More Pix from Pati, and from Lynn!

It seems a great time was truly had by all at the Tea Party in Livermore this weekend!  We’ve got a few more pix to share — check them out below, then head over to Lynn Wilder’s Sewn Wild Oaks blog post for even more highlights of the day!

Here’s Pati (center) with Lisa and Lora of The Material Girlfriends.  (You probably recognize them as the designers of our “Bird Walk” BOM.)

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Thanks to everyone who attended this fun and successful event!  We hope you’ve all been inspired to create gorgeous, easy English paper pieced designs.

An Elegant Affair…and Quilting!

Next on Pati’s agenda: an appearance at In Between Stitches, a most beautiful quilt shop in Livermore, CA. She was invited to be one of the  featured presenters at a very elegant event hosted by the shop, but before the Saturday afternoon soiree, she visited the shop itself:

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The Tea Party itself took place at the Purple Orchid Resort and Spa, a lovely and relaxing setting where the attendees enjoyed formal tea, along with tips and techniques on English paper piecing and the creative use of Strip-It™ fabrics.  Pati, alon with Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek (shown below), and Lynn Wilder of Sew’n Wild Oaks, delighted the women with a variety of looks to enhance their quilting projects:

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Lucy Goes Modern!

PatiHeadShotCheck out this quick handiwork by Pati Violick, our resident paper piecing expert!  It begins with her favorite Paper Pieces 2″ Honeycomb template, positioned strategically on Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s new MEADOW STORM “Meadow Stripe,” with the  “Misty” print as the background. Then by rearranging the black-white and tan-white honeycomb shapes, Pati designs several contemporary, 3-dimensional looks, inspired by Lucy Boston!

LucyModernStorm2

Recreate Pam Buda’s “Love Worn” Quilt

Don’t you love to hear what inspired a designer to create a particular quilt?  Using her own ANTIQUE COTTON collection, Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts has designed this gorgeous quilt, “Love Worn”, and in her recent blog post she not only gives you some of the creative backstory, but you can even pre-order the kit for a limited time – visit her blog for special offer details…Pam Buda - Love Worn Quilt

Celine’s Quilt is in Progress ; )

So, it looks like Pati has PatiHeadShota definite vision as her First Quilt for her First Grandchild actually begins to take shape!  “With a three-hour drive to Connecticut, it seemed like the perfect time to start Celine’s quilt,” she reported over the weekend.

And are we at all surprised by her choice of English paper pieced hexies?  The mix of a traditional quilt block with bright, contemporary colors of Nancy Rink’s INTRIGUE collection will appeal to each generation of the family.

Here she’s auditioning various backgrounds for the flowers. Personally, I’m not a fan of light grounds, so I vote #1 Orange, then # 2 Pink.  Or maybe alternate orange and pink ground blocks?  What’s your favorite?  —- lisa

Pati baby quilt / Marcus Fabrics

A Future Quilter is Born ; )

CelineWe’re pleased to announce the arrival of Celine, the newest member of the Marcus family,
and first granchild of our Director of Marketing, Pati Violick.  They say nothing gets you stitching like the birth of a grandbaby, and Pati has already started to choose fabrics for the First Quilt, a mix of orange and hot pink — along with grey, they make up the nursery palette.  I have a feeling this little girl will learn to appreciate the joy of hexies and paper piecing before long…  –lisa

Anyway, Welcome to Celine, and Congratulations to “Grandma Pati” and family!  We can’t wait to see what you whip up with Nancy Rink’s INTRIGUE prints…

CelineQuiltFabrics

Last Call for Lucy Boston!

A big THANK YOU to all of our quilting friends for participating in our Lucy Boston Challenge this weekend at the Road to CA event!  With over 125 blocks completed this weekend, we appreciate your talents, comments and enthusiasm, and we can’t wait to unveil the finished project.  Pati says, “Looks like we will be making a couple of quilts for the ALS donation. Thank you all that participated.  I had the best time seeing how excited you all were to hand in your blocks.” 

Check out our final collection of paper-pieced blocks below …and watch for the announcement of our ten lucky Prize Pack winners, too!

Wishing everyone safe travels home, especially those on the East Coast, in advance of the coming blizzard…including Pati!!

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Amy Tangiguchi brought the 100th block to the booth, which earned her a special prize.

All stacked up - an impressive grouping!

All stacked up – an impressive grouping!

Nancy brings in the 125th and final block!

Nancy brings in the 125th and final block!

Pati and Vicki make it to the end of the show!  Congrats, girls!

Pati and Vicki make it to the end of the show! Congrats, girls!

A Little Bump in the Road (to California)

PatiVickiRoadCA15It’s time for Road to California, taking place this weekend in Ontario, CA.  Pati (on the left) reports a missing shipment!!

“Even though our shipment didn’t arrive me and Vickie are “making do” with what we have.  We are smiling but we’re not happy about the missing shipment”. Hopefully it will show up, and be the only bump in an otherwise smooth Road Trip.  At least the weather looks good from here, Pati…

To cheer her up, be sure to stop by the Marcus booth, and tell her Lisa sent you  ; )  Pati and Vicki Bellino (of Marcus BOM and Strip-It quilt fame) will demo creative cutting & piecing, paper piecing and more, all weekend long.  And you can create your own Lucy Boston block for the chane to win a Marcus prize pack.  Pick up your free fabric and paper piecing pack, stitch up your block, and return it to be displayed in the Marcus booth during the show.  We’ll be picking TEN winners…Good Luck!

Road to California – Who’s Going?

We’re pleased to once again sponsor Road to California  Quilters’ Conference and Showcase, taking place January 22-25, 2015 in Ontario, CA.   This year, in addition to our usual showcase sponsorship of one of the quilt prizes, we’ll be exhibiting as well!

Be sure to stop by the Marcus booth for demos on fussy cutting, English paper piecing (EPP) and more, all featuring our specialty stripe fabrics like PAULA’S BORDER COMPANIONS. Plus giveaways & handouts while supplies last!Pati-EPPsamplesIf you’ve never tried English paper piecing, Lucy Boston blocks and similar techniques, you’ll want to visit with Pati Violick as she demos her techniques using Paper Pieces, as shown in the beginnings of this gorgeous block above.  And if you have tried it, learn how Marcus specialty fabrics can give you rich and intricate results every time.  BTW, Pati is our Director of Marketing — you might remember her love for EPP from last summer’s Designer Sew-Along.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

The Marcus Sew-Along Quilt, Revealed!

SALButtonHORZ14Here it is!

SALRevealedDo you love it as much as we do? We’d like to thank everyone who has participated for the past nine weeks, block by block, and, as I promised, the end result is beautiful. Congratulations to everyone who kept up, and if you were not able to, we’re sure that this image of the finished quilt will inspire you to catch up in the completion phase.

And thanks to all of our talented and generous designers for taking time to participate, including the gorgeous finishing design by Paula Barnes and piecing by Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts with quilting and binding by Gloria Parsons of Olde Green Cupboard Designs.  

Complete instructions for the finishing are available on the Red Crinoline Quilts blog, but if you still need to catch up on the nine blocks first, here are the links to the blog posts:

Remember to leave a comment on the Red Crinoline Quilts blog for your chance to win the Grand Prize package:

SAL-GrandPrizeGiftPack