lisabongean

Moon Garden Stitch Along…Block 1

Our wool Stitch-Along is finally here!!! I am hoping you by now you have received your kit if you have purchased it though Primitive Gatherings. I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate the overwhelming response to this Stitch Along. I know most of you have more projects than one person needs but you are still willing to spend your hard earned bucks buying out products…THANK YOU!

For those of you who are using up what have on hand we are supplying the pattern. The pattern is downloadable but it may be tricky to print on a home computer/printer. I am telling you this in advance because I cannot help you with your printing because everyones equipment is different….and I am a quilter, not a computer guru…You will have to bring your PDF to an Office supply store and get them to print it for you…The pattern is large and is set up for 11×17 paper. If you do not want bother with this…you can order JUST the pattern from us for $5 plus shipping. We trying to make it easy for you Click Here to order the pattern Only. Also if you want it every month you will have to re order the next one…there is some reason you can’t do it automatically which again is beyond my knowledge…

I STRONGLY suggest joining our Facebook page for Moon Garden…I will be posting videos and all kinds of funny stuff…for our stitching pleasures….it is an easier platform to host videos and keep things in our group…

I will post the first video this weekend…and these are the Facebook video posts I’m planning—

getting started…tracing , cutting, fusible, Fray check…when to use it?

Laying out your appliqués onto the background

Threading your needle without a needle threader and making a quilter’s knot.

Cross stitching over stems

Blanket Stitch

Colonial knots

Does anyone see something I might have overlooked?…I know there are lots of beginners so I don’t want miss something obvious…so please leave me a comment of what you need to learn…

Click here to download Moon Garden Block 1

The blanket stitch here includes a long one in the indents of the flower petals.
Close up of how I cross over (X) over my stems…these and more will be demonstrated on Facebook.

I want to talk about fusible web…I am in the process of launching a new fusible…it’s a dream to stitch with…I love the SAS2 lite, but I am tired of defending it…Some people actually hate “their” gummy needles…and I can see their point. I do not have this “gummy” experience myself, maybe a little when I first adhere down and start stitching…but I use tons of steam and let the block rest a bit before I stitch…then no issues…BUT….the one thing I CANNOT live without is the tacky-ness of the SAS2L for my stems/vines…the ease of bending them into place before I steam them is such a benefit I will continue to use it for the stems and vines. As you can see you do not stitch into the stems…you cross over…so those of you who hate and have that gummy needle…this will not be affected…

We are figuring out packaging for the “NEW” fusible…I will be blogging when it is ready…

So look for those Facebook posts starting soon and I will help you along on your wooly journey!!! I am hoping more of you get your blocks soon!! I know it’s hard waiting…

my best…Lisa

SaveSave

April 13, 2018

lisabongean34 Comments

Let’s Sail Away!!!…this one is a doozy…

Well you have been asking…and this opportunity came up and we had to jump at it……Miami to Rome….14 days!!! We will have lots of time on the ship…we decided it is going to be a UFO cruise…we will have lots of stitching time…and I will be there for “help” you with your projects…we have the whole conference room again!

But here are the details… and FYI I think it is half filled already-a lot of the cruisers from our last excursion have re-upped…so do not hesitate…call that “special” person and get them to take a trip of a lifetime with you!!!

Best thing….super reasonable rates for the cruise…the highest priced room is under $100 a day…all rates are double occupancy…..we are also working with a travel agent on flights back home or you can book your own…but you could easily spend another week in Rome if you wish and come back when you are ready…so seriously think about this…plus..its less than a year away!!! Yay!!!

Here are the big details…the stops….

more details…Making Waves Registration Form

So this is a good place to share some of the pics from our last adventure!!!As you can see we had a big number of ladies to have some fun with!!!

Leaving the port…at Cape Canaveral…Cocoa Beach FL

First off…some sewing on Monday..all our kits were precut so we got the the stitching very fast…

then some adventures on Tuesday…Labadee, Haiti

then again on Wednesday…In Jamaica…we got off the ship and “hired” our own guide…He took us to where he would eat…to a fishing village…church…school…and then the beach to relax and have a message…

back to stitching fun on Thursday…

Friday…Cozumel…Mexico…where we again…got off the shipped looked around…I found a native WI working and asked him what we should do…rent a jeep was the answer…we had a blast…but first on all…the jeep was a manual transmission…no problem…we all could drive one…he said first time ever he rented a jeep to women and all of them could drive the “stick”…he says…”only Wisconsin girls…even thou one of us was from UT…we’ll just let that slide…but the JEEP had no gauges…didn’t know how fast i was going …didn’t know if there was any gas in it…so it was quite the adventure…plus side…we had an escort showing us where to go…we seen ruins..climbed up a lighthouse (Yay Joyce-you did it!), we ate, swam and found sea glass at the beach…then we went tequila tasting…and let’s just say it was not what I suspected…First they make you a margarita…(now I know why they do this… so you will buy everything) then on to the tasting…BUT is was just not tequila …they had flavored tequila’s!!! Came home with 4 bottles…Tequila Cafe…which is like Baileys….Guanabana…which is some sort of awesome fruit…Pina Colada- pineapple flavored and then 14 yr aged tequila – this was not like the tequila i know of…but very smooth…this will be for a margarita on the rocks this summer…I am sure your supposed to sip this…but…

Those of you who know me know I am not a “big” drinker…so for me to buy 4 bottles…yeh it was good…but then after all that…you get in the jeep and drive home back to the ship…it was a very fun day to say the least…

Carlos is looking GOOD…I think they all were named Carlos!!! no joking…

So lets just say there is more to life than just staying home and stitching…Come on…Let’s GO!!! I promise we will stitch too!!

Saturday…sea day…more stitching…and finishing!!!

This is Karen…she might have been my star stitcher…just because this was here first time with wool…she finished the star mat and look how far she got on her Rose quilt???!!!! I hope she got off the ship at the ports!!!

then there was Barbara….whoa!!!! Look at this woman stitch!!! She was my SuperStar!!!

I had her show me a bullion knot…I think I made her very nervous…sorry, no need for that…but hopefully when I try it I will at least have a better idea of what to do then what the diagrams show!!! Thanks Barbara!!

So at the end of the trip it is sad…to have to say good bye to all the new friends…I loved just listening to SallieAnn and Samatha & Amanda talk….they are all from the UK…I had coffee with Steve (Liz’s Hubby”) one morning…after my ship walk- we talked about Harley’s…I tried very hard to see the sunrise every morning…

I also loved spending time with Lexie a lovely 11 yr old lady( Heather’s daughter)…we were buds…she was my mini golf teammate…and we ate dinner together every night…sometimes all fancied up…boy she could look much older and pretty…Keck (Dad) is going to have to beat them off of her….I look forward to watching her grow up!!! I am determined she is going to love to stitch if I can help it…

Then there were the canadian ladies…uh hum…you know who you are…they were so funny…I am quite quiet and shy (lol)…so it was fun just to be around all these ladies…

There were the FL girls…major belly laughs there too as well….and there were groups of women from NE almost as many as from WI…but they came from near and far…and I loved getting to know them more and more…some we will see again in NC in September…but there are lots of opportunities now and will be in the future as this is way too fun not to do again and again!!!

Have a great Saturday and get ahold of those girls from Olde Green Cupboard and sign up…you will not go with a better group. (double pinky swear).

time to stitch…LB

SaveSave

April 7, 2018April 7, 2018

lisabongean10 Comments

Local Kitchen Tour…

Looking for a fun day out of the house? Especially since the weather is being so un-cooperative!!!!

This post is for my local following…I am counting on seeing some of you, my friends, old and new neighbors and especially my quilters!!!

THURSDAY APRIL 19TH FROM 10AM – 8 PM!

I am super excited about being a part of this event…I was asked to present in one of the homes on the tour…this house is the home of a quilter!!! So we will be there promoting the “love” of quilting. The most important thing about this event is it is for charity…we are raising money for the NMES- Neenah-Menasha Emergency Society…this group of ladies that been in exsistance for a long time…since 1906…Please read about them and the amazing things they have done in the past HERE. Didn’t reading this make you want to be in this society?

You can order tickets online at the link below or pick them up at our shop…but I think this will be a blast!!! Get some friends together, have some fun, visit some really cool looking homes, win some sweet prizes & eat some great food as well!!! We may even have something special for those of you who tell me you read this post!

Click HERE to read ALL about the homes and the event!

Just a peek at one of the homes you can visit!!!

Now…how can i figure out to see this house and be at another???

my best…Lisa

April 6, 2018

lisabongean22 Comments

Quilt Hangers…

I have had so many requests about the quilt hangers I use to hang my quilts in my home. I did not want to tell you about them unless I had a source…My cousin Scott who is the same age as I, and is probably my closest of cousins…came to work for me almost a month ago…

He has been a home builder for 30 years and has had enough of the cold and the climbing and wants to preserve what left of his beat up body…so now he is working on many many projects for us…the first being these quilt hangers…

Here is Scott putting the the “quilt room” shelving he made and installed for me at Anchor Point (home)…this turned so awesome…you may have seen it in an earlier post filled with quilts.here it is again…it is that glorious…right?

Here are the hangers in action in my home…shown with no quilt…this the the 3 foot wide one…

They really add a nice touch to any room…these two hangers are located on each side of this cased opening…

This is the 4 foot long hanger, this one is in my bedroom…you might want more of the quilt showing …or just have the option of a small quilt or a large one…this quilt could be spread out wider or it is nice as it is too!!
So here are your options…they come black, white, grey, stained brown (like the backdrop in the photo at the top of the post) or plain/no finish…I was thinking maybe you could want them the same color as the wall?? I also want to note that they come with a little sanded off edges…you cannot see it it the photo shown here…We also will have a limited number of them at the shows…but color options might be limited.

They are 23″ long(tall) and 36″ or 48″ wide…we have ordered special double walled boxes for shipping and this will be added to your shipping cost- the shipping will be calculated exactly…we will call you and to let you know what that charge will be…we do not want to guess- we do not want to make or lose any money on shipping so we will want to handle that after your order is placed and we are ready to ship. All of this info will be on our website…you can order HERE. They are $55 or the 3 foot aned $70 for the 4 foot.

I have recently arrived home from our quilting cruise to Haiti, Jamaica and Cozumel MX just in time to change out the quilts for Easter…Hope you enjoy these beautiful antiques.

Lisa

SaveSave

March 29, 2018

lisabongean41 Comments

Home project…you know the kind that keeps pestering you in the back of your mind…

I have had this project festering in me for about a year…but I just couldn’t take the time to pull it off…I am sure we all have them…I tried to get it done before Christmas…that did not happen so it became my Christmas card holder….it ended up having lots of cards on it but must not have taken a picture of it at all…(probably should have cropped that Harley boot out of the pic!)but…in February, when I did not have one travel date…I started setting aside a little time to work on my “project”.

My son Jake, had found two of these 6 foot+ windows on the curb, on trash day a few years back…the minute I saw them I new I would “use” them for “something”… So when we moved into the new house I had saved this wall in my back hall/office area for this window…We just celebrated 2 years in the house!

The first step was to wash the years of “smokers” residue off the inside…the outsides were so much cleaner…I think it took more 4 times in each pane to be satisfied with them…once the window was cleaned I started going through the photos…to pick 25 great pictures or memories that I wanted to “see” everyday….was the hard part.

The insides of the panes were a little bigger than 11″ not perfectly square but just a little longer…So..I checked Walgreens…they had an 8″x 8″ photo size ….that could not have been more perfect for this…I ordered them all online…with a matte finish…they came 3 days later in the mail. Some of my photos were professionally shot that i just scanned or took a photo of with my phone…yup…I took photos of my old photos and are they perfect?…no…but they worked. Could some of them be better?… yes…if the photo was a earlier cell phone shot and not the best quality but who cares…I love all my photos here…Did I maybe find one or two after the fact…yes, but I can always move some in and out…here’s how I did it…

Now…how was I going to put the pictures in the windows? I did not want to tape them to the front…I really wanted them “behind” the glass….so this is what I discovered….photo corners…you know those black little triangles that hold a picture to the page?…they were popular long time ago and then for scrapbooking…they come in CLEAR!!!…all I had to do was to use them backwards….put the photo corners with the sticky side to the glass and then insert my photos inside the corners, picture facing the glass and that is what is holding the photos in place…also…this makes them very easy be switched out!!! Click to order Clear PHOTO CORNERS …they were very inexpensive…but order more than you need…as some will be damaged in the process.

The hardest part was getting them in the exact location on the glass, but with all those fine quilting rulers we have this was actually pretty easy…they were tricky to handle but I managed to get them placed without too much cussing…yes…a few of them were “lost” in the process”…it took me less than 2 hours to place them in…and the results were A-MAZING!!!! I couldn’t have been more pleased at how it all turned out!!!

All the photos now in….just waiting to be hung…We bought heavy duty hangers and spaced them 16″ apart where the studs in the wall are…and it’s perfect! You really can’t even see the photo corners…It is hard to get a good photo of how amazing this is… in this spot…I can’t stand back far enough from it to get a whole shot…but here is the best I can do….I also was going to touch up the window but then decided…I liked that the paint was uneven…cracking and you know… just showed it’s life…

Hope you enjoyed this post…and maybe it inspired an idea for something you can do with an old window….all for now…LB

SaveSave

March 8, 2018

lisabongean98 Comments

Do you remember the Magic of Christmas blocks/Stitch A-long?

Here is my finished quilt from our 25 red & white/cream-6″ blocks…Magic of Christmas Stitch A-Long we ran here before our Triangle Gatherings blocks… How many of you are still working on your blocks?

Or… how many of you have seen some of the quilts made from this SAL and have patiently been waiting for our book?!!!

Well the wait is over!!!

Our spiral bound block book includes 25 pieced blocks that finish 6″. Directions for 3 different layouts and then a gallery of other layouts from 9 different quilters who participated in our SAL!!!! The quilts all vary in size from wall/lap quilts to large bed quilts…It is so fun to publish other quilters finished designs!!! They all are great and we “thank” them for sewing along with us by letting us show the world their beautiful finished quilts in our book!!! The books are $16 and can be purchased HERE

And the winner is….

Rita NicholsMarch 5, 20188:35 am

My first thought when I saw the plaid pillows was Outlander and Jamie Frasier. Go figure. I love your house Lisa, it’s beautiful and so welcoming.

Rita…send me your address…I’ll send you a prize…send it to: Ahoefler@new.rr.com Tell Amy it is for the pillow prize and we will send you something fun!

Yesterday I talked about Spring decorating and what the wool pillows on my couch represented….and right away Rita figured it out….they are the wool tartan clan plaid from Outlander…the Mckenzie Clan plaid of Jamie’s Mother…here is a photo of him wearing it…See I know think you want your own pillows…right?….now If you are interested in history and a good story I strongly suggest the Outlander series of books and at least the show on STARZ or DVD to catch the last 3 seasons…I mostly listened to them on audio tape so I could still stitch and would really wake up run to my sewing room so I could get back in the story….Here is a little blurb to get you interested…

Outlander (Cross Stitch in the UK) is the first in the OutlanderSeries of novels by Diana Gabaldon. The book focuses on two main characters, Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser, and takes place in Scotland in the 18th and 20th centuries.

While Outlander follows a few basic tropes of the romance novel, it deviates from them just as often, and could be accurately described as a work of historical fiction, science fiction, and adventure, among other genres. Diana Gabaldon has asserted that the series as whole is the story of a long, successful marriage, so while Outlander certainly involves the typical courtship story of a romance novel, it is the only installment of the series to do so.

The story of Claire and Jamie continues with seven sequels, a handful of companion stories, and a spin-off series.

Now…I’m warning you this is addicting… so…if you need hours of entertainment to get that stitching done this is it…and remember…Audio so you can still work on your stitching at the same time!!!! …Click HERE to get yours now…. this is the 1st book in the series…and the narrator Davina Porter is awesome too!!

My crazy cousin Mary got me hooked on Outlander AND she is the one who bought me those lovely wool plaid pillows that started this whole thing…we have lots of fun…hours of conversations about the books…and maybe a trip to Scotland…

Have a great day everyone!!

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave