Perkins Dry Goods

It’s finally time to finish packing and think about how I’m getting to the airport.

The laundry is done and my son probably has enough clean clothes to get him through the weekend. He’s going to Prom Saturday – I hope they get lots of pictures.

This trip culminates months of work designing, sewing, writing and testing patterns. It’s a little nerve wracking to coordinate all of this. I hope you all like what you see!

I figured out that I can manage this on my own if I have a half-booth rather than a full 10 x 10 space. I pack my booth in one big suitcase weighing in at just under 50 pounds. Four boxes are shipped to the hotel and I usually rent a car with another designer. Going to Target in a new city is a highlight of the trip!

I know you are curious about what’s new, so I’ve linked to my brochure for market below. The patterns should be showing up in quilt shops soon…if you see something you like, please let your favorite shop know about it!

If you happen to be at Market, be sure to stop by – I’ll be in Booth 2602.

Happy Quilting!

Celine

I was just over at Pat Sloan’s blog reading about the business of quilting.  I thought she did such a great job of describing things that I wanted to share the link.  Click here to go to Pat’s blog.

That got me thinking about where I started with all of this Quilt Biz too.  I had dreamed of working in a quilt shop but with a day job and little kids, the timing was always off.  Evenings and weekends were family time, and also the most common times that shops needed help!  One day in August of 2000, I was talking to Wendy Fedie who owned the Wayzata Quilting Emporium. She offered me the chance to try my hand at teaching a quilting class.  A one or two session class I could do, even if it were an evening or weekend.  That was the beginning of it all and that’s where my Four Patch Fancy pattern came into being – as a class called Table Runner Basics.  It is still a popular pattern!

I found out who made this quilt….Arlice Olson!  My friend Elaine from Silver Lane Quilting helped Arlice pick the fabric for the quilt, in fact it is how they met shortly after Elaine opened her quilt shop.  When Arlice called with the Blue Ribbon news, they agreed that it was just the icing on their quilting friendship.  Thanks Elaine, for letting me know! And congrats to Arlice!

I’ve been spending the morning getting caught up with website updates, editing pattern images and fighting with my computer a little bit. So….here it is, Village Crossings! This pattern is based on Throw that I designed for the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop this month. There is much more to this package than meets the eye. Not only are there instructions for the Throw, but also for a large Queen and a really fun table runner. Another thing that I included was instructions for three different settings using the blocks. Have fun with it!

I am having technical difficulties getting an image into this post, so I will just have to put the link to the pattern page on my website. Click here to see what Village Crossings looks like!

I would love to feature quilts made from Perkins Dry Goods patterns in a Virtual Quilt Show on my website in the Gallery. Carol Miller from Quilt University suggested this as a great way for people to see lots of options and colorways made from one design. I think she is brilliant! BUT I need your quilt pictures!!

If you are interested in having me post a project that you made from one of my patterns, click here for more information.

The Mixed Sampler retreat was a lot of fun. And a great group of women! There were about 25 quilters and the room we had to sew in was fantastic with big windows and lots of light (plenty of power too). We worked on the mystery quilt first. This is the second pattern I’ve written as a mystery. I think everyone enjoyed it, although I was a little worried about some of the piecing as it was a little challenging.

As you can see, if you’ve been here before, I’ve got a new look. And while it was being installed, wordpress updated its entire interface. SOOOOO, I’m playing catch up.

You know you’re going to have good day when the kids all get up on time and are out the door without a hitch.  I love those days!  With three teens in my house, “good morning” is often a question rather than a greeting!

An even better sign is getting an email first thing (after the darlings have gone) from a new friend with show and tell.  Janet, the Idaho Quilter made up one of my new patterns – Three for Tea -  in the cutest new line from Fig Tree – Dandelion Girl.  I just love it!  She even scalloped the corners just like the pattern.

Speaking of scallops, they are one of my all time favorite things to do with borders.  Lots of people are afraid of them, but they really aren’t that bad!  The best part is the bias binding.  I know you’re reading this thinking “she’s nuts!”  If you read Janet’s blog about the binding, she even says it just rolls into place.

If you want just a little project to try out the scalloping biz and bias binding, I have a free pattern at my website for a little checkerboard topper.  Let me know what you think!