Henry Glass Designers Holiday Project Parade - Day 4

Wow, this week is flying by! I am loving all of the holiday goodies. Oh goodies, I've posted a few more photos of the shops around her on my website Journal. Enjoy!

Before I go on about Day 4, I need to tell you about the first Hugs & Kisses sighting! Nanci Mahenski Quick owns The Quilted Kitty in Lincoln, NE. I've been told that she will do mail order for those of you who can't find it near you. Give her a call! She's super nice and willing to help you out!

As we are hopping along from blog to blog, please remember to take note of each designer's secret holiday word or phrase. There are rumors that Miss Carrie might put together some sort of story for you on the last day to help you along. Just a rumor and you didn't hear it from me. Also, remember that we've set up a Flickr page for those of you with finished projects! Also, the album cover for the booklet can be found on the Henry Glass blog.

Today we have another wonderful group of ladies. First, we have Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup. She's a funny lady and I loved using her wonderful fabric for my project. Her project is so cute today! Second, Lizzie B girls, Liz Hawkins and Beth Hawkins. Check out their lovely apron project that is modeled by Liz's equally lovely daughter. Finally, Laurie Bird of Rose Cottage Quilts. What an adorable advent calendar!

Barbara Jones

Liz Hawkins and Beth Hawkins

Laurie Bird

Speaking about talented friends, Linda Hanneman of Moon Beam Primatives is one of them. She works at Kindred Quilts but she does her own lovely arty endeavors that she sells at the shop or on-line. The photos don't even do them justice. I've seen them and they are gorgous!! She's got pincushions and Santas but these are my favorites. The snowman, above, is delightful and her Raggedy Ann doll has such spunk!

How did I miss these? They are in homes already but one can drool! The goth witch is so cool. Oooh, that little boy is handsome!

Have a great day!
xo, L

Awesome, Amazing, Wonderful, and Fabulous

Congratulations to all of the winners! Wasn't it a fun blog hop? Thanks for hopping along. What should we celebrate at the next designer blog hop? Spring? Summer? Christmas again?

This week, a lot of people inspired me. I don't want to sound sappy but it all warmed my heart and inspired me to do better and to live and work better. As a designer, reading the hundreds of fantastic comments was a great boost. Thank you for that. Others inspired me by their passion, strength and generosity.

McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

Copyright 2010 Umesh Bhatt

My friend, Umesh, came back from a trip to India. It was an awesome trip. He took a trip to take photographs of the Himalayas. Wow. I'm not sure his latest photos from the Himalayas are up yet but do check out his people gallery. Awesome. I'm sure that he'll update more on his website soon. Afterall, he just got back! I admire his passion for photography and I always enjoy seeing his perspective in the things that he photographs.  He also brought back this lovely little quilt that was made in Dharamshala, a city in northern India. McLeod Ganj, pictured above, is a village within the municipality of Dharamshala and is the home of the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan government.  Thanks, Umesh! For those of you who missed it, his wife Roopa had her Dad come to the US with this quilt for me two years ago. Lovely.

On to a bit of sad news. My friend Justine, owner of Angelfirestudios, is going through a tough time. Her husband was fixing a car and it fell on top of him. She's been at his bedside for a week and a half now and she's had amazing help from friends to keep the store going. She has an inspiring store and her enthusiasm is contagious. She's one creative entrepreneur, wife and mom. Her strength in this time of difficulty has been amazing.

Another friend summed it up best on Ravelry:

"Many of you may not know, but Justine’s beloved husband Ted has been in a terrible accident.All her time is now being spent at his bedside in an ICU. We all love knitting and we all love Justine. Here is how we can help:

“One Project Please”

The purchase of just one project from Angel Fire Studios can put food on her table and buy diapers for her son. Another purchase could buy the gas to get her back and forth from the hospital.

As a customer and friend of Angel Fire Studios and Justine I am hoping that along with your thoughts and prayers for her and her family each of you might consider One Project …Please. Just drop by her store or log onto the online store, www.angelfirestudios.com"

The ladies at the store, including designer, Kristen Kapur of Through The Loops, are planning on releasing an e-book where all proceeds will go to benefit Justine and her young family.

Also, my wonderful friend, Amy Butler, is so fabulous. Did I say fabulous? She didn't hesitate to help out when I asked her last week. She is donating some fantastic items that will be used at a future fundraising event at the store. Thank you, Amy!! Love you!

Thank YOU from the bottom of my heart.

xo, L

A Surprise Baby Shower

In the midst of our blog hop, my friend Colleen and I planned a surprise baby shower for our friend Joanne. The surprise part is not for the faint of heart. We had a doctor's office lie for us because J decided to book an appointment for her kids smack dab in the middle of the party. We totally surprised her in the end and we had such fun! 

The terrific hostess, that would be Colleen above, made this yummy cake and an awesome vegan carrot soup. The guests were so funny because the party also ended up being a sort of recipe party. C ended up printing some recipes of the stuff that we served because the ladies enjoyed the food so much. It's always a good thing when the guests are happy.

The lucky girl received some beautiful handmade gifts too. J's most talented knitting mom, Mary, knit this beautiful baby blanket. She had already knit a cardigan the week before. Wow, right? 

C and I collaborated on this quilt though all of the credit should go to C because she put the whole thing together. For those of you who are familiar with my past fabric lines, you can see Funky Flowers if you look close enough. I knit a baby cap and made a zippered bag for her too.

Now you know why things were a bit crazy around here last week! Come back tonight. We hope to announce the winner of the grand prize then!!
xo, L

What A Week!

It has been a crazy, crazy week. Little bits of work stuff have kept things a bit nuts and on top of that we have tons of school stuff going on. Today, Little A had his Author's Tea. Great job!

I received this little lovely in the mail from my friend Renee of Liberty Star. She's soooooo talented. Extra gushing for that little tag and twine that's wrapping the pattern. Check out her patterns. So lovely.

xo, L

Afternoon of Nature

We have had the most glorious weather in the past week. Yesterday, Little A and I went over to our good friend, Darlene's, house. When we first moved to NJ, she, Bob and Chris lived beside us. Such terrific neighbors and great, generous friends.

Their property is so lovely. Imagine waking up to this everyday. 

There's a waterfall that runs through their front yard and there are many beautiful nooks to explore. I thought that you'd love some eye candy on such a cooler day. Though Dar didn't know it, our day together was a much needed distraction.  The afternoon of just walking around with our cameras was a good dose of inspiration that brought me back to seeing things in their natural beautiful state.

Little A was mesmerized by this frog. He wanted to pick it up and take it home with us.

Dar tried to find some fish for us and we did eventually find them swimming around the bottom of the water. Then we went over their bridge to the other side to look for copperhead snakes. Unfortunately, we didn't find any today.

I'm going to miss these afternoons with my kids when Little A starts first grade this fall.

xo, L

This Might Be The Day!

*It works now!

*Oops! Slight clarification. The website was launched but it may take a day or so until it makes its appearance to you. Sorry.

This might be the day of the launch of the new website. We're going to try to make it live sometime this afternoon. I'm so excited!

Meanwhile, I'll let you have a peak at my friends' work. A few of us get together on occasion to do some crafting together.

Rebecca's expecting a new baby and look what she made for her baby! Isn't this little quilt pretty? The design comes from Alicia Pauson's book, Stitched in Time.

Joanne, is an expert at matching points. Look how pretty her block is. This is part of a table runner. So happy!

I think that it must be the season for white quilts. Colleen is making this adorable quilt and the white adds a lovely minimalist, and crisp feeling to the design.

I love her little blocks. She put them together from a Moda jelly roll.

xo, L

Playdates for Momme and Me

Three of Little A's friends came over to play. Then the school nurse called and had me pick Big A up from school because he had a tummy ache. It was fun and they played well together. I wanted to show you how little boys clean up. The two drawers are supposed to roll under the train table. 

Thought I'd show you Joanne's tote. We made the same tote but she put the ties on the ends. Much too much effort for me because I can be lazy about certain things. [Note her perfectly matched stripes. She makes me look bad!] Isn't her bag pretty? I love the color combinations that she choose.

While she was here, she worked on some applique. So pretty and again look at the workmanship. She takes care in basting the edges. It is amazing work considering she only started a few weeks ago. 

Look at that teeny, tiny stem!

I didn't get much work done because I was too busy trying to get these Flingers off of my ceiling. Thankfully, we quilters are resourceful and we have the right equipment! My 36" ruler came in handy in getting those suckers off of my ceiling.

The Flingers [rubbery sticky frogs that you fling like an elastic] were a big hit but they were really sticky. I'm sure that I will be finding them around the house all night or they might fall down from the ceiling onto my head.

I tried to get into a project while they were here so I worked on this snake scarf for the boys. Brainless and easy to put down.

See you later! xo, L

I am lucky.

I live in a transient sort of place in NJ. Clinton is a lovely, charming little place 50 mins. west of Manhattan. People come from many different places because many of the big pharma companies are based here and attract employees from all around the world. Also, since the cost of living is so high in New York, many of our friends and neighbors commute 2 hours each way to the city to work.

The result is an interesting mix of people. I am fortunate to meet people of different nationalities here and I am even luckier when they bring me goodies back from their homeland. My friend Roopa spends a few months in India and she knows that I love quilts. So when she offered to bring back some quilts from India, who was I to say no? I got this sweet quilt a few months ago upon her return. I love the colors and the images. [Unfortunately, the other quilt that she bought me perished to nowhere land because her suitcase fell apart somewhere between Newark and India.]

I am lucky indeed.

It's so hot, hot, hot!

It is hot, hot, hot outside! Peony is from my mom's garden again. I love this color and the flowers are so lovely and delicate.
I am trying to focus on updating my website and blog. See that flickr badge over there? Yeah, I am behind the times when it comes to this but I am learning!

I have enjoyed the process of creating a lot more. I am currently knitting something to actually gift to someone. Haven't done that in a while. Usually I am up to my eyeballs in making book/magazine samples!

Speaking of knitting, I stopped in at one of my favorite and inspiring spots in NJ. Here's Justine in all of her pregnant glory. She owns Angelfire Studios in Basking Ridge. Justine, you look awesome! On the one hand, I envy her because I loved being pregnant; on the other hand, I can't imagine being pregnant with the heat. I always comment about the color and inspiration that she has going on in her store. The best way to describe her store is to say that it's colorful, funky and tasteful all rolled up in one.

Hello Justine

I have been in need of inspiration of late. So what better way to get inspiration than to do a little shop hop? One of my favorite places in NJ is Angelfire Studios [www.angelfirestudios.com] in Warren. Justine, the owner, is a funky mama and her daughter is oh so cute!!! The little one will escort you to the door when you are finished your purchases. Adorable! Justine has been making some cool felted stuff and I think that she has become obsessed [in a good way, of course]! She believes that it is because she is an Aries. I totally get it because I am that way and I am an Aries too!

For Inspiration

My friend Amy Butler, [http://www.amybutlerdesigns.com] has had her shop open for a while. She has a very inspiring web site and the purses that she has available on her web site are beautiful.

Glorious! Amy's lush fabrics make me look forward to spring. Though chartreuse and lime green are a couple of my favorite colors, I'm in love with all shades of green these days. I am working on a knit bag in a kelly green. I hope to show it to you soon.