The Best Kind of Email part 2 - AKA "And they thought I forgot about them"

Several weeks ago (okay, maybe months) I asked/begged for photos of finished projects you have made from my designs. Because sometimes we designers just need a quick ego trip. And also I wanted to use them as the basis of my post on NEQDC's blog for June. The ego trip was nice, though, no doubt about it.

I was actually quite surprised to receive more than one photo. Not only did I get enough for the NEQDC site (Make a Designer's Day), but plenty for a post of my own (The Best Kind of Email). But the photos just kept coming, and I want to share some more today so that those quilters will also know how much I enjoy them and feel just as special and loved as they should.

First up is "Feelin' Hot Hot Pink", purchased as a kit by my non-quilting friend Lee Ann and given to her quilting mom Lorraine. (Side note, Lorraine is Greta's middle name and I never can remember if there are two r's or two n's in it. Ever. I apologize if I got it wrong here, Lee Ann's mom. Imagine how my own child feels.) Lee Ann loves bleeding hearts and was hopeful that by giving this kit to her mom for her birthday, she might get a little gift back for herself. Truly a gift that gives back. I love the addition of the pink piping border, and it especially makes me happy that she used one of my favorite cheapo tricks and used up the background fabrics to make a scrappy binding.

Nice work, Lor(r)ain(n)e!

This version of "Quite Contrary", made by Kyle M. of Texas, is to die for. Those fabrics make me want to grab a spoon and eat them.

Delish. And I love the fence used as backdrop. So quilty kitchsy fun.

This next woman slays me. Merlene T. was in the audience of my "Plays Well With Others" lecture at A Quilter's Sampler back in May. She became obsessed with the little quilt I made in the debut of my "Round Robin in a Day" workshop a couple of years ago. Now, hotties, this workshop is not for the faint of heart, as you have no idea what you will end up taking home, but it is way fun to create an entire quilt for every workshop participant in 6 hours. Anyway, I chose some terribly blendy fabrics for people to use on mine, so although the other quilters did some great stuff the fabrics were not their friends, but I show it anyway.

Well, Merlene loved the quilt so much she made a special trip down to the show the next day just so she could beg me in person to send her a photo so she could recreate it herself. How could I not send it to her? Less than a week later, she sent me a photo of her interpretation, which is way better than mine.

Seriously, hw awesome is she, and can I convince her to be president of my fan club?

I know I am not the only designer to be tickled when someone sends me a photo. Don't be shy - consider showing off what you made and I know they will thank you!

Camp praise and a campy photo

Please tell me there is nothing at all wrong with having a hot fudge sundae in the middle of the day, because there was nothing that could stop me today from celebrating - IT'S CAMP WEEK! Camp Week! Glorious, fabulous, everyone-in-the-car-we're-off-to-camp week! Plus there was a can of whipped cream left over from when the kids were away for real.

And we had strawberry shortcake. Come on people. Heads out of the gutter.

Several weeks ago Mr. QH, in a clear effort to seem as if he was going to offer to provide child care if necessary but secretly hoping he could instead go fishing or lie in the new gravity chair reading a book this summer, casually asked what EPQD's summer plans entailed. When I rattled off the three things I most wanted to get done in the sewing room:

1. Project for Quilter's World

2. Rewrite/rework of Quite Contrary for self publication - and

3. Get underway with a custom job

as well as the three things I wanted to accomplish outside of the sewing room:

1. Figure out how to get a shopping cart on my blog

2. Petition possible sponsors for DaGMT 2013 - and

3. Read books while lying in the new gravity chair, which is conveniently built for one

I could almost see him crumble, much like a shortcake. Perhaps if I had made "Find new and creative uses for the leftover whipped cream" a goal, he would have been happier.

A hat for an elf, perhaps?

But lucky for him and for me, the girls are now of an age where they actually entertain themselves (read: fight in another room) in between camp weeks, playdates, vacations, etc, so I am able to accomplish a few things here and there without having to call in Captain Stubing for backup.

Just today I can check off "finish quilt top" from the list, having finished sewing the twin/lap sized version of my reworked "Quite Contrary", which I am hoping to have done in time to be in NEQDC's booth at Maine Quilts later this month. I'm trying to decide what to call it...."More Contrary"? "Even More Contrary"? "Mary Mary Quite Contrary"? "Mary Mary, Why You Buggin'"?

As you can see, it's a process.

You can also see I've changed up the middle a little and kept the borders, which were my favorite part anyway. Now to get it quilted and off to the printer before camp week comes to a door-slamming conclusion.

Another thing I would love to accomplish this summer, but don't dare tell Mr. QH quite yet, is to put together all of the log cabin blocks I got from my guild's latest swap, which was completed in June. All of us provided our own center squares, and then each month we got a new person's blocks to work on. Being the total PITA that I am when working on a group quilt, the only direction I gave was "have fun". I really didn't care what fabrics were used, although I may have suggested blues. The end product will be for my cottage and will likely be eaten by mice over the next 25 years, so really, why be picky?

These are the blocks I got back, 64 that all look like this one:

And this is the setting I have chosen. I think it is kind of cool. I promise to do something a little more fun with the borders, too.

And paging Mrs. Panny....I finally have yours done too! So here's a sneak peak for her and a photo for all of you of the very last blocks I got to work on in the swap:

So here's to a successful start to the summer, sewing-wise anyway.  

Sew Mama Sew Post-Market Giveaway Week

So what if I didn't go to market? So what if I didn't get this post up until halfway through the week? I've been having way too much fun entering giveaways over on Sew Mama Sew and reading new blogs and I couldn't think of a good reason not to join in with a giveaway of my own.

To all new readers - welcome! Here at the haven you will find stories of my designing escapades, ramblings on my girls, and maybe a photo of Jamie Fraser or two. Quilt police need not apply.

Back in March, when my baby "Quite Contrary" was on the cover of Quilter's World, I for some reason could not pass a newsstand where it was displayed without buying a copy. Or three. I now have so many lying around that I worry that if I were to meet some horrible untimely demise, whomever had to go through my studio would be all "Wow. Egotistical much?" and we really can't have that. So I am giving away a copy of the magazine, plus three 1/3 yards to get you 3/14ths on the way to making your very own QC.

The fabrics are, top to bottom, a Kaffe Fasset lime/blue floral print, a lime batik, and a lime dot. All are 100% cotton quilt shop quality fabrics purchased at my favorite LQS, Bunkhouse Quilt Shop in Lyndeboro NH. Using these would mean you would be making the quilt in limes rather than teals. I promise it will be gorgeous.

Two ways to enter:

Way #1 - (required) Please comment by telling me your favorite summer salad. I despise heat and and the less I have to cook dinner from June to September the better.

Way #2 - (optional) Become a follower of QHH or tell me you already are for an extra entry.

Winner will be drawn Monday May 28 at 9:00 am. Please be sure that if you are a no-reply blogger you leave your email in your comment so that I have a way to contact you!

***UPDATE ON DRAWING TIME: I failed to consider my daughters' roles in the Memorial Day parade when I stated the drawing would happen Monday at 9:00am. Since the Brownie troop banner won't march itself down Main Street, I am instead going to draw the winner at 9:00PM on Sunday, May 27. So we'll have a winner 12 hours earlier. I hope this does not upset anyone who had put the drawing in their Outlook calendar and now has to change it.***

Good luck, and be sure to check out all the other cool giveaways!

Strippin' in Pepperell - and beyond? Maybe?

I just this morning created an album on my EPQD facebook page of the four quilts I know of that have been made from my Quite Contrary pattern. As I lamented in the album description, it is so rare that quilters send photos to pattern designers of their own interpretations of the designers' patterns, and believe me, most of us would love to see what you are creating and get extremely excited when we get the chance, so when I got to see these others it was a rare but gratifying moment. I refuse to let the fact that the two other quilters featured are both good friends of mine and live in my town and one was actually paid to make one for me as a test pattern dampen my feeling of excitement over the fact that SOMEONE ELSE made this pattern.

All four quilts shown were quilted by Melissa Heys of The Completed Quilt, not coincidentally located in Pepperell MA. We take "Shop Local" to heart around here. A close up of some of the lovely quilting:



And maybe by posting the photos and my thrill, more people will come forward and show me their QC quilts. Here's hoping, because I would truly love to see them and add them to the album! So if you've made one, or plan to, get going, send me a photo, and join our QC strip club!

The Prodigal Quilt Returneth and a Giveaway in its Honor

Oh happy day! The Boys in Brown stopped by just before the school bus did yesterday and delivered a box that I knew was going to send Eva over the moon. The poor child has been separated from her cover girl quilt for close to a year and yes, this is indeed the biggest tragedy to befall her, ever. Just ask.

The reunion was celebrated by a scream, a ripping open of the box, a fight between her sisters over who got to pop the bubble wrap, a demand that everyone stop what they were doing and come watch her put it on her bed, and a sharp reprimand from me as she ran across the kitchen, dragging it on the not so clean floor.

And we wonder why she wasn't allowed to touch it before we sent it off.



After the bubble wrap was sufficiently mutilated, Paige joined her upstairs to finally put her own version of "Quite Contrary" on her bed. Her quilt had been finished for almost the same amount of time as Eva's, but in order to maintain a world in which I do not have to listen to "It isn't fair!" 900 times a day, I didn't let her put it on her bed until Eva's came home.

In good news, they seem to work well for lounging.


Pei Pei the panda is also thrilled to have a new quilt. Isn't it pretty in pink, too?


Here's hoping neither of those photos made any realtors who might be reading run from their computers screaming due to the rather wild paint scheme in their room.

So just like in the Bible, we feel we should celebrate the return of our progeny with a party. As there is no fatted calf in my yard to kill and offer you as a prize, I am instead going to give away a copy of the magazine featuring "Quite Contrary" to one lucky winner. Here's how to enter:

1. Become a follower of this blog. One entry.

2. Become a follower on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EvaPaigeQuiltDesigns). One entry.

3. Already a follower on one or both? Share this blog post on FB! Easy to do from the EPQD page. One entry.

Comment on how you have shared, follower-ed up, or whatever to make your entry (ies) official. Winner will be drawn on Monday, March 12!***

***UPDATE: Carolyn and Amy from Quilters World saw this post last week and decided to promote it on the Quilter's World Facebook page on 3/15. So I'm extending the giveaway drawing until 9:07am on Friday, 3/16. This will give me time to get back from dropping Greta at school and time for all who may wish to enter to do so. WELCOME to all those who are reading and I hope to see you back soon!***

Here's hoping the Boys in Brown bring you something fun this week.

DaGMT - Day 15 "Holy ^&*&*@!$ *(^#!"

You know that moment in the day when you realize you will be accomplishing nothing for the remainder? Today that moment for me coincided with the moment I released my inner truck driver when at 10:30ish am, I discovered that a quilt I designed is on the cover of the newest issue (April/May 2012) of Quilter's World magazine.



I almost died of shock, then I shook so hard I couldn't breathe, then the expletives were flying as I danced around the house screaming. Someday, like maybe next week, I will look back on this behavior and think "What a loser I am", but for today I'm happily a huge geek.

For a brief moment, it was a little sad that I so covet the quiet house in the morning that there was no one home to share my joy, but thankfully my husband answered his phone and did a remote happy dance with me. My apologies to his coworkers; I know it isn't pretty. Also, the children would have been horrified by my language, not to mention my dancing skills, so it's probably best that they were not exposed to the whole scene.

This quilt, "Quite Contrary", was born last April at my guild's annual spring retreat at Lake Shore Farm in NH. I quite literally put this thing together from scratch from 9:30pm to midnight on Saturday evening while suffering from moderate to severe corneal damage after burning my eyeball with ClearCare solution. I designed it thinking it would be a freebie on my blog, but Maria Peagler posted these words that changed my mind "Free is not a business plan." So I said, "What the heck? I'll shop the thing around and see what happens."

Holy happenings! Never in a million years would I have thought this thing would end up on the cover of a national publication!

Will I be pouring ClearCare into my eyeballs to inspire future quilt greatness? No. But I'll admit it's slightly tempting.

Mini Oscar speech: Thank you to Melissa Heys, of The Completed Quilt (www.thecompletedquilt.com) who is truly a fabulous and amazing machine quilter who always manages to fit me in and make my simple designs breathtaking. Thank you to Renae Mathe for whipping up a sample to make sure my directions made sense. Thank you to Carolyn Vagts and the entire staff of Quilter's World for being so easy to work with and making my entire month.

But mostly, thank you to my daughter, Eva Catherine Helfter, who only threw seven fits rather than 20 when I had to ship this quilt off to QW for almost a year rather than immediately putting it onto her bed where it was meant to reside. Every now and then over the last 10 months she has said to me "WHEN am I getting my quilt back? I NEED my quilt! My other one is so BABYISH!" Well Kitty, now your quilt is famous, you can lord this fact over your sisters until the end of time, and I think you can get over it.

Oh, and I also got "Kickin' Stash" (loving this name, and I think it's going to be THE ONE) cover quilt put together and four out of 12 border strips on.



I'm so glad this good hair day wasn't wasted on an overall crappy day.

Bring it, dual February breaks coming up. I feel like I can take you on now.