SHE FINALLY DID IT! (sort of)

I've been after my sister Bonnie to start a blog and this weekend was the perfect time. My hubby is away on Dad's Weekend at OSU so she came up for a visit and a creative get together. She's having a little trouble with her lap top so the only picture to add to her blog was one of mine : ) She'll have to work on it when she gets home. Congrats Bon! Welcome to the blog age.

GARDEN FLIGHT BLOCK FOR QUILTMAKER

This is my block featured in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks! I wanted to include embroidery, no surprise, but I also wanted to challenge myself with some piecing. My sewing skills aren't up to par with many of you out there and sitting at a sewing machine isn't a relaxing treat for me, but I keep plugging away and it is getting easier. I think part of my problem is I don't have a type A personality (close is good enough when it comes to corners matching up right?) I'm more like a P or T, and that's just fine with me. I love, love, love playing around with designs and blocks on my computer, but figuring out how to actually make it all go together just makes my head hurt! If someone tells me about a nifty new product to make piecing easier I'm all for it! The nifty tool I used on this block was a special ruler for making Flying Geese and it really was fantastic! It is called "Fit to be Geese" and it's made by Open Gate. Monique Dillard, the Open Gate designer, also has a block in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. She's a sweetie!

I was asked if my mom was a quilter. Yes, she is an accomplished quilter. We grew up surrounded by quilts going back several generations. I always had a great appreciation for them and I also appreciated how much time and talent went into each one. We grew up sewing our own clothes too and I DID NOT have a great appreciation for that! The thought of sewing in a sleeve still makes me break out in a cold sweat.

QUILTMAKER'S 100 BLOCK WINNER!

Thank you everyone that left a comment! The winner of the free publication is SewLindAnn! If you would kindly e-mail your mailing address to me at kschmitz785@comcast.net I'll make sure it gets to you.

QUILTMAKER 100 BLOCKS!

I'm very excited about being one of the 100 designers asked to design a special block for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks publication! This is a fantastic magazine loaded with creative blocks from 100 designers including my sister Bonnie Sullivan of All Through The Night. Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore! Look for 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers in your local quilt shop, or purchase it at quiltmaker.com/100blocks.”

If you would like to win a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks issue, just leave a comment with your name and mailing address, I'll randomly pick a winner Thursday the 12th at 12pm pacific. Check back on Friday to see my block and the inspiration behind it!

CHALKBOARD DOODLE

CHALKBOARD DOODLE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

AND THE WINNER IS....

www.Random.org picked the winner and it is the 21st person who left a comment! Congratulations Leisa T. Wiggley! Here is a painting to add to your crow collection. I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you everyone who left such kind words! Oh my goodness, reading these sure made my weekend! I'm digging around in my studio looking for other things to pass along!

(Leisa, please send your mailing address to me at kschmitz785@comcast.net so I can contact you. Thanks!)

WIN A PAINTING!

During the Houston Market I ran a promotion giving away three of my original watercolor paintings. It was a great success and I happily gave two of the paintings to a couple of wonderful ladies. The third little painting, however, did not find a home so........I want to give it to someone now! It measures 7" x 10" and is not framed. Starting today and ending Monday the 19th, at 5:00pm, anyone who leaves a comment, with your full name, on this post will be entered to win. A random drawing will determine the new home for the blackbirds. Hope you like it!
Kathy

Tippi

Now THIS is a Barbie! I've never seen a Tippi Hedron Barbie before! Thank you for sharing her Colleen! (I need your e-mail so I can thank you properly)

Heading Home from Houston

Another Quilt Market has come and gone! I so enjoy seeing friends and visiting. My booth was between the very talented ladies of Blackbird Designs and Pieces from my Heart. It's tough to compete with their booths, they both have won awards for their displays. The theme for my booth this year was birds and I may have gone a little overboard, someone made a comment about Tippi Hedren. When I get home and unpacked, I'll add some other pictures I took at market, but for now here are a couple of shots of my tribute to Hitchcock.

This is my FAVORITE way to trace an embroidery pattern onto cloth. It works slick as a whistle! (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

ART & SOUL

I discovered Art & Soul last night. I don't know why I didn't know about this earlier! This one was in Portland and the vendor's show was last night. There were finished pieces and artwork and every kind of ephemera you could ever need or want. Next year I'll be better prepared and I'll sign up for some of the classes. Just to make you drool a little I took a few pictures. I also made some great purchases, all without any buyer's remorse. My FAVORITE purchase is THE necklace. Yes, it requires a capital THE in front of it. I adore it.

BOSTON AND BAR HARBOR

Somewhere in Maine on our way back to Boston

Steve and I at Acadia National Park

The fountain in the center of town in Bar Harbor Maine

Steve and I had a fun trip back east to look at the fall leaves and just do a little exploring. We were a little early for the full colorful display of leaves, but it was still beautiful. We drove from Boston up to Bar Harbor and got in after dark. It was a sweet little, quiet town, with a lovely little park in the center. When I decided to check out the town in day light the next morning I was greeted with 4,000 tourists from the 2 cruise ships I didn't see in the dark of the bay the night before. So we decided to take that opportunity to skip town and head up to Acadia National Park - lovely, lovely, lovely! The people in Boston and Maine were wonderful and the LOBSTER was great!
I hope you don't mind me sharing a few vacation photos. I'm having fun with them in Photoshop if you can't tell!

CHALKBOARD DOODLE

TO MARKET TO MARKET...

I'm putting together sample packs of my new embroidery patterns (see below) for the International Quilt Market (October in Houston) and I thought I would take a little idea from Minick and Simpson and add an incentive for shop owners to buy the sample packs so......each pack has a number between 1-100. EACH morning of the show I'll draw a number and give away one of the original watercolor paintings above. Are you going to Market? Sample Spree? Come by and pick up a sample pack of the new patterns and a chance to win a painting. small print - need not be present at time of drawing to win, just stop by the booth with the winning number anytime during the show!

YIPPEE SKIPPY!!!!

I've been stitching like crazy and I have 8 new patterns ready to go! I've just added them to my Etsy Shop and my website kathyschmitz.com so check them out. I've also added pictures here to wet your whistle! Hope you like them!

TIME FLIES!

Holy Moly time does fly!!! I have been super busy getting patterns ready for the upcoming Quilt Market in Houston. I'll finish one and I know I should stop, but then I have an idea for another pattern and I think, "well...just one more". However, as much as I love to do the embroidery, I sometimes forget how long it takes to actually write up the directions and get everything print ready. I'm really excited to be using some wonderful floss by Weeks Dye Works. Yummy colors! I'm expanding my horizons and using some color in a couple of patterns. I'm hoping to have all the new patterns up on my website by the end of the month - I'm crossing my fingers!

I love getting photos from people who have stitched up one of my patterns. I met Kathleen at a class and she was kind enough to share some of her finished pieces and I wanted to share one with you. Thanks Kathleen!
On another note.....
I have a question I want to throw out there -
My sister, Bonnie, and I are tinkering around with the idea of putting on a retreat. If you don't know, my sister Bonnie is Bonnie Sullivan of All Through the Night. Yes, very talented. We've actually been talking about it for a couple of years, but we are at a point now where we are looking at our calendars and locations to make this happen. I would love to hear feedback on what you like, didn't like, wish for, etc from any retreats you have been on. Do you like the room and board to be included or would you rather pick your own place to stay and just pay for the classes alone. Do you like the Oregon Coast, Sellwood antique district in Portland....any ideas?
Thank you for letting me pick your brains!
Ta,
Kathy

SUNRIVER

It's time for the Schmitz family reunion! We do this every year and every year it's a whole lot of fun. Throughout the years (Steve and I have been married almost 25 years) I've heard all the stories about him and his siblings growing up. We decided to make a board game for his siblings and parents to play this year. After we collected all the little jokes and stories, my most talented Brother-in-Law Tal, developed them into humurous little rhymes. I made up playing cards with the rhymes and the markers are made using their faces. The handsome young man at the finish line is a college picture of Steve. Here are a few of the rhyms -

Thunder while camping,
can give kids a fright,
so who packed them up,
and drove off in the night?
ANSWER: Steve's brother Bob. I remember that camping trip and the storm was a duzy!

Who had the gear,
around the head,
which made a nice smile,
when going to bed?
ANSWER: Steve's sister Patti

Which of the kids,
do you suppose,
got a big raisin
stuck up a nose?
ANSWER: Patti....

An army man went,
a place most would fear,
who stuck him in
whose delicate ear?
ANSWER: Steve stuck it in Bob's ear

So that gives you a little flavor of the game. I think it will be fun for them all to remember this Schmitz family lore!

COOOOOOOL CHALKBOARD DOODLE

9:00am and it's almost 90. Yesterday was 106 and today will be hotter. My sweet little brick house is now a brick oven and I could become a pizza chef. The quaint old boiler that keeps it toasty in the winter means there is no duct work. Not duct work.....no AC. I'm not a happy camper and Zippy the cat isn't so zippy these days. I decided I needed to draw something COLD today. It actually made me feel a little better with each snowflake added. Hope you like it!

CHALKBOARD DOODLE

It is hot. It is really hot. Tomorrow it will be even hotter. Did I mention it is hot? Oregon shouldn't get this hot. It's really hot.