In Remembrance

On Memorial Day, we remember all of those who have died in our nation's service.  To help remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed in December 2000, which asks that at 3 p.m. local time all Americans "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence..." For more information about the history and meaning of Memorial Day, visit the Memorial Day website.

A heartfelt thank you to all who have served and died in our nation's service, and thanks to their families for their sacrifice.

I love this video, I posted it a couple of years ago. I thought I'd post it again for those of you who missed it. It features the incomparable Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow at a filmed radio show performance for our troops in 1943. I hope you enjoy it and that it touches your heart the way it touches mine.

Wedding Plans

It's been a busy couple of days, getting ready for the wedding. A date has been set for June 8, 2012. We have a venue for the reception- it is the renovated carriage house of a historic mansion with beautiful gardens. I think it's going to be lovely:

Now we are looking for a church. Ideally, it will be close to the reception place, since the wedding will be on a Friday evening, and we don't want guests stuck in city traffic. A few of the options we are looking at:

So many details! What I am really looking forward to is the dress shopping! Daughter actually tried on my wedding dress the other day. It has been sealed up in a box since 1989. She doesn't want to wear it (too 1980's for her!), but maybe she will use a bit of the lace or trim

Market Photos part 4

 Just a few more Market photos:

 Here I am with fellow Kansas City Star author Dawn Heese of Linen Closet Quilts. This was her first time as an exhibitor at Quilt Market and her booth was beautiful. I love her vintage style.

This is Leanne Anderson from the Whole Country Caboodle. She also designs for Henry Glass Fabrics and she is sooooo nice! You will love her new baby fabric line- perfect timing for Leanne since she became a first time grandmother recently.

And last but not least, Jill Finley of Jillily Studio. She won an award for most creative booth! And she so deserved it- she had it set up like an old fashioned soda counter and she was actually giving away little miniature scoops of sorbet (yum!) to promote her new line of fabric for Henry Glass called Sorbet Garden. You must stop by her blog to see more photos of her booth!

That's it for my Market wrap up (till next Fall........)

Quilt Market Photos part 3

Continuing our "tour"...

  I kind of cheated on this one! I met up with Brenda Pinnick at Market, a designer for Henry Glass Fabrics. Like me, Brenda did not have a booth at Market, and we actually met at a Meet and Greet Party hosted by Henry Glass. I did not get a photo of us together at Market, so I "borrowed" this one from Brenda's Facebook page. You should check out Brenda's site- her art is colorful and fresh and fun.

 This is me with Kari Ramsay from Fresh Cut Quilts. I got to meet Kari's 2 cute little girls, they were "modeling" clothing made from their mom's fabric- very cute! (oh I remember when my kids were young enough to let me make their clothes.....)

 Here I am at the Henry Glass booth with my design director, Harriet. You can see my Joy, Love, Peace, Noel fabric on the left. I heard that woodland creatures were a big theme throughout Market this time- I am glad to say I "represented" with my raccoons, mice, and reindeer!

While there, I got to go over the first set of strike-offs for Apple Blossom Acres. It's looking good! It will be in stores in October- your favorite quilt shop can order it now!

Today I am working on some quilt designs for the Apple Blossom Acres fabric line, and doing some sketches for my next fabric line. I have to draw people for this one. Hmmm..... usually I do animals and flowers. I think there will be a lot of "rough" sketching going on. Are you doing something creative today??

Quilt Market Photos part 2

More photos from Quilt Market. By the way- did I mention that on the way home, at the Salt Lake City airport, I got body scanned AND a pat down??? I must look kind of shady! I guess they figured out where I carry my "fat quarters"- Bwahahaha!!

 The lovely Annie Downs from Australia! She has been designing fabulous patterns and books for 16 years. Have you seen her designs- adorable! Now she has just released her first fabric line with Henry Glass, and also she has just released a really cute book with Kansas City Star. So now, we are both Henry Glass designers and Kansas City Star authors!

Another Australian designer, Helen Stubbings from Hugs n Kisses. Helen is one of my favorite people at Market- always so friendly and fun to talk to. Her sister Tracy, a long-arm quilter from Tasmania, joined Helen at Market this time. I love Helen's work- it is really beautiful!

Chelsea from Pink Fig Design also designs for Henry Glass. If you like sewing children's clothing, you will definitely want to check out Chelsea's pattern line.

I still have more photos to show you next week. So glad hubby was there with his camera, because I always forget to take pictures!

Tonight I am going to my sister-in-law's nursing school graduation. She worked very hard and got excellent grades, and she did it with 3 little people at home, too! We are very proud of her!

Quilt Market Photos part 1

I have to say- Quilt Market was great! Our first trip to Utah. Salt Lake City is a nice little city. Hubby and I also went to Arches National Park in Moab (photos next week). It was a lot of flying and driving, but well worth it. We got home at 12:45 am Monday morning (those flights from the western part of the country to the east coast are tough!)

You don't want to see Market photos, do you? Really? Are you sure??
Yeah, I thought you might! :)

This is me with Kathy Schmitz. Kathy is a fabric designer for Moda, and I always enjoy my chats with her at Market. I actually took a class with Kathy and her sister Bonnie Sullivan (the project was a French inspired brooch. I still have a few finishing touches to put on it, then I will show it to you.) The class was a lot of fun, but there was a snafu at the beginning. About 30 of us were waiting in the classroom with no sign of our teachers or any supplies. About 10 minutes after the class was supposed to start, we were really starting to wonder..... then Bonnie came in, all out of breath, and apologized. Then she said "It's all Kathy's fault!" Only a dear sister could throw you under the bus like that! Turns out, Kathy had the wrong room- and they were wondering where their students were! So all 30 of us followed Bonnie, aka the Pied Piper, through the Convention center to where they had set up their class. Only we couldn't get there, because that part of the building was gated off! So we had to go across the show floor, through the food court, through the kitchen (literally!!), down a hall to the classroom. How Bonnie and Kathy originally even found the room, I have no idea. But it was a fun class, I even won some of Kathy's patterns. And of course, it's also nice to start the day with a big laugh, which we all did!!

 Here I am with Janet and Pam from Buggy Barn. The sister duo writes books, designs fabric for Henry Glass, AND run a quilt shop!! A Dynamic Duo! And so, so nice. Maybe I could pass for their sister- we kind of have the same hair...

Another fellow Henry Glass designer, Barbara Jones from Quilt Soup. Barbara has the cutest, brightest, cheeriest designs. But what I like most about her is that she laughs at my jokes and tells me I'm funny :D

More photos next post....
Time to finish unpacking.....

Joy, Love, Peace, Noel

 Artwork Copyright Jacquelynne Steves

My Joy, Love, Peace, Noel fabric line will be shipping to stores this month. I have been making up some projects with this line, and the more I work with it, the more I like it. The projects are quite pretty! You know how when seemingly diverse things happen at the same time, they are forever linked in your mind? I will always think of Prince William's wedding when I look at this project, because I had it on TV all day while I was working on this project (wonder that I got anything done at all....)

There is a free project sheet available on the Henry Glass Fabrics website. Free pattern for a quilt AND table runner and place mat set.

My daughter and I were shopping the after-Christmas sales back in January and I found this cool wrought iron sign. Keep in mind, this was months after I had done the artwork for the Joy, Love, Peace, Noel line. I bought it and put it away to hang up next Christmas (and forgot about it). Hubby found it in the closet, and we decided to hang it up in the door frame over the family room. As he said, we can always use a little more "peace" in the house....

Introducing! Apple Blossom Acres

My newest fabric line, Apple Blossom Acres, will be introduced at Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City this week. It features a farm and quilt themed panel, with fun bright coordinates, perfect for a cottage-y look, but they would also be really cute for a juvenile theme. I have been designing quilts for the line in EQ7, and I have to tell you- I can't wait to get the fabric in my hands so I can actually make them! They are turning out really cute! Wouldn't it be great if we could make the actual real-life quilts in the same amount of time that it takes to "make" them on the computer! The fabric will be available in quilt shops and online shops in October, and there will be a free project sheet available on the Henry Glass Fabrics website.

It is time for apple picking season at Apple Blossom Acres! The animals get ready with much excitement- it’s their favorite time of the year! Quilts are gathered to keep them cozy in the approaching cooler months. Humphrey the horse enjoys a little snack as he and his friend Dusty Dog pick flowers in the meadow, while Daisy the Cow gives her friends a ride out to the orchard. Piper the pig, on the other hand, prepares for his favorite part—the big meal afterwards. The chickens cluck and roosters sound the call for everyone to gather together, and off they go!

If you are attending Spring Market, you can see the full line at Henry Glass Fabrics, Booth #1929 and 2028.
I won't have a booth this time- Phew! that's a lot of pressure off! But I will be there to see what's new in the industry and meet up with publishers, manufacturers, distributors, and fellow designers. Photos to follow!

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post for a special announcement...

I had a post ready to go today, I was going to tell you all about my new fabric lines, and quilt designs for them, and getting ready for Quilt Market in Salt Lake City this week, blah blah blah. But something happened on Friday that trumps all of that....

We went to my oldest daughter's boyfriend's college graduation. Gorgeous day, nice ceremony. After wards, he pulled my husband and I and asked us a very important question, then he said, "OK, I'm going to go do this!"

And right there on the lawn, in front of everyone, he asked Daughter a very important question, and of course, she said YES!

All of us (including daughter!) were very surprised. So it has been a very exciting and emotional weekend here. Daughter graduates next May so they want to get married in late May or June of 2012. It is going to be a very busy year! I already had a bit of "wedding fever" because of the Will and Kate last week....

Congratulations, Samantha and Jeffrey! (And welcome to the family, Jeff.)

In Honor of Moms

I know many of you have probably already seen this, but I have to post it again. It's one of my favorites. It's Momsense.


And now, equally hilarious, Dadsense.


Have a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend.

And for for those of you who find this time of year painful and heartbreaking, may God's peace be with you and comfort you.
 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

New Free Pattern! Hooray!

If you like free stuff (and if you don't, well, then, I guess you are quite unusual), stop by the Free Pattern Page on my website. There you will find free stuff like this free Christmas Bird embroidery pattern:

And you will also find the tutorial to make a tote bag with the free Christmas Bird pattern:

Yes, I know it's only May, but you know you won't have time to work on this stuff in October and November, so you may as well start now.... But hey, use any of the many free embroidery patterns to make the bag- I think it would make a cute beach bag with this pattern:

You will also find other cute free stuff like this pattern:

Or this:

And the newest free pattern- Let Them Eat Cake! Wouldn't this be adorable on a tea towel?

Click Here to go to the Free Pattern Page. Happy Stitching!

Mad for Hats!

The talk this weekend,was of course, the wedding. And the hats. Oh my! Do you think this will become the new fashion trend? Or is our style too casual to make room for accessories such as this? My prediction is that we will be wearing more hats- but they will be more casual to fit in with our busy lifestyles. I'm thinking we will be seeing fun wool hats and berets this fall. But I probably won't be wearing this to the grocery store:

 I felt this was a little severe (and by the way: smile Victoria! You are married to David Beckham, for goodness sake!)

 A few of my favorites:

 I thought Carole Middleton looked beautiful and elegant, just as the mother of the bride should look.

 Love the drama of the feathers- but still elegant- nice vintage look to this one.

 This is just classic, understated and perfect. This is one I think I'd actually wear! (If I were invited to a Royal Wedding, that is. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail....)

Winning combination of flower and feather in understated beige- also very classic looking.

 My favorite was this pink hat worn by Princess Letizia- just beautiful.

And speaking of beautiful, I don't think Walt Disney himself could have come up with a more perfect looking Prince and Princess....

A true fairy tale day.....
And now back to real life! Off to work now- have a happy Monday.