Saturday, March 24, 2012

Introducing "Beauty Among Thorns"

Here is my latest design - Beauty Among Thorns!

It has been a journey for me to make it as I had to create some beauty from all the thorns in my life the last few months!

Have you had to make some beauty from the thorns in your life? Would love to hear your comments.

It is available at Quiltwoman.com.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Quilt Pattern Magazine story........

The Quilt Pattern Magazine  (TQPM)                     
TQPM started quite like most great things do – with a conversation between two people who had opinions on what a great quilt magazine should include and ended with one of them saying, “Well, you should do it!” That conversation took place between our Publisher, Cindy Mccoy and our Editor-in-Chief Maria Hrabovsky. Maria made the suggestion and together, they ran with it.
After 15 issues now (one each month) the staff now includes a Pattern Editor-Carol Dockery, a PR person-Nan Baker, 2 Copy Editors – Sharon Kilpatrick and Maria (who is filling in for a while), and Karen – the new Editor! Meet our Staff here.

Each issue contains a variety of quilt patterns – patchwork, applique and others. Others? Like Penny Rugs, or English Paper Piecing – things like that. Meet our Designers here.
Some people say they don’t care to read a magazine online and I totally understand that, I really don’t either. But TQPM is formatted a little differently, to make it easy to print out, using as little ink as possible. It’s also available in PDF format, so that you can download it to your own computer and read it when you have the time.

We also have our own little social group at Pattern Pastiche. Every subscriber is invited to join. There, we have groups for every BOM and Workshop that’s going on, so you can share your progress and ask questions. It’s like a great Quilting Bee that never closes down, so you can go any time it’s convenient for you to go!
And while it is mainly a magazine for Quilt Patterns, we do have some monthly articles. Chris Hammacott writes about her quilting/teaching experiences from ‘across the pond’, Anna Branch shares her adventures in moving to the Canadian wilderness and Kirk and Karen Whiteside both share their lives with us. Karen, as the techy quilter, teaching us how to use our iPads to best advantage when quilting and Kirk as ‘the quilters husband’. They both have a great sense of humour. There is also a Book Review of a new quilt book in every issue. Meet our Contributors here.

OMG! I love this one!!! SO much!!!!!
And in addition to all of that (yes there’s more) There are also Bonus Patterns that come out pretty much every month. And now you can visit us on our Blog, you can Tweet with us and Like us on Facebook. We are EVERYWHERE!!! That’s a ton of value for $14.99 a year! It’s less than a half a penny a day! And not only that (YES – there is more!!!) your satisfaction with TQPM is guaranteed. If you don’t like it, you get your money back. Now, who does that????? Only TQPM. :)
If you’re a quilter, and you’re not subscribed – you are missing out! If you know a quilter, this is the perfect gift for them.

Prrrrrrrrrrrretty!
I’ve only included 3 pictures of projects that have been featured in the magazine, but there are MUCH MORE, believe me. Let’s see, 12 issues a year, a minimum of 6 quilt patterns per issue (sometimes more and the Bonus patterns)…. hold on…. carry the 2… ok, that’s 72 Quilt Patterns per year. Where could you buy 72 Quilt Patterns for fifteen bucks? TQPM :)
All the patterns are tested by our testing staff – they make the quilt completely. They don’t just make a block or two, they make the whole darn thing! Each pattern and article goes through a rigorous editing process to make absolutely sure everything is correct. Visit our Gallery here.
Wanna know what our subscribers have to say about us? Visit our Testimonial page here.
I hope to see you soon at Pattern Pastiche and if you subscribe after reading this, tell them Karen & Nan sent you :)
If you are an artist, or know of an artist that would like to be featured on a blog, please email Karen at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net. I would also recommend that you check out the upcoming artists in the calendar on the Indie Mosaic board!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Good bye to Denny.

                                                                                                                                                                            

My heart is heavy as I tell you that we had to say good bye to Denny earlier this week. He was a feral cat that we rescued in 1999.  Oh the stories I could tell about this little guy! My cross stitch pattern adaptation of "The Cat Burglar" by artist Will Bullas was done during the time that he came into our life. It suited him "purrfectly" as he literally stole my heart! His life was not easy before we rescued him as his right back leg had been broken in 2 places and he walked with a limp. But he was a strong little guy. Two years ago to the day he died, he was diagnosed with diabetes and  had insulin shots twice a day from then on.


Many of you know him from his Hopscotch quilt which became "Denny's Hopscotch Quilt" so I wanted to share this news with you. He is missed greatly!



Good bye Denny! We love you!