July 2016 – Lisa Bongean's Web Blog

Today was the day…

Today was the day I finally got my OWN copy of the American Patchwork & Quilting October issue! Featuring Primitive Gatherings with ME on the cover!!!

I wasn’t going to believe it until I really saw it in person!! Which was yesterday…but today Beth a student in my workshop brought me a copy!!!!

I admit…I was told about it, about a month ago in an email from editor Linda…that night after receiving the email that I was going to be on the cover…I could not sleep, I was in disbelief???? Was there ever a person on the cover of APQ? I could not remember…I started looking at all my magazines…no…always quilts!!! What were they thinking???

The APQ crew visited in January 2016…it was a blast working with them to shoot our workplace and my home…it was about a day and a half of “shooting”, a quick dinner after and then poof they were gone…later an interveiw with Judy Friedman…and then half a year later…Editor Linda Augsburg calls me…it was a Sunday near the end of June I believe…Lisa? Yes? This is Linda from APQ…do you remember that antique quilt you were holding when we photographed you? ummm Yes…Do you have it? Ahhh Yes…Can I come and pick it up? Ahhh Yes…aren’t you in DesMoines? Yes…but I’m on my way to Manitowoc WI for a graduation……OK?…. I think we should include the pattern in the issue as well…Ok, sounds great!!! Linda later admitted she had a good idea it was going to be the cover, so she thought it would best if they patterned it as well!!! Then about a week or two after she picked it up she broke the news to me… I really never told anyone, Nick of course, but until I got the email from the office with how to promote the magazine did I really believe it was true, there it was..the jpeg of the cover with me with some of my collection !!! It was CRAZY!!!

This really is a big honor for all of us at Primitive Gatherings and we cannot thank APQ enough…we all are still in disbelief that we were featured in our favorite magazine and they really captured some wonderful pictures of what Primitive Gatherings is like…they also have more pics HERE on their website allpeopleequilt.com. Like this one of the bedrooms in the our Northridge House that they shot that day…

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting.

You need to go and get this issue if you do not subscribe to it…Available at PG on our website OR see if you can find it anywhere you can get quilting magazines!!! This is a great issue about antique quilts…and it also has lots of advice and quilts from my fellow designers…then Barbara Brackman tell little histories about the lots of the quilt featured in this issue!!!

all too much….gotta go now…I’m going to read the magazine AGAIN!

my best…Lisa

July 31, 2016

lisabongean64 Comments

today’s workshop in Augusta, ME

What a fun bunch of ladies today in class…it was a little warm…room packed to the gills but still lots of fun…great bunch of blocks made to make this quilt Bud Garden…Met lots of new ladies and some “old” FB friends…nice to meet them in person…right Denise G? I attended Pam Buda’s lecture for lunch which was also very good…so chalk up another great day in ME.

July 29, 2016

lisabongean13 Comments

Christmas in July…Stitching words onto our wool projects…

I want to share with you a couple of ways to “transfer” lettering/wording to our wool projects…To be honest I can draw the words/lettering on with my dependable Clover white liquid chalk marker on most anything…but sometimes you want something just perfect…In the case of this Angel Tree Skirt I wanted the FONT to turn out exactly like the computer prints it out….so I’ve heard Glad Press’n Seal was the answer…So I gave it a try…With a medium tipped Sharpie marker I traced the design from the book, along with the bottom edge of the mat for accurate placement.

I then “pressed” the Press’n Seal onto my wool mat.With a #8wt. perle cotton and a#22 Chenille needle I started stem stitching my letters right through the press’n seal…as you can see I didn’t want to stitch too much before I knew if this was going to come off…I took my small extra sharp Dovo scissors and cut away the PnS as close as I could to the stitching. I then proceeded to take my extra sharp tweezers and pull away the PnS from the outside of the letters and insides. Awesome!….It was going to come off…was it easy? It was kind of picky and sticky coming away from the stitching, but the results were beautiful.
Now I thing the biggest reason it worked is because my stem-stitching was nice and close together…a little smaller than I usually stitch…mostly because these were tiny lettering…and to make it pretty it had to be tiny….

Now..for the next step…I am stitching this same Angel Tree Skirt as FULL sized tree skirt!!!

I blew up the pattern as stated in the directions…it comes out to 42″. The perfect size for a full size tree…The wool for the background had to be specially dyed because I needed more than 1 yard…I think we dyed a 50″x 6o” piece of wool to get the 42″ after it was dyed. Wool shrinks/felts in they dyeing process to you have to account for that shink-age.

For the full sized tree skirt I stitched the much larger letters/words in a chain stitch…and then went back in and did a running stitch inside of the chain stitch…I am done with all the stitching now its time to pull all that PnS away…

So my final summary is this…If I need something to be perfect, I will use the PnS…If it doesn’t matter and I want to do it in my own hand I will skip the PnS because it isn’t really that fun to pull all that stuff out from the words/lettering…but it does work for those who do not care for their own lettering…and for those “perfectionists” out there. So it’s a very accurate means of transferring the word/lettering on to our wool projects.

A couple other methods I have used in the past have been tissue paper…you would baste the traced tissue paper onto the design and then stitch on it…then wet it when compete and put it away…this comes off easier, but it is a little more awkward to stitch through.

Then the final way has been to use “tulle”. You would trace the words onto the tulle with a marker. Then place the tulle onto the wool and trace the words again using the liquid chalk market or the fixion pens that are now available.

I hope this helps when determining how to get those words onto your dark wool backgrounds that you cannot use a lightbox for. I can’t wait to show you how this large tree skirt turns out…it’s a monster but will be so beautiful under a tree!

If you would like a kit for the large tree skirt we can get that info to you…I have not figured it out yet as I usually don’t until the project is finished…but I wanted to share this with you while I was stitching. Email us or comment on this post and we will get the kit info to you when it is ready.

I will be posting soon about…The Magic of Christmas…a 25 block red/white (city) or reds/cream (country) stitch along….

Time to get ready or today’s workshop and meet some Maine quilters!!! LB

July 29, 2016

lisabongean29 Comments

Quilts from Christmas Gatherings…

Sorry about that 6 month thing…why do we celebrate Christmas in July if it is not half way??? I just assumed that was why…so I didn’t even count them…but that might be just what I really need is an extra month!!!

I want to share the quilts in the book tonight….

First up…Boxes of Candy…

Simple quilt that looks hard…on point…make a bunch of blocks using all squares, turn them on point and make it look like you pieced a lot of triangles…quilted by the a-mazing Linda Hrcka….More info on all the quilts can be found HERE

Christmas Reel…

I love this quilt…you don’t see many green/cream quilts…this quilt was made by about 20 quilters….I will always cherish it! 5o plus blocks…all hand appliquéd…quilted with mega straight lines from another a-mazing machine quilter, Val Krueger.

Christmas Rose and Christmas Rose Mini..

What can I say…red, green and cheddar!!!! Again quilted with those awesome curvy ruler from Linda-thequiltedpineapple.com The mini is so cute!!!

All wrapped up…

Just a simple scrappy quilt using all the reds, greens and creams from the line…and some volunteer help from “little man” Stars of Bethlehem…

I don’t have any “in progress” pics of this quilt…cause I didn’t make it at all…Amy made it while I was away!!! I love this quilt…wish I did make it…but I will make one…maybe just regular scrappy scrappy…quilted by Val…like ribbon candy…I do not have a pic up close of the quilting…but if you see this quilt…EVERYONE loves the quilting….maybe Val has some she can send me….

Silent Night…this little quilt is 22″….again….this quilt would also be nice done normal scrappy….perfect HST’s done with PG triangle papers…and here you can see some of the prints up close…

I know I’m not supposed to tell you that I didn’t really like this runner…but see how much better it got because of the flowers..and a little instant antique spray?

I think I got them all…Here’s the back cover….and again….I know this book is a “Christmas” book…but the quilts with a few color changes can be everyday quilts….none of my fabrics or quilts scream Christmas, and therefore can be used at other times not just for Christmas….

and same offer applies for today as well…buy a kit and book and get Primitive Christmas book free…have new book already…buy two kits get older book free…have it all…oh well we’ll still give you the book to gift or donate to a new quilter, guild…

all for now…I am so tired…really enjoying Maine…looking forward to the show this weekend and meeting my new students…LB

a couple of pics from our Lobster dinner…

July 26, 2016

lisabongean13 Comments

Christmas in July…

Today is July 25th…6 (Edit-5months sorry) months til Christmas 2016…So if we start now…we can get some hand made gifts done…as we know they are the best!!! I have been so busy I never did a post on my Christmas Gatherings Moda Fabric and book of the same name..So if you don’t mind… I want to say a little bit about each project in the book…today I will do the “little projects” this is everything but the quilts. Tomorrow I will talk about all the quilts and the fabrics in the book..CHRISTMAS GATHERINGS BOOK

Peace on earth…a nice mat for your table…for primitive or any decor this mat is a stunner on a nicely decorated table. See more info HERE Sheep…wool ornament…

I love this little wool sheep who is all decorated for the Christmas celebration…this is a nice ornament to make as a gift for your favorite woolie friend…Click HERE for more details. Perfect little tree skirt…or see my up coming post on making a full sized one for your next holiday tree….For more info click HERE

Everyone needs a Christmas Journal to keep track of what gifts they bought who…what you made for that special Christmas dinner and who visited each year during the holidays….Has pocket for pictures, pencil and recipes…For more information click HERE.

The reason for the season….another great idea for ornaments…shepard and his sheep and the manger…perfect gifts and easy stitching…Click HERE for more details.

Poinsettia table mat…You’ll have this stunning mat stitched in no time…the middle poinsettia is big easy stitching and then the 16 tongues will be done before you know it…Click HERE for more details.
Joy stocking…..updated wool stocking in todays more contemporary look….who wouldn’t love this stocking! This stocking looks way more complicated then it really is…anyone can make this!!! Click HERE for more info.Light bulb ornies anyone…how cute? These are just irresistable..you’ll want to stitch many of these one for everyone…your hair dresser, the mailman…the ups guy/gal, your neighbors and your family…also would make nice addition as a tag on a gift…light up someones Christmas with these ornies! Click HERE for more info.

This Christmas picture will decorate the walls…a great quote from Hugh Downs…the famous broadcaster from an earlier time…this quote lines the salvage on each of the fabrics in Christmas Gatherings….Click HERE to for more details. Did I save the best for last….no! I have to admit…I did not like this runner while I was making it…it was just blah….but then I got the great idea to add the wool flowers to the basket blocks…and then it was like Christmas magic!!! Click HERE if you need a runner to decorate your Christmas table!

Now how cute is this guy? He is on two simple table mat/tree skirts…now these both stitch up pretty fast and then add a candle and it make the perfect center piece….or add you little tree and it adds just a simple touch to the little tree! Click HERE for more details.
You can never have enough ornaments….these simple, simple stacked wool squares are fun and the whole family can make one, even Dad!!!! Click HERE to order lots of different colors

ALL the above projects are in the book…BUT I also want to let you know about another
GREAT deal…we are running our previous 27 project Chistmas book…” Primitive Christmas” at almost HALF OFF…a great deal! Click HERE to order our first Christmas book before they are all gone!!! This book has recipes too!

I better get this posted before it is July 26th!!! Everyone who orders a kit with a new book from this post will get the Primitive Christmas book free while supplies last!!! If you already have the new book- you have to order two kits from this post to get the Primitive Christmas free!!!! FREE shipping on orders over $100! If you already have the new book and the old book…then you just need to get some kits and give the book to a friend as a gift! Offer good through July 31st.

My best…

Lisa

July 25, 2016July 26, 2016

lisabongean6 Comments

Month: July 2016

today’s workshop in Augusta, ME

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Christmas in July…

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