Perkins Dry Goods

I have known how to knit for a very long time. I learned when I was about 8 years old (yup, in the 60’s).  My mom took me to Donalson’s Department store - the one in Highland Park (St. Paul, MN).  They sold yarn and fabric there in those days.  One of the clerks taught me to knit.  But that’s all I learned.  I never really got the hang of reading the instructions to make anything.  Well, that has all changed.  I signed up for a class with my quilter friend Jenni.  But I wanted some practice BEFORE we got to class, so I made a pair of regular mittens!

Jenni was very helpful, she knits a lot.  She walked me through several knitting emergencies and I think I only started over three or four times.  I think the mittens look lovely.  The thumbs are a bit short and one mitten is bigger than the other.  But, they are finished and they are warm!

It snowed again last night - how pretty to wake up to snow covered tree branches and fresh white blanketing everything.  I was determined to NOT be out today.  How crazy is that on the Saturday just three days before Christmas?  My sixteen year old daughter had other ideas.  She needed to finish (start) her shopping for siblings and boyfriend.  We survived and better yet, were successful!

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the youngest was busy with a Gingerbread house kit - too cute!  Got it at Target.  I’ve never been able to bake the gingerbread and have anything turn out right.  It was worth trying for ten bucks….

OK, I have a problem with decision making.  Plus I don’t know how to personalize my blog-look just yet.  Working on that.  Asked my darling husband for Wordpress for Dummies for Christmas, even spelled it for him.  I was desperate and asked if he had gotten it, I need it NOW.  He got PhotoShop for Dummies, bless his heart.  I don’t havePhotoShop!

This look is most likely temporary, but I do like parts of it! 

On to more Christmas prep - Happy Holidays…

I live in Minnesota.  Some would like to believe that winter here is a challenge.  Maybe it is sometimes.  Not so much though if you have a good pair of gloves and a warm coat.  We had our first storm of the season roll through this past weekend.  Just enough snow to sled on and make everything pretty.  I have to say that I enjoy it as much as a sunny spring day (as long as I’m inside looking out!).

 This the view from my front door this morning. The sun just coming over the house.

Because of the snow, I had a great excuse to just stay inside and watch it come down and sew.  Absolute heaven.  Since getting back from market, I’ve been on an organizing kick.  I found a bunch of really old projects when I was going through things and decided to finish them….all!

I had help too.  Rosie, my trusty machine quilting assistant spent her weekend running off with my quilting gloves.  Fortunately, she is a creature of habit and I always know she will hide them near her dish.

In the heat of quilt market preparation last month, I was saved by chocolate.  Last minute and me are not good partners.  If you know me, you know that I am methodical and organized.  I don’t do harried and rushed well at all.  I was late getting my pattern covers for new stuff to the printer, which meant I might be stuffing bags in the hotel Friday night before market opened.  YUK.

I phoned Jane at Tri-State Printing and groveled a bit - she was so very nice and didn’t make me feel bad at all.  She was calm, she was kind and would overnight a partial order to me so I could bag enough patterns to ship ahead to Houston.  Low and behold those covers came, crammed into that overnight envelope along with two mini chocolate candy bars.

Okay, fast forward to a month later…… Market was great.  I think  mentioned in my Middle Name Game post that I met some fantastic new people and connected with old friends.  Better than a college reunion!

Now for the new stuff… I’m very excited about these four new designs.  I hope you like them!

Twist and Shout Tote is a fun little pattern that has a ton of options. Two styles and three sizes for each style!  I did these with Jelly Rolls and Charms.

Three for Tea is another jelly roll project that you could adapt to charms too.  Two runners and a small topper can all be pieced from one jelly roll with a bit of yardage for borders and binding.  I also included scalloping instructions for the corners on the topper.

Summit Square is a very traditional scrappy project that has two quilt sizes and a quick runner that you can make from your scraps.  I use the Civil War Classics line from Marcus Fabrics and just love how it turned out!

Country Lane is my first effort using the Sweet Sixteen (TM) charms from Maywood Studios.  These are a fat sixteenth of a yard and cut at 9 x 11 inches.  It was kind of fun to see the secondary pattern emerge.  Two main blocks and a simple pieced border in this project.

Thanksgiving was at my house this year.  I love to make the turkey dinner and it is really hard for my husband to stay out of the kitchen.  He normally cooks. Period.  I’m not exactly sure how it all started way back when 20+ years ago, but his cooking has evolved over time and he is in charge in the kitchen.  He is an excellent cook. Except on Thanksgiving. It’s my turn.

In the days prior to Turkey Day, I was busy finishing up  a new color way for one of my new patterns.  With some help.  I have three assistants, you know. 

Zola, the lab who loves her beanbag bed.  She mainly woofs when I need to pay attention to her.  Sometimes it’s just a “let me out, mom.”  Other times it’s “we need to play tug with my blanket.”

Then there is Rosie, one of the siamese kittiots.  She is a machine quilting expert.  Very helpful.

Cleo on the other hand prefers to watch from afar.  She sits atop the machine with the thread running under her.  Amazing.

Happy Holidays!

Ok, here goes.  I got tagged for the middle name game in September by my friend Tracy.  So, I finish the task right away and realize that I don’t know enough bloggers to tag anyone back! So into the drafts file this goes. Now that I am back from quilt market in Houston and can breathe, I thought I’d at least post what I came up with.  Besides that, I met and had dinner with the famous Pamkittymorning!  I’ll fill you in later on my market experiences. 

The Rules: 
Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here goes:  Therese

Therese was my grandmother’s name and I am proud to be her namesake.  She was a hard working German woman who grew up in Strasburg, North Dakota (yes, with Lawrence Welk).  She loved all of us kids and we loved her back.  She made the best sugar cookies in the world, topped only by her cinnamon rolls and home made donuts.  We used to sneak them out of the freezer and eat them in her back yard during our summer visits.  She was the best and I miss her dearly.

Home is where I love to be. 

Evenings in front of the fire place with my family during the long Minnesota winters.

Running my kids around is what I spend much of my time doing.  What a blessing that driver’s license was for my oldest last March.

E-mail - What did I do before it was invented? 

Sewing is my obsession.  I have loved to sew since I was a little girl.  My mom sewed our clothes and the best thing was making clothes for my Barbie doll with the scraps.  I would sew those scraps right onto her.

Eating my husband’s cooking.  It’s like eating in a gourmet restaurant most nights around here.  He loves to cook and we love to eat.  My kids never ask me what’s for dinner.  They just call their dad.

There.  I did it!