd taken more photos . . . but my eyes & brain were on overload !

I did find some great new wool sources as well as some basics and trims too!

I'll post a few more pics when my box of wool, threads and catalogs arrive!

Till then check out these talented ladies above!!

Lori Ann

Never enough "tyme" ?

Well . . . I never have enough time in my days to accomplish everything I want to do,

BUT . . . in the garden I now have plenty of "tyme", all kinds of "tyme" ! If only I could translate one to the other.

The stone path we laid just last year filled in nicely . . . and the kitchen garden we built is wonderful . . . of course I'm still waiting for that fence to weather out all grey!

Today is rainy & cloudy . . . but I thought I'd take some pictures of the spring garden, she is very happy drinking in all the soft rain and already she has provided us with loads of lettuce, spinach, radishes, chives galore as well as the blossoms (yum!) and now even strawberries for dessert.

It seems with a warm April we are off to an early start . . my beans and peas are up and full, onions are growing like crazy . . potatoes in pots and the ground have smiles on their faces I swear! I just got the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers in...so they will be later on . . but I did turn the whole side of our house into an asparagus bed!

For the record....we live in the "burbs" . . . but I used to live in the country and no one told me I moved! !

And . . . the wonderful beeskep pictured is by my friends The Bosi's !

Check out their website for more wonderful garden pieces!

www.pinehollowprimitives.com

Enjoy,

Lori Ann

Workt By Hand - A Renewal of the Spirit . . .

I've been away . . . . at a retreat!

A wonderfully creative, renewing, good for the heart & soul, time to breathe, make new friends retreat! My sister & I once again attended "Workt By Hand". A stitching retreat taught by Sue Spargo, Alice Strebel, Sally Korte & Melissa Becker. These women each bring differing yet amazing talents to the table.

Each year together they design a new "project" then they each create a model but don't see each others work until the retreat! This year the theme was , re-use, re-purpose and re-cycle and the jumping off point was 5" squares. Each teacher chose a different twist, such as "vertical", table top, hang on a wall, etc. to create around. We were handed a packet of 5" squares of wool, linen and lovely fabrics & a folder with patterns ... or we could draw our own. There really are no rules which is wonderful! 30-40 women all come up with their own ideas, colors and twists on a theme! These women travel from all over . . . Florida, Utah, Georgia, and even Australia and New Zealand.

Some may find it funny (or crazy) that my favorite break from sewing is . . . . more sewing! But, this is so different from what I do every day in solitude that it's a real treat for me! The friendships forged with these women are stitched together over years just like these stitcheries.

And . . . the time with my sister is just plain wonderful!

Bear with me and all these photos . . . I have many more..too many to post! ;-)

Photo #1 is my work . . . I seem to always use the same palate and our home is the same way!

#2 - Teacher Sally's blocks suspended from a branch

#3 - Teacher Sue's blocks ready to hang on a wall

#4 - Teacher Melissa's pillow blocks in a basket

#5 - Teacher Alice's blocks made into a lamp !

#6 - 2 more sisters

#7, #8, #9, #10 - many different color choices . . all so different!

#11 , #12 - Wool and such to purchase! Cool!

#13 - Wonderful leaves sampler by Sue . . . she uses this as a teaching tool for stitches adn techniques! Kind of a contemporary "school Girls Sampler" !

#14 - Show & Tell : Quilt of Sue Spargo design

#15 - Show & Tell : amazing hooked rug by Faith

#16 - Show & Tell : last years project of a tree by Nancy

( I really NEED to get to her quilt shop in Charlotte, MI - The Hen House) !

Well . . . that's all for today!

Enjoy,

Lori Ann

A Happy Day to Mothers all!

Have a lovely Mother's Day!!

Lori Ann

Out with the old....and IN with the OLD !!

I am in the midst of a TOTAL studio re-design.

Have you ever been swayed or influenced by a style or color that over time you found just was not you? Well.... it happened to me tho I'm not sure how . . . it crept in one sneaky piece at a time. One day I looked around and my whole studio was "white". Now...it was lovely, don't get me wrong...very pretty in fact, but it just was not me . . not in my heart and soul!

Sooooo . . . I had been wanting to tackle this for so long, but it took a wonderful antique cupboard to set me on my path!

Here are a few sneak peeks and the "before" photo.

The main culprit in this insanity is the antique cherry step back cupboard. We found it in Berlin, Ohio . . . it called to me for weeks before we went back for it,since it was still there, it was meant to be mine!

The Mustard paint on a cupboard you see . . . was once the big white cupboard in the before photo and the red drawers were once the white drawers on my worktable!

Yes, I've been covered in paint and stain daily!

Enjoy . . . . eventually I'll have an "after" photo!!

Lori Ann