Welcome, Baby Mac

We waited a week for the delivery and Little Baby Mac came into my world this week. He weighed 25 lbs. Ouch. I love him so much and he's already made such a big difference in my life. My brand new PC gave me problems and it was time to buy this baby. I've been working on a new web site and it has been straightforward so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

It's been busy around here. First, Little A and I celebrated Chinese New Year by going out for dim sum. Yummy! This kid eats anything. Happy New Year! It is the year of the rat.

The weather was crazy today. There was an accident early morning when I left the house. I didn't leave the subdivision. So I ended up sitting on a sheet of ice on a hill because an Audi was facing my lane head-on. When I came back home, all I wanted to do was stay in. I got some reading done but then I ended up playing Transformers for a while. Let's roll, Autobots.

Rejuvenate

Over the holidays I had started a few projects. I needed to do some crafty things that others had designed. Sometimes I need a diversion from my designs and just let someone else do the work.

I hadn't done crochet for a long time but I had picked up couple of Japanese crafty books. I made an amigurumi bear and I just started a lacey cell phone holder. I love the look of the lacey piece but I'm not sure that I would do a lot of the fine crochet. My eyesight is bad enough. Of course, I would re-call my crochet abilities by using a size 3 hook. Yes, the meds are still affecting me.

I started a new pair of mittens. I LOVE Fleece Artist and her yarn bundles are fabulous. They're a quick knit and the color is oh so yummy. It's a purple mix. I don't normally wear purple but this shade of purple goes really well with my aubergine colored coat.

I have been on a nesting binge especially with all that happened last year. I have had the urge to renovate, rejuvenate and de-stash. I started by trotting off to the local paint shop today and brought back a zillion swatches. I can't decide!!! Yikes. I love color but since I live in a small townhouse with no other females in sight, the melons, oranges, yellows and fuschias are off the list. Too dramatic in a testosterone driven home. I have mixed ideas about what a home should look like. I love so many different styles that keeping it all in sync is my biggest problem. I love Tricia Guild. Her colors are bright and dramatic. On the other hand, I love the modern/retro look. You'll see the look in my upcoming book, "Home Stuff" in the Modern Crafter Series [Leisure Arts].

I don't care for a country or primitive look. I do love it when you see a home that mixes old with new. I inherited a wooden throne-like chair, a wooden desk set and a watchmaker's repair table last year when my Dad passed away. They're in storage right now but I love those old pieces. My Dad also bought me two treadle sewing machines a long time ago. I look forward to the day when I can have all of the pieces together with me.

Hopefully, I will narrow it down in a few days. I need to rejuvenate. I think that I said that already. It's my buzz word for this new year.

Move over Mr. PC

I have been whining a lot lately and my thoughts have been in a bit of a rut. The cause? My computer situation. So what did I do this weekend? DH bought me a brand new MAC! I cannot wait. My head felt as though it was going to explode. This has been an ongoing thing for about forever and moreso since September.

Funny thing. Right after Reno put the order in, the floodgates in my head opened up and I actually felt relieved. I was talking to a publisher this morning and three ideas for books came together. The ideas have been there in rough form but to get it all together is the tough part. I know that it sounds hokey pokey but that is how I design. I don't sketch until after I've formed the ideas in my head. Then it is only to put the schematics together to form the pattern. Weird, non? Things are getting back to normal, yes!

I have been looking over the layouts for my next book in The Modern Crafter Series and it is fab! The photography is outstanding and the styling is oh so hip without being trashy or strange. That's a good thing.

Check out this bulletin board that I designed for The Modern Crafter Tot Stuff. It will be hanging above my work area soon [as soon as those who are good with a hammer can put it up. Big hint;)].

Curl up with a good book

The fine folks at Martingale & Co./That Patchwork Place have their act together. I received this fabulous stack of books yesterday in the mail. These are great for reading on such a day as today. There was a two-hour delay at school though I'm not sure why. It's just raining right now. My family laugh at me because they think that I'd never be able to go back to Canada based on weather alone. They're probably right!

There's Cool Girls Quilt on top but all of the books beneath it are beautiful too. I recognize a few names in there. Cyndi Hershey used to own The Country Quilt Shop in Pennsylvania and Karen Soltys is an editor at Martingale. I will let you know how my reading goes if I can pull myself away from the books long enough to write a blog about them. Thank you Martingale & Co.!

Make Believe

I love designing with a theme! This book is unusual in that there's quilt and pillow set for each theme. So adorable! There's one for a ladybug lover, a train lover, a rocket scientist and a few more!

Trendy Tots

I love making gifts for wee ones. For all of you modern moms, Tot Stuff is full of special little gifts for the trendy tot in your life. There are some fun designs. Be bold and use all of those cool fabrics that you have in your stash.

MIA but productive

Where have I been? I have been sick since December 22. Can you believe it? I am slowly getting back to normal. I rested, crafted and did a lot of thinking. Oh these ideas have been floating around in my brain but I've been working on a few ideas in the past week.

It was actually great to get some rest. I rather enjoyed being taken care of! My Mom, aunt, and brother visited. I got caught up with my favorite comedies, Chuck and Ugly Betty. I don't know why but I always love the underdogs or the geeks. Ok, I did do some other things like become an expert at Nintendo DS.

One of my favorite books was published over the holiday season. Sew Sentimental, above, is a scrapbooking book but there are many sewing projects to make for memory keeping. I loved writing this book and designing the projects. It was a treat to be able to have my family memories bound in a book like this.

I will have a few more cool updates soon. I can't wait to show you.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the land of antibiotics and inhalers. I've been sick over the holidays but it hasn't completely stopped me from enjoying visiting relatives. My mom, brother, and aunt are here and it's been nice to have them here.

I've been watching and reading about the year in review in the news and in magazines. Lots of milestones in the world and it is no different for me personally. This year was forgettable and yet unforgettable. I lost four special people in my life within a six month period - my dad, my grandmother, my father-in-law and his brother, Uncle Joe. I've missed them all especially over the holidays but I've been blessed to have had them in my life.

From a design perspective, it has been the best year for me. I worked hard last year so that much of the work could come to fruition this year. I've had four and a half [contributed to the latter] books published, lots of magazine and fabric work. I thank all of the wonderful people in our industry for supporting my visiion and I especially thank all of you for coming along for the ride! Here's to a great new year.

xo, Linda

Merry Christmas!

I wish you a very Merry Christmas! Thank you to all for your support this past year. It has been one with some major ups and downs but all of the friendship has meant a lot to me and my family. All the best to you and your families. xo, Linda

Winter Sparklers & Holiday Winners!

There's a shop in the town where I live that is so inspiring. Heartstrings is a wonderful shop full of vintage gifts and their window display just sparkles! I took this the other night during our Christmas Parade. It was so magical with all of the holiday lights in the town and in the parade.

I've been having fun shopping with Little A. He loves to walk down the street and sing Jingle Bells. So off-key and yet oh so cute. Adults walking by often join in and start singing [off-key as well] with him. Thankfully I did my shopping in November. It is crazy out there.

Speaking of gifts, you didn't think that I forgot about our little contest did you? First, the technicalities. Two little judges drew slips of paper from the e-mails that were received. Then they continued to draw some more so I am including few mini-bundles for three other contestants. Drum roll please.

The winners are:

Ursula Anvil - Cool Girls Quilt book

Mary Zilg - Large bundle of fabric

Kelly Willis - Large bundle of fabric

Michelle Benton [?], sugar creek stuff - Mini-bundle of fabric

Karen Weir -Mini-bundle of fabric

Monique Harris - Mini-bundle of fabric

Please e-mail me your snail mail and I will post the items to you. Thanks so much for reading and entering the contest.

I'm In A Holiday Mood & Giveaways Too!

Yippee! Today is publication day for Sew Sentimental. It's not just a scrapbooking book. There are some great projects for you to make as gifts. For the book, I designed one large quilt and one little quilt, some pillows, a growth chart and a fabric envelope. Check it out!

Presenting, the Here, Birdie, Birdie Tote Bag. Yes, I finally got around to finishing it. I have the template posted on my website. Just click the link on the right. Now, the pattern itself is another story. It may be the end of the week before I get to it. I used some fabric from my new fabric line, Gardenia. Sorry for the poor photo. It is ugly outside and my model, Little A, won't cooperate. He thinks that it is funny that Mommy wants him to pose. Little does he know that that's him on the cover of Sew Sentimental!

Plus, we had a minor castrophe last Thursday. My very expensive and very relatively new Maytag washer had one very major hissy fit. There had been problems with this machine and they've discontinued it. I think that is what made Maytag, Maytag no more. So we decided to buy a new one. We now have one wonderful [keep my fingers crossed] Whirlpool machine. Please don't tell me that you've had problems with yours. I don't think that my hubby can handle it!
I suddenly find myself in a holiday mood! Let's have a little giveaway. I have two bundles of my newest line, Gardenia. Plus, I have one copy of Cool Girls Quilt to give away too. Gee, I feel like Santa! E-mail me all through Sunday and I will draw three names Sunday night. Good luck!

I made this tree skirt for a book and for once, I have used a design for myself. I bought the sparkly reindeer ornament when I was in Toronto a couple of months ago. I'm in love with it! As you can see, I don't really decorate in "traditional" colors. Then again, what is traditional? I don't eat turkey at holidays either. For some reason, I am really turned off by turkey. This year, when my family came for a visit, they ate turkey and I ate scallops.

Here's another freebie. I was playing around with the dots from my Funky Fabrics line and ended up making this fun little holiday pillow. It is so easy that no real pattern is required. Just cut a 15" x 16" piece of fabric for the front and back. Then make 15 - 2 1/4" yo-yos. I used the highly addictive Clover yo-yo makers. Arrange and pin them onto the pillow front. Cut out a stump, fuse in place and zigzag around with coordinating thread. With right sides together, sew the pillow front and pillow back together. Leave an opening for turning along the bottom of the pillow. Voila!

Special Gifts

This year has had many ups and downs but overall I have felt blessed. It is a gift to be able to design and I am grateful for your passion for all that I do! Thank you! I hope that you enjoy making this stocking! Click here for the pattern.


Speaking of special gifts, I received this beautiful handmade pincushion and label a little while ago from Lucy Locket. Isn't this gorgeous? It came in a plastic bag and I haven't removed it because I am afraid of getting it dirty. It sits right in my work area and I look at it whenever I am there. Thank you, Lucy Locket!

OMG! It's December!

Where does the time go? I can't get over the fact that Christmas is only a few weeks away. I had so much to do for business this weekend but since I had visitors, nothing was accomplished. Not a problem. I took our cousins, Helen and Angie, from Australia shopping at Short Hills Mall. It's nice to watch other people shop. If you have ever been to this mall, you'd understand. Let's just say that Tiffany's, Anthropologie and Jimmy Choo were the stops along the way. We had loads of fun and it was great getting to know them. Of course, they think that it is cold here. Oh, yes, it is veeeery cold here in the good ol' USA. I won't tell them that there was a foot of snow in Canada. They'll have to see it for themselves when they go up there in January.

We sat down on Sunday afternoon and made these sparkly little gems. It was all fun and messy and I suppose that I should have let them use washable paint. Instead, I gave them shimmery-really-tough-to-remove-even-with-nail-polish-remover ink. Hey, no pain, no gain. The ink along with using Martha Stewart's fabulous glitter, gave us sparkly and colorful ornaments.

It's so easy. Buy some plain glass ornaments and drop some ink into them. Add a load of glitter and swirl around. Place a cotton ball at the open end while you are swishing the ink around inside so that it minimalizes the leakage of the ink and prevents it from getting all over you. Let them dry and there you have some oh so sparkly tree ornaments!

Happy Thanksgiving

... from our family to yours.

Who Knew?

Who knew that changing computers would be such a painful experience? No one told me! I am still in the middle of using the old one and the new one. It's been a bummer but I am able to update a bit here and there now. Here's some more Quilt Market news.

Here I am just before my Schoolhouse Presentation. Trying really hard to look like a domestic goddess and not really achieving the look I think! I was a nervous wreck. I don't have a problem with public speaking when it is about something else besides me. I used to do it all of the time in the pharmaceutical industry. However, when you want me to start talking about myself and what inspires me, I freeze about 24 hours before the presentation. When I get going, then I'm fine. It doesn't help that I don't sleep in hotel rooms either. I was one lucky designer though. I had a great audience [and a full house!] and I had a few familiar faces in the crowd. It was actually quite fun.

I threw the spotlight back onto my audience. These pictures show my view of the presentation. Didn't my audience look great? All smiley and happy and I was very pleased because I had the first presentation of the day.

I'll bet that these ladies and gentlemen never thought that I'd take a pic of them!

When I arrived at my stopover in Atlanta, I met these crazy and wonderful women from Byrd's Nest Quilting [http://www.byrdsnestquiltshop.com] in Florida. The invited me to share their van and then to dinner that night. So generous and such a great bunch of gals. To top it all off, some of these ladies attended my Schoolhouse Presentation for moral support! Isn't that awesome! That's why I love the people in this industry! Thanks ladies!

Back row: Kathy Byrd [owner], Sherri, me, Kathy
Seated: Karen, Sandi, Melanie, Barbara
[Photo credit: Sandi Makowski]

On Saturday morning, I met these wonderful ladies from Watkinsville, GA. They own Dragonfly Quilt Shop [http://www.dragonflyquiltshop.com/]. They're such enthusiastic ladies and love New Noel. For those of you lucky enough to get to their store, they have a trunk show of their own of my New Noel book. Run and check it out!!

I still have a couple of important pieces to post but I'll get back to it shortly. I am going to see Mickey Mouse tomorrow! I can't wait!

Knit Pillow Templates

Just a note to those who wanted the letter templates for the knit pillow. Please go to my web site here.

I am in the middle of a computer change and I only had time to sit and figure out how to customize my blog yesterday so bear with me!!

Drum Roll Please

Well, this has been an interesting adventure. I confirmed and discovered a few things along the way. First, I have way many more "readers" of my web site updates than I do on my blog at this time. I expected that because I had neglected my blog for a very long time. That's ok. I am working on that. This brings me to discovery #2. I had fun posting on other blogs and in the process, I won a beautiful handmade pincushion from this lovely lady, http://lucylocketrecycledherpocket.blogspot.com Third, and very important, I came away very inspired by all of the new blogs and projects that I viewed over the course of the week. Fourth, my computer is about to explode any second now. I can't even open the pics of the drawing slips because my hard drive is full. So, you will have to trust me on this one. I will post the pics of the slips later.

However, before I post the winners [yes, I am stalling ;)] I will post a new tote bag project up soon [relative term depending upon when my new computer is up and running and probably after I return from the International Quilt Market next week]. For those of you who are going to be there, I won't have a booth but I will be giving a Schoolhouse Presentation on Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Room 372B. I hope to see you there!

I also got a little carried away during the drawing. Big A and Little A, the officials who officiated the drawing wanted to draw some more names. Who can argue with a 6-year old and a 4-year old? Therefore, we will have a few extra winners of mini-bundles of fat quarters [4 fat quarters]. I really shouldn't be so mean because I am absolutely horrible at holiday time when I want to know what I'm getting! Lets go throught the technical stuff first. I printed the comments from the blogs and the e-mail addies from those who e-mailed and folded all of the slips. Last names are deleted to protect the innocent. Then, I [well, Big A] put them all in a dish. I had no input after this point except to stop the name drawing. Big A drew the first name and Little A drew the second name for the two fat quarter bundles. The winners are:

amy [ACK! Those fabrics are GORGEOUS! ...]
and
Patricia, who's originally from Madrid and who e-mailed me [Love the pillow & the fabrics]

For the mini-bundles:

Debora and Deb from Watkinsville, Georgia
Jodi [Oh! Your new fabrics look soooo pretty!]
Shawn [What gorgeous fabrics.]
Christy [Looks like you've got a few new readers, including me!]

I hope that this is ok with all of you. I have the new computer. All of my business stuff needs to be downloaded, updated and whatever this weekend. I put the references there just so there wouldn't be any mix-ups. Thanks for entering. I hope to have some exciting stuff for you from Houston! I am excited! No chores, eating out and hanging with creative friends. Can't wait.

So send me your snail mail and I will post them as soon as I can.

Catching Up - Updated

Update: With this fabric giveaway, I thought that I'd better update this post instead of adding on. I wanted you to see this cute little bolster pillow that I made. The "knit" pillow was so much fun to make. Easy peasy. I couldn't forget about my knitting friends so the template for the letters will be posted this week. You can applique the letters onto a tote if you don't want to make a felted pillow.

I have been regrouping myself these past few weeks. Catching up with everything has been both overwhelming and invigorating. What better way to start things fresh than to have a giveaway? I have two fat quarter bundles of my "Funky Flowers" line to give away.

All you have to do is say hello here or e-mail me at lindalumdebonoatattdotcom and I will pick two names in some random fashion to be determined later. I am prepping for the Quilt Market in Houston and will be busy in the next week and a bit so lets have the drawing on the 19th.

Stay tuned for free patterns and new previews. I have some of my new stuff on my web site at http://www.lindalumdebono.com and I'm all stoked about my new books and fabrics. Meanwhile, take a peek at one of the new publications, Tot Stuff, over at Cheryl's blog [http://http//www.livinginamaterialworld.blogspot.com]. Looks so cool doesn't it? I can't wait to get my copy.

I'm an alien

September marked my "anniversary" of becoming an alien. One could interpret that many ways but it was 12 years ago that I quit my pharmaceutical job in Toronto and moved to New Jersey to become an alien of the United States. What should I do to mark this special occasion? Why, publish some books and design new fabric, of course!

This month all in the quilt industry are working hard because the International Quilt Market is coming fast. Some will also stay on and work the even more frenzied International Quilt Festival. I will be giving a Schoolhouse Presentation for Martingale & Co. at Quilt Market. I'll be looking forward to catching up with old friends and seeing new things. I can't wait!! No housework, cooking or chores. That's a real vacation.