Welcome back, everyone! With so much going on at Primitive Gatherings and The Gathering last week, time really flew by! Val and I had our noses to the grindstone, both stitching and filming for our upcoming Stitch-A-Long, “Meet Me in the Garden.“ We can’t wait to see the finished product after Kali does her video magic and spins it all into Stitch-A-Long gold. This ongoing, online tutorial with Val and I will start sometime in June/July, 2022. Keep an eye on my blog for the actual date, which will depend on the much-anticipated delivery of my new fabric line, Garden Gatherings. If you haven’t heard, Garden Gatherings is scheduled to arrive here at Primitive Gatherings sometime in April/May, 2022. We will also be making a post about what you’ll need (patterns, rulers, etc) for the Stitch-A-Long in the near future. Can you wait? Didn’t think so. Neither can I!

Looking on the bright side, April/May will be here before we know it. It’s crazy to think that April 1st isn’t even a month away! Another positive is that you can pre-order Garden Gatherings to put yourself ahead of the game for “Meet Me in the Garden Stitch-A-Long. I highly recommend pre-ordering now if you have your heart set on joining us for that. There is a good chance that we may already be sold out of the fabrics you will need for “Meet Me in the Garden” by the by the time the Stitch-A-Long event starts. In other words, if you’re able to pre-order now, please do to avoid running into potential availability issues.

If you tuned in to, “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ last week you were lucky enough to catch Val one more time before I had to whisk her off to the airport for her trip home to Vegas. We discussed some of my current projects and talked about a few that I have on deck waiting to be started as well. While she was here, Val was gracious enough to pick up where I left off on a few random works in progress, which really helped move things along on my “to-do” pile. There is always plenty to work on around here, so when she asked me if I had anything for her to stitch, I was happy to oblige. I don’t like things being unfinished and do my best not to let things pile up. I had a bunch of blocks sitting in a drawer in my home studio that needed attention, so she got busy stitching on those. Even though our styles are slightly different, I really like working together with her on projects like this. Collaborating is fun, plus now every time I look at this quilt I will think of Val and her very first visit to The Gathering!

There are a few other things hanging on my design wall at the moment that I’d also like to share with you. I’m currently working on a cute little sheep-themed mini quilt called, “Create.“ I combined cozy flannel in browns, grays, creams and navy blues, with earth toned wools to make this mini not only adorable, but beautiful as well. Finished, this darling little “flock” measures at 14″ x 14″, making it the perfect size for a table mat or hanging décor.

All the fabric you need for for “Create“ is available now our website to order. You will need our special-cut, 6×10 half-layer cake of flannel (it actually is a bit more than half a layer cake), three wool charm bundles (taupe, sheep, and raven), and 1/8 yard (appx 12″ x 15″) hand dyed black wool. As a way to say thanks for ordering, if you grab one of each items needed to complete “Create,” I will gladly throw in the pattern for free! You can find these items on the website under, “New Items“ and then under, “Live with Lisa Featured Products,“ or by clicking the link below!

Next up on the design wall is my new quilt pattern, “Revel.” This awesome design was inspired by a vintage quilt from my personal collection that I really love. “Revel” is not available to the public at the moment because it is the ongoing, year-long project in our current Quilt Box. If you’re not a member of our Quilt Box subscription but love this quilt, don’t worry! I will be available to the public sometime next year after we’ve moved on to the next Quilt Box subscription year. Look for the “mini” instructions in your April Quilt Box!

I’ve also recently joined a Quilt-A-Long called, “Heartfelt,“ This awesome project is a Make a Wish Foundation of America fundraising quilt sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop. “Heartfelt“ is currently a free download on the Fat Quarter Shop website! They do not require it, but highly encourage that a $5.00 donation be made for the pattern if you’re able to do so. Proceeds go to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation of America. In the spirit of being generous and giving, if you download this free pattern please make a donation!

The version of, “Heartfelt“ that I am personally working on will be auctioned off in the future. Of course, all proceeds from the auction will go to the Make a Wish Foundation as well. I decided to do my quilt in a mix of Valentine’s day fabrics to go along with the heart theme. What do you think?

Want to be part of the fun ? Come join the Quilt-A-Long! Remember, Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich them with hope, strength and joy. What better way to contribute than with your own hard work, talent, and love for quilting!? Ready to sign up? Hit the link below for more information!

Val is especially excited about the next project on the board. “Dragonfly Dreams,” which is an ongoing quilt featured in our current Wool Box subscription. Dragonfly Dreams is another quilt design inspired by a vintage quilt in my collection (shown on the left below). I love the combination of wool appliqué combined with different types of hand embroidery and stitching. Just look at the intricate floral design work on this vintage beauty! My modern version uses more earth toned colors with a pallet including blacks, browns creams and grays. If you like this quilt and aren’t currently subscribed to the Wool Box, hang tight! It will be available as a Block of the Month in 2023.

Remember the American Quilter’s Stitch-A-Long Hogs for Heroes fundraising event from last summer? We are proud to say we raised over $30K in 2021 for a WI veteran in need! I am currently finishing my last set of blocks on another one of these awesome quilts that I plan to donate to a local vet. You might have noticed that these blocks were previously free downloads, but have recently been removed from the blog. We want to keep this fundraising even going, so we plan to sell this as a full quilt pattern in the near future with proceeds going to Hogs for Heroes.

If you haven’t heard of this great fundraiser let me tell you a little bit about it. Hogs for Heroes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to healing the mental and physical wounds suffered by Wisconsin Veterans during the course of active duty. They do this through the therapeutic benefits of owning and riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Each year they raise funds, purchase a motorcycle and gift it to a deserving Wisconsin Veteran Hero! How cool is that!? I absolutely love being part of such a fun event to let WI veterans know how much we appreciate them! Want to make a contribution to Hogs for Heroes? Click the link below!

Last but not least on the design board is a sneak peek of what the ongoing, 1-year project in our current Wool Box looks like. Going back to my primitive roots, this is a cute wool penny mat project is sure to delight. I’m ready to tell you what the end project will be – you’ll just have to delve in, follow along and find out! I will forever love penny mats! Stitching pennies will never get old for me.

Heads up! I don’t know if you’re aware, but Moda Blockheads 4 is just about here! I have the first 20 patterns in my hands already, so be aware that MBH4 is coming March 24th. Of course we will be posting all about it next week so make sure to check back for that! Also, as I mentioned on, “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ last week, starting in April my plan is to have a free, “mystery” pattern for you to download. I thought it would be a fun way to use the scraps I know we all have laying around from past projects. I really hate to waste fabric so I think it will be fun to come up with something we can do with the scraps. I haven’t named this mystery project yet, but I will be talking more about it in future blog posts. Exciting stuff!

I hope you all have a great week. Temperatures are finally starting to warm up and the sunshine is out. Get out there and enjoy it! Don’t forget to go to “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ on YouTube LIVE, Thursday at 1PM CST. We’ve been having a lot of fun picking out prizes each week so like and share, and keep those comments coming for your chance to win! Take care and remember to make time to…