Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year…

"Happy, 
happy 
Christmas, 
that 
can 
win 
us 
back 
to 
the 
delusions 
of 
our 
childish
 days; 
that 
can
 recall to 
the 
old 
man 
the pleasures 
of 
his 
youth; 
that 
can 
transport
 the 
sailor 
and
 the 
traveler, 
thousands 
of 
miles 
away,
back 
to 
his 
own 
fireside 
and 
his quiet 
home!" 

~Charles
 Dickens,
 The Pickwick 
Papers,
 1836

We 
wish 
you 
a 
healthy, happy,
 joyous 
holiday.  

Despite 
the 
hectic pace 
and 
rampant 
commercialism,  
I'm
 always 
inspired 
by countless 
acts 
of 
generosity, 
smiles 
from 
the 
soul…
and 
a 
quiet,
 warm 
understanding 
that 
when 
you 
get 
right 
down 
to 
it,
 all is 
right in 
the 
world.



Merry
Christmas!

And the Winner Is!!!!!!!!!

And the winner is.....................Ranae! Congratulations! If you will email us at homespunmedia@aol.com with your address we will mail you the little Christmas quilt!!!! Have fun making it!  Merry Christmas!


We will have a new free pattern for a Christmas ornament to download  in the newsletter!  Look for a Free Block of the Month soon!!! 

Thanks everyone for commenting and entering the give-a-way!  Jeni

Kathy Schmitz' Quilt for the April Magazine is Here!!!

The first completed project for our debut issue has arrived!  You’ll have to wait for the magazine to see it…but we will tell you it’s from Kathy Schmitz and it is wonderful!!!!  Can’t wait to make it!   Be sure to visit Kathy’s website and blog—her work is unbelievable.  Thank you so much, Kathy!

Sneak previews of some of the other projects for the magazine...  Lori Brechlin, Lisa Bongean, Dawne Heese, Cheri Ralston, Lynda Hall, and Rita Briner have sent photos of the projects they’ll contribute—you are in for a real treat!

The first issue with these fantastic projects will ship in early April.  Subscribe now!

Another Giveaway.... Small Christmas Quilt Kit

It’s time for a giveaway… this little Christmas quilt is a $24 kit designed by Jeni Gaston.  Any follower who posts a comment will be eligible for the drawing—we’ll draw the winner Wednesday afternoon.

Connecting With the Past (from last week's newsletter)

We're so excited, we had to repeat last week's newsletter article in our blog...

A dilapidated log cabin… a decrepit barn…reconstructed…now a house, studio, or office.  Posts and beams from trees born hundreds of years ago in the Ohio Valley… when you lay your hand on one of the oak beams you somehow transcend centuries and connect with hard-working people who fell the trees, hewed the logs, and raised the barns…. people in small communities working together for more than survival—but for love, joy, beauty, family, and community.

We are humbled and thrilled to tell you that some of our first-issue photography will take place in old-made-new buildings, in and around Williamstown, West Virginia.  How fitting to showcase the magazine's first projects this way.  Our "primitive" art began long ago when those same hard-working people lovingly repurposed used or leftover fabrics and fibers into functional-yet beautiful quilts, rugs, totes, table mats, and the like.  Why do I suddenly want to curl up on a sofa in front of a fire and do some wool appliqué?

These structures are the amazing work of good friend and local business man, Chip Pickering.  Now here is a man who takes recycling seriously!  Several times Chip has disassembled old barns and cabins, transported them to his property, and then reconstructed them.  A few are now beautiful homes (he lives in one), another is the home of Pickering Associates, Chip's engineering firm.  The log cabin sits next to the office and serves as the firm's library.

We'll try to get more information and photographs of Chip's buildings and post them on our blog and in future newsletters.  So check back from time to time.

Drum Roll Please!

And the winner is...... and yes, I did make the drum roll sound while I drew the winner in my kitchen large Tupperware yellow plastic bowl all alone! LOL!...... Angela from Bedfore IN, CountryCellar!!!! Congratulations Angela!  Please email us at homespunmedia@aol.com  attn: Jeni, and give us your address, we will mail it right out tomorrow!!! I hope you enjoy it!!

I'm thinking of another give away, so I'll let you all know soon!  The new newsletter should be up on the http://www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com/  there is a new ornament pattern to download!
    Have a great weekend!
            Jeni

Drawing on the give-a-way tomorrow!! Free ornament pattern!

Tomorrow we will post the winner of the Give-a-Way!! I'm really excited! It has been so fun to see all the great comments!  Also, if you go over to the magazine website...www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com you can download free ornament projects! So far, there are three of them! We will have a new little project pattern each week on the newsletter, and on my (jeni) other blog, I post projects that I'm working on for the Woolen Willow shop!  There is a lot going on, so join in on our fun and take some of the polls! Last week it was about if you have a sewing room or not! This week the poll is about why you buy quilting magazines and what you enjoy about them!  Thanks again!  Jeni

Give away!!!!!

Okay!  Here is another give away for you!!  This is a Mini Sampler I designed for The Woolen Willow as a block of the week this summer! It is great to have out all year long! Each block is a 4" square of a cotton print, and the applique is wool!  I aged each square before adding the wool applique with a strong instant coffee solution!  Very fun and addictive project! You can do a couple of blocks each evening and you are done before you know it!  The kit is a $30.00 retail value and we will give it away!!! Be a follower and post a comment, and your name will go in the hat and be drawn on Friday of this week!!!  Thanks a bunch and good luck!!!
       Jeni

Newsletter, Free Ornament, Ask Mom, etc.

Visit our website, for a newsletter highlighting our free "Santa Bell" ornament project, and offers an "Ask Mom" Q&A.