Goodbye Florida - Hello Kansas Snow!

Home Again
Robert and I made it home Tuesday night just before the rain turned to ice and it started to snow. Pretty good timing. It was sooooo nice to sleep in our own bed again after almost 3 weeks on the road and a dozen motel beds behind us. The 3 things I miss the most when I travel?
*my own Tempurpedic bed
*everything in it's place on the nightstand
*good toilet paper

We take a bag with our own pillows, a king top sheet and a couple of quilts to remake the motel beds, if needed. Usually, it's needed. Robert freezes and I melt under the "down" comforters so many of them provide anymore. If I can snuggle under one of my own quilts, I'm usually good for the night. Do you travel with your own quilts?

The Winner
Our winner of the Pheasant Hill Dessert Roll & Dessert for Two pattern is.....June D! Congrats! I read about your move on your website - hope you found good boots and warm socks. I love my Uggs, but they don't hold up to big puddles.

Camp Blanding
Pam & I met in Florida at Gloria Parson's semi-annual retreat for about 200 quilters each Sept. & January. I was amazed and intrigued by the wide variety of projects being stitched by these very talented ladies. There were lots of batiks, novelty prints for kids, patriotic quilts for donation to veterans and even a group of rug hookers. The quality - and quantity - was staggering to behold. I taught a couple of classes - the first was Coin Toss from my new book, Loose Change, available on my website at ktquilts.com. Here are a couple of versions that were finished the same evening!

The first one is made with a KT Layer Cake & Charm. This lovely quilter's frown turned into a wide smile with every stitch!

 Her friend chose to use her stash to make the same quilt in muted brights - love the pops of orange and lime! Two more converts to the layered patchwork way of stitching up fast & easy quilts. Just remember to cut the squares to be layered/stitched with a pinked edge rotary blade.

Watch for more quilt pics of the Spoolin' class on Monday (they're on R's phone).

The Giveaway
Check back in on Monday when we'll have a new giveaway - any requests???

Sand between my toes

Checking in from sunny Florida before heading on to Jacksonville for a 5 day retreat at Camp Blanding hosted by Gloria Parsons, Old Green Cupboard, and her entourage. Pam Buda, Heartspun Quilts, and I will be teaching a couple classes over the weekend to a rambunctious group of about 200. How fun is that?

So far, our trip has been wonderful. Our visit to the Southwest Florida Quilter's Guild in Fort Meyers was very nice - even though many of the ladies are definitely batiks and brights, they welcomed the dark midwest KT look with open arms. Here's an example of what we made in the 2 workshops. Debbie Silhavey completed both of her projects!

 Great job! Thanks to all the friendly Florida quilters who made my day so enjoyable! And thanks for the awesome tips on the Keys for our weekend.Too fun!

A trip to Sanibel to hunt for seashells was successful...

We spent Friday gator-watching. Robert wanted to take Hwy 41/Alligator Alley. And did we find gators...

All of these were right by the road! We're definitely not in Kansas anymore!

On to Key West with Key Lime pie on a stick dipped in chocolate, seafood, scooters, seafood, carnival, nightlife, seafood, so much to do! We rented a scooter and buzzed all over the island.
Got a little sun, very little sleep and were ready for a lazy beach day before heading to Jacksonville to teach again. So, we stayed in a lovely beachside hotel, Largo Lodge, in Key Largo. I read 2 magazines cover to cover and swung lazily in the hammock all afternoon. Perfect! Here's the view of the ocean from our room.

Teaching over the next few days at Gloria's winter retreat at Camp Blanding with 180 quilters - one from Loose Change and Mini Table Treats. Sounds like a fun bunch of ladies. More later, Lynne

Florida, here we come!

I'm packing to go to sunny Florida to the Ft. Myers Quilt Guild next week. If you live anywhere in the area, I'd love to visit with you at their guild meeting, or sign up to take a workshop from the Loose Change book or a Mini Table Treats class. Linda Kleinhenz is the contact person at 239-731-0251. I don't travel that far very often, so let's make it count!

The following week, I'll be attending/teaching at Gloria Parson's 5-day retreat in Jacksonville, FL. The retreat is held at Camp Blanding where Gloria has arranged for very reasonable (read cheap-cheap) accommodations/food and lots of space to sew. Call Gloria for more info at 904-742-1100. Everyone who's attended in the past keeps coming back and says it's a total blast!

Pam Bud of Heartspun Quilts is joining me to teach and play at Gloria's, too. Learn all of her hints and tips in one of her workshops. We've had a great time with our quilting cruises and are planning more events in the coming months. It's still not too late to sign up for our New England Cruise in September 2013. See more information on my sidebar.

Okay, the winner of this week's scrap bundle is .....the #1 comment by JollyWorkerAlice. Please end your mailing info and we'll send out your box of goodies before we leave (if we receive your info by Wed.) or when we return.

I'm sure my blogging time will be scattered at best during the next few weeks. If you comment between now and Feb.1st, you could win a new Pheasant Hill Dessert Roll and the new Dessert for Two pattern. The newest Moda precut features (20) 5" x WOF strips and offers a multitude of options for quilt making. Pheasant Feathers (a couple weeks ago) features a Dessert Roll as does our new pattern, Dessert for Two. It includes a lap quilt that takes just 1 fabric for border/binding in addition to the Dessert Roll. How economical and easy is that? By layering and stitching strips, it makes the best use of fabric with only a 1" strip left. I threw mine together in about 2 1/2 hours (it was 2 days before market). Obviously, perfection is not a key factor in this quilt :). Just pin the strips, stitch and go. I love the wonky waves created by varying the widths between strips. We've embraced the pinked edges as a design element so when it's washed, they will softly curl and fray for a wonderfully cozy look.

If you can't find a Dessert Roll in the fabrics you want, cut your own 5" strips with a pinked rotary blade. I used a scalloped blade for the strips on the included bag. It's about 14" square x 4" wide with an adjustable length handle. I carry my iPad, notebook & paperwork in it from home to work & back again. Don't ya just love the featured floral stripe???

Have a great January and 2013. See you later. Lynne