Dream.Laugh.Create. Issue 1

Welcome! ...to our fun-filled eMagazine...

Love to Dream? Laugh? Create?

Then you’re in the right place.

Dream, Laugh, Create with...

Pat Sloan, Roseann Kermes, Amanda Herring, Gina Halladay, Clare O’Donohue and of course, the Lizzie B Girls!

Quilting can Be murder!

Author Clare O’Donohue tells how she became a quilter and how her passion for both writing and quilting turned into her first novel.

Creativity. Gift or Curse?

Are you a creative type?

Just how much does the gift of creativity mess with your life?

Do you Aurifil?

What does it mean to aurifil?

Is this thread really all it’s cracked up to be?

...AND MUCH, MUCH more!

DREAM. LAUGH. CREATE. I S S U E 1

z

Wuv...twoo wuv

z

Ahhh...February. Love is in the air. And winter is, well hopefully, heading toward spring!

Welcome...

to our little corner of the quilty world! We’re excited to bring you a fun-filled magazine of quirky stories, fabulous projects, scrumptious recipes, your FAVORITE quilt celebs and soooo much more. What else would you expect from the Lizzie B girls?

Come along for the journey. Let’s DREAM, LAUGH and CREATE things together!

Liz & Beth Co-Editor’s in Cheif

F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 1

I sat down and watched an old favorite with the kids the other day, “Princess Bride” Who doesn’t LOVE that movie? I dare you to raise your hand! Princess Buttercup and Wesley. Need I say more?

Perhaps you recognized the quote in my heading...the famous lines of the Bishop in the wedding ceremony. And one my hubby and I quote to each other often. Along with, “Maawage is what bwings us twogeva twoday!” Cracks me up every time. I love watching

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those silly movies with my kids now that they’re old enough to appreciate such twoo art. I also love to sprinkle my house with hearts and happy colors this time of year. Forget that we’re stuck under mountains of snow, and slipsliding in the freezing rain, let’s roll out the best ever sugar cookie dough and make heart shaped cookies, or work on a creative project that makes our hearts sing.

Shall we?

As you wish.

XO, Liz

Table of Contents

E ver find yourself dreamin’ of a

magical genie to come take care of all those mundane things we call LIFE? We do! How about a good story or two to make you laugh out loud?

Or are you in the mood to bake something delish? Or create something new? We’ve got something for your every mood!

Take a peek!

UPCOMING ISSUES APRIL 15

Spring (April/May)

JUNE 15

Dream Editor’s note 2

Quilting is Murder 14-15

AUGUST 15

Do You Aurifil?

18-19

OCTOBER 15 Fall (Oct/Nov)

Create

Things that make us smile 6

Music to create by 7

Pat Sloan’s Mug Hug, sure to put a smile on your face! 8-10

Creativity. Gift or Curse? 11

Contributors 4-5

Summer (June/July)

Back to School (Aug/Sept)

Laugh

Have a Happy Heart, it’s Valentine’s Day! (yum cookies...)

16-17

What’s at the end of the Rainbow?

An Irish Rose! 25 Win some Aurifil thread! 30

The (Mis-) Adventures of the Lizzie B Girls (a novel) 22-24

SHOP! page 31

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Amanda’s Fabric Lollies 12-13 Roseann’s Noteworthy Notebooks 20-21 My Heart Stood Still, a sweet easy baby quilt 26-29

Our Contributors...

We’re soooo excited to introduce you to our CREATIVE team for this issue! They’re fabulous designers in both the craft and quilting industry. Some you know well, others....well. Let us introduce you!

Pat has been quilting now for over 15 years. A few years ago she started teaching and then decided to put her ideas into patterns. Now she runs her own design business called Pat Sloan & Company located in Fairfax County, Virginia, where she designs patterns for McCall’s Quilting, McCall’s Quick Quilts, American Patchwork & Quilting, Quilters World, Create & Decorate, and the Fons and Porter magazines. She has designed several fabric lines with P&B (with a new one on the way!) and has authored more than 15 books with Leisure Arts. Pat is FUN and charming, and ALWAYS has something happenin’ at her fun blog, Facebook page and website. Make sure you visit!

loan Pat S

Pat’s Blog Pat’s Creative Talk Network Pat’s Facebook page

Amanda has been creating from an early age. In college she studied art, art history, fashion design and interior design. She started out in the craft industry about 4 years ago, and when she added quilting to her busy life, she found that she was finally “pieced” together! The very talented Amanda now has a pattern company, The Quilted Fish, and designs fabric for Riley Blake. Check out her site and blog...she’s always coming up with something gorgeous to create!

Am

Amanda’s website The Quilted Fish blog

Clare O’Donohue

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Her

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Clare knew she always wanted to be a writer. She’s been both a newspaper reporter and a writing teacher, and landed her first job in television for the HGTV show ‘Simply Quilts’. She’s written and produced for many other shows as well, found on The History Channel, truTV, Food Network, A&E, Discovery, and TLC to name a few! But all along, she knew she wanted to write a novel...something to catch a publisher’s interest. In 2008 she did just that and published “The Lover’s Knot”, the first book in the Someday Quilts series. She’s published two more in that series and has a NEW series in the works. Read her article to find out more! (and YES, her books are in eFormat too! Which, of course, we love!)

Clare’s website Clare’s Facebook page

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Roseann Meehan Kermes is the owner of Rosebud’s Cottage in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she currently resides with her husband and sons. She began her career as a teacher and designer at a local quilt store, focusing on soft projects and small quilts.

As a designer, her patterns were sold to quilt shops and distributors in the quilting industry. Her projects are often featured in Better Homes and Gardens® publications and other craft magazines. She’s currently a contributor to American Quilt Retailer, where she writes articles for quilting industry retailers, as well as American Patchwork and Quilting®. Roseann opened her retail store 14 years ago, following the closing of the store where she worked. In 2004, her store was chosen as one of the top 10 shops for Quilt Sampler® magazine. Since 2007, she has been active in social media initiatives, often helping other business owners understand and accomplish their goals through it's use.

Roseann K Roseann grew up in a creative home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota — her father owned ermes several businesses, and her mom was a 4-H leader, and one of the founding mothers of Minnesota Quilters, Inc. In addition to working with fabric and wool, she enjoys other forms of creative expression, such as paper crafts, decorative painting, and altered art.

With a camera always in her pocket, she takes lots of photos and shares them with others on her blog. Her motto ... there’s inspiration everywhere! She was even inspired to snap this photo of Liz last spring.....

Rosebud’s Cottage website Roseann’s blog Rosebud’s Cottage Facebook page

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allad Gina H

Gina is one seriously busy lady! She started the Quilter’s Buzz blog back when blogging was new on the scene. We love the way she describes herself...

“I am Gina Halladay and I am a crafty girl. I have the need to create. I quilt, I knit, I embroider, and I have great skills with the hot glue gun, band saw and an 8” belt sander. I like glitter. I can wallpaper, design t-shirts for a high school rock band, and conduct an interview with a mayor. You can find me organizing a school fundraiser and ordering groceries online. I give blood. Pretty much, I am a “do-er”.

But mostly, I like to quilt. I like to design quilts and sew them. I have a passion for quilting. I love fabric.”

Aside from her blogging, she’s a pattern writer, owns a long arm business, and now even a quilt shop in Yorba Linda, CA. Gina is quirky, fun, and full of fabulous ideas!

Threaded Pear Studio patterns Fresh Picked Fabrics Quilt Shop Quilter’s Buzz blog

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E L I M S s u e k a m t a h t s Thing ppy??? akes YOU ha

What m ven if our .e .. s e c fa r u o to rings a smile b t a ies have been h il w f m o fa t s r li u o 0 1 t, s p Here’s a to ttered! ith Mt. Evere lu w c e te r e a p s m e o c c a s p d our crafty s laundry room n a , r e z e e fr e living out of th

1.A Finished Quilt 2. Music 3. Girlfriends 4. Shoes 5. Chick Flicks 6. a sunny Day 7. a good Phone call 8. Falling asleep to rain 9. a new idea 10.Chocolate

(..of Course!)

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Music that Inspires And by inspire, we mean... makes you want to get up and boogie, sing into your air-mic, or just plain get outta your funk!

Here’s what we’re listening to NOW.

1. King of Anything - Sara Barreiles 2. Billionaire - Glee Cast Version 3. To the Sky - Owl City 4. Cooler than Me - Mike Posner 5. Rhythm of Love - Plain White T’s 6. Firework - Katy Perry 7. Count on Me - Bruno Mars 8. Happily Ever After - He is We 9. I Want You Back - Sheryl Crow 10.Dog Days are Over Florence and the Machine

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Pat Sloan’s Mug Hug

‘CUZ LET’S FACE IT...EVERYBODY NEEDS A HUG! EVEN YOUR FAV BEVERAGE!!!

Pat says, “As many of you know... I have a serious love of my coffee.. and a Latte is right at the top of my list! I got to chatting with the LizzieB Girls and decided that I needed a really cute 'Mug Hug' for my coffee cups! So hold on tight... here we go!”

MUG HUG SUPPLY LIST 1 coffee sleeve for the template.

Fabric - 8" x 12" Fusible Fleece – 4" x 12" Jumbo rick rack – 12" small buttons – 5 to 6 depending on how your rick rack comes out a selection of doodads or fun buttons to 'Junk Up' the seam! (I ended up using a twill piece I had with my initial, a glitter brad, and a metal tag that says “Liquid”)

1. Trace the pattern

DIRECTIONS

•Open up the coffee sleeve to use it as a pattern

• Trace around the sleeve onto the back of one piece of fabric. Not that many sleeves have one end a bit more narrow than the other.

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• Use that piece as a template to cute the 2nd fabric out

• Now trace the shape onto the fleece

2. Layer and "Accessorize" • Now I want to do a little audition of my doodads and trims to see how to best junk up my mug hug! The rick rack is amazing... if you don't have wide, you could use it along the center. The little tag is cotton so it will go into the sleeve seam.

• I forgot to take a photo of my brad and tag...so here is about where I placed them. The BIG key is to keep in far enough in from the seam area so you can sew without hitting it. Sewing through metal is not good for the needle (...ask me how I know)!

3. Layer, Sew and Turn • Lay the 2 mug hug strips right sides together.

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• Starting on the center of the bottom edge, sew all the way around leaving an opening to turn.

• Trim off the extra rick rack... yes you can keep those bits.. if you are inclined to keep this kind of thing!

• Turn the piece right side out.

• Because of my metal being so close to the edges, I only top stitched the bottom to close the opening.

You could top stitch all around before doing your rick rack trim.

4. Hand Work makes the Details • I sewed a tiny button to each rick rack loop. You can also sew them anywhere else you like, just remember to leave the area 'junk free' where you hold the mug!

• Position one side over the other at an angle. Pin and test your placement by putting it on a cup!

• Hand sew them together.

• You could use a decorative stitch here.

Have a cuppa with me!

Here we go... breaking in the new "mug hug"... yummmmy... hope you share a photo of yours!

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Creativity. Gift or Curse?

Are you the creative type? Were you “that kid” in school who constantly sat daydreaming and scribbling doodles all over your margins? Do any of these Right Brain Characteristics describe you:

You keep a notebook on your bedside table in case a burst of creativity hits at 3 am and you need to write it down. And sometimes it comes in spurts...you go through a dry spell where you think you’ll never dream up something new again.

Then all of a sudden, the ideas just keep pouring out! All of them wonderful and exciting and you get extremely hopeful that you can make all of these dreams become a reality. And suddenly you’ve got this monster, snapping at you to “feed me!”, when in truth, your physical self can barely keep up.

- uses fantasy and imagination - skips around, is a multitasker - follows gut feelings and intuition - makes decisions based on feelings - is chaotic and unstructured

Yes? Then you just may be the creative type!

And if so....is creativity a gift.....or is it a curse?

“How could such a wonderful gift be a curse?”, you may ask incredulously. In my opinion, I think it is both, a gift AND a curse. This seems true with most gifts, be it a talent for athletics, science, business, math or building a car! Though you can do WONDERFUL things with these amazing talents, there’s always a downside, right? An athlete constantly strives to be better, faster, stand out from the rest and risks injury. A scientist is always looking for the newest discovery, not an easy task, and risks being labeled crazy or “mad”.

Whether it be business, math or building a car, everyone is consistently trying to reach new bounds. And so it is with the creative mind. Its cogs are always turning, dreaming up new things.

Clever ideas know no bounds. To the point where it’s nearly impossible to sleep sometimes.

Nevertheless....it would be very difficult indeed to imagine life without the gift of creativity. In fact, I thank my maker every day for this special gift.

Even on the days it keeps me up all night booming with ideas. Or when I’m exhausted from creating something amazing and all I want to do is sleep (or clean my disastrous kitchen!), then my nagging creative side tells me I’m not finished until I add one more teeny-tiny detail. And of course, it’s always right.

Ever seen Little Shop of Horrors, the musical???

Well, it’s about a carnivorous plant who keeps needing to be fed. “Feed me! Feed ME!”, Lil’ Audrey II says throughout the show. Don’t you get the feeling, every so often, that your creative brain is like Lil’ Audrey? “Feed me”, it says! And so you do, by giving it beautiful things to look at, or finding what will inspire it to be even more creative.

Because it’s the tiny details, while you’re cursing your gift, that makes you stand out from the crowd.

What do YOU think? Gift or Curse? We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email: dreamlaughcreate@gmail.com OR leave a comment on our Facebook fanpage !

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Amanda Herring’s Fabric Lollies IT’S A WAND. IT’S A SCEPTER. NO! IT’S A FABRIC LOLLIE! Well whatever you want to call it....it’s dang cute and we ALL need one. Or two? OK...let’s make a whole BOUQUET!!!

FABRIC LOLLIE SUPPLY LIST

! Enough fabric to cut 4 equally sized squares or rectangles for the front and 4 for the back. {For example, for a small sized lollie a 16” x 4” strip could be cut into four 4” squares.} ! Enough Heat N’ Bond ULTRA to fuse to one set of squares {You can use another product if desired, but make sure that it is very heavy duty. This is what will keep the lollies shape.} ! Small Dowel or large skewer ! Hot glue gun/glue sticks ! Additional embellishments as desired such as doilies, gems, tulle, ribbon, rick rack, feathers, buttons, etc. ! Additional fabric as desired for gathered rosettes or yo yo’s

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DIRECTIONS: 1. Fuse Heat N’ Bond ULTRA to wrong side of the fabric for the front of the lollie.

2. Fuse the wrong side of the fabric for the back of the lollie to the front fabric and Heat N’ Bond.

3. Cut the fused fabric into four equally sized squares or rectangles.

4. Follow instructions in video tutorial for folding and gluing squares or rectangles.

5. If desired, starch doily and glue to the back. You can also cut a flower shape from two pieces of fabric fused together and glue to the back. You can also leave it as is or glue a gem to the center of the back. A word of caution: in climates with a lot of humidity, the doily or flower shape may curl.

6. To make gathered rosette cut a strip of fabric between 1” and 3” wide by 10”-15” long depending on the size that you want. Sew a gathering or basting stitch along one edge. Gather to desired fullness and roll to form a flower shape. Glue in place using hot glue gun.

7. Go crazy and make your lollie your own! Add whatever you can think of to make it fun and unique.

8. Display proudly!

CLICK HERE FOR LOLLIE-MAKING VIDEO TUTORIAL:

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Quilting is Murder

We asked Clare about her two favorite hobbies, writing & quilting, and how they merged into a career....

of Klimt’s The Kiss, (admit it, you had that poster too) so I got back into crafts.

Since the bed was the biggest thing in the room, I decided I would start my art-makeover with a quilt. I didn’t come from a family with a quilting history. In fact, honestly, I’d never seen a quilt in person at that point. But, a complete lack of knowledge had never stopped me before (still doesn’t) so I headed to a fabric store and bought random amounts of fabric in greens, blues, yellows and pinks. I’d seen a picture of a quilt I now recognize as a grandmother’s flower garden, so I drew a hexagon on cardboard and spent weeks – and weeks – and weeks - drawing that pattern onto the back of my fabric, cutting it out, and sewing it together. It looked nothing like a grandmother’s flower garden. It barely looked like a quilt. But it held together and stayed on my bed for several years.

IF QUILTS COULD KILL When I’m doing book signings for my mystery series, Someday Quilts, one of the first questions I always get asked is, “Do you quilt?” I’m happy to say that I do. Happy, not just because it makes my work more authentic and honest, but happy because I love quilting.

I’ve always been interested in anything I could make from scratch- whether it was cupcakes or a watercolor painting. I loved then, and now, the idea of taking a thought and making it real. When I was about ten, I was forced to learn embroidery at school. (It’s a really long story but the short version is I went to the fifth grade in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. At that time, needle arts were part of the curriculum for girls.)

It was the beginning of a love affair that has so far lasted twenty years. I now have all the fancy tools of a quilter and more fabric than I would willingly show a non-quilter. (They tend to gasp and wonder what you’re going to do with all of it. The answer is, as all quilter’s know, is “Maybe nothing.

I just like having it.” I’ve made probably a hundred quilts, only a few of which have been large enough for a bed. Most are what I call nap size, about six feet square, or smaller. I started out as a traditional quilter, and I still love them, but I’ve also gotten very into modern designs and bold fabrics. Sometimes I make my own designs but more often than not I follow patterns I find in

I made a lot of samplers and cross-stitched pictures that didn’t particularly suit my adolescent aesthetic. I liked the art form, but at the time anyway, wasn’t crazy about the designs. Then I switched to needlepoint. For a few years I was always working on a pillow. It may have been the same pillow. It takes a long time to needlepoint a pillow.

In high school, I wanted to French kiss not French knot, so I dropped out of the craft world for a while. Then, after college I decided that it would be cool to decorate the bedroom of my apartment with original art. I soon realized I couldn’t afford anything more expensive than an unframed poster

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magazines and books, or even buy kits. Just when I think I’ve made every quilt pattern I want to make, I’ll come across a fabric I love or pick up a quilting magazine, and I’m inspired to start a new one.

And from a sales standpoint, I knew there were about 30 million quilters in the country. Not a bad size for a niche market. I didn’t really know if I was making the right decision, but as I’ve said, that’s never stopped me, so I combined quilting with mystery and set to work. With three books out in just over two years, and a forth already written, I feel I got off to a much better start as a novelist than I did as a quilter.

All the time I was making samplers and pillows and quilts, I was also writing. When I was about fifteen I wrote a short novel. It was a mystery about a student looking for extra credit who stumbles on a murder. When I got out of college, I worked for a newspaper near Joliet IL and then got into television as a writer and producer.

When I decided to write my first novel I’d been a TV producer for about a dozen years. I’d worked on true crime shows, documentaries, food shows, and yes, a quilt show. I’d also written several magazine articles and short stories, but like a lot of writers I wanted to see if I could climb the literary Everest – a novel. I knew right away it would be a mystery because a dead body on the floor automatically raises the stakes, gives the characters something to do, and the reader a reason to turn the pages. Plus, I just love mysteries.

Of course, quilting is just one of my interests. I also love to travel, have a mad crush on Abraham Lincoln, and spent several years performing improv (another long story). These may all pop up in my work in the years ahead. In fact, I’m publishing a second mystery series about a TV producer who works on true crime shows, documentaries, food shows etc… (though not a quilt show. Not yet anyway.) The first book in that series, called Missing Persons, will be released in May. And hopefully Someday Quilts will be around for a while. I still have a lot to say about quilting. It’s such a rich and rewarding tradition, and one that tends to get dismissed as not real art. That bugs me. As my character, Nell Fitzgerald says in my third book, The Double Cross, “There’s nothing that a quilter hates more than to have a thriving art that has played an important role in women’s lives for centuries treated as if it where the quaint, outdated pursuit of dotty old women and lonely spinsters.”

It’s just that sort of stereotyping that might lead a quilter to murder. At least it might in one of my books!

Adding quilting to the story brought the characters to life for me. It was a great way to bring women together who wouldn’t otherwise be friends.

Quilting is like that. People with completely different lifestyle choices, religious beliefs, political affiliations, and economic backgrounds often become good friends because they share an interest in quilting. In Someday Quilts, I created a group that consists of a stay-at-home mom, a pharmacist, an art student, a retired librarian, a former Wall Street whiz, and a quilt shop owner, in ages that range from twenty-six to over seventy – and that means lots of opportunities for stories, suspects and sleuths.

---Clare O’Donohue

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Happy

VALENTINE’S Day “A L L I R E A L LY N E E D I S L O V E , B U T A L I T T L E C H O C O L A T E N O W A N D T H E N D O E S N ’ T H U R T ! ” - L U C Y VA N P E L T ( P E A N U T S )

SUGAR COOKIE LOVE Once upon a time, I was a college student. I know....shocking, but true. Near the college campus was a convenience store much like a 7-11 where you could go and get midnight snacks, fill up your car with gas, and get endless amounts of caffeinated sodas to keep you awake while pulling those all-nighters!

And just when you had your arms filled with all those goodies, you’d get to the cash register and there, on the counter, wrapped in plastic was the treasure. The gold mine. The eureka of all discoveries.

“Grandma’s Sugar Cookies”. They were heart-shaped with pink frosting and sprinkles and simply screamed “EAT ME!” Actually, I think what they said went a little

All-For-Love Sugar Cookies Heat oven to 350.

1 1/3 cup butter 1 1/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract) 4 1/2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt

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more like: “You know you’re not going to be able to pass me up.

Admit it. I’m scrumptious looking.”

And the truth was, the WERE scrumptious! A cake-like cookie smothered in frosting, what’s not to like? And oh so addicting. So much so that years after college, while living in France and no where NEAR a convenience store.... (things don’t tend to be convenient in France...) I had a craving for THE cookies. But recipe after recipe I just couldn’t get the cookie right.

Until one February, Valentine’s Day, I struck gold. (It was better than my friends attempt to recreate PopTarts anyway....) Here you go. Eat your HEART out, Grandma!

Mix butter and sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs & vanilla. Beat in flour and salt. Divide dough into 3 balls. I like to roll between 2 pieces of parchment paper, about 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate 30 mins. Then cut out & bake 8-10 mins.

Roll dough between two pieces of parchment paper, keeping dough about 1/4” thick. Place the three discs of rolled dough one on top of each other. I like to put them on a cookie sheet to keep them from bending while transferring to and from the fridge.

After 30 mins or so, the dough will be ready to cut. Get out your fancy heart shapes and cut away! (I love my SUPER big heart cookie cutter.) Reuse the parchment paper to bake the cookies on. (then your cookie sheets stay clean....yay!)

Bake at 350 degrees for only 8-10 minutes. Cookies should look barely baked. See how there’s not much of a difference between this pic and the one above? When they’ve lost the buttery “shine” on top, they’re done! (if you wait for the edges to be browned, they’ll be too crispy...unless you LIKE ‘em crispy!)

While they’re baking, mix up your favorite batch of Cream Cheese Frosting. (Trust me, cream cheese frosting is key!) I use the recipe from Better Homes and Garden (basically a stick of butter, 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla and lots of powdered sugar!) and I like to add a touch of almond flavoring.

After frosting, sprinkle and decorate to your hearts content! (haha, get it?)

You can use red hots, pink, red and white jimmies, little dots...etc.

Devour!

DELISH! 17

Do You Aurifil?

Now you may question the title to this article. If you don’t know what Aurifil is, it is a type of thread.

And yes, normally you’d think of a spool of thread as being a noun (person, place, or thing), not a verb (conveys action). Right? Well that’s what I thought too. Until I started using it, that is. And NOW, I declare heretofore that Aurifil shall be a VERB!

kept praising this thread and I thought, “seriously?

What’s the big deal? It’s THREAD folks!”. But on and on they raved about the wide spectrum of colors, the different weights and their performance in various sewing projects. Not to mention how happy sewing machines where when using it. At the time, not many shops had it available, and if they did, it seemed pricey compared to my “other” thread. Then I learned that this beautiful thread hales from Italy. That’s right folks....you know, that gorgeous country not only known for its amazing pasta dishes, but also as a center for fashion. So I thought, ok, what the heck? I’ll just give it a try.

After all, how many dollars have I dropped on cheap thread that makes me want to weep while using it because of the constant breakage and piles of nasty fluff as it shredded in my machine?

Let me explain my declaration. As a quilter, thread is a pretty darn important part of what I do. The type of thread, the color, the weight. I use one type of thread for applique, another for wool, yet another for piecing, a different one for hand quilting, one for hand embroidery, another for machine embroidery, and one more for machine quilting. No WONDER there are so many to choose from! Do you ever feel mind-boggled when you’re in your favorite quilt shop looking for the perfect thread?? And raise your hand if you have drawers, baskets and bins overflowing with the stuff ? {hand raised for sure!} But now, I’ve tended to ignore those crazy drawers and bins of thread, because I found one I love SO much I keep in a glass jar right by my machine. The colors are inspiring. And just SEEING them makes me want to SEW!

I bought a Mako 50 weight spool. Went home and put it to the ultimate test...machine quilting. And was BLOWN AWAY by the difference! I swear, my machine was humming it was so happy. I actually quilted an entire 63” x 63” quilt with only ONE bobbin. And not one single breakage! Do you have any idea how much faster you can quilt when you don’t have to continually stop and re-thread? I don’t either, but it’s pretty dang fast!

I first heard about Aurifil a couple of years ago.

There was a buzz about it at Quilt Market, another buzz about it on Facebook and various blogs. People

The next time I sat down to machine quilt I foolishly went back to my old brand. Ten minutes in the thread had already broken three times. I changed 18

the needle, adjusted the tension. Ten minutes more, two more breaks. In a fit of frustration I put in my precious spool of Aurifil. There it was again, the hum of happiness from my machine!

This time, my quilt was 71” x 84”, made of flannel and fleece. Did my thread break? No. It. Did. Not! Now for sure I. Was. In. Love.

decided Aurfil was NOT a noun. How can it be considered a “thing” when just the mere sight of it inspires you to MOVE? To design? To sew? To quilt? No. This thread is not a mere thing. To “Aurifil” describes action. Not to mention a whole lot of creativity! So I ask.....do YOU Aurifil?

No wonder this thread created a buzz. No wonder so many designers in the industry were switching to Aurifil. Designers that I admire like; Pat Sloan, Marianne Byrne, and Mark Lipinski.

As I was quilting with Aurifil the second time and the realization finally occurred that my thread was no longer breaking, my shoulders started to relax, my free-form quilting was less tense; I was actually smiling. Quilting was FUN again! It was a joy! In fact, I was sad to finish quilting. I wanted to do it again!

★Look for Aurifil at your local quilt shops. Can’t find it?

Go to Aurifil.com for a full list of stores that carry it. OR download the free Aurifil app for iPhone or iPad at the iTunes store!

The next day I went back to my LQS and bought all my favorite colors. Goodbye all you “other” thread brands, HELLO Aurifil! I didn’t even know what I would be making next, but I knew exactly what thread I’d be using. And that’s when I

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Noteworthy Notebook What You Need: Mead composition notebooks 4 sheets scrapbook paper UHU glue stick OLFA scallop rotary cutter OLFA cutting mat and ruler Folder tab punch Craft scissors Chestnut Roan chalk ink Word or date stamp, stamp pad Sanding block Embellishments optional

Here’s What You Do: 1. For the front and back covers, cut 2 - 7” x 9 3/4” from scrapbook paper. Us a scallop blade, first, to trim the edges that will be touching the black binding of the composition book. Pay attention to the direction of the paper’s design.

2. For the inside covers, cut 2 - 7 1/4” x 9 3/4” from another scrapbook page.

3. From the scraps, cut a folder tab with the tab punch.

4. Fold the tab in half along the crease. Stamp with a word of your choice, initials, or the date.

5. With the glue stick, spread glue along the inside of the tab and place on the back cover, 2” up from the bottom, straddling the inside and outside of the cover.

The tab should hang off the edge.

6. Spread glue over the entire front cover and part of the black binding. Lay the pre-cut paper on to the cover, lining up the straight edges, and smoothing out the paper. The scallop edge will cover part of the binding. Trim the corners to match the rounded edges of the book before proceeding.

7. Next, do the same with the inside cover, and the repeat for the back cover.

8. Use a sanding block or emery board to lightly sand the edges of the book.

9. Ink the edges of the book and tab with the chalk ink.

10.Go crazy with your imagination and have fun embellishing the book with chipboard, tags, fibers or charms. Anything to make it completely unique and yours!

NOTE: mini-composition book measurements: 3 1/4” x 4 1/2”. Always measure your books before cutting.

20 cutter or scissors if it is a bit too long.

Trim away excess paper with a rotary

Some Creative Examples....

Scroll through our blog archives to June 28, 2009 to see what our Minnesota designers did when we held a “Noteworthy Notebook Day”! Visit the Rosebud’s Cottage blog at www.rosebudscottage.type pad.com Find out what’s new on our web site at www.rosebudscottage.com. And don’t forget to Like us on facebook! www.facebook.com/ RBCottage Or come visit our shop in downtown White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

And above all else, keep creating and enjoying handmade in your life!!!!

- Roseann -

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The (Mis-)Adventures of the Lizzie B Girls

By Liz Hawkins Liz started writing these pages a while back, thinking that someday it would be a funny novel. We thought it would be fun to include the first couple of chapters in this here eMag, see what y’all think! This is the beginning.

More to come in the next issue!

not a good time to point out that the big bad moaning man we're about to tie up with our quilt is drooling and will possibly get his spittle all over our quilt. !

We take our beautiful quilt and fold it on the diagonal, then we start to twist.

Quickly, we bend the big guys arms behind his back and with the quilt, figure-eight it between his wrists, and down his bent knees to his ankles where we figure-eight it some more. This guy is gonna wonder what-in-thename-of-all-thatʼs-holy got him when he wakes up. Then we look at each other like, now what? But heck, they donʼt call us creative for nothinʼ. I run back to the car and get good ʻol Frank out of the back. Now Frank is our handy-dandy furniture mover that we use for retail shows, and he sure does know how to get us out of binds. So we heaved the big guy up onto Frank, wheeled him on over to the car, and squished him on in there just like he was our bean bag chair.

Ok. So by then he was sort of face down on the carpet, butt and feet in the air, but thereʼs not a whole lot we could do about that. He was cominʼ to, and we had to get those doors shut and locked up before he could get himself untangled from that quilt and remember just what event got him to where he was faced down in a Toyota Highlander on his way to the Tucson County Jail. He, Bertrand Bevis, aka Big Guy, was one of many all over Tucson, wanted for bank robbery and we happened to find him. Beth jumps in the driverʼs seat and peels out of the gravel before I even get my door slammed.

“Holy Moly!” I exclaim. !

A very understated exclamation for the situation we now find ourselves in. We both stood in the darkness, only the stars from the vast desert sky lit the night. A rumble over Mt. Lemmon told us there was a storm brewing in the not-so-very distant mountains surrounding Tucson. At the tips of our trademark (and I might add fabulous)Dansko shoes...hers yellow snakeskin, mine zebra print...lay a very large, very unconscious, still mildly twitching, body of a man. ! !

“Quick!” Beth says, “Grab a quilt out of the car!” !

“Are you out of your freakinʼ MIND?!” I replied, but ran to the back of her Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Light blue, mind you. Itʼs not even black! Youʼd think, if weʼd thought this through...if weʼd REALLY thought this business through...weʼd be more prepared.

Weʼd be decked out in black AND be driving a black vehicle. But no. We stick out like flashing neon in a disco with our own strobe lights! A Hybrid??? LAME! I rummage through the quilts in the back, what to choose? Hand-stitched? Applique? Kingsize, or throw?? Arrrghhh. I grab one and run back. Lightning flashes and the mountains in the distance are illuminated.

The man starts to moan. We hear sirens in the distance. Cops are on their way. !

“Shoot,” Beth says, “the shock is wearing off, weʼve got to get him tied up and into the car. Time to practice our knot tying!

Start twisting this end.” I'm thinking now is

Thereʼs a lot of movement going on in the back seat, but we canʼt tell what heʼs saying on account of his head is on the floor, and thereʼs a swatch of fabric in his mouth.

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!

“I canʼt believe what we just did!” I say.

My heart is still pumping a million miles a minute. I think I might have a heart attack. I press my fist into my heart, just in case.

“What were we THINKING?!” !

“I donʼt know!” Beth says. “But Iʼll tell you one thing....I NEED a Diet Coke, and I need one BAD!”

away safely at home watching a chick-flick or re-run of Oprah while stitching on a quilt. ! !

Which we probably would have been doing....if it hadnʼt been for that darn police radio app on the iPhone to make sure Max was safe that night. And if we hadnʼt been caught up on reality TV shows that make Bounty Hunting and police type work look like a SNAP. And if Beth hadnʼt just shown me her Taser AND her Glock and her license to conceal, which, in a round about way had MY name on it too.....and maybe, MAYBE if weʼd had more than 5 hours sleep between the two of us we wouldnʼt have had the NERVE to do the crazy thing we just did. But here we were. At the Tucson City Police Station at 3am in the morning with big guy Bertrand Bevis, wanted for bank robbery and last seen two blocks from where Beth and I happened to be driving to fill up our Bubba's with more caffeine. Two quilt/fabric designers. !

Beth got up her nerve and dialed her sonʼs number. .

!

“AND chocolate!” I reply. An hysterical giggle starts to bubble up between us. And itʼs not long before weʼre full out laughing, tears streaming down our faces! Sheʼs got the pedal to the metal, eyes glued to the road. She is NOT afraid to drive fast and knows these roads like the back of her hand.

She's taking back roads so as not to cross paths with the sirens looming nearer and nearer to the scene we've just left perp-less.

Thank goodness she knows where she's going, is all I can think, Iʼm not even watching the road signs. I have no idea where we are or where weʼre going. Sheʼs turning every which way, and I trust her implicitly. Thatʼs how we roll. The Lizzie B girls. ! !

I wipe the tears of laughter from my face and look out the window. I can just make out the shapes of darkened Saguaro cacti shadowed like statues as we whiz by.

Up ahead, finally, lights. !

“What am I gonna tell Max?” Beth asks, a bit of trepidation in her voice. We havenʼt quite thought this through. Our big catch is flopping around like an angry fish on dry land in the back now mumbling through the gag in his mouth. Good thing we had a strip of fabric to gag him with before shoving him in the car! The police department is up ahead and Beth is slowing the car. Worry in her voice because the moment of reckoning has come. Now we must face her son Max. Max is a police officer with the Tucson Police Department. And Beth thinks he just might die on the spot if he sees his very own Mom bring in a felon like, well, like a Bounty Hunter. He probably thinks sheʼs tucked

!

“Max? No. No. Iʼm OK. Sorry, I know youʼre at work. Listen. I have a little, um, problem,” Bertie in the back started making all sorts of snorting noises, rocking the car all over the place. “What? No, donʼt worry about those noises, itʼs nothing really. Well, actually, thatʼs why Iʼm calling. Could you come meet me outside? Iʼm... at the station.” !

A few minutes later, Maxʼs tall figure heads toward us. Beth is outside the car. I remain inside and let her do the talking. I donʼt know what Max says but I see his face register disbelief. Then heʼs shaking his head like he canʼt believe what heʼs hearing, dragging a hand over his tired face and taking out his radio for back up. I hope.

Unless heʼs about to cuff his own Mom! Which could happen.

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Max waits for his partner and finally opens the car doors to take a look at the perp. Then they look back at us.

!

We look at each other and roll our eyes. Cops. !

Jeeter comes back from the cell.

Holding the quilt, a little twisted, but no worse for wear. !

“What do you want to do with this?” He asks. We smile and almost simultaneously say, “Let Big Guy Bertie keep it for the night!”

!

“Seriously mom? You apprehended him with a quilt?”. !

“Well. What did you expect?” Beth replies. I think Maxʼs face turns a shade of red, itʼs hard to tell because of the dark. He mumbles something about being the laughing stock. Maybe. His partner, Jeeter, seems impressed, however. !

“Nice knot tying!” He congratulates.

Bertie struggles and kicks against the quilt but still canʼt undo his bonds. !

They wrestle with the man and get him inside. Untangling him from the quilt finally, they manage to put him in the overnight cell.

Max asks us to fill out some paperwork, though he has to walk us through it. !

“Mom, what in the world made you think you could do something this dangerous? Do you know what could have happened to you? Do you have any idea?” !

“Max. Of course I know. How many times have I gone on rides with you? Who was the one that made me go to the shooting range? Who gave me a Taser in the first place and made sure I had a license to carry?” !

“Yes! But I didnʼt think youʼd actually USE these things! Mom! Theyʼre WEAPONS!” !

“Well, honey, donʼt you think I know that? Iʼm not DAFT you know. Just because I tell you to clean your house and do your laundry doesnʼt mean I donʼt know how to shoot a gun. Listen. Liz and I, weʼre good together, we think like weʼre one. Look how easy this was! And dang if weʼre not creative.

It's just, we were in the neighborhood, and we knew we could help. I didn't want you risking yourself getting hurt if you didn't have to, you know? And really, he was an easy one, i'll leave you all the serious criminals.

OK?” !

“Mom, theyʼre all serious criminals.”

!

How very fitting that he should spend the night in a cold jail cell Under a Blanket of Blue. !

Under a Blanket

of Blue quilt pattern

!

The double clomp-clomp sound of our Danskoʼs echo down the deserted corridor as we make our way to the exit. We hear the voices diminishing as we get further away. !

“Dude! Your Mom and your Aunt! They rock man! Check out this quilt, can I keep it?”

Says the loyal but very excitable Jeeter. !

“I donʼt even want to talk about it....”

We hear Max, but then weʼre too far away.

Beth sighs audibly. !

“So,” I say, flinging my arm over her shoulder. “Do you think we have time to applique a gun or, a whimsified Taser to the ʻFriendshipʼ quilt before Fall Market?” ...To Be Continued!

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the Happy St. Paddy’s Day Irish Rose What Ya’ll Be Needin’: Green ric rac 1-2 yds The Matchin’ thread a wee needle Scissors Black Ric Rac (optional) thimble (optional)

By Gina Halladay aka the RicRac Queen

How to Be Makin’ It: 1. Start by rolling one end of the ric Rac and secure it by sewing through the roll.

2. Continue rolling, securing with a stitch every roll.

3. You’ll notice when it starts looking like a Rose bud! Continue until the end of the ric Rac. 4. Fold end underneath on the bottom of the rose (where your stitches are).

5. Stitch the bottom together. (it doesn’t have to be pretty!)

6. If you want to add the black Ric rac, you just need a scrap that fits around the bottom one time. Then secure in place with needle and thread.

7. And there you have your pretty little rose bud... NOW you have a bit-o-Green to be wearin’ on St. Paddy’s Day! Ideas: Turn it into a brooch by gluing a piece of felt on the bottom and adding a brooch pin! OR Embellish a work of art with your sweet Irish Rose!!!

My Heart Stood Still

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My Heart Stood Still Lizzie B Cre8ive designed this contemporary twist on a sweet baby girl quilt.

Combine blacks & whites with clear, bright batiks for a vibrant and whimsical quilt that won’t be outgrown.

Quick cutting and piecing, and easy appliqué by hand or machine makes this a great beginner quilt.

Finished size 40” x 52”.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS Center square background (lighter b&w print), 1/2 yard Borders (medium b&w print), 3/4 yard Print for star points, 1/4 yard Prints for center square and border edge:

4 light colors & 4 darker colors, 1/4 yard each Binding, 1/2 yard Backing 1-5/8 yard MAKE THE CENTER SQUARE You will make 4 large blocks, using two fabrics per block.

1. From EACH of the eight prints, cut one 3.5” wide strip x approximately 21” long, and SET ASIDE. 2. From the same eight prints, cut one 2.5” wide strip x approximately 21” long to use in step 3.

3. Pair the fabrics together to make four combinations.

4. Stitch the two strips together for each set.

5. Subcut each set into EIGHT 2.5” sections.

6. Keeping the color pairs together, make four 4-patch blocks, then one large block.

7. Repeat for each color pair.

8. Sew those four large blocks together to make one center block, that measures 16.5” square.

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STAR POINTS 1. From the light background fabric, cut four 8.5” squares for the corner blocks, and four 8-7/8” squares for the half-square triangle blocks.

2. From the star-point fabric, cut four 8-7/8” squares for the half-square triangle blocks.

3. Layer the 8-7/8” blocks, with the lighter fabric on top, and draw a line from corner to corner.

4. Sew two lines, each 1/4” away from the drawn line.

5. CUT down the center on the drawn line.

6. Open and press towards the darker fabric.

7. Repeat four times for a total of eight 8.5” half-square triangle blocks.

COMPLETE THE CENTER Sew the corner blocks and the half-square triangle blocks together with the center checkerboard block to make the center of the quilt.

Refer to diagram for placement.

INNER BORDERS 1. Cut four strips from the border fabric, 4.5” wide x width of fabric.

2. Also cut two strips that measure 3.5” wide x width of fabric, and set aside to use later.

3. Trim two of the 4.5” strips to a 32.5” length and sew to top and bottom of center square.

4. Trim two of the 4.5” strips to a 40.5” length and sew to the sides of the center square.

HEART APPLIQUES From the eight fabrics used in the center checkerboard square, cut eight hearts using the template. You will need to add a 1/4” seam allowance to the template. Choose your favorite appliqué method* and place the hearts on the quilt according to the diagram. We hand-appliquéd the hearts onto the sample quilt, but they would look great with the raw-edge appliqué method…. just stitch 1/4” away from the raw edge and they will fray and fluff when the quilt is washed!

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STRIPPY BORDERS 1. Use the previously-cut 3.5” wide strips, and layer 4 of the strips together.

2. Cut into various sizes (ranging from 1.5” to 3.5”), according to the diagram.

3. Layer the other 4 strips together and repeat.

4. Sew the pieces together in one LONG strip, varying the sizes and colors.

5. Trim to make 2 borders that measure 40. 5” long each.

6. Sew to the top and bottom of the quilt.

OUTER BORDERS 1.Trim the previously-cut 3.5” border strips to 40.5”.

2. Sew the borders to the top and bottom of the quilt.

Quilt, bind….. and

enjoy

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©2006 LizzieBcre8ive

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