Open Gate Blog

It's the last day of the book tour and Lisa's revealing her take on Pinochle.  I'm thinking that I would like to do it in those yummy fabrics too.  Make sure you stop by and see her results. It is crunch time for us designers.  We only have 2 weeks left until we leave for Quilt Market and every time I think of it, I can't breath!  So much to do and so little time.  Like my friends say, you will get it done.  I know that I will but it always seems like it won't get done.  I will have some fabulous new patterns to show soon and of course, my new ruler!  I will post them within the next week or so. Also, don't forget that the Quiltmaker's 100 Block blog tour starts Monday and that's my day.  There are always some great giveaways and surprises.  See you Monday!

I will be doing a book signing in Rockford at Acorn Quilts on April 30th from 10:00-12:00.  If you are in the area, make sure that you stop by and say hi and get your book.  If you mention that you read this on my blog, you will get a special treat.  Acorn Quilts is located at 6409 East Riverside Blvd in Rockford, IL.  Lesley Gebbie is the owner and the shop has been open for a year and a half.  It's a wonderful, inspring place to go so make sure that if you can't make it Saturday, you stop by another time.  Don't forget that it's Thelma from Cupcake 'n Daisies day to show her big reveal.  You will be so excited and impressed with her quilt!  She has taken it a step further and I love it!  I'm jealous, I wished that I would have thought of it! Tomorrow is Lisa from Stashmaster's  day to blog about her reveal so stop by.

Sounds like a expose show, doesn't it?  Well, nothing like that but you get to see a quilt revealed!  Here is Spades, all done!  Will wonders never cease?  I actually have it quilted too.  I know what you are thinking...over-achiever!  But, that is not true.  Market is only 2 1/2 weeks away and I need it for my booth so I had to get it done.  My talented quilter, LeAnne Olson, quilted it quickly for me so I would have it for both Market and the reveal.  Here is a close-up of her fantastic quilting. Yummy backing! Also, it's time for the Fat Quarter Winners winner! (ruler winner too!)  It's Deb, who said: "Love the book and there are several quilts that I'd like to make. Thanks for the chance to win!"  Congratulations, Deb!! Don't forget to stop by Thelma's blog tomorrow to see her big reveal.  You are in for a wonderful treat! Thanks for touring with us and hope to see you on the next tour!

Today is the first day of the final week of our Fat Quarter Winners book tour.  While it is exciting to see everyone's quilts, it's also kind of sad that it is ending.  Never fear!  The next blog hop starts next week.  Can you believe it!? The big reveal is starting today with Nicole .  She has done a fantastic job and you will want to make Rummy just like hers!  Here is my version: Tomorrow is my reveal day as well as my announcement of the winner of Fat Quarter Winners and a set of my rulers. See you tomorrow.

As I had mentioned, there are more blog tours coming up.  The next one starts the week after we finish our book tour.  It's for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.  If you stopped by the blogs last time, there were some fantastic blocks and many wonderful projects. I can give you a bit of a hint as to what I did for the tour.  I used a black, a cream and a black/cream print from Olde World Style.  It is very striking and I have made quilt using my blocks.  I will show that when we do the blog tour as well.  Quiltmaker is giving a magazine away for each blogger that chooses a winner and I'm sure that I will have some more goodies to add to the prize.  So, don't miss out on the next blog tour, starting May 2nd, which also happens to be my day to blog! One more week left until we all get to do our big reveal for Fat Quarter Winners book tour.  From Thelma's blog, it looks like she is done, mine is at the quilter and I'm sure that both Lisa's and Ni...

One of the most gratifying things about blogging is the comments that you guys make.  I love to read them and feel like I'm getting to know you all a bit.  Some of them make me laugh and that's always a good thing!  You guys are the best!  Keeping commenting and I will keep blogging and doing giveaways.  I've been setting up some blog tours in late spring and summer so make sure that you keep stopping by to see what's up.  Remember, there are always giveaways! Today's is Thelma's blog post so stop by her blog to see what her interview is about.  My mom mentioned to me that I haven't had a picture of Tillie lately on my blog.  There are reasons for this: spring and muddy feet.  Sometimes she comes in with her white feet as black as her black body and her muzzle too!  Yuk!  She is not so fond of being cleaned off but she has not choice.  She loves to bite the rag and if it's a paper towel, forget it...it's in her mout...

When Nicole , Thelma and Lisa asked me about interviewing me on their blog tour, I asked myself what I should do on my day.  A few weeks ago, Thelma had written a post on things that you might not know about her.  I thought that was a great idea.  You got to know a bit more about her.  I loved it!  So, here goes, 10 things that you might not know about me: 1.  I love Old English Sheepdogs.  You probably already know this about me but the question is how did that come about?  When I was 5 years old, there was a local tv show that came to our school for interviews.  It was Valentines Day and they picked a boy and a girl for the interview.  They happened to pick me and one of the questions that they asked was: "What would you like most in the world?"  My answer was a dog.  They asked what kind of dog.  I said either an Old English Sheepdog or a St. Bernard.  Of course, they printed this in the paper the...