Here it is.......Debbie's Quilt Shop. It's located in the community of Osage in northeast Iowa, almost to the Minnesota border, in fact. Before we visited the shop, Sue took us to the best bakery/coop.....Kountry Kupboard. Oh, yum. I bought the best package of Butterhorn rolls. I love a real bakery! But you're here for the quilting.......so take a look at this......just a small shop, you think.............
until you walk in the door and you don't know which way to go because there is so much to see. The shop is filled ...

When we were at my friend Sue's last Wednesday, we were there on the perfect day. What made it perfect? Fabric shopping, of course. And we were in luck because there was a fabric garage sale and we made sure we arrived within minutes after it started. I should have taken a picture to show you the garage full of fabric and basement, too, but I was shopping remember? And the prices were great so I totally forgot about pictures. After I got home though, I laid out my purchases.............
The green on the left is going to go ...

Good Monday morning everyone! If you follow my blog regularly, you may recognize this quilt. I shared a photo of it last year in a September post (go here if you want to read that post). It's been on my mind this weekend because I was preparing the letter that will go out to my quilty friends about my upcoming September retreat at Villa Maria. Thinking of the Villa made me think of Carol who handles all the retreat arrangements. And that made me think of this quilt that she gave me a few years ago during one of ...

No roadtrip is complete without fabric. :-) Actually, in my book, no trip whether by bus, plane or train is complete without a bit of fabric! So, as I wound my way cross-country to my friend Sue's house for a little retreat with our Tuesday Crazies group, I made a stop to stretch half-way there......and, of course, I made it at the little town of Wells where there is a Dueber's Variety store. I would not have known it was there but my friend, Cindy, told me about it. She passed away last winter and so I stopped ...

Let's see........time to catch up. I've been to Iowa to spend time with my friend Sue and our crazy quilting group and it was loads of fun!! I took lots of photos and will share them on Friday. Right now, I'm catching up and going back to Monday night when I presented my "Legacy of Stitches" program to the ladies at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Mankato, MN. It was a celebration of 60 years for their Women's group and I was so glad to be a part of that event. I had a ...

Yes, it may seem obvious that this post has nothing to do with quilting but then again......it just might......
First, though, I was planning to post some photos of last night's quilting program at Our Savior's Lutheran Church but after I got home and got all the quilts unloaded and put away, I was too tired to load photos and write about it. I have to be up early in the morning to head to Iowa for a day out with my crazy quilting friends, so I needed to get to bed. Didn't want to leave ...

Today I have more than just one quilt to share! There are four vintage quilts that I hung on the line and each has a story. I took them out to the line on Saturday afternoon, the day it was so hot here. It was 92 and humid as I hung the quilts and I was mighty glad to get back to the air conditioning after I finished taking these pictures! It's quite possible that I've shared these before because I do love my old quilts alot and if I like to get them out and look at ...

This post is for my family but some of you are friends that are like family so I hope you enjoy this little parade of photos that shares the fun we had last weekend at the 81st Linn Reunion.
Each reunion starts with sign-in. This year 50 family members and some friends signed the book where we keep the lists. The Linn Reunions began in 1929. The first one was held that year on August 18th. Current written records of the sign in sheets date from 1959. It's fun to go back and read them and see who came ...

Wow, this past week went fast! Seems like it was only yesterday that I joined my mother at the Lehigh School Alumnae Banquet that was held last Saturday evening. She had a great time and so did I!! My mom graduated with the class of 1947 and five members of her class returned for the reunion. There were just twelve in her class ..... I think that's the right number, I could be wrong so I better check with her. :-) Anyway, here are the members that came from her class........
That's my mother, Mary Linn, on the left and ...

It's here........."Christmas in July"!! I don't remember this event from when I was a kid but it is standard marketing these days!! Anyway, I like an early start to Christmas so when I was asked if I'd do a wooly program for Kindred Kwilters in July, I thought, "sure, why not!" I joined the group this past winter after I did a wooly spring project for the group and yet I hadn't made it to a meeting since then. I was feeling a wee bit embarassed about it but sometimes things just don't go ...

Ah, finally, I can share with you the little project that kept me busy most of the month of June. While it was hot outside, I was thinking cool thoughts as I was stitching. That's because I was making some samples with the fabric that is featured at the Quilt Minnesota event coming up in a couple of weeks and it is very wintery!!! The fabric is Moda Holly Taylor and I just love the colors......wintery blue and white. :-) To learn more about the Quilt Minnesota event, just click here ..... QuiltMinnesota ..... for all the info and you'll ...

I'm back! Returned home to Minnesota late yesterday afternoon. We had a great time at the Lehigh Alumnae banquet and the Linn Reunion was even better! I have lots of pictures to share but I was tired when I got home and didn't get the photos downloaded to my computer until midnight. I was too tired to choose photos and write a post about the events so I decided I would share one little thing that is coming up..........and it's some "wooly fun". Actually, I'm always stitching up some "wooly fun" or some fabric fun ...

There's not anything hanging on my line today, as I am still in Iowa this Monday. Before I left though, I thought I'd post a picture of quilts on the line that is a very favorite of mine. I've shared it before but just like a good book is worth reading again, looking at photos of pretty quilts again is fun, too. This photo was taken in Lehigh just across the street from the local library. It was the weekend of the Library quilt show in June of 2008. If you go here, you will see the ...

With the weather as hot as it is here in the upper midwest and in various parts of the U.S., you might think I am talking about ice cream. That would certainly be a treat on a hot day. But instead, I'm talking about a quilt that was a real treat to see.......this one.......

Meet Mary Chalmers the quilt artist that made this stunning wool quilt. It's an award winner and some of you may have seen it this past spring in Paducah. It took second place in the "Home Sewing Machine Quilted" category. Right now ...

Recently, I've been working on one too many projects and so, the current state of my sewing room is creatively messy. I decided I had to bring some order to my room before I began another project and I thought that if I was going to clean then I would "really clean"! So, I moved furniture, vacuumed behind this and that, dusted, etc. And when I moved my sewing chair away from the wall and got behind it to vacuum, I was staring face-to-face with my little shelf that holds these cute critters.............
I thought, "I've got to ...

There's just one little item on the line today. It's another of the small quilts that I made in 2000 to celebrate the Millennium. It's called "Flowers for Mama" because it was the quilt for May and in celebration of Mother's Day.

Now I know it's long past May, but recently I enjoyed having my mother come for a visit. And this coming weekend I am going home to Iowa for a visit and a family reunion. Thoughts of the reunion and family and friends that I'll get to see have been on my ...

That's right, I promised that I would share photos of Henderson's Sauerkraut Days parade that was held last Sunday and here they are. I know this has nothing to do with quilting but you never know when you might see something that will inspire a quilt. I heard "inspiring words" all around me as the parade came down the street..........parents urging their children that they needed to stand and salute as the Color Guard marched by. It was like a ripple that went through the crowd as the men marched by and then men, women and children ...

I wasn't planning a blogpost again until the 4th of July but then I realized that I hadn't announced the winner of my giveaway in celebration of 500 posts and two years of blogging. I waited until my "Random Number Man" got home from work and then he drew the name of .........

First of all, I can hardly believe that it is July already. Summer just flies by and this one seems to be going exceptionally fast! This coming month is a busy one and it starts with the celebration of Independence Day on July 4th. Audrey the Angel is ready to celebrate what that day is all about.....

Yes, I know that the more common saying is "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but I like my version better. Happiness can come with peace. If there is no peace, then happiness eludes us. Just my thoughts on ...

You may wonder what this picture has to do with quilting........
Actually, it has nothing to do with quilting but the items in the picture have a story, just like my quilts and stitcheries so that's why I'm sharing it. We all have things we love no matter our age or stage in life. The toy garage you see in the photo was a Christmas gift that Santa brought to our son, Devlin, a long time ago, probably some time in the early 80's. It got a lot of play time as he collected lots of Hot ...

A few weeks ago, Sarah of SewJoy blog sent me an e-mail and asked if I'd like to participate in her "Placemat Party". She designed a cute and simple placemat pattern and all we had to do was make a placemat from her pattern and then join in the fun of a blog hop party!! I love fun, blogging, and fabric so it was easy to reply with a "yes"! For all the details on the blog hop just go here to Sara's blog, where you'll find examples of her design done in different fabrics. Plus, there ...

I have a couple of favorite quilt tops on the line and they are full of fabulous scrappy prints! These quilt tops were given to me by my friend, Kristi. We were members of the same church and became close friends even though she was young enough to be my daughter. Age is no boundary to friendship and isn't that a nice thing? We are still friends even though we haven't seen each other in more than ten years. She moved to the west coast with her family and we moved from the suburbs to the lovely town ...