The Stella Skirt Pattern is Here! (Almost)

Hello friends in Blogworld! Sorry to bore you with that Thanksgiving trivia post... what was I thinking???

The long awaited "Stella Skirt" is almost ready for purchase! I say almost, because they haven't yet arrived, but I know they're in transit, and I'm really excited about them!

Here is a little peek at the cover, (as well as some other silly shots.)
The trouble with doing a pattern cover in the winter is how ugly it is outside where I'm from.
If there was snow, at least that would be sorta pretty... but it's just brown and ugly right now.
Luckily the colors sorta go with the fabric!



I sorta liked this one (above) maybe better than the one on the pattern cover. But it's a little fuzzy. What do you think?Umm... just kidding.



Anyhow, you get the idea. It comes in sizes 2-18, and should be here like tomorrow or the next day I hope.

You can go to the pattern shop and pre-order if you want to reserve yours! Just click on any of the pattern images on the right sidebar.

See ya...
Lila

Happy Thanksgiving...In retrospect

Just so you don't think me ungrateful, I decided to take down my rather miserable post earlier this morning, which sounded a little like The "before" Scrooge, instead of the "after" Scrooge. and focus on the holiday we just had before going full steam into the holiday we are now entering.

Here is a little Thanksgiving trivia for you:

The Pilgrims' Menu

Foods That May Have Been on the Menu

Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

What Was Not on the Menu

Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims' first feast table:

Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.

Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation.

And...a typical Thanksgiving table today:

Not that any of these things matter, it's still kind of interesting, I think.

For Thanksgiving at out house, we had a nice meal with our own family and a friend of ours from Haiti, and another from Peru. It was lovely! We had turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, rolls & jam, peas, corn, green beans, sweet potato casserole, spinach salad, and cheese and crackers and spinach/artichoke dip for appetizers.

We had a larger extension of our family and friends come and eat desert with us at our house, and the desserts included Pumpkin Pie, apple crisp, banana cream pie, pecan pie, buttermilk pie with berries, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream as the toppers, as well as some other desserts I can't remember.

We had a really nice sort of fireside afterward where we all sat around and took a few minutes to talk about what we are most grateful for. There weren't many dry eyes after that one. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

I want to go on record as saying that I know I am extremely blessed and spoiled, and that I'm sure there are many things I take for granted every day of my life.

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, if you live in the States, and if not, I hope you can take a moment to reflect on your blessings, wherever you might find yourself!

It has helped me to pull out of a silly slump on more than one occasion in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(and...here it comes... Merry Christmas!)

Sewing Days

You know how it is when you literally sew non-stop for hours? Does that happen to anyone else?..."happen to"...as if it's an uncontrollable and unforeseeable event. Sometimes I just get the bug, like a good disease, and I just sew and sew.

I started out with the Liverpool Tunic...one of Amy Butler's new patterns that I saw done at Petersen-Arne's booth at quilt market and absolutely HAD to have it. I made it out of my favorite print I think, from her new "love" fabric line, and wore it the very next day to a birthday lunch. LOVE IT. I'll post a pic of it tomorrow when the sun is out. Maybe.

Then I decided to do an outfit (or two) for my granddaughter Halle Rose. They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! I love it when I can turn thrift store finds into something "boutiquey". I did some fun applique work "A-La Pink Fig".

Here's the end result of my labors over a couple of days.

This first one was done using some great Amy Butler fabric from her Daisy chain collection, some luscious raspberry fabric from Erin McMorris and some thrift store jeans.





This next set was made from a thrift store sweater and jeans as well. I used some of Moda's fabric from "Sanae', and some Kaffe Fassett, as well as some of Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom.I added some little gathered fabric strips to the sweater, and a casing with a drawstring to the waist, new bell sleeves and some crotche'd lace to make it sweet.


Just a closer- up view of the pants appliques. (I added a little embroidery too:)

The jeans were sorta straight legged and baggy, so I added the triangle to the sides to make them flared.

This here, below, is a little sneak peek from a pattern I am developing for "Tweens". It isn't quite ready yet... you'll see more of it in the future.

So that's some of what I've been up to...among other things! Ask me if my dishes are done.
Or the laundry...hmmmm.
Tomorrow is another day!

Hope you have a great weekend...

Lila

I know I'm extremely late with these, but I thought I should post some more pics from Quilt Market. Some of these booths are so stunning...you really need to see them.
Here we go!
Amy Butler: One word...AMAZING!






So much color and pattern...so bright and fresh...so Amy.

Next in line is Anna Maria Horner:








Anna just had her 6th baby, and look at her go! I know she must be soooo tired, but look how cute she is! She has accomplished quite a bit in the last 12 months since I saw her last!
You Go Girl!

And now for Heather Bailey...(who had a strip of grass in her booth!)
Heather's booth won first prize in The double booth category!! I think you can see why...
(Is that crown molding on those walls?)






I just love those little turtle pincushions...


Heather and her husband. So proud...so tired! They worked really hard on that booth, I can attest! Plus they drove it all there themselves from Arizona and had to put it up in record time.

Well folks, that's all for today! I hope you have gotten some great eye candy treats to satisfy your creative cravings! These are incredibly talented people who also happen to be really nice!
I am honored to be in their presence when at Market. They are so inspiring!

Have a wonderful week! Carry on, carry on...

Lila

Autumn Trees at the Tueller's

These are pictures of the gorgeous trees in my front yard. They are literally on FIRE! Aren't they pretty? I love our trees in the fall. They stand out so sharply against the blue sky on crisp fall days. I'm so sad when they finally fall to the ground, even though the kids and the dog have a blast playing in them.

Just had to share. I think fall is my favorite season, next to summer.
what's yours?

Ruffled Skirt that has no name availble for pre-order NOW

Click on the image to go to the pattern shop



See this skirt? The lavender one my cute sister Laura is wearing? It was all the rage at quilt market, and the pattern is due to be released in about 4 weeks. If you want to reserve your pattern, the time is now!
Click on the image to go to Chelsea's ETSY shop to reserve yours!

Drum roll please...

I know you have all been very patient, and you all deserve to win the prize...BUT...Alas, I can only award one winner.
I hate this part of contests! I always want to give something to everyone who enters...because you all say such nice things, and you all deserve to get a big surprise for being so kind.
It's truly painful to have to eliminate so many great friends.
(Just so you know, the winning name was drawn randomly, because that's the fair way.)

...But here we go:
The winner of my layer cake/jelly roll/pattern giveaway is:
Mary Carole Dolce of La Dolce Boutique!!!

I hope you will enjoy your goodies, and please send me your address so I can send them to you!

Mary seems to be a really sweet person, who is very deserving of a fabric treat!
Congratulations, Mary!

My love to all of you who didn't win!! You are still the best.

Hugs,
Lila

Home!

Quilt Market was good times!


My crazy silly group of travel partners. We did have fun!


This is part of my Eden booth.




International Quilt Market was, as usual, fabulous and exhausting! I had a great time, but spent far too many hours lost on the freeways, stuck in the UPS hub, stranded in the rain and the heat and the steam and the cold, (the weather was very unstable), and lamenting my "Houston Hair", as it has come to be known whenever I visit there. I have never laughed so hard, sweat so much, or eaten so little. Well, unless you count Smarties as food.
It was great having my baby sister Lucy Morey there with her own booth:


(Hot Scott Booth )

(My sisters Laura, Lucy and me in Lucy's booth.)



"Hot Scott Designs" which is a hip, trendy brand new BOY'S pattern design company, soon to be fabrics as well, and my "older" sister Laura Aston, who manned my booth with me, and was an incredible help and support to me from beginning to end. AND of course my wonderful funny niece Chelsea of Pink Fig patterns (see photo below) was there to inspire us all with her awesome girly pattern designs. Lucy and Chelsea each brought their best buddies along to help them with their booths and we all shared a hotel, rental car, U-haul, candy bowls, and lots of laughs over the course of the 5 days we were together.



Pink Fig's girly booth!


This is Heidi Porth of QuiltHome.com. They have a fabulous online shop with a huge selection, for all of your fabric and pattern needs!
Enough of the quickies.
I promise to show you lots of great eye candy in the form of booths, fabrics, accessories and familiar faces. First I have to find my camera! (Soooo typical)

Oh, and......THE CONTEST HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED!
I will be informing you of the winners shortly!

I was just thinking...It's time for a giveaway!

Don't you think? I mean it's been a while. I've been neglecting.
Well, no more!

Let's see...what would be nice? I'm thinking... something to celebrate the newness of "Eden"; something that you can't buy anywhere till Spring.

How about a "Jelly Roll" and a "Layer Cake" cut from "Eden" fabrics and a couple of my new patterns??



Now if you don't know what a jelly roll is, let me explain. Its a 2.5" wide by 44" long cut of every fabric in the Eden line, plus a couple extras thrown in for good measure, all rolled up like a sweet roll, or a jellyroll if you will, and tied up in a bow.
The great thing about jellyrolls is you can make cool things with them, like bags and quilts and strip work baby skirts... AND you get to have a little sample of all of the fabrics in a collection without having to by a lot of yardage.

A Layer Cake is similar, but instead you get a 10" square of each of the fabrics, doubles of some, so you can make other cool things! My Halle Rose baby Blanket Pattern is made from Layer Cakes. Maybe I'll throw that in too!
The two newest patterns will be in the gift box too, so you can try them out before anyone else gets to! As I'm writing this, I don't even have them back from the printer yet...so let's just hope they come in a timely fashion!

The prizes will be given to the person whose name is drawn from the comment pool. You must leave a comment, (hopefully a nice one), and post a link to the contest on your blog if you have one. This will give you 5 extra entries. (If you don't have a blog, don't dismay...you still get an entry into the contest.) If you want even more chances to win, tell me what you would make with a jelly roll or a layer cake if you had one. I'll give you 5 more entries for that.

So there you have it... Good Luck!



Oh, and one more thing...Sometimes those fortune cookies you get with Chinese food are a crock of, well you know. But sometimes they actually have hidden truths, or not so hidden truths. Sometimes they actually come true, but so far not for me.
But I really, REALLY liked the one I got last night, and thought I'd share it with all of you, for some good karma or something. (Is that how you spell Karma???) Anyway...it can apply to all of us through the magic of Blogworld. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Thanks a million for all of your awesome comments/ideas/compliments/creativity!

The contest will go on while I am away at market.
My two new patterns are here...available for order on my right sidebar. (If the link doesn't show the new patterns yet, just hang on a sec...they'll be there any minute!) Just think of all the cute pillows and bedding you could make for yourself, or for loved ones!