Wind chill -35 degrees!

Well-my goodness is it cold today. I don't think it is fair when last week I was in Orlando enjoying the sun and low 70 degree days. Today the high is supposed to be zero and the wind chill is -35 degrees. All area schools are closed. It would be a great day to stay in the house and stitch!

Jeanne and I are meeting at lunch with our friend Lois who will be doing some machine quilting on some of our prototypes. Lois has developed a real knack for machine quilting and, since it is NOT one of my favorite things to do, we have roped her in to help with finishing some of our new projects. She is wonderful and so full of great ideas!

We have 3 of our new projects just about done. Jeanne sent a photo off to Keepsake Quilting Catalog today and we hope to hear back from them that they love it. Take a look at the Fourth of July Banner/Table runner and we think you'll fall in love too. Using scraps or a charm pack to make the quilted section, you then make some quick yo yo's and you're done. What fun! We love the look of it with the gold stars spread out on our new flag design. Watch for this on our web site and you can purchase the pattern this weekend.

Create and Decorate Magazine

I have been in Orlanda for the last 4 days while attending a conference with my husband. The weather has been great while Jeanne is back home dealing with sub zero wind chills and lots of snow. We fly home tomorrow and I know reality will set in then!

Jeanne has been working on a new design that will be featured in an issue of Create and Decorate magazine in February 2009. We really like this magazine-they feature patterns of different crafts and have great illustrations and instructions. Jeanne is also working on a Christmas desing for them.

I have been working on some of the yo yo desigs. Photos to follow!

Stitch, stitch, stitch

Yesterday Jeanne and I started working at 6 a.m. in her kitchen. Thankfully she had coffee and muffin tops. (Who thought of muffin tops??? Wish it was me!) We worked until 7:30 a.m. and I went to my darn day job. But in that time we really worked through some design issues with 2 of our new projects. See the RED-WHITE-BLUE yo yo photo to see what we are working on. We're planning to have this project finished by next weekend and are super excited about it.

We also spent time in the last 2 weeks studying The Apron Book-a great history of aprons. Check out this book at your nearest bookstore-it has great photos and wonderful, heart-warming stories about what makes an apron special.

Stay tuned for more hints on our new projects! This morning we started up again over coffee and within a few minutes found ourselves talking so loudly that I'm surprised we didn't wake up the neighbors. (Oh, that's right-we both live in the country and there ARE NO neighbors!) Guess that's what happens when we both want to talk at the same time....

Monday-back at work

Well, we survived the Playoffs and the Green Bay Packers are going to play for the NFC championship at home at Lambeau! How great is that??? During the Packer game I couldn't stitch at all but during the Cowboy's/Giants I was able to make yo yo's without stabbing myself or sewing anything to my pants leg. Guess that is a good thing! I'm sure I won't be able to do anything again on Sunday when the Packers play the Giants!

Jeanne and I have spent the last week reading up on all kinds of things-like the history of aprons, how to make a flag wave in a 3-D way, and how many kinds of pre-made ruffles there are in the market. If you read that sentence slowly, you might be able to figure out what some of the projects are that we are working on!

Yo Yo's are my favorite thing lately-and red/white/blue are some of my favorite colors. Ok-that is a really big hint. Look for a close-up photo tomorrow or Wednesday.

Working on something NEW!

Take a quick peek at the photo I added today. This is a sneak peek at one of our new designs. We fell in love last year with this Pink fabric designed by Karen Neuberger to raise awareness of breast cancer and the search for a cure drive. The colors are so fresh and crisp that they just make us think of Spring. And what better season to think of now that the holidays are done and it is snowing in Wisconsin???

We are hard at work on a new series of designs that combine embroidery, yo yo's, quilting, and needle punch. Yes-all of that in one series of designs. We'll share more along the way...can't wait to see what you think we are working on now!!!

Quilting in the Desert Retreat

Jeanne is mailing a big package off today for the Quilting in the Desert event planned later this month in Sedona, AZ. We wish we were going to attend! Our package includes 300 flyers giving information about our patterns and 2 door prizes-a pie mat made by Jeanne using our popular pattern with yo yo's and great fabric and several of our newest patterns. The weekend event sounds wonderful-the perfect opportunity to enjoy good conversation, meet some new quilting buddies, and enjoy Arizona in the winter. What could be better than that???

Thinking about Spring Quilt Festival

Jeanne and I just finished spending time working through the logistics of attending the Spring Quilt Festival April 11-13 in Rosemont, IL. We are excited about the possibility since we haven't had a booth there before. We went to the Festival last April and had a fantastic time. We had a change to talk with Alex Anderson and shared our Yo Yo clown pattern with her. She loved the clown and from there came a partnership with Clover on their Yo Yo makers and the clown being featured on Alex Anderson and Ricky Timm's internet Quilt Show. It's hard to think about all that happened for us in 2007-much of the excitement of our new yo yo patterns really began with that Festival.

So we are doing a lot of brain-storming about what new patterns to feature at Festival and working through all that has to be done before we head to the show. Our mom and little sister, Jo, have agreed to come down for at least one day and help us out. That will be wonderful. Mom has never been to a quilt show like Festival and Jo is into all kinds of mixed media art quilting. Jo missed the Festival last year and was really sad about that. So they should both have a great time and we are looking forward to counting on their help!

Ready for the weekend!

Jeanne and I have been getting ready to send a brochure off to a great quilt shop in Arizona for inclusion in the grab bags that 300 quilters will get at a wonderful retreat. "Quilting in the Desert" sounds wonderful, doesn't it??? The retreat is held in Phoenix-I'd sure love to be there at this time of the year. We have lots of snow and low temps. We are also donating one of our great pie mats made with yo yo's as a door prize.

I am still working on the hand quilting on my batik wall-hanging. I think it should be done this weekend and then on the binding.

Jeanne is designing a new needle punch project involving a primitive red heart and a metal ornament-sounds strange but I will hopefully post a photo this weekend. It's going to be a great little item to do quickly and give to a friend for Valentine's Day.

Pie Winner

Kirsta Meadows of All About Quilting, Jacksonville NC should be going to pick up her pie this week. Kirsta entered our pie raffle at the Houston Market this year. She was one of 3 winners and chose to get her pie from American Dream Cakes-a great bakery in her home town.

We hope Kirsta enjoys her pie this week and serves it on a finished Pie Mat made with her favorite fabrics and loads of yo yo's. We introduced this pattern at Market and it was a real hit. The Pie Mat can be used as a center piece for a pie, candle, or lamp. It is fun to make with stacks of yo yo's circling the quilted center. Check the pattern out on our web site.

New Valentine's Day pattern on site

Jeanne added a new free embroidery pattern to our web site at http://lastingtreasure.com today. The pattern is an interesting heart with a scalloped edge and lines bisecting the inner heart. It could be quickly stitched up to add color to a towel, pillow, or linen piece. Go to the Free Pattern section of our site to purchase the pattern for no cost.

We plan to have a new pattern added to our site at the beginning of each month. We have left up 2 Christmas patterns and will continue to add to this section of our site frequently.