Canada VOTES Today!!




















Americans have a few more weeks to decide who will be the next President of the United States - but for us in Canada - Our election day is TODAY!

So VOTE!

We live in one of the greatest countries in the world. And we have the freedom to choose who will lead our country... don't take that for granted. There are many people in the world who do not get that opportunity.

-myra

Talk Tuesday

Q: "Most designers have one specific look, you don't. Is there a reason you design differently?"

A: Thanks for noticing! If you look back on our 6 books, each one is distinctively different. Then there is our selection of 40 plus patterns, they are different too. Most designers choose a single look, this is for branding purposes. Branding is so the consumer will automatically recognize your work without even seeing your name. So, yes we design differently for a reason! We have many different styles, this is so we as well as you don't get bored with our products. Make sense? Yes, sometimes it would be easier to stick to one look, yet we would be very bored by that. There are too many great ideas not to explore them because they don't fit into our box. As designers we like to push ourselves to come up with new and exciting quilts and patterns. The other reason is to keep our customers guessing..."what will bmd come up with next?"

I love your questions, keep them coming. Let us know what some of your favorites styles are.

~cori

Mystery Monday @ Myra's

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!
I hope that you all had a chance to find some fabrics for our little mystery project. And I am very impressed that another Myra, even made a little logo for this adventure on her site. You can find it here at http://myras-tactilepleasuresinfabric.blogspot.com/.

Today, I will give you the instruction on how to cut up the fabric, and next time, I will tell you how to sew it all back together.

Cutting Instructions for
Criss-Cross Apple-Sauce

From your background fabric cut:
4 - 5" x 5" squares
3 - 2" x width of fabric, strip

From your border print fabric cut:
1 - 3 1/2" x width of fabric, strip
4 - 2" x 20" strips
12 - 2" x 2" squares
4 - 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" squares. Cut across each square diagonally once, to yield a total of 8 triangles.

From your tone-on-tone print cut:
3 - 2" x width of fabric, strips
12 - 2" x 2" squares
4 - 2 3/4' x 2 3/4" squares. Cut across each square diagonally once, to yield a total of 8 triangles.

From your second one tone-on-tone print cut:
1 - 2" x width of fabric, strip
8 - 2" x 3 1/2" pieces

I do believe that is everything that we need to cut into pieces. I will see you next Monday, when you learn how to put it back together.

See you then.
myra

Fun Friday

Waffles & Sauce
Here is the picture that goes with my recipe.
This would be a really great gift a homemade recipe book.
For all of the recipes that you are known for, type the recipe out and take
a picture of the already made dish then compile them in a little scrap book. What a great bridal shower gift!

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend for all of you Canadians!

I hope you all have your yardage ready for Monday, when Myra will be posting your first instructions for our surprise project!

~cori

Inspiration Thursday

Have you ever thought of looking in a Kitchen design magazine for your quilting inspiration? That is what's so exciting about finding inspiration in unexpected places! We took the design of the tile back splash and used that motif in the center area of our quilt. This "geometric" design gives an architectural detail to a very soft design. However, I think I could hear our quilter scream when we asked her to do this...she did a great job! Sometimes we just have to experiment and stretch ourselves with our design and quilting.

The Songbirds quilt is one of our new releases this fall, so look for the pattern on our website in the next month or so!

~cori

Cooking with Cori

I am going to share one of my favorite recipes with you today. It was a childhood favorite, when I would come home from school and the smell of waffles met me at the door...that was a good day. This is my mom's recipe for Waffles and homemade Sauce. I wanted to post a picture but I am making this recipe later toady and will post the photo later on.

Waffles
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp baking powder
2 eggs - whites and yolks separated
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup whipping cream (35% cream)
8 tsp melted margarine

Whip egg whites until stiff and forms peaks.
Mix dry ingredients together then add wet ingredients and beat together. Fold in the egg whites.
Preheat waffle iron.

Sauce
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Cook sugar, milk and cream. Saving a little bit of cold milk, mix the cornstarch in the milk. When the sugar and milk have come to a boil, reduce heat and add the cornstarch mixture. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Cool before serving.

The waffles and sauce can be served with peaches or strawberries! Enjoy.

~cori

Four Books, Four years, Four Kids

This is a post in conjuction with my last post of how long it takes to write and publish a book. Each one of our children coinsides with the book we wrote that year. This picture was taken shortly after book four was written. The kids were 4, 3, 2 & 1 years old when this picture was taken. So those of you who think you can't quilt because you have little kids around your heels...hope this inspires you :)

Talk Tuesday

Today is questions and answer day! In our trunk show presentations we talk about our journey and how we have accomplished all that we have done. Today is the day I answer some questions that we often hear, please post your questions and I will put them on my list.

Q: How long does it take to write a book?

A: We have written a book in 6 weeks, I don't recommend it! Usually it takes 9 months to make the projects and write the instructions and another couple of months to edit and print it. This is why it makes it so hard to use current fabrics, this is why when you buy a book and look for the fabrics used you can't find them. It can take a month or so to get all of the details worked out and sign the contract. When you sign the contract the publisher already knows how many pages the book will be and all your deadlines for about 3 edits. We get to see every edit as well. When the TOC (table of contents) is finalized you begin to make the projects. In our first book Down in the Valley Myra and I made 99% of those projects ourselves and had a little help with quilting them, so the process was quit intense. When the deadline is up you send in your manuscript, hard copy as well as a disc copy with all of the projects. It takes about 1 1/2 years before you see the finish book on shelves in your quilt shop!

~cori

Mystery Monday @ Myra's.

Is it really Monday already? It was wonderful spending an entire weekend at home with the kids, and enjoying some of the great fall weather. Yesterday we were out in the hills, driving through the fall leaves, and spending time with family and friends.

And today - I am back at the office. Cori mentioned in the last post, that we now have a new format for the next few months. And today, it starts with a mystery.

We have often been asked if we would ever do a mystery quilt. So far, we never have, and it is because of me..and here is why. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE FINISHED PROJECT WILL LOOK LIKE! I am too chicken to cut up precious fabric, and sew it into a project that I do not know what it looks like. However, today, I am leading you down this exact path, and asking you to do what I have never done. You are just going to have too trust me on this. It should be fun, and I would love to see what all of you create. So here is the beginning of our mystery project.

This is a small table square project that Cori designed over 10 years ago, and it is one of my favorites. So while you are all making one, I have decided to make another one right along with you.

Criss-cross Apple-sauce
Finished Size: 24 1/2" x 24 1/2"

Yardages:
1/2 yd border print and binding (small to mid size print)
1/3 yd background print
1/4 yd medium color tone-on-tone print (to compliment the border print)
1/4 yd medium color tone-on-tone (a different color than above, also to compliment the border print.)
26" x 26" of batting
3/4 yd of backing

I do believe this is all we will need to get this project going. So I am heading down to my stash, and finding some of my favorite fabrics.

See you next Monday.
myra

The new Ocotober BLOG schedule will begin October 6th!

Monday – Mystery Monday with Myra (that’s a lot of M’s J)
Myra will walk you through a FREE project.

Tuesday – Talk Tuesday
We will address FAQ’s or you can post a question and we will answer it!

Wednesday – What’s cooking with Cori?
Cori will share a recipe.

Thursday – Inspiration of the week
We will post a little inspiration for you.

Friday – Fun Friday’s

This is a great way for you the reader’s of our blog to get involved. These daily topics are so that you can get interactive with bmd. If you choose not to leave a comment or question on our blog, feel free to email it to me cori@bluemeadowdesigns.com and then I can answer you on the blog. (all questions/comments will be anonymous on the blog)

Just a shout out to Shirley's sewing room for the wonderful welcome and hospitality last night. We shared our trunk show with a packed room of great ladies from the Moosomin area. We had a lot of fun - would have liked to stay longer but the 4 hour car ride home was calling us. A little tired today but really enjoyed sharing our passion with all of the ladies who came out, THANKS!

~cori

I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING
YESTERDAY!!!

I talk to Cori about 3 times a day. And yesterday - all day - I knew that I was forgetting something. NOW I remember.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Cori & Randy!

I had to do some serious picture diving to find this one. (unlike Cori, who has all of her pictures neatly scrapbooked)

So I hope you guys had a great anniversary. And maybe I should wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Birthday, before I forget those dates too.

-myra

Our latest trip....Regina SK
(I chose green for the title in honor of the Roughrider fans!)

Yes, we were on the road again and we went out to Regina to their quilt show. This was the 3rd time that we had been to Regina and it did not disappoint. We drove 6 hours there and a 6 hours home...what do we do during our car rides? plan, discuss, create, giggle, eat & contribute to the amount of road kill on the road. It was my turn to drive this time, so we packed the car (jam packed) and hit the road on Friday morning. We want to thank the Regina quilt guild for their invitation as well as their support, compliments, kind words and encouragement! It was fun talking to our supporters. Where next...back to Moosiman SK on Thursday for Shirley's customer appreciation evening. See you there.

~cori

About last weekend....


Is it really Thursday night already?? I guess it is, because I am re-packing my bags for this this weekend. And then I realized that I haven't even filled you in on our last weekend. I know that I won't remember to mention all of the great stories, but here is a brief overview of our time away.


Last Friday, we drove 6 hours east, into Northern Ontario. We went up to see an old friend who has a quilt shop in Sioux Lookout. It's called Serenity Quilts, and when you are there, you might experience the same conflict I did. I was torn between going into the shop and being surrounded by fabric, or going down to the lake that is right beside it.

I took a small detour to the lake. What a great view! I hope all of the locals still appreciate this beautiful sight that they get to see every day.


Hazel has a lot of great quilters in her area, and we got to spend three days with them. Our first night we got to share a lot of our quilts with them when we gave a trunk show presentation. During the next two days, we helped to lead them through two different projects. Many of the students chose to do our Love Joy Peace sampler (which was Day 1 of our 100 Days.) Cori has just finished formatting the sampler into a real pattern, and it will be released to our distributors very shortly. The other students in the class chose to make our curved patch baby quilt. And somewhere along the way, the curved piecing was mistakenly called 'cursed piecing'. But everyone persevered, and by the end of the weekend, there were many great quilts taking shape. It is always interesting to see the same project, done by so many different women, who all choose their own colors, and add there own touches.

And here was the first clue that we were going to have a great time. When we checked into our hotel, Kathy sneaked up behind us, and surprised us. If you want to have a great quilting weekend, simply gather a bunch of quilters together in a room, and invite Kathy. By the end of the weekend you will have enough stories to keep you laughing through the longest Canadian winter.

Thank you Hazel for the great time. We came away inspired, energized, and well feed. (Thank your grand-daughter for the recipes. My kids loved the breakfast I made them, with a dish that we now call 'Danica's French Toast'.)

So, we are off again, with more to share with you soon.
Next stop - Regina, Saskatchewan.

myra

Roadtrip!

I wish I had a picture to post - but I will have to do that when we come back. Tonight I am packing my bags, and packing a car full of quilts, for our trip to Sioux Lookout, Ontario. We will be teaching and talking to quilters all weekend! And I hope to remember the camera this time, or I will be drawing more stick figure cartoons to describe the weekend.

This week we have also been busy sending things. We have 6 quilts at quilters right now, and catalogs and info. of our new patterns out to the distributors. You will be able to see many of these new project in the upcoming days, and we will interested to know your opinions.

So watch out Sioux Lookout - we are on our way.

myra

Do you see what I see?


We checked our mail last week, and were happily surprised to find the latest issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. We had made 2 baby quilts for them in spring, and I was very curious to see how they would be photographed. Of course - as always - they did a great job.

The quilts are called Hopscotch, and they are made from our last fabric line, Completely Kids. And, the magazine will also give you information on how to order kits of these two quilts directly from Fons & Porter.

We hope that you will be able to find a copy on newsstands near you, and enjoy all of the projects found in this issue. I know that there are a few more quilts in there that I would really like to try this fall. I might have to try to schedule that in somewhere.....I know that I have a few days free in December....
See you again soon.
myra

Hiding out at Home.
Where have we been? Well, we are getting ready for next weekend, when we will be in Sioux Lookout (northern Ontario) and for the following weekend when we will be in Regina. So while we have to get ready for a lot of travelling, I have also been making frequent visits to my new local hide-out. I took these pictures a few months ago, (but lost them!) because I wanted to let all the locals know about my friends new shop. It's right here in Winkler, on Navigator road. (between Days Inn and Janzen's Pontiac)

Anne and her husband Wolfgang, opened the doors to their sewing center this spring, and since that time, they have continued to bring in really cool things. I don't have room for all of the pictures, so you will have to stop in and see for yourself.

Annie's Sewing Center is place where you can get service for your machines, or up-grade to the fancy-schmancy models that are on hand.

I had to put in a picture of this book. At first 'someone' didn't know that the title referred to sewing machine feet. So if you think of it in another context, it sounds like a very intriguing book.

But I was thankful that I could finally, buy Blendable thread at home! I use to stock up on thread when I was travelling out of town, but now, it is just down the road.


Do you know how men feel when they walk into a car dealership? Well, I think I get that feeling when I walk into a sewing machine dealership, and see the new and bright models just waiting to be touched. But so far, I have been really good, and have kept my hands in my pockets.

But I did find my a Wacom writing tablet! I have waited a long time to find one, and I know that it will help me with my design work in EQ. And if you hurry, I think there is one more left.

And really soon, we hope to have a teaching schedule out, listing all of the classes that we will be giving at Annie's this fall. So for all of you who live close by, drop us a line, and we will make sure that you get all of the info.

If you want to keep up with what is happening at the shop, you can also visit the blog at http://anniessewing.blogspot.com/.

And what else has been popping up at Annie's??

A lot of really nice fabrics. I won't mention names (like Irene) but a few of my friends really should take the time to poke their noses into the store. I think they may be surprised at what they see. I only took a picture of a few of my favorites, but there are a lot more to choose from.

Anne has started to carry some of the new and modern fabrics that I love to work with , and I think that you will enjoy them too. In our area we have a good selection of traditional fabrics, but Annie's style is a lot more contemporary, and I really enjoy that. You will also be seeing a lot of these fabrics in some of our new fall projects.

Also, let Anne know what you are looking for. There is a lot of fabrics out there in the market place, so if you are wanting to see anything specific, just let her know.

You also might find one or two of our quilts hanging around the shop. We have a large collection, and people often contact us wanting to know where they can go to see our quilts. Well, until we can afford our own museum (which is a long way off) you will be able to spot them around the store from time to time. And since I don't like to keep up the same quilt for too long, I will keep popping in and changing them around.

But I do admit, I think Lemon Slice goes nicely with their wall color.

And I had to include this picture. You can't actually see my name on it - but it is going to be mine someday soon. I have been secretly wanting this board for a long time, but thankfully no one locally carried it. Now, it is just down the road from my house, and sometime at night it calls out to me. OK, that might be a little dramatic, but I do think about it. You know you are middle aged when your dreams are about an ironing board.

I will see you soon. Because there is a lot more to talk about before the weekend.

-myra

Isn't this cool?


Today I get to share with you a great photo that got sent to us. It was made by a quilter named Debra, and I am grateful that she sent us a picture of her project.

The design she used was one that we created, and was published in American Patchwork & Quilting in June, 2006. The name of the project was 'B is for Baby', and we were asked by the magazine to do the quilt in two different colorways - for a girl, and a boy. So naturally we used the pink/ivory and blue/green fabrics from our first fabric collection. In our quilts, the center monogram is a scripted B, which is stands for baby.

What I LOVE about this picture, is that Debra did what we hope all quilters will do with our designs. She made it her own. She looked past the colors of our quilts, and was able to see this quilt in black & white. Doesn't it look sophisticated? I think this baby must have a very chic baby room. And Debra also put the baby's initial in the center, instead of the generic B.

This quilt made me smile today, and I hope it did for you too.

See you soon.
myra

Running at full speed

OUR KIDS ARE ALL IN SCHOOL!!!! Did you hear the cries of joy from where you live? Where we live, our kids went back to school, with a staggered entry, right after the September long weekend. We LOVE our kids, and we have had 9 years of being stay-at-home (and working) mom's. But this year, our two youngest kids are in school full time. Cori and I have always said "imagine what we will be able to do when we have the whole day to ourselves." And so far, we are getting a lot done with this new found freedom.

There is so much to talk about, that I think it will take several entries for me to accomplish it all. But here is a start.

Cori is finishing up work on our fall catalogs for our distributors. We have added at least 8 new patterns, which are all very unique, and very different from each other. We will love to see what you think of them.

And if Mr. Schaefer is wondering what I was so frantically writing out math equations for during my daughters Tae Kwon Do class, it was for this quilt.

I have been back at the sewing machine, and running through spools of thread. Cori and I have had a collection of Joel Dewberry fabric on hand for a few months, and we were unsure what we wanted to create with it. I was thinking of new intricate blocks, and very modern layouts, when suddenly, it was clear, we were going to go back to the basics. Sometimes as designers we are so concerned about creating 'new - never seen before' blocks, that we forget about some of our old favorites. This is a basic log cabin, created to use the new large prints that are now on the market. I fussy-cut out the center block, which is 4", and then added the chunky 2" logs all around...and so we have named it our 'Chunky Log Cabin' . And if I keep on the pressure, and get it finished, it will be one of our new fall releases.

Talk to you soon,
myra

Congratulations JILL PESTI of Fort Wayne, Indiana!

After pouring over all of the submissions that came in, something kept us going back to Jill's project. When we look at her quilt, we have a lot of ideas of what we can do with it. And we hope that she will be OK with the fact that her finished quilt is going to look way different than her original....because this one is going to be cut up, and really changed.

We struggled with almost every entry, because we wanted to help everyone fix their 'road-block' so that they could finish their quilt. Some projects have had small things go wrong, and some projects took a wrong turn without anyone knowing it was wrong until it was too late. We do hope that now that you have pulled these projects out of the closet, that you will take another look at them, and maybe ask a quilting friend to help you find a new direction to take with it. When we worked in a quilt shop for 11 years, we would often find quilters bringing in quilts that needed fixing, and I would suggest this for many of you. And good quilt shop should be able to offer you help and assistance in finishing your project into a spectacular quilt.

And from the entries, we have made a few observations.

1. Free download patterns are not always accurate. These patterns are put out there fast and easy, so that you will buy the fabric to make them, but usually no one has been paid to 'test' them.

2. Large blocks of fabric on point, can get wavy. This was the case in several entries. Sometimes if the 'waves' are not too severe, they can be quilted out. But we have noticed that the larger the area is that is 'on point' the easier it is for it to wave out. This is often because of the long stretch of bias in the blocks is being 'pulled' rather than 'fitting in'. So be cautious of these types of projects, because they can really stretch on you.

3. There is always a Plan b. But you might have to totally let go of what the quilt was 'suppose to look like' in order to finish it. And I totally understand how hard this can be. I have had projects that I have had to walk away from for YEARS before I could see them in another light. But it is a very gratifying experience to go back and finish that project.

So keep watching here as we reveal Jill's quilt, and we keep you up to date on what is going to happen to it.

-Cori & Myra