SHOW AND TELL

Every time I go in a quilt store I participate in a unique event, SHOW AND TELL. Either I have brought in a quilt to show, or someone else has a quilt to show, or someone needs to pick out fabric for a new project and wants everyone to tell them what to pick.

My step daughter, Mykee, wanted to make a Bungalow Bag. She went to her local quilt store, showed them the pattern and they proceeded to help her pick fabrics. Now for the SHOW part. Here is her finished Bungalow Bag. The handles were rope that she wrapped fabric around. Great Free Spirit fabric, too.

While I am SHOWING, here is another great Bungalow Bag from my friend Hiedi at Gardner's Quilt and Sew. She took leftover strips of fabric, braided them together, then secured them to the bag. Love this idea.

I am almost finished with a new Bungalow Bag. Just working on the handles. Love this fabric.

Now to TELL, we had an email from Jayme Nielsen who said that our pattern, GARDEN PARTY, had inspired her. She liked it so much, she decided to make it. The special part, it was the first quilt she has ever made. It is so amazing to think that we inspired such creativity. She sent us this picture. Thanks Jayme.

More good news. It only snowed 3 days last week, and it didn't stick. This week is supposed to be in the 70's. While this would be a little cool in Orlando, in Utah, everyone is in flip flops and shorts. I will stick with jeans and a sweatshirt until it hits the 90's.

I don't usually take pictures of food, but I made a pie for Easter Dinner that came out sooooo pretty. The best part of this pie. SUGAR FREE. Let us know if you want the recipe.

Now, for the best show and tell. Three more quilts are ready to be quilted. (As you may know, we are in crazy mode for market.) Two are the same pattern, one for a boy and one for a girl. What you may not know is Janice's oldest daughter had her third baby this month. His name is Malcom. My oldest son and his wife will be having my first grandbaby girl on Wednesday. Her name will be Genevieve. That should explain the monograms. THE QUILTS HAVE NO NAMES YET, WE WOULD LOVE SUGGESTIONS. The best part of these two quilts is that they are EASY, EASY, EASY. It takes about 2 hours to put together. Pattern will be ready soon.

Last, but not least. I think this is my new favorite. No name, yet. Suggestions? This one is also pretty easy and uses 20 fat quarters. Just pick your favorites.

So, we should have four more quilts done this week. We are hoping to have 12 new patterns by the time market comes. Any volunteers for binding?

Let us know is you have any suggestions for quilt names? Remember the "Beatles" theme.

That's it for now. So much to SHOW, so much to TELL, that even I am tired.

Thanks for reading. Let us know what you think.

Janice and Marcea

THE SUN IS SHINING

April 5th and it is NOT SNOWING. It has snowed, yes, that cold white stuff 10 out of the last 14 days. A couple more pictures, I think the last of the season. I thought it was funny how the little bulb flowers pushed right through the snow.

It is supposed to be 90 degrees today in Orlando, where Janice lives. Janice is on here way to Ohio, where her oldest daughter will be giving birth to her third child today or tomorrow. It's a boy. Good luck Carolee. I am hoping these are the last of the snow pictures this season, but they were so beautiful, I just had to share.

Nothing could chase away the snow better than a sunny ABBEY BAG. Everytime I find a new fabric collection I love, I make an ABBEY BAG. This one is my favorite yet, made out of Moda's Wonderland.

This has been a busy couple of weeks. We have teamed up with STUDIO E FABRICS, www.studioefabrics.com to do some quilts for Spring Market. Their booth was down the way from ours at Fall Market and we fell in love with their fabrics. Beautiful, sophisticated, and a touch of whimsy, just our style. The first quilt is done, actually, it is a remake of Lady Madonna. Studio E has not one, but TWO black and white fabric collections and we combined those with a bright apple green. This will be hanging in their booth in Pittsburg. We will also be doing one with black and white and red for our booth. They are just stunning. We are doing three more quilts for Studio E. We will keep you updated.

I have been working on and off for several weeks on a new bag design. I started with 3 inch squares from TULA PINK's NEPTUNE collection. I put them together to make a big piece of fabric and then of course, cut it apart again.




Side Note: I have tried to explain "piecing" a quilt before. Think about it. You take big pieces of material, cut them into tiny little pieces, then you sew the little pieces back together to make one big piece of fabric. There are a lot of men who just don't get this concept.


Back to the bag. I put it together, bound it, then didn't like the results, so I took it apart. Finally I have finished it and I love it. It is big and roomy with huge pockets on the inside and the outside. It is 15 inches high and almost 20 inches wide. We have the Abbey Bag, the Bungalow Bag, and now, the


CLARABELLA BAG.















The pattern will be available soon. Tell us what you think and we will let you know when it is ready. Thanks reading.

Janice and Marcea

GLAD ALL OVER

It may have snowed eight more inches yesterday, but it is spring inside with the delivery of our new quilt. Janice worked feverishly to get the quilting done and back to me for the photographs, so without further delay we present: GLAD ALL OVER.




You just can't help but smile when you see this quilt. We used Moda's new fabric line from designer MoMo, called WONDERLAND which delivers into stores this week. It can be made with 77 of your favorite charm squares ( 5" squares) and a background fabric. We feel you just can't go wrong with Ric Rac. Just a hint. We sew it on by machine, outlining both sides, then put in on the quilt machine.



This quilt is fun, fast, and really easy. Choose your favorite method for appliqueing the giant flower petals. I put these on by hand, my favorite method. Janice did a great job on the quilting for these flowers. Check it out.
















This pattern is available for purchase on the website http://www.abbeylanequilts.com/ or give us a call 407-687-8848.

Next is an update on the quilt made from the Anna Maria Horner Fabric. I sewed it together, then didn't like it, so I unpicked the entire thing and put the pieces back together a different way. Now I love it. Janice has it and has started the quilting. There are some really fun techniques used in this quilt and we will tell you more about it when the pattern is done, another week or so.

We would love your comments and suggestions, so let us know what you think. Have a great week.
Janice and Marcea

p.s. if you click on the individual pictures, they will blow up bigger, much easier to see the details.

WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH A NAME

Welll, I can't believe it is already March. Time is speeding by. It did come in like a lamb though, I sure hope it stays that way. A week and a half ago we had another snow storm, 20 new inches on top of 5 or 6 left over from the last storm. I couldn't clean the driveway, because I didn't have anywhere to put the snow. And yes, Janice still sits in Florida complaining because it goes down to 50 degrees at night.

Enough about the weather. LET'S TALK QUILTS. We have pictures to share. Janice has a Christmas Quilt cut out and sitting on the floor. It is missing a couple of peppermint candies and it is going to have some great embellishments on the trees. It is made with Moda's Basic Gray "Figgy Pudding." The fabric will be in stores in June. This will be the only sneak peak. We are debuting this quilt at market. The fabric is beautiful and the design is so festive. We will have completed pattern ready in May.

Next on the floor is the quilt being made out of Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party. I just love this fabric. When it comes to design, you always have to be ready for changes. I started with an idea, I posted pictures a couple of weeks ago for the quilt. I got it all finished this week, and I just wasn't happy with it. I tried all kinds of ideas, and ended up ordering more fabric. I finally decided on the changes and did one block for practice and it still wasn't giving me the look I wanted. So as I have done for the last three weeks, i set it to the side and started working on something else. Then, two nights ago, I was designing on the computer. I had drawn a simple idea that I had had and realized the the Anna Maria quilt would work perfectly. Here is where the fun started. I began unpicking, yes, unpicking the entire quilt and now I am sewing in back together in a different configuration. I basically put the same rows on point and I just love it. It will be finished tomorrow and shipped off to Janice for quilting.

I picked up some beautiful fabric yesterday, Anna Maria Horner again, only from her new home dec line. I grabbed a couple of Kaffe Fassett pieces to go with it. Can we say a new bag. Can't wait to start on that project this week.

Now, for the most important part of this blog. We need help naming a new quilt. I finished it Thursday and it is in transit between Utah and Florida. Janice has the quilting machine ready the minute it gets there. Why the rush. It is out of Moda's MoMo collection "Wonderland" and it will be in the stores this month. It can be made from any collection however. 77 charm squares and a little yardage is all it takes. I took it to one of my local shops before I shipped it and they loved it. Fun, cute and easy. Now, the dilemma, WHAT TO NAME IT.

We would love your imput. Here are the choices:

1- Glad All Over

2 - Clarabella

3 - Mary Jane

4 - Got a Hold on me

So, tell us what you think. We love your opinions. The pattern will be ready to purchase in two weeks.

Have a great week.

Janice and Marcea

WINTER SNOW, SUMMER QUILTS

It just keeps coming down, almost 23 inches of snow this week. I live on the mountainside, but still. I have spent a lot of time shoveling snow. Meanwhile, Janice is in Florida basking in the 80 degree weather. I never minded the snow, in fact I really wanted it when I was vacationing for a week out here. Thought I would take a couple more pictures to show you.

It is white outside, but color is bursting inside. I brought home some AnnaMaria Horner Garden Pary fabric a couple of weeks ago. I just loved it, but just wasnt sure what to do with it. Finally and idea. I start with this stripe,

then some gathering, blocks and so on. It is about half way done and I really like the way it is shaping up.

It should be finished in a day or two. Can't Wait!

Meanwhile Janice has been busy making a couple of Abbey Bags. One of our Favorites "Buggy Barn Quilts" has declared 2009 the Year of the Pin Cushion. They asked us for a sample of the Abbey Bag (pin cushion and scrap bag) to put in their store. We are so excited. We love all their patterns.

We received an email this week asking if we had pictures of the inside of the Bungalow Bag. This has been a great bag to make. Pick a large print and get four coordinating fabrics. We added a great button also. Make it your own. This pattern, the Abbey Bag, and all our quilts are available on our website, http://www.abbeylanequilts.com/

Have a great week. Janice and Marcea

OUR CRAZY LIVES

Hey ya'll. We are back. We have had a very busy holiday season. Let's start at Thanksgiving. Marcea eloped. Yes, you read that correctly. Me and my sweety found a couple of days, hopped a plane to Maui and got married. Most people who know us would say it was about time. We called everyone after the "I Do's" and they were all shocked and excited. I am now, "Mrs. Smith."

Next on the busy Holiday Schedule was Marcea'sfirst of a two part move from Houston to Ogden, Utah. With a 26 foot moving truck and a car in tow we made our way from Houston through tons of snow to Utah. I did get to see snow on the ground in Houston though. I guess it is rare for that to happen in December.

It was nothing, though compared to the snow we get every couple of days in Utah. It is beautiful if you get to sit inside and just look at it, but for this Florida girl it is hard to go out in it. We had 15 inches just yesterday, and to more storms on the way this week.

The move was only the beginning, Marcea's oldest son got married on December 26 in Las Vegas. We drove down through the snow. The day after we got back, Janice and her family drove from Florida to Utah for her oldest son's wedding, January 2 in Salt Lake City. What a crazy week that was. We had people sleeping on every couch and even the floor. Janice headed back to Florida and I headed back to Houston for one more moving truck. Things finally got back on schedule the middle of January.

That brings us to now. Last week, Marcea went visiting the quilt stores in Utah. It was so fun to meet up with everyone, and even funner to find our patterns and projects in the stores. I started in Ogden, at Gardiner's Sew and Quilt. Heidi Miskin poses with the "Bungalow Bag" she made. It is a great store and my new local supplier.

We also met some great ladies at Market. They were from "Material Girls" in Salt Lake City. I had never been to the store, so I made a specail trip to say Hi. They had a beautiful store, so many pretty things, and yes, some of our patterns. The owner's daughter, Shelby Woodraska was happy to pose for a picture. Her mom is a big blogger, so she has had a lot of practice.

My final stop was at one of our very favorite stores. There is a great little shopping area called Gardner's Village in Salt Lake City and tucked in the cute stores in Pine Needles. We were so excited to see our patterns in their store. There was even an Abbey Bag.

Janice and I are busy designing new projects. We have six in the works right now. We will be posting sneak peaks in the next couple of weeks. We would also like to thank everyone who has helped us in our business and those who purchased patterns. We would love to see your finished projects. Email us pictures to info@abbeylanequilts.com and we can post them here. Talk to you soon.

Janice and Marcea

HOME FROM MARKET

Janice just flew home from Houston after spending 10 days here. We worked those 20 hour days getting ready for the market. We had a great time. We met so many new friends and got to touch base with some old friends too. We debuted 10 new patterns. Eight quilts, a new purse, and of course the "ABBEY BAG." The Abbey Bag was a big hit and just as cute as can be. We had them all over our booth. A picture is worth a thousand words, so let me show you the show.

Here is the booth we started with. Not much.

So much stuff, so little space. Janice's daughter Nellie flew in to help us with the show. We couldn't have done it without her help.

We had a 10' x 10' booth, which isn't very big. We started with the floor. It was fun to put together and added a great touch. We also put up some fru fru berries to soften the look.

Each wall represented a different look, but it all seemed to work.

We kept Nellie in
the corner writing
orders. She liked
being there and we
would have been
lost without her.

We had two quilts hanging in Patty Young's booth. Her fabric is beautiful and we loved working with it. Thanks Patty.

One of the highlights of the booth was winning SECOND PLACE for Single Booth decoration. This is a big deal and we were very honored.

So, the website has all the new patterns up and we are in business.
Have a great week and thanks for looking.