I'm so excited... I've begun piecing my first reproduction quilt pattern. It's the famous "bowtie" pattern...I love it. So simple but so cool! I've also picked the name ... ready? "Pop Clyde's Bowties". You see... our grandfather was the absolute best... we loved him so much... and this quilt is for him! I'm using the wonderful fabric from Windham - Worn & Loved II. I can't wait until it's finished. I'll be sure to post a picture when it's ready!

I'm also working on "NEW" redwork patterns!!! Very exciting... so much fun... !!

Oh... I decided it's time to start my "bucket list"...

1. Paris Flea Market - I want to go here so bad... AND have lots of money to spend so I can send all of my wonderful "finds" home to the store!!

2. Travel to Europe with my hubby!!! I don't care where...just so we can have fun together!!

3. Design Fabric!!

4. Attend Roundtop and Canton, Texas and shop 'till I drop!! It's a great place for primitives - which I LOVE!!

5. Become a well known pattern designer. Quilt patterns, embroidery patterns, and applique patterns !

That's it so far.... I'm sure more will come later...!!

Have a happy week! I know it will be a busy one for me!

Happy Sewing.... Gloria

Have A Happy Holiday!!

Wow...what a great week...! We've had wonderful visitors to the store the entire week. Today is Friday, July 3, and I hope we are super busy. Tomorrow, July 4, Saturday we will be closed which is the first time I can remember!

I plan on going to the movies with my Jack and working on more of my new patterns. I have several in the works and it's hard to determine which one to focus on first!! I have two antique quilts that are being reproduced. One is bow-ties! I think I have a name for it picked out - "Pop Clyde's Bow Ties"! How does that sound?

Pop Clyde (my grandfather) was a wonderful man. He was so sweet and these ties just remind me of him. I remember he was an immaculate man...always neat and tidy. He always smelled of aftershave (I think Old Spice) and Juicy Fruit Gum. I miss him......

Have a super July 4th. Celebrate our wonderful country and pray for all of our military guys and gals. Bring them home safe...

Happy sewing... Gloria

My Sewing Studio

Hi Everyone!!! It's Gloria from the Olde Green Cupboard !!

I know... you are all taking deep breaths due to surprise!! I thought it was about time to post information on my blog again! I'm going to try to be much better at keeping up-to-date with the Olde Green Cupboard life...and mine!!

Many people have always wondered what my house and sewing studio looks like...so now that I've finally figured out how to move my camera photos to my computer...I'm a happy girl!

I simply LOVE quilt racks with shelves and pegs...! The quilt hanging is an antique double wedding ring. LOVE IT!!

The Old Quilt sign is made from an old house board and attached to the top is an old leather bridal ! We found these in Pennsylvania! Also is an antique child's dress. This is my bedroom - Shabby Chic!!



Here's another one of my favorite peg racks! It's a dark burgundy... and of course...another one of my loves are CROWS! Don't ask me why... I just love them...I can even "crow" like one (I can't believe I just told you that...!)I'm getting ready to find 4 of my primitive quilts and tie the end into a bundle and hang them from the pegs! Plus... I need to add a little greenery to soften up the display!





This is one of the walls in my dining room. Can you tell I love burgundy colors? PLUS... I love old ironstone plates, platters, and pitchers. They sure are getting harder and harder to find. I also love baskets and old hats. I haven't made a basket in such a long time... I think I'm getting the "itch" to weave one!! I'll have to take some pictures of my favorite baskets that I've made and post them for you to see! (uh...that will be later...)

This is another wall in the dining room. Don't you love my quilts? They were both given to me for Christmas presents from the girls at the OGC!!

I love this particular quilt rack. It actually swings out to the left so it's easier to hang your quilt. Once it's hanging just like you want... simply swing it back under the shelf. We had these years ago in the store.... they are wonderful and unfortunately we have been unable to locate the vendor we ordered them from a show in Pennsylvania. The quilt hanging is Spaghetti For A Crowd by Country Threads... one of my favorites!!

This is in my hallway once you've walked through the front door. The quilt hanging on the bottom was made for me by Carolyn Allen... It's a Primitive Pieces by Lynda pattern... LOVE IT!!

By the way... all of the burgundy quilt shelves and racks were made for me by my honey...Jack!! He's such a good guy....I'm so happy he's mine!




Okay...now we're getting closer to my sewing studio. This is in the small foyer area just outside my studio door...! My bench/flip table was given to me by my sister - Vicky. (I'm hoping she will not want it returned in the near future...) Sitting on top of the bench is a LARGE carved goose. I can remember my granddaughter - Elizabeth - would ride it like a horse when she was just a little tike... such a cutie she is! Hanging over the bench is a pride and joy quilt that my daughter - Heather - made for me one Christmas. And then my awesome basket quilt on the wall was given to me in a quilt exchange from Carolyn Allen. Can you tell they know I love blue and white?

We are now in the sewing studio! Ok..I'll admit I have a collection problem!! This collection is antique children's chalk boards. I simply love them. I have one that still has the lead pencil piece tied to it! Another one with lines etched into the slate so they can learn music notes, one with a paper insert that shows the alphabet... I wish they could talk to me... I'd love to know about the little girl or boy that learned how to read and write from their work.

Here's another idea I saw in a magazine!!! While antiquing... look for OLD wooden folding tape measuring sticks. Shape them into a star and hang them on your wall... or sit them in with other collectibles on a shelf. My "First Year Language Reader" I purchased at an antique shop. It was published in 1911 and belonged to Mariaretta Carpenter. How sweet is that?

This is a portion of the top of my large antique yellow (it looks white doesn't it?) cabinet. I'll never forget the first time I saw it. We were coming home from a show and we stopped to look in this new antique shop. There it was...it took my breath away when I first saw it... what an awesome feeling that is...know what I mean? It was a bit on the "pricey" side so I called my Jack to see if it was ok... of course he said... "if you love it..it's okay with me" (see I told you he was wonderful). So... I paid the cashier and off we left for home...! Jack would drive back and pick it up with the truck in a few days. When returning home with my beloved cabinet...he said to me "honey, I can't believe you bought this...it's so old!" Sometimes they just don't understand primitive lovers to they? But... he moved it into my sewing studio and I filled it with my fabulous fabric!

Look at my quilt on the door....I LOVE IT! One of my gals... Susan Ache... made it for me! I'll show you the entire cabinet in another message... along with a photo of my walk-in closet stash (e-e-e-e-e-e-k) and my hall closet stash... (more e-e-e-e-e-e-k)!!

And last but not least... I love adorable, vintage Raggedy Annie dolls... Don't they just make you grin when you look at them?

They sit in an antique child's chair right by my sewing machine and TV. I can look at them a million times while sewing and they still make me happy!

Well, I feel like I've accomplished a major project. Learning how to BLOG in the modern age. Of course I've been working on this for over 3 hours! I surely hope I get faster...heck I could of almost had a quilt pieced in this time frame!

Have a wonderful week everyone.... come in to The Olde Green Cupboard this week and enjoy the 25% fabric sale. It lasts until July 11!!! We have our new schedule out... Heather is in the process of getting the website updated!

We have a special for all of you that shop our website!! With any purchase you will receive a FREE Olde Green Cupboard pattern of "Only A Few Hours!" This quilt is fat quarter friendly and goes together... "in just a few hours". Thanks for shopping with us!

Happy sewing, stitching, appliqueing, piecing...you name it....Happy Everything!

Gloria

Olde Green Cupboard Christmas Party

OMG (oh my gosh) what a wonderful time we had at our Christmas Party. Denise Harkins was so super to host our great event in her home (mine is just too little for all of us - we're almost as big as a football team)!

The day couldn't have gone slower! Why is it when you have something fun to do after work the work day seems to be 20 hours long? I've never figured that out... anyway... back to our party. After the work day finally ended... we all drove to Denise's house. She had it decorated so lovely! It surely put is in the holiday spirit. Everyone was decked out in their holiday clothing and when I arrived.. they were already munching on the snacks. Then it was time to dig in to all of the food. I must say... when we all get together... we can turn out an awesome food spread!

It didn't take us long and we were all stuffed! Now it's time to open packages... this of course came after Heather and I told everyone how wonderful they were... how much we appreciate their hard work, and how much our customers love them. It is truly a gift from the Lord that led these gals to my front door! Thank you again girls.... you simply have no idea how much you all mean to me...sniffle....!

You see...at OGC we draw names and then it's kept a secret until our party. Then one at a time, we all take turns finding the gift we brought and then giving it to our person. Of course, it's great fun to tease everyone... we may walk up to them and hand them the package...they get all excited and then we pull it away and say... "no... it's not you". Aren't we bad?!

It's just amazing at the skills our group has... I've never seen so many wonderful gifts in my life... we had quilts, wool pictures, hand embroidery pillows, bags, antiques, a hand-stitched mohair bunny, snowmen... and even a doggie coat - handmade... along with a scarf and mittens for the owner to match the dog's coat... isn't that something?

When I can figure out how to take a picture and move it to the computer...I'll show you my gift(s). Susan Ache had my name.... !! Was I ever excited to open my gift. It is a queen size blue & white quilt !!! IT'S ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! You see I'm making a new studio in my home and it's colors are going to be blue & white! I can't wait to hang it off the door of my awesome primitive soft yellow cabinet that I found not to long ago. It will hold my fabric (well, some of it anyway) books and patterns! That too is my goal... to have photos of my finished studio sent to all of you! The girls all went together and presented me with a "signature quilt" ... filled with their signatures.. along with Barb and Alma - Blackbird Designs and Lynda Hill - Primitive Pieces by Lynda ! It was a tearful moment seeing all of their names hand stitched !! sniffle... It's going on the wall of my studio! It was so hard to say good-bye to everyone...we had such a good time I didn't want to go home! In case you can't tell... I love my staff... it's like having 30 sisters!!

Ok...on with some more exciting news !!! We are having visitors in 2009 ! January will bring us Elly Sienkiewicz - queen of the Baltimore Album quilts and hand applique. We're also working up a date for Paula Barnes - Bonnie Blue Quilts to return again! It was great having her... and if you've not heard of her company or seen any of her quilts, visit http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/ and take a look! She's a peach and I can't wait for her to return. If you are a lover of reproduction fabric and quilts... don't miss this opportunity!

Then in November - it's Jo Morton ! She too is a fabulous pattern and fabric designer. I know all of the gals in our "Jo Morton Club" are excited. I do believe she is going to teach some hand piecing and then another project. Her classes have not been finalized, but you'll find out as soon as it's finished.

Then the first weekend in December... we're off on a cruise! Yes, Olde Green Cupboard is sponsoring a "Jingle Bell Time" cruise! Soon, very soon, we will have all of the details completed and we will begin to advertise. It's a great deal... I'm so happy with the participant's cost... VERY REASONABLE!!!

So.. that's it for the great and wonderful news! I'm home today - Wednesday is my "creative" day at the house. I need to get hoppin' on it!

Chat with you soon! Gloria

Hi everyone!! I know...I know... it's been some time since I've "blogged"...you know... I must learn to manage my spare time better.... RIGHT!!! Recently I emailed everyone and asked if they would share some of their Christmas traditions with me... they are simply wonderful and I wanted to share them with you!

"One of our favorite Christmas traditions is the way we sign the "TO and FROM" little tags on the wrapped gifts. When our girls were young I started writing little hints on their tags as to the contents of the package. I'd write something like "To Kate From a Frosty Snowman" when the gift was a pair of jammies with snowmen on them. They loved rattling boxes and trying to guess what was inside. On Christmas morning they loved figuring out what the tag hint had to do with the gift inside. At first I did it on a whim and now my grown daughters do the same thing for me and their families. It makes the waiting a little more exciting and fun."

"Every year my mother would make a different Christmas ornament. We have everything from sequined balls, macrame angels, mini-quilt pillows, cross stitch, needlepoint, popsicle stick creations, clay, you name it. Then when we grew up and got our own trees, we got to take those ornaments with us. Each year would hold a memory from a past Christmas. Now I do the same thing for my boys. I do need a new tree to hold everything. My mother is still making ornaments and has added the grandboys into the mix. I've taken to decorating swags with the overflow!"

"My mother started a tradition that I have carried down to my (grown) children. She made fudge, with lots of nuts, then she would fill a Christmas Card Box from the year before, with tin, fudge and glad wrap. My brothers would always eat theirs and try to find MINE! My mother, raised during the depressions, always put a navel orange in our stocking.... and I still find an orange in mine each Christmas. "

"You wanted to know the silly stuff, so here it goes... we do funny things! Everyone has a candy pacifier (to match our granddaughter's) and have a picture made with everyone from baby to grandparents enjoying their own pacifier. Next year, each of us found reindeer antlers in his/her stocking, and had pictures made with them. Last year was the year of Santa Hats. This year is still open for creation!! The memories are priceless and funny!!"

"We always have gold money in the toe of our stockings AND a chunk of coal for those who have misbehaved. My girls and I have always exchanged ornaments at Thanksgiving - it's so fun to have a new one each year. Our family also sits around in our jeans on Christmas night eating turkey sandwiches and play a Christmas trivia game - we choose teams - whoever loses CLEANS UP!! "

"We go to relatives on Christmas Eve and then to our church. We always love our candlelight Christmas Eve service because we all get to pick our gift out of the gift basket and then go up front and give it to the Lord. They are pieces of paper with different things written on them that our Pastor has prayed over.... such as ... gift of fellowship, gift of discipleship, gift of kindness, etc. P.S. Will a Pfaff sewing machine fit in a Christmas stocking??"

"We always got to open one present after chruch services on Christmas Eve before we went to bed. I was the animal lover in the family so I always hung a stocking up for whatever cat or dog we had at the time. I still have a cat and puppy stocking for our crew today. My mom always did a stocking for me even after I got married. She gave my new husband a note telling him what a spoiled brat I was at Christmas and a list of things to put in my stocking for our first Christmas together. I still do my 30 year old son's stocking to this day with the one thing he always said was cheating and that was putting fruit in the stocking to take up space. So the first year he had his own place I put canned goods in a BIG stocking just for him and we still laugh about that one!"

"When my boys were in kindergarten we went to the library to learn about a partridge. Sometime soon after, my oldest, drew on a piece of cardboard brown box his recollection of a partridge. (That was the beginning of his drawing talent). Each year since then I have always decorated my tree with only pears, and placed midway or higher is the partridge. Poor bird... it's had a lot of wear over the years, but that is my tradition and I'm sticking to it."

"One year I thought I would make it "easy" for my hubby to shop for me. This was at a time when catalog shopping was becoming the rage (early 80's). The L. L. Bean catalog arrived and I "shopped" and decided I would just fill out the form with all the items I wanted and presto... all he had to do was order them, have them shipped, and he was home free?? Now how easy is that??? NOT!!! I think that year I got a casserole dish and some other things... but nothing from L.L. Bean. Oh well... what can I say... he is a doll, I love him, been married 37 years... now that is a GREAT Christmas present... and YES.. I still have the casserole dish!!"

and the last two....

"We put up our tree with holiday cheer.... including music and myself and my daughter putting up the tree. My husband puts on the lights and my two girls and I decorate. We shop for one another and have decided that three gifts are good enough for Baby Jesus and it should be enough for us too! On Christmas Eve we have a church service where we are given a piece of paper with a gift written on it... service, discipleship or something that we should give to the Lord. We place it on the altar and light candles and have a candlelight service and sing Christmas carols. On Christmas day we have applesauce cake for breakfast and a holiday dinner together. We try to take in people with no family in town to our dinner. We like to invite children to the house because we do not have little children at this time. We have prayer and thank God for our many blessings."

"Each family member has their own stocking.. there are 4 of us in the family. We all fill each other's stockings with a $20 limit... everyone likes to get their own bag of favorite M&Ms and lots of little things, PEZ containters, socks, gloves, tea, hot chocolate, things like that. In the toe of each persons stocking I put a small wrapped gift in a certain paper. A different paper for each person. None of the presents under the tree have labels on them! So if the kids go snooping, they don't know who's is who's! When they get to the bottom of their stocking they know what gifts are theirs. On Christmas Eve everyone can open one gift... of course I pick them... and it's always a new pair of PJs. It has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. I started it on their first Christmas."

I love your Christmas tradtions... don't forget to make your own.... it's a memory that will be with you forever....

Merry Christmas to all of you !!

Gloria

Well, it's been sometime since I've had a chance to chat with everyone! What a busy time I've had lately...!!! I don't know which project to work on first... let's see.. I'm making some beautiful quilts for our shows... and for some reason I seem to pick out those quilts that have 15,000 pieces to them (that's a little more than what is really in the quilt... tee hee!), then... I'm working on some redwork designs... plus trying to stitch the samples... working on designing a fabric line... this has always been a fun desire of mine to accomplish!

W e still have wonderful fabric arriving >>>> LOOK :) >>>

Heather Bailey!!!

These are just a sample of the wonderful prints from Heather! She is a fabulous designer and the colors she uses are awesome!!! Oh by the way... I put in an order for Amy Butler's new line of fabric... 41 bolts!! We'll be sure and let you know when they arrive... she's always a favorite!!

I'm still working on the "Weight Watchers" deal... man... I hate to diet...!!! Although...if you haven't tried their fudge bars... you must... they are the best! My husband is hooked on them!!

Make sure you visit our web site and shop until you drop.. we have beautiful kits that we've added www.oldegreencupboard.com/kits.html We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

I'm off to put the binding on a quilt... aaahhhh work is never done...

See you soon!!

Gloria

The weekend is almost over....

Hi All! Well, this was a wonderful weekend for everyone! We got to spend the holiday weekend with our families.... or sewing !!! Our employee holiday sewing weekend is wonderful... (it's now Sunday morning..) I woke up early and was eager to get my day started. Threw some clothes in the washer, made my coffee, let the cat out to play in the garage (she's an inside kitty), read my email... and now chatting with each of you!

I've been a busy girl working on "Plantation Road" a Bonnie Blue pattern... it's absolutely wonderful... and VERY, VERY, VERY BIG! I'm adding the large 8 1/2" borders this morning and it will be ready for quilting! Then I'll wash it... dry it... and it will be all scrunchy...which is how we love our quilts to look!! We always get comments at our shows... "why do your quilts look so much warmer and attractive?" We try to have them all washed prior to a show... it gives them a proven GREAT look that customers LOVE!

The girls have been piecing quilt tops, hand embroidery, locker rug hooking, traditional wool rug hooking, long-arm quilting... you name it... we've worked on it this weekend! It's so much fun with us all together... what a bunch of sweet, lovable, funny, talented kooks I have working with me! It just doesn't get any better !!!

I'm really excited about a new venture.... I'm working on designing some embroidery patterns.. either red work or multi-color threads!! I've found a digitizing program that I need to order and learn how to use (in my spare time... hah!). Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that this old mind can grasp this new technology... scary isn't it? HA!!

Have a marvelous Sunday on the last day of this holiday season... I will... I'm going to the store to sew ALL DAY!!! YIPPEE!!!!

Hugs to all!

Gloria