Day 7 - of 100 days of quilts


Settlers Crossing - American Patchwork & Quilting 1999

Settlers Crossing was our very first published quilt. Only our close friends know the story behind this quilt.

Back in 1998, Cori and I designed countless quilts on the computer using our Electric Quilt program. Well, one day we got a little gutsy, and printed out 6 of our favorite quilt designs, and sent them to APQ. And we told NO ONE that we did this. Not even my mother. And we didn't hear back from anyone, so we thought that it would just be our little secret that we had even tried to get a quilt published.

Five months later -out of the blue - a contract shows up in the mail for the Settlers Crossing quilt. We were shocked! And we were a little unprepared. What we did not tell the magazine was that the quilt didn't really exist...it was just a print out from the computer. So when a contract showed up, we pieced a quilt really fast!

I can't remember the timeline that we had, but obviously there was enough time that the staff at my mother's quilt shop hand quilted this project. I like how my mother marked it, making almost a circle around the one block, and echoing the border triangles up into the quilt.

Cori and I have learnt a lot about quilt magazines, and we have talked about writing out some of this knowledge, and putting it on our website, or along side of our blog. When this happens, we will let you know.

The hardest part of doing a published quilt is coming up with the name. (Try naming all of your quilts, and you will understand) But the best part is seeing how they will photograph your quilt. This is the photo that appeared in the magazine, and they had an awesome set that made our quilt look great.

-myra

Sending out a challenge

We have had some comments about How lucky we are to have 100 (plus) quilts. I think that you would be VERY surpised how many quilts that you may have in your own collection. Or for some of us, how many quilts we have given away! I tried to take pictures of all of the gifts I made but I think I have fallen behind.

Start a blog today. Don't necessarily start a blog because you want others to see, but as a gallery for YOU, and keep track of all those beautiful quilts! OH and I am sure there are some of us out there that would love to see and be inspired too!

That's my little "tip" of the day...thanks for listening.

~cori

Day 6 - of 100 days of quilts

Paint the Barn Red

This is one of our earliest projects. Way back in 1998 we came up with this simple two block quilt. It was a basic quilt top, but we thought we would be clever, and add a small pieced border around the very outer edge. We had never seen anyone do this before, and we thought that we had come up with a neat idea. Well, we learnt a really important lesson.

When you piece the center of a project, and your seam allowance is slightly thick or thin of a true 1/4", it will be OK. You add your normal borders, and then the quilt will stay flat. However, if you ever decide to add piecing to the outer edge - especially little piecing, you must be very exact in your seam allowance. There are 40 little 1" half squares in the final border. If you are off your seam allowance by even a 1/16", it will mean that this pieced border will end up being 2 1/2" longer than it should be. And when you try to add this to the quilt, you will have a wavy edge. It is also a lot harder to quilt and bind a project that has a pieced edge.

So, we learnt a few lessons with this piece, and we have never done a final border like this since.

-myra

p.s This quilt is also HAND quilted - I guess I had more time back then :) ~cori

Day 5 - of 100 days of quilts

Websters' Tulips - from 'Four Season's of quilts'

The weather up here is Canada is so mild and warm, that it feels like spring. It was 4 degrees outside today, and it feels wonderful! So the great weather has inspired me to talk about this quilt today. It is called Websters Tulips, and it was on the cover of our 4th book.

This has always been one of my favorites. The honest truth is that I have never been inspired by many past quilt designers - except one. Marie Webster was an American quilt designer who had a quilt pattern business at the beginning of the 1900's. When ever I would come up with a new design, I would look back in my history books, and find out that Marie Webster did it 100 before me. So, several years ago, I decided I was going to try to design a quilt that would pass as an original Webster. To look like one of hers, the quilt would have to be applique, with one flower as the theme, and when all the blocks were joined together, they would need to make a secondary design. So based on those idea's, we came up with this quilt...and we named it in her honor.

The basis of the quilt is only one simple block, with a curved tulip appliqued on it. When joined together, the blocks forms the circular shape. There is also an alternative layout - but to see that, you will have to track down a copy of our book.

Of course, the design was only the first part of this great project. As you can see in the picture, it really is the hand quilting that makes this piece shine. This is an example of taking your time, and making a project that you will truly love, and that family members will fight over.

(a hidden truth is that this is a design that publishers and editors do not really want to see, because it is traditional, it has applique, and it is time intensive. But every once in a while, we push them to publish a quilt like this, because even though the vast majority of quilters will never make it - we know there is ONE person out there somewhere who will.)

-myra

Week-end Posting

We may not be posting our "100 days of quilts" on week-ends so I thought that I would post something a little off topic! We have told you about our Retreats before, but this year Myra and I gave a special gift, that I think everyone enjoyed. On the first evening of the retreat we took this group picture and Myra and I ran over to Wal-Mart and got a 5 x 7 color photo on a canvas for everyone. So many of the retreaters got everyone to sign their canvas. I encouraged everyone to emblish their pictures and this is what Karen W. did with her photo. She made this little "quilt" out of her photo and scraps of Cape Cod fabrics! So cute.

You can be apart of our next retreat - May 2-4th in Portage La Prairie MB.

~cori

Day 4 - of 100 days of quilts

Mom's program - table squares























Today we picked a project to show that only a few local women have ever seen. For the past few years, Cori would design a small project to teach at a local Church for their Mom's Morning Out program. The women taking the class were all new to quilting, and would do an amazing job on their little project. They would all start out saying 'Oh no - I can't do that', but by the second class, they would be hooked on applique, and would love it! This class also demonstrates something that all quilt shops should understand. Have a beginner class that has a project that is cute and pretty, and the students will enjoy it, and they will finish it. Many times 'beginner quilt classes' have projects that are too basic, and boring. Give the students a challenge, and most of all, give them a quilt that is something they will be proud to show others. Never underestimate the determination of a new quilter. If they love their project, they will finish it. All of the women who have ever taken this class with Cori, finished their little quilts, and were proud of their new accomplishment.
-myra

Day 3 - of 100 days of quilts

Christmas Goose - Four Season's of Quilts

Yes - sometimes we even do traditional quilts! This quilt was first seen in our fourth book "Four Season's of Quilts". During this book, we were becoming more daring in our color choices, and really moving outside of our comfort zone. All of the colors of the quilt are really safe choices, but using a strong green color for the background to the blocks was a big step for us. Now we can look back and smile, and see how far we have come in the past few years.

Day 2 - of 100 days of quilts


Paisley Craze - Quilts and more - Bohemian Rhapsody

Paisley Craze is an approximately 40" x 40" table square. This quilt was originally published in Quilts & More in the summer of 2007. As you can tell, this isn't the magazine photo, instead we chose this picture which was taken at our local quilt show. We chose it because you can see the AMAZING quilting of this piece. The work was done by a quilter in Reno NV, who we have never met - but who has done work for RJR. Because the center is largely open, it invites you to be creative with your quilting, and do something dramatic. We absolutely love the large feather motif that the quilter used. It is stunning, and yet unexpected. Who would of thought to do something as traditional as a feather motif in the middle of a simplistic table square. We love getting a project back from the quilter, opening it up, and having our sock knocked off.

-myra

It's Here!

Day 1 - of 100 days of Quilts



Love Joy Peace Retreat '06 quilt

Here is the first quilt of many yet to come! While gathering photo's of our quilts, we have had a long walk down memory lane. And we stuggled with which quilt we should post first. We don't want to show you the quilts from our earliest work to our latest - that would be too dull. So we have decided to surprise you every day.

This is clearly a favorite, and it has not been seen by many people. It is Cori's own personal quilt that she made using our Love Joy Peace fabric line. It was a new version of a sampler, and we taught this quilt as our retreat project back in 2006. So only those students who attended the class have ever received this pattern. From time to time we get asked if we will ever release it as a full pattern to the public...and if you catch us on the right day, we just might decide to do that.

~myra

p.s it may just depend on how many comments we get...wink,wink ~cori

It's coming!!!!




















We can finally let this news out of the bag. The 100 days of quilts are starting January 1st. So tell your neighbours, and tell your friends, we will be posting a quilt everyday for 100 days. We have an enormous quilt collection, that is rarely seen by the public, but through our blog, we will be sharing many of these quilts with you. Besides, when you come to a quilting blog, you don't want to hear about what I'm watching on TV, you want to see quilts!

And you will want to keep watching everyday, because there may be a break or two in between some of the days to give away large piles of fabric!

Cori & Myra

MERRY CHRISTMAS.



...but the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord..."
Luke 2: 10& 11

We wish you all a very merry, and Blessed Christmas season.

-Myra & Cori

and the WINNER is...

The entries came in by the dozens per day, and today is the day - December 24th, as promised!

The patterns are ready to go.

And my little helper was more than willing to pick the winning ticket...
(complete with Santa hat!)

and now the winner is being informed of her good fortune!!

But for those of you who didn't win this time...there will be two more BIG draws happening in February and March. Can you guess what the significance of those months might be? I would love to hear your guesses...

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!
~cori

p.s don't forget the 100 days of quilts - coming soon! We can hardly wait.

Keeping up with Cori

Inspired by Cori and her creative Christmas gifts, (and because I couldn't find anything in the stores) I decided to make up some cute little girl aprons for my 3 nieces. I thought I could share this since all of my nieces are under the age of 7, and I know they won't be reading my blog.




















I went to my huge stash to find the right combination of pink and purple, but as it turnes out, the best choices were found in our Cape Cod line. I also personalized a pocket on each apron with their initial.


This is my little girl, who was getting a little frustrated as I continually ran after her to check for measurments. (Note to mothers: remove all pins before fitting an apron on a little girl)

And it is now time to wrap these final gifts, and tuck my little 4 year old into bed, because in the morning she will be 5.

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone.

-myra

Barbies...

Oh how I loved my barbie dolls when I was my daughters age! Every Christmas I got a new one. This year my husband and I tag-teamed on making some gifts for the kids. He made this bed to fit in the loft of our daughters barbie house and I just could not resist in making some bedding for it! This was such a quick and FUN project and I used our Cape Cod fabrics to boot - how cute...designer bedding for Barbie!! This is bringing back memories of the things I concocted for my barbies. I can hardly wait to give it to her.

~cori

AAAAHHHHHH!

This is so exciting (for me anyway). I hope that this does not just seem to you like ramblings. I LOVE getting emails, especially from all of you! It started the other day when we sent out our newsletter and began this contest. What a FABULOUS response we have had. The emails with kind words have been enlightening, that's for sure. Just so you know, right now my heart is pumping and I just don't know where to start!!!

Ok...We have received so many warm and kind words and you can't possibly know how VERY MUCH those do mean, they get read and re-read and at times like these (i will explain a little later) they are what keep us going - no kidding. This week I heard from a young lady in OUR OWN community that loves our quilts, she is expecting her first child and wants to make two of our quilts - we are going to customize one of our existing patterns for her and who knew she quilted?? How exciting is that? Then there is this young mom who wants to make our quilts to sell on her website, her email this morning just warmed my heart. (and by the way if any of you are thinking, hay I would like to make their quilts to sell....please ask us for permission, like this lady did) And then another friend (wink, wink - she will know who I am talking about "surprise") had this amazing message for us. She just reminded us that we need to follow of heart and go for it!

In one of my previous posts I talked about the new year and all the things we have to look forward to . This industry is a very difficult one right now. You all have so many choices when it comes to fabrics and patterns and we don't take any of our customers for granted. Every sale we make is very important in more ways than one. We are continuously proposing different ideas to magazines and RJR and every one seems to be stuck in their own box - EXCEPT us we want nothing to do with being put into one particular category. We have been this way from the start of our career. All of our books have different techniques and styles and to us who wants to always see the same thing from a designer - after all we are supposed to be the creative ones - right? Then there is this new group in the fabric industry, well known names which I should not name by name, but is oh so tempting. I know you will know who I am referring to. They are the "young -ones" designing ultra modern fabrics - BUT they are not quilters!! They make crafts and bags and garments and the odd quilt that honestly doesn't make that much sense. I do like those fabrics, don't get me wrong, but they are not doing them justice in the quilting industry.

What do we know.... Myra and I were quilt designers before we did fabric. We design our fabrics for a purpose, they all work together, there are darks, mediums and lights a lead print and then the complimentary prints in different scales. Why do we do this ? So your quilt has dimension, so you have choices. We want you to make our patterns, yes, but we also want you to create your own feeling using our fabrics. This is were the line "inspired by possiblities" comes from. There are so many options! There you have it - inside the minds....

THANKS for all the emails we have been sent this year, they encourage us to go on, to design quilts for you, to be our own and stay true to what we know for sure....we love designing!! Thank you for helping us to be better designers and people too. It means SO MUCH.

with the utmost sincerity,

cori

It is the season.
These are the pictures that were supposed to go with the "tis the season" post below. For some reason they didn't make it the first time. So here they are!

c

A Fresh look

Looking ahead into the new year is something that is exciting isn't it? I am not a big resolution maker but I do like to make a list (surprise, surprise) of things that I hope to accomplish in the new year. This picture reminds me of looking ahead and then I realized that there are some things that we would like to share with you. Things that you can look forward to in the new year!

1. We are going to start the "100 days of quilts" (I bet you are wondering what this is...you will have to wait a little longer)

2. Cape Cod fabrics and projects appearing in Fon's and Porter, American Patchwork & Quilting, and Quilts and more.

3. Completly kids fabric collection and Patterns

4. Our first Spring Retreat

5. Completely kids projects appearing in our favorite magazines!

6. A new look for our web site (probably closer to the end of '08)

7. Personal appearances at quilt shows & classes

8. Some cool give a ways on our blog (February & March, I will explain the significance of those
months next time)

9. New pattern releases

10. Continuation of our e-newsletter!

on that note...we recently sent out our December newsletter and we made a few exciting announcements that I wanted to share with our blog audience. We announced our Spring retreat sign up has started it is over half full ALREADY and limited space available, don't delay. If you are interested email info@bluemeadowdesigns.com and I can email you a package or you can wait until our webmaster gets in up on the web site http://www.bluemeadowdesigns.com/. The other exciting thing was the contest for our e-newletter members. We are making a draw on December 24th (for e-newsletter scribers ONLY!) for our complete pattern collection 14 patterns, totaling a value of $111.86!!!! It's worth signing up for :)

We haven't forgotten about our blog friends...we will have some goodies for you very soon.

Cori

It is the season

When you have young children as Myra and I do December is spent running around from Christmas concert to christmas concert, helping out a school with murals, making gingerbread houses and then there is the family gatherings as well as the decorating, shopping and baking. It is very easy to loose sight of why we celebrate this season. It was so cute when my son's kindergarten class put on a little play, re-telling the Christmas story from the inn keepers perspective. Don't the kids tell it best? And there was my daughters concert filled with music of all kinds.

I hope that you can spend the Christmas season with the people you love AND...I hope you have the chance to attend a christmas concert too!

celebrating our Saviors birth,

cori

Back to the Ocean

Did I find my way back to the ocean? Nope, I just worked my way back to the Ocean Waves project that is lurking in my studio. (In case you don't realize where we live - we are geographically as far away from any ocean as you can get)

But many of you have been asking about this project, and now that I have cleared up the 'technical difficulty' I can show you the progress.

I wasn't able to piece the Ocean Waves quilt with our Cape Cod fabric line, but it was a quilt that I really, really, really wanted to make. So I decided to make it using fabric from my stash, and donate the top to the MCC quilt room in Ephrata, Pa.

I dug through my gi-normous stash, and picked out 12 pink and green prints. And I decided that I wanted the background to be a mix of ivory and white prints. Here's the best part! In my stash, I had a collection of 12" strips of ivory and white that I had never used. My actual intent of those fabrics was to make a wedding quilt for myself. Why did that never happen? Because I had so many idea's that I could never decide on a final quilt layout! So these fabrics have been patiently sitting in my stash for 10 YEARS! But since they are good quality cotton, they look as good today, as they did a decade ago when I first bought them.

And have you ever noticed that when you use up a fabric out of your stash, it releases a little of your pent up guilt, and you are free to go out and buy more fabric? Anyway, on to the instructions.

I was a little leary of using the 'grid' method in constructing the blocks. When I first tried it years ago, I over gridded, and over sewed those grids, and the result was a handful of tiny-tiny half square triangles. I decided that I would never teach this method, because if you don't have both eyes on the project, you can make a mistake.



Here you can see how you layer a 12" piece of print and a 12" piece of background, with the right sides facing each other. You only need to mark the grid on the back of one of the fabrics.

(Yes mother, I do realize that I didn't press my fabric before marking my grid and sewing!)



You simply sew on each side of the diagonal lines. DO NOT sew on each side of the horizontal and vertical lines...trust me...this would be a mistake.

Once you have sewn on each side of the diagonal lines, you can cut the blocks apart, by cutting along all of the drawn lines, the horizontal, the vertical, and the diagonal lines.

This method is so quick and easy that in a very short time, you will have all of the half square triangles that you need.

I must admit, years ago I probably would have cut all of the 1152 triangles, and joined them up one at a time, but now that I have gotten over my fear of the grid method, I will never go back.

I hope to finish up the 48 blocks before the end of the year, and then decide what to do with the borders. I will post a picture of the finished quilt top before I send it away.

And this is the project that I made up years ago from that handful of tiny-tiny half square triangles. I refused to admit that I had made an error in my execution of the grid method, so I simply created this small table center from that mess, and I named it 'I don't make mistakes'

-myra

So what did you do last night?


Me? Well my husband and I had the ultimate 'date-night'! We got a call offering us tickets for the 12th row - center stage for the Bonjovi concert. This concert was sold out in under 10 minutes, and tickets were rare, so when we got the chance to be there - we took it. It was completly unbelievable! How did we get tickets? Well that will always be my little secret. (only my aunt Esther could guess the source) So the whole night rocked - literally. I could rant about it for hours, but I will keep my insights brief and to the point.

The songs obviously took me back to my highschool days, when life was adventurous and carefree. We chose our own path, and didn't expect anyone to follow. For me, the concert physically represented what Cori and I have been talking about lately. We love design, and when we let ourselves go - we come up with amazing, and dynamic concepts that totally rock. The problem is, we have been told for the past decade that these designs don't work. We have been told that they can't be published in traditonal formats (and they really can't) and it has been gently suggested that it is not what quilters want. Cori and I have always listened, and taken this advice to heart. But now, we are really wanting to go in a new direction. I think this is an itch that we just need to scratch. So in the new year, you will be seeing some very different things from us. It means that we won't be doing a book, and we won't be doing as much magazine work, and that is a little scary, but right now I think we want to explore this new path.

So for me, I am going to go dust off my black leather jacket, and head down to the design board. Who know's where last night's inspiration will lead.

-myra

The farewell....

I am sorry that I have fallen a little behind in telling you about the last days at the Bernina retreat. Well, they say a picture is worth 1000 words. And for those of you who have been asking, I can now tell you everyone who was there. They hosted designers like Charlotte Warr Anderson, Elinor Peace Bailey, and her daughter-in-law Heather Bailey, Marian Fons, John Flynn, Kaye England (she's a riot), Linda Lee, and Yvonne Porcella. Of course there were many others, but those would be the most recognizable names.

It was a busy weekend, and traveling home through the stormy weather just made the trip feel very long. But now that we are safely tucked back home in our snow covered houses, we will have plenty of time to get back to what we love best. Drawing, designing, and creating.

Talk to ya soon.
-myra

"Follow your bliss"
What a wonderful quote. Myra and I were sent matching bookmarks from a friend/customer with a wonderful note. The quote on the bookmark is "follow your bliss". Thanks Marcy for the early christmas gift!

So what is your biss? Are you following it? I had to think about it abit, but I have followed my dream of being a business woman. I worked with my father in our family clothing business from the age of 15yrs until 26 yrs. I loved it! Being a buyer, display maker and putting outfits and wardrobes together for our customers. Who knew that it would lead me into the world of quilting though! Following your bliss is not always blissful though. Over the last 10ish years we have worked very hard pursuing our path in this industry. Our path has taken many turns and probably always will. But CHEERS to "following your bliss".

My other "bliss" is my family! I always wanted to be a wife and mother and now I have the priviledge of doing that "job" too.

Think about it today...your "bliss".

Be thankful.
~cori

Welcome to the Bernina Teachers Reunion - Chicago

Here is a glimpse into our weekend at Bernina. This group is made up of Mentors and Mentees - it was the criteria this year, in order for the Mentor's to attend the reunion they had to invite a person, active in the sewing/quilting industry and between the ages of 20-40 years of age. Myra and I were invited by Nancy and Sharon!

Myra showing off her goody bag. Not only do they feed you well, and take care of your every need - but they also leave you gift bags with really cool shwag.

Sharon & Cori working one of the days projects. And Sharon is hilarious! Even without all the wine! You might not know her name, but Sharon has invented a lot of cool products that you probably use. She has produced all of the EZ rules, and other notions for Wrights. She has also invented a great circle cutting gadget that she has promised to send me to use for an upcoming project.

One more day to go! We will let you know how tomorrow goes.

C & M

A note from Grand Forks International Airport

Hello everyone and happy winter. It is beginning to storm here in Grand forks. Myra and I are sitting in the airport waiting on our flight to arrive from MN. It is only delayed 30 min. which is amazing, since it is very WHITE here right now! Our trip in was good and accident free, lets home the rest of the trip goes smoothly too :)

There is a Colorado low coming in this weekend and I hope by the time we come back the roads are in good shape.

Now let me give you a glimpse into GFK. Not the largest airport (hahahahha) There are four employees at the check in counter and about three in securit oh AND not one outlet on the parking lot to plug in your car. I CAN'T believe that in North Dakota, "cold and snow capital" and there is no plug in on the parking lot. Let's hope the car starts!!

Oh well..just thought we would say HELLO as we are on our travels.

Stay warm,

C & M

p.s and on our drive to Grand Forks, we had a great idea for our blog in the new year...