We're ready for Christmas!!! Are you?

I love my Christmas tree!!! So does my cat, Charlie. I keep finding ornaments all over my apartment! It's a never ending battle, LOL :)

We have a few gift specials going on right now. You can purchase 1 year gift subscriptions for your friends for only $19.99. We also put together a magazine storage box kit that you can customize with fabric! You can display your favorite magazines in our beautiful homespun fabric, or anything you want! These will be available on our website soon! http://www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com/.

Congratulations to...

Krisgray! Send us an email to receive your free pattern! homespunmedia@aol.com
Thank you to everyone who participated. We will take all of your birthday suggestions into consideration. :) Have a great day!

Notable Birthdays? And a Giveaway!

Howdy!  We're finalizing content for the Spring Issue which will ship in January.  Let us know of some notable birthday celebrations taking place from now (November-ish) through March-ish 2012.

If you make a suggestion between now and midnight Sunday night, your name will be entered in a drawing for a free pattern.

Thanks!
Judy, Jeni, Gretchen, and Leah

More Fall Festival Photos

Love it here!  We are having fun in our 10x10 home away from home away from home!

Fun at at Fall Festival!

This is a wonderful show....wonderful people everywhere you turn!  Here's a photo of some super funny gals who stopped by.  We staged a mini "flash cheer" for Mary.

I'll snap more photos today and post them tonight.

Thanks!
Judy, Jeni, Gretchen

Quilt Market 2011

Jeni and Gretchen at the Market...the booth looks beautiful!  I'll join them next week at Festival...can't wait!

Congratulations to....

Stray Stitches!! Send us an email with your mailing address and we will send your needle case out today :) homespunmedia@aol.com For those of you who haven't checked the previous blog, I want to explain to our subscribers our shipping situation. We are working on a second class postage rate with the post office which will make subscriber copies arrive much faster in the future. However, right now we have no control over how fast the post office will deliver your magazine so we have to give the worst case scenario for this time frame. We hope to be approved by the time the Spring 2012 issue comes out. Keep in mind that the main advantage to subscribing to our magazine is the discount you receive compared to purchasing them at the store for full price. Thank you for your patience :) Have a great day!
P.S.
Jeni is at home "working" today, but we keep getting pictures of this little guy...

My finished rug and a giveaway!

I was finally able to finish my rug earlier this month! I haven't had a chance to post anything because we have been extremely busy at the shop with our Winter issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects! The magazines arrived today! Subscribers should expect to see their copies by early December, and they will be available in your local quilt shops by early November. The first 20 people to post on this blog will be entered into a drawing for a free wool needle case. Good luck!

We have a winner!!

Congratulations Hueisei!! You get a free quilt pattern! Send us an email and we will attach it as a file :) homespunmedia@aol.com

Thank you everyone for all of the support on my very first rug! It's almost done. I hope to have it finished before my next blog! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend and enjoy the rest of your week!

Leah

Slow progress with my rug.. and another give away!!

I had an eventful week last week (friends visiting from out of town, a trip to the mountains, spending time with my baby nephew, etc.)... which is why I haven't made much progress on my rug since my last post. I am determined to get much more accomplished this week! In the mean time, let's do another give away! Comment on this post by next Monday and we will put your name in a hat and draw a winner. We will give one lucky winner a free pattern!

Have a great week :)

Leah

And the winner is...

Robyn of Robyns Nest!!! Congratulations :) Send us an email and let us know if you would like a quilt pattern or wool applique pattern! homespunmedia@aol.com

Thank you everyone for participating! Here is my latest progress with my rug. I'm loving it!

Rug progress!!

This is a little better, isn't it? haha. My problem at first was the wool strip twisting as it came up through. Jeni was able to show me how to pull the strip through correctly :) I still get twists, but now I am able to manipulate and untwist as I pull it back down. This is becoming more enjoyable now that I'm filling in! It's actually starting to look like something! Yay :)

Learning to hook! (And a giveaway!)

Hi,

I'm Leah! I'm the office manager for Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine. I thought maybe I should learn how to make this kind of stuff, since I'm supporting all of you wonderful primitive lovers :) So I'm starting with a Woolen Willow hooked rug, called "Crow." I thought I would be able to You Tube "how to rug hook," and this is what I came up with... YIKES!!! So I am about to get a professional lesson from my awesome aunts, Gretchen and Jeni :) I will keep you posted with my progress!

Also, we are overdue for a giveaway! Anyone who comments between now and next Monday... we'll throw your name in a hat and draw a winner! The winner will receive a pattern for a quilt or wool applique!

Fun at Summer Quilt Festival!

We are lovin' California!  And the people here are super!  I guess no matter where you go, if you're in the quilting world, you're surrounded by super people!

Here we are with Jan whose comment was published in our first issue.  Nice to meet you, honorary sis!

Jeni, Jan, Judy, Sally, and Gretchen

California Here We Come! (and an embarrassingly funny video)

Four sisters:  Sally, Jeni, Gretchen, and me (Judy), plus Jeni's husband, Glen.
Just left little Williamstown, West Virginia.
Driving to Columbus (Ohio) International Airport.
Will be at Long Beach late tonight!  Yay!

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by our booth at Summer International Quilt Festival...#1838-1840.

If you want to see a funny video....this is me trying out my laptop's webcam for the first time.  I was trying to figure out how to take a photo and didn't realize it was recording a video.  Duh!

Avery and Her Spontaneous Scrap Quilt

Avery and Her Spontaneous Scrap Quilt

You might notice we were using the Hootie Hoot prints from Riley Blake.  I'm making a Turning 12 with this fabric, and appliqueing the larger animal motifs onto the larger blocks.  It's looking pretty good!

Kids make quilts too!

My neighbor's grandson (age 8) and granddaughter (age 5) came to visit yesterday while I was putting together a "Turning Twelve" quilt for my grandson (almost 4 months).  Naturally curious, they both wanted to try out my sewing machine.  Turns out they really only wanted to operate the pedal.

So I pulled out a couple scraps, lined them up, and let Avery "drive."  She did a great job, slowing down when she saw the end of the fabric approach the needle.  One look at the two pieces we put together inspired me to add another, then another, and so on (all the while Avery drove), until we had a nice, random, 24" x 36" (approx) quilt.  Wow!

Then it was Jackson's turn.  He had a vision.  "Can we take this piece and sew that piece on it, but leave one end open so it makes a pencil holder?"  "Why sure, Jackson," I said as we sewed one piece to the other, rights sides together.  The looks on his and his sister's faces were worth a million bucks as I turned the item right side out!

Their mother is an elementary school reading teacher; the two of us marveled at the excitement generated by this "old-fashioned" activity.  We both thougth it would be fun for quilt- and sewing-shops to sponsor birthday parties, and the like, for young folks to have fun creating useful and beautiful fabric art with their own hands.

I'll snap photos of Avery's quilt and Jackson's pencil pocket later today and will upload to this post.

Another note about kids and projects.  In our first issue, Lynda Hall's 7-year-old granddaughter Rebecca helped design the "Cold Days" project.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on kids and sewing.

Take care!
Judy

The Fall Issue is in the Works!

Hello!  We apologize for kinda dropping off the face of the blogosphere and newsletter-land.  Things have been pretty busy producing a new magazine--busy but super fun!

Check out the image of the Fall Issue.  That quilt is by Kansas Troubles, and the cute little kitty cat on the bed belongs to Jeni's daughter, Kristin.  She kept jumping in front of the camera during our three-day photo shoot.

We promise to get back on track with the newsletters, block of the week (you will get to complete that mystery quilt), and this blog.

Thank you for your well-wishes, encouragement, compliments, support, and constructive criticism.  We value you, and your opinions, and are working our little fingers to the bones to make this magazine better, better, and better!

And the winner is....

Krisgray is the winner of the Woolen Willow pattern!  Nice blog ... "Farm Girl Transplanted."  So, Krisgray, email your shipping info to us and we'll send a kit your way.

Thank you everyone for participating.

Judy, Jeni, and Gretchen

Creative Mojo Interview Wednesday 5/25 at 3:30....(and a giveaway)

1. Please listen to Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski on Wednesday, May 25 at 3:00pm EST. Gretchen will be interviewed by Mark; tentative air time is 3:20. Go to www.toginet.com, & click on the "listen live" button. The interview will also be available later via the Show Host page under "Our Shows". Scroll to find "Creative Mojo". Hope you can listen!
2. It's time for an overdue giveaway....Comment on our blog this week.   We'll put your names in a hat (or bowl or basket or something) and draw a winner.  The prize is a free pattern!
3. Thank you for all the wonderful comments!

It's a Bookazine!

Cherie Shaeffer owner of "Quilts in the Attic" and and Paula Barnes of "Bonnie Blue Quilts," were talking about our magazine and coined the new phrase, "bookazine."  Don'tcha just love it?  I think that name might stick...thanks Cherie and Paula!

We are having a wonderful time at Market, and are enjoying Salt Lake City.  Jeni and I found a really neat restaurant, "The Inferno Cantina," around the corner from the convention center on Pierpoint Street-or-Drive-or something.  The food is authentic (or nearly authentic) Mexican, really really really good, and the atmosphere is calm and pleasant.  They play great American music, and the decor is super fun!

Salt Lake City is a beautiful, clean, and fun town.  All the Utah folks we've met this weekend are so nice!  Here is a photo of one little corner of the town.  Love those mountains!

Jeni took a little break from the booth this afternoon and returned with this cute little sample from the Slice booth.  She knows I love their Riley Blake Hootie Hoot samples.  I have the fabric to make a quilt for my little grandson who is now two months old.  I bought the fabric at Fall Market in Houston and haven't started the quilt.  Somehow holding a full-time job AND publishing a magazine doesn't leave room for making quilts.  Here are photos of the sample AND of my handsome little Julian.  I bet he's growing while I'm away at Market.





We are at Spring International Quilt Market!

We are at Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City Utah! It is beautiful here! I have a couple shots of our booth for you to see, and maybe more pictures soon! It is fun, but also long days of standing and lots of walking! We can't wait for you all to see the Fall Issue photographs! Oh, I guess we can't wait to see them too! We will see them next week and pick what we like for the next issue! Hope you all are getting your projects made from the first issue because July is just around the corner!  Don't forget to check the corrections page on the website!
     Jeni and Judy

Want to Help Disaster Victims?

A quick, simple way to help disaster victims is to donate to or volunteer for the American Red Cross.



From the Red Cross website:

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to help in times of disaster, both here in the United States and around the world. Those who want to help can make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. To make a donation, visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

We would also like to know of any ways the quilting community is rallying to help.  Please comment.

Thanks!

Our Spring Festival Booth on Youtube

We're new to the whole youtube thing, but we thought we'd cut our teeth with a video from Spring Festival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qV5ELqLZ6k

Re the "slow boat to China" delivery of magazines..... if you subscribed before March 23 and have not received your copy, please call us, toll-free, at 1-877-809-1895.

Thanks!
Jeni, Judy, and Gretchen

Spring Quilt Festival Cincinnati!

Here we are at Spring Quilt Festival in Cincinnati!  Our booth is for the Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine! I'll have to get another picture tomorrow of just the booth, because you can't really see it with all the people! That's a good thing, cause we have been really busy! Everyone likes the magazine! Yay! The other pictures are of Judy driving the horse carriage we took a ride in last night! That was so much fun!  I hope you all are getting your magazines in the mail now! Media mail is slow and I know it is hard to be patient!!!  Let us know when you get it!

      Jeni

The New Magazines are Here!!!! Yay!!!

I'm going to refer you to Jeni's post.... she has photos of the truck pulled up to the loading dock, all hands on deck to move boxes into the building, our new publishing office, etc.

Today we will get ready for a fun road trip to the Spring International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati!

Photos of the Printing in Michigan (Lucky Jeni!)

Jeni is at the Quad Graphics print facility in Midland, Michigan.  Her husband Glen drove her up there.  They stopped at quilt shops along the way, and are having a wonderful mini-vacation.

I know we refer to our dear West Virginia as "Almost Heaven," but today Jeni would probably say the same about Michigan.  Every time she called me today it sounded as though she were holding back tears of joy, as she witnessed our sweet newborn magazine take its first breath as pages rolling off the presses.

 Jeni with the first few pages

 The Beezly Beary Mohair Bear Project

Front and back covers 

Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine rolling off the press! 

Thank you, QuadGraphics, for doing a wonderful job, and for showing Jeni and Glen such a nice time!

The New Magazine will Ship this Week!

After lots of fun, work, fun, editing, fun, proofing, fun, editing, fun, proofing, fun, editing, fun, proofing, and, did I mention fun?...we finally have a magazine.  And we are so pleased with how it turned out.

Jeni drives up to the printing site in Michigan on Tuesday for a Wednesday press proof.  She is so excited and we are so envious!

We will now get back to schedule with our weekly newsletter.  Mom is writing an answer to a question as we e-speak!

Judy

First Things First

Before giving birth to our new magazine, I'd like to introduce you to my new (and first) grandchild, Julian Maxwell Williamson!  He was born this morning at 3:00.  Mommy, Daddy, and Baby are doing well.

Count-Down

Counting down and working a lot to finish this wonderful magazine.  We're so excited.  Ships to subscribers 3/31.  We've put the newsletters and Block-of-Week on temporary hold while we wrap things up before deadlines.

Loving it!
Judy, Jeni, Gretchen

And the Winners Are.........

Here are my pets watching me (well Buster's watching; Boomie is snoozing) cut the list of names into little slips of paper for the drawing.  I crumpled each piece and put them all in a big bowel along with a lucky penny.


Here are the winners:

• ShabbySheep
• Courtney who was sent to us by Kate at Primitive Woolens
• Kate at Primitive Woolens
• BillieBee (billiemick), sent to us by Linda at Stray Stitches
• Linda at Stray Stitches
• Jacque, sent to us by Joanne at Snippets and Scraps of Mind
• Joanne at Snippets and Scraps of Mind

Please email us at homespunmedia@aol.com with your address and let us know which pattern you'd like for us to send to you!  Congratulations!!!


Thank you to everyone for participating, for following, and for sending followers.


On a side note, you should see the photos of the projects.  We picked up the proofs yesterday--NICE!


Thanks!
Judy, Jeni, and Gretchen

Valentine's Day to Presidents' Day Take-Your-Pick Giveaway!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We're giving away a handful of prizes.

We'd like some more followers.  Beginning today and through next Monday (Presidents' Day) if you will refer some new followers to us, we'll put your name and the new followers' names in a hat for a prize drawing.

The prize?  Take your pick of any Woolen Willow pattern.

• For those of you who refer new followers:  If we pick your name, you get to choose a pattern.
• For the new followers:  If we pick a new follower's name, the follower gets a prize, and the person who referred them gets a prize.
• If we pick a new follower who joined us without being referred...you can pick a prize too!

We'll draw the winners around closing time on Monday, February 21.
We want to give away 5 or 6 patterns.  We're keeping that number squishy because we won't know how many pairings (referrer and refer-ee) or singles (referrer only, or new follower who joined without being referred) we'll draw.

I hope that all made sense.  Anyway, let's see how many new followers we get!  Yay!

Judy

Photos of the Photoshoot

We're shooting the summer issue, right?

No photographers were hurt during the production of this magazine.

Such a pretty barn-I-mean-house!

Definitely a team effort.

Thank you, Chip and Jan, for the use of your beautiful home!

Photography in Progress!

Hey!  We're doing photography for the first issue.  Things are looking good!  The designers have created amazing quilts, rugs, table mats, punchneedle, and one cute little surprise.  You are going to love these projects.  And our photographer Jim Osborn is doing an extraordinary job; I hope you visit his website to see samples of his work.   If we get a chance, we'll take some photos of the process and post them here.

Have a great day!

Judy, Jeni, and Gretchen

Hearts, Anyone?

I think I've been inspired by Jeni's latest design, a Heart Quilt.  I saw it in person at our weekly magazine meeting last night.  Love it!  (no pun intended).  Jan Patek has a nice post about a "heart quilt" made by a classroom of 7th graders for the "Long Road Ahead" quilt raffle for a young man waiting for a heart transplant.  Minick and Simpson have a "Heart Penny Rug."

What other "heart" projects are out there?  Especially primitive ones!

Please comment to let us know about those neat, gorgeous, lovely "heart" projects.

We Want to Hear From You

Each issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects will offer four reader-focused columns. Please feel free to contact us about any of the following:

Show Us Your Work! We want to feature photographs of the work you do. This can be individual or group work. Quilts… rugs… table mats… dolls… and so on. Show the world what you've created—you might inspire a new project.
Your Voice, Your Ideas. For this column we invite you to share your ideas and suggestions. This will also serve as our "Letters to the Editor" section. So if there's anything you'd like share with us—compliments, constructive criticism, ideas, or anything on your mind related to the magazine or to primitive fiber arts in general, please let us know.
Ask Mom. Do you have a piecing, quilting, rug hooking or applique question that you need answered? Just submit your question to our Mom and she'll make sure to answer you...even if she has to dig around for just the right response! She will make every effort to answer everyone's questions, but it just might NOT be possible...she'll do her best! Several of the most interesting Q&A's will be published in each issue! So, if something is on your mind and you need some advice, do what WE do...Ask Mom!
Happy Birthday! We love birthdays! And we would love to recognize your notable events. The primitive arts community is as diverse as any—young, not-so-young, and always interesting. Are you—or do you know—a quilter about to turn 80? 90? 100? 100+? Perhaps a budding textile artist under the age of 10? Or any birthday celebrated in a unique and interesting way? We want to wish you a happy one!
This is your chance to be recognized, seen, and heard in an international magazine! We can't guarantee that we'll publish your submission, and we might have to do a little editing here and there, but we will do our best to capture the voices and happenings in the world of Primitive Quilts and Projects.

You can reach us through our website, or by email at homespunmedia@aol.com.

Thanks!
Judy, Jeni, and Gretchen


 

We picked the winner of the Take Your Pick, Give Away!!!!!!!!

And the winner is!!!!!!   Michelle!  Please email us at homespunmedia@aol.com with your address and let us know if you want the calendar or the kit!  And BeckyJean you also win a pattern, so email us and we will email you the pattern!!!  Congratulations to both of you and thank you Beckyjean for sending over followers to our give a way!!

Hooray Hooray! A "Take Your Pick" Giveaway!!!

• Who:  For those of you who commented on Saturday's "giveaway" blog post, plus anyone else who comments this week.
• What:  A "take your pick" giveaway.  If we draw your name, you have the choice of the 2011 Woolen Willow calendar (Retail $14.95--but now selling for half price--but still VERY NICE), or Jeni's "Winter Stitchin'" kit, retailing for $27.00.  Bonus:  If you get at least one friend to sign up as a follower and we draw your name, we'll also throw in a bonus prize--each of you will receive a $9.00 pattern.
• Where:  Right here at Primitive Quilts and Projects blog.
• Why:  Because it's fun and we want you to keep us in mind.
• How:  Just comment this week, and for a bonus, get a friend to sign up as a follower.
• When:  We'll draw the winner on Friday!

It was fun writing that!

Free Block of the Week Project... and is it time for a giveaway?

Jeni is cooking up a Block of the Week quilt... take a look!  And while there, you can let us know in our poll about your charitable quilt work, and you can sign up for our weekly newsletter.  In the newsletter you can read Mom's answers to the questions people pose.

We haven't had a giveaway for awhile....hmmm....what shall we do?  A kit?  A calendar?  A pattern?  What do you think?  We'll decide on Monday for a Friday giveaway.  Let us know what you think.

Here is one of Jeni's latest projects, "Winter Stitchin'."

Wow... A "Little Ol' Me Fest!"

It seems that we've all joined hands in a "little ol' me fest."  These are such amazing designers and they're all delighting in each other's company.  We are humbled by their participation.  With a deadline nearing, we're receiving projects on a daily basis from these out-of-this-world designers (in alphabetic order)... Buggy Barn, Cheri Payne, Dawne Heese, Gloria Parsons, Heather Lynn, Jan Patek, Jeni Gaston, Kathy Schmitz, Lisa Bongean, Lori Brechlin, Lynda Hall, Maggie Bonanomi, Renee Plains, Rita Briner, and Tonya Robey. 

What is Your Cause? We'd Like to Know

Hooray…it’s going to be a great year!  I started the 2011 work year with a day of vacation from my paying job… how ‘bout that?  I did this so I can work on the magazine...it’s not going to happen on its own, you know.  And boy oh boy, is this ever a fun job!  Thinking about what readers want to read and see.  Thinking about all those wonderful designers—WOW—their projects are out of this world!  I am really, really, really excited!

Something very important to us is charitable support and giving.  Each issue will showcase what our readers do help others.  Do you volunteer in any way?  Donate quilts, money, or time?  What are your causes?  A homeless shelter?  A children’s hospital?  Quilts of Valor?  The Million Pillowcase Challenge?  The Humane Society?  An environmental cause?  Cancer Support?  The Red Cross? Do you have photos of your work?

We know you have hearts of gold.  We want to know what you are up to out there.  Please comment here to let us know, or email us at homespunmedia@aol.com.  If you include photos of your work, we just might feature you in the magazine!