Big Print Party!!

In honor of all the designers who come up with these great prints that we all drool over, I drew up this pattern. I don't have the quilt, quilted yet, but when I do, I'll be back! I wanted to call it Big Print Palooza but I really wasn't sure if Palooza was a real word or not. I just looked it up. It's not. The closest is: Palloza and that's a thatched house. I don't know that the words Big Print really go with a thatched house. Although, I'm sure a thatched house would benefit greatly from something this fun and colorful inside. I hope there aren't sheep on the roof. .

Pattern is here. Fabrics are here.

Lovely Colorful instructions. Great for a beginner with a rotary cutter! And if you don't have a rotary cutter girls.....it's time. In fact, it's WAY past time. It'll change your life.

I just want to lay my head on this quilt and dream of thatched houses. ~Des

Revenge of the Sista

How quickly Des forgets that I hold all of the pictures ever taken of her, but we'll stick to Market. Yes, we were ready to gush over the 'celebrities' again this year, but couldn't bring ourselves to do it. So here Des is admiring Denyse Schmidt and Verna Mosquera from afar. Then we have Des & Sandi Henderson, okay, I won't put the one with her eyes closed.

Say cheese. ~ Corrie

okay, maybe one closed eye shot. :)

I had no choice

I was listening to all the suggestions on the comments. I was enjoying them. Making mental notes and choosing carefully what free music I wanted to listen to next. And then I listened to her playlist. I was transported back to 1983. Steve and I were sitting in A&W. I skipped Seminary to go with him. (Seminary=Sunday School during the week AT your local high school.) Oh, the 80's and it's music.

Rachel, you win. You just plain win. No random drawing, no number picking. You win. You're WAY to young to be listening to Dead or Alive and The Psychedelic Furs. Adam Ant, The Pet Shop Boys....what are you trying to do to me?? You have no idea the emotions that you are playing with. They won't be on my playlist because I can't 'go there' on a daily basis but it was sure fun for a few minutes today. Tell me how much you LOVED Pretty in Pink??!! Love Mascalon for introducing me to Eva Cassidy. Actually, they were all great suggestions. But Rachel wins. I had no choice. Contact Corrie (check our About Us info at the top of blog) with your address and choice of panel.

I'm coming out of my 80's fog and I just needed to say that today I had a light bulb moment. If you don't have young kids, or if you're not sitting around waiting for some grandkids (KB), you should make one of these cute little driving/flying panels for your Church nursery!!! Be A Good Human and call it a day! ~Des

On the Road ~Taffy Thursdays GIVEAWAY

The play panels have arrived! 4 themes: train, city, construction & airport (35"h x 44"w).

That was quick! At Market, we kept wandering back to the Avlyn booth. Always on the lookout for stuff for boys. Vibrant & the perfect size for little cars, planes, trains & dump trucks. Quilt, pillow, curtain, rug.... What a great gift! I'm going to put the Air Show on one side and the Construction Site on the other. Slip in some jumbo rick rack around the edge (yes, we have rick rack, no, it's not on yet, but it's super cute.) Priorities. I don't have time for playlists right now! I got an itunes card for Christmas...haven't spent it, maybe that will be a giveaway. I'm working on a million little things. But I will find an unflattering picture to share of Des, just wait.

Today's giveaway will be your choice of one of these panels. Air, Train, Construction or City. Remember we have to make you work for this stuff. So today Des needs more tunes for her playlist. Leave a comment with a song you think she should try. Be sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog. Random Drawing later tonight! ~Corrie

A Flash of Brilliance

I've been attached to the computer the last few days. It's a good thing I've got my music!! I was just whining to my family not too long ago that I needed new music. My son bought me an iTunes card for Mother's Day but I just haven't been able to narrow down my list to 15. So in a moment of brief brilliance I realized that I could put up a playlist on the blog and be just like everybody else!! THEN, every time I'm on the computer I can just dial into TaffyTalk and have my very own personal radio station.....for FREE!! Is that okay? I mean, are the feds going to come crashing in on me?? How can I be so utterly happy with my free music and it's still legal and all?? Is it?? (I guess I'm really into double puncuation marks!!??)

Let me just highlight a few of my favorite tunes....I love them all, but I do have my favorites: Imagine.....1234.....Car Crash....the World spins madly on....and Rain (it's the rhyme, It's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring! )It's so folky cool! Oh, I just love them all.

You can thank me. I have it so that it doesn't automatically play when you are on TaffyTalk. You have to go to the bottom and click on the play button. I must say that it is a tad irritating when I am surfing and someone's blog music plays OVER mine. :) But I just quickly 'pause' mine and listen to theirs for just a moment to see if there is a new song I can't live without. Then I come back to the love. The free love. ~Des

Mr. Snitzel's Cookies

Look what my dear hubby just brought me! Cleaning out at his mum's and this darling little book was in a box of other not so darling books. I love a hidden treasure!! I like the blue color and I like to say Mr. Snitzel's Cookies 10 times fast.

What do you think the story is about?? What do you think Mr. Snitzel does with his cookies? This story is about being down on your luck, kindhearted goodness, greed (you have to have that to make it an interesting read), and wishes come true. Mr. Snitzel is, of course, our hero. He is kind and wants to make cookies for all the children. Mr. & Mrs. Manypenny are the greedy ones. How could you guess? They don't want to help the 'shabby tramp' who comes through town with his 'thin shabby dog'. Well, won't they be sad to find out that Mr. Shabby Tramp is all about wishes. Mr. & Mrs. Manypenny end up getting their hearts desire.

I'm the girl who totally judges a book by it's cover. And I had already judged this one a winner just by the blue color and red striped pants BUT I was so pleasantly surprised by the feel good message, as well.

I love you, Mr. Snitzel. I love you hubby. ~Des

Commenting PAYS OFF!! Yea! Michael Ann

Michael Ann or MA as I now lovingly refer to her, has been a loyal, newfound blogger/commenter. We love YOU! And you finally won!! And just in time! I don't have a picture of what all Corrie will be sending you but you can rest assured it will be fabulous! I have had a generous moment here tonight as well, reading all of your comments and now I want to GIVE some japanese fabric away! So I drew again and Sasparilla Sue, I'll be sharing some of my japanese-y fabric with you. I mean really, WHAT am I going to do with it all?? So, I'll just divy it up halvsey's with you. Maybe you can show me what to do with it. Thanks everyone! I think there are 4 more videos coming. One a day until Sunday. It doesn't get much more exciting than owls, however. But Heather Bailey, Sandi Henderson, more apron talk, Toy Story....it's all still to come. Check back next Thursday for another giveaway! ~Des

Taffy Talk Thursday GIVEAWAY!

It is Thursday and we're back! Make a comment on any of the videos thus far and we'll put you in for the drawing on a bag of goodies. Drawing will be later tonight. If you've already made a comment on one of the videos then you're in, too. Be sure to leave an email address if you're anonymous so we can reach you. Unless you want to stay anonymous. :)

Always need a picture of somekind, so here goes. Corrie is WAY cuter than I, so she will be featured! She'll love this! She's away right now and she won't see it until later today. THEN, she might EDIT me and you might not even see any of this!! Gotta love your sista.

Here are few picture highlights of some of my favorite things.......... ~ Des

Cute Redwork! He's dreaming of flying elephants! I love him. Only, "Don't Shoot". I think he's pondering that. I think he was looking for ducks to feed his family and he found a flying elephant instead. And so he would NEVER do that, even though it might feed his family for a year.


Cute Ava fabrics. Ordered. Check.

Cute Amy and Corrie. Ordered. Check.

Totally can't remember what or where this is from. But it's cute!

And it's all about the cute factor for me.

The Apron Lady. Children sizes and adults. CUTE!

Patterns in store and more coming soon. Check.

Sandi Henderson's new line of cute children's clothing. Ordered. Check.

End of June shipping.

My Yo-Yo Elephants. Sigh......

Lilly Apron. LOVE! Lots of cute quilts and a couple of aprons from Busy Bee.

Ordered. Check.

Nicest gal. Oliver+S childrens clothing.

Ordered. Check.

Eating at a 5 Star restaurant with your dad in his Birds of Costa Rica T-Shirt.

Priceless.

Quilt Market Report #4

More Grab Bag Goodies. What am I going to do with it all??

Quilt Market Report #3

Sewing Tool, (you get more than one in a package). Fabric grab bag!

Cute Japanese Fabrics!

Quilt Market SALE - 20% off

Quilt Market SALE just for you!

Wanted to share the fun with you. This is what we could bring back with us. Brand new! For 2 days, the books & patterns shown will be 20% off. First come, first served. Just email me for prices if you would like one or some. I have duplicates of most of them. The magazines range from $6.99-$12.99, patterns range from $8 to $10, books from $12-$15; + shipping, It will take me a few days to get them listed on the site, so take advantage of it.

I've also ordered Sandi Henderson's and Amy Butler's new patterns, they will be out later in the year.

First set of items. Second video has the rest. This is my first video, why is it so bad, it looks great here? bummer. You get the general idea. ~Corrie

Pattern Specials #2

Quilt Market Report #2

Magazines, wedding gifts, library cards......Oh My!

Also, here is an actual look of what it was like at Market.

This is just one little corner of the world at the Oregon Convention Center. Hmmm, wonder if we have to have permission, for legalities.....huh? Just pretend their faces are blurred. :)

Just in case you were missing me!

Need to have something to post while were away!

Lifestyles of the Stitched and Shameless

I will leave you these beauties whilst we're away. Away, you say? Yes, we'll be enjoying lifestyles of the Stitched and Shameless at Quilt Market. I'm gonna look at some of this,

and then some of this,

and wander over to check out these.

I'll be visiting here.

These folks always have cute stuff.

I'll be driving one or two of these.

Hope to make a new friend.

And if I'm really lucky, I'll run into her again.

Miss us! ~Des

Crack a smile

Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day! I did. I did a lot of cleaning beforehand & that made it all a little smoother. I'm already thinking of Father's Day... have you seen this fabric? What man wouldn't crack a smile? It's called Bears Wanna Have Fun. It is funny, bears mooning bears, chipmunks in conga line and more as you'll see. :-) There are six different scenes. The panel piece would be easy for a quilt or it would make a lot of things (pillows, curtains...) for "cabin decor". My dad needs a quilt, Des, why don't you get right on that? ~Corrie

Winner~Allison!!

Thank you, Thank you for all the great feedback. Now, if we'll just listen! HA! You folks loving the Ginger Blossom, hope you know that we ALREADY have it. We are seriously looking at the flannel. We want to be warm too!

Looks like Allison got in right under the buzzer! She was #19! Congrats! Hope you come back and check to see if you won! You did! You're the Winner! You're the Winner! You're the Winner! Did you ever do that cheer in school - We Love our Team??? Well, you get the drift. Posh Fat Quarters are coming your way as soon as we hear from you. See our contact info in the upper right hand corner.

Thanks everyone! We'll have to see how next week shakes out for a giveaway because we'll be in Portland. If we're not exhausted at night from shopping and hobnobbing with all the fabulous designers, (Ha!) maybe we'll have time to blog! We'll try to pick up lots of freebies and pass them on to some lucky commenters. That is, if I'm not too selfish. I got a new rotary cutter last time and I don't know that I would be THAT generous! ~Des

Free Fabric Giveaway~May

Yep, today is the day! Comment for free fabric! It's not going to be too difficult. We need feedback for our trip to Portland. Read through this post and then come back HERE and leave a comment. I'll draw for a WINNER later tonight. Good Luck!

Army of Frogs

Cute little soldiers, huh?? I even looked up the grouping for frogs this time. It really is an army, colony or knot of frogs. We could do a whole knotty frog thing. :)

We're on to Leap Frog Wednesdays now. We're a little slower going with these. You have to use really little pieces of stuffing to get into those legs at first. The free pattern is from the great Purl Bee. I made up the little felt rounded eyes and sewed them into the seam. Our toys for children cannot have any buttons or anything that might be pulled off for a small child. I think these turned out quite darling if I do say so myself. The pattern calls for filling them with beans which gives them an AWESOME weight and they are floppier. But where we send them, they need to be very durable and if they were to get wet, it would be a mess. Can you imagine

the beans expanding and what you might wake to in the night?? Almost as bad and these eyes!

When I checked last at our Humanitarian Center shipments of all kinds (toys, hygiene kits, school kits, quilts, newborn kits etc.) went out to the following states and countries: Jamaica, Arkansas, Utah, Tennessee, Haiti, North Carolina, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Palestine, Belarus, Armenia, Jordan, Kentucky and Colorado. Maybe one of our frogs will make it to Cambodia!

Be A Good Human today and make something for someone and/or check your local community and churches for resources on ways you can serve mankind or animalkind. :) And if it can involve fabric, that's just frosting on the cupcake, right?? ~Des

p.s. Don't forget to comment about Portland in the Tuesday Post.

Frog Legs, anyone??

Lucky Me!

I won a contest from one of our favorite commenters & customers, MessyKaren. She has a new etsy shop, Ruthie Rosie Norie, where she sells fabric gift bags. So I was expecting a gift tote. I didn't know there would be goodies (cutest little candies, tea, ginger logs, gum .... & another tote) in it! Thank you. What a great surprise!

I love getting a gift I don't know about. I have a tendency to buy my own. (Thank goodness for Boy Scouts & School or I wouldn't have any surprises on Sunday.) Mother's Day, I rationalized a lot -- flowers...geraniums, begonias & an orchid. There are hanging baskets everywhere. Wonder how long I can keep them all alive? I've threatened that they better ALL be alive when I get back next week. ~Corrie

Portland Here We Come! Need Advice~

We're off to Quilt Market next week just like the rest of the quilting world. I know it sounds like a lot of fun and it will BE, but it's also super overwhelming to peruse all the goodies everywhere and not be able to BUY IT ALL. So we try to pick and choose very carefully. Corrie Dawn works really hard to keep Quilt Taffy in the black! That's why she never goes for my idea of $50 giveaways everyday. Sheesh!

So we need your help. If you wouldn't mind checking out these manufacturers and letting us know what strikes your fancy, what you can't live without, what you would BUY :) , what you will make, what you want to make, what you want to eat while your making it.....oh wait, different theme, never mind. It'll almost be like we're shopping together. Can you feel it?? Check out Moda, Free Spirit, Westminster, Michael Miller. Those are our favorites and most friendly. If you've seen something in a magazine, advertisement, or blog, let us know what looks interesting.

Back to food.....we will want to eat in Portland. We're not into fasting for days. Any good suggestions? I wish we were staying here. We're not. That's what Hampton Inns are for. Hey, maybe you'll be at Market. We should meet up. We could meet on aisle 700 at booth 633 at 4pm. ;) I hope it's the Japanese folks. LOVE their stuff, very expensive. ~Des

More Mother Goose

Speaking of Mother Goose...(total coincidence, I didn't know yesterday was going to be a tribute)... got my Mother Goose & Friends quilt back! I'm happy. The colors look great in my family room, but it's not for me. It's for a friend, Shana, who watched our little boy while we went on vacation. I can't wait to give it to her (she picked out the fabric & pattern.) Gee, my sister could have had a beautiful quilt, but she didn't jump at the chance to take care of a one year old. I wouldn't have either :-). Plus she lives 5 hours away & it was the middle of winter. We're not into snowy roads or I know she would have watched him & cherished every precious moment of diapers & sleeplessness.

I liked this pattern - Modern Day Diamonds. You make templates & it goes together fast, because they are big pieces. Couldn't be happier. I want to make another one for me, it looks great with 3 colors or a bunch. Would be fab out of the Ginger Blossom or Freshcut. There is a Mother Goose kit available, it's 48"x58". (side note: no snow here, we're in full Spring!) ~Corrie