Patriotic Picnic Preps

Today is my daughter's birthday so the first thing I want to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE!!! I always say that the day she was born was the best day of my life because of all of the days she's brought me that compete with it! We're gonna spend the afternoon together and celebrate with lunch followed by some hardcore shopping. Katie will be shopping and I'm sure Lauryn and I will be doing some hardcore "keeping Lily out of stuff". Suits me fine.

With the July 4th celebrations coming up fast, I wanted to show you the perfect banner (left) for your party from my new book Poster Quilts with Patrick Lose. This is one of my personal favorites in the book and I've gotten a lot of great feedback from readers and quilters who have already made it. It's super easy and includes a little piecing, a little fusible appliqué , and a little free-motion quilting. Something for everyone! It's a great door banner to greet your guests as they arrive for the festivities at your place and it takes no time at all to make. If you don't already have the book, check your local quilt shop or go here to order.

Speaking of summer fun, take a look at the right sidebar for my newest pattern coming next week! It's a hibiscus-themed table topper that will be great to have for all of your other summer parties. More details soon.

Remember to subscribe to my email list by June 30th for a chance to win a copy of Poster Quilts with Patrick Lose. Sign up to follow my blog publicly as well for a chance to win an additional surprise!

Win a signed copy of my NEW book!

Would you like the chance to win an autographed copy of my latest book? All you have to do is go to my website and subscribe to receive my email newsletter and special offers. Once subscribed, be sure to verify your subscription in the email that will be sent to you after you submit the form. Pretty easy, huh? If you're already a subscriber, you don't need to do a thing. You're already entered in the drawing.

For a chance to win an extra surprise, sign up to also follow my blog publicly. Click on the"Follow Blog" button at the top left of this page (you may need to scroll back up to access it). When the pop-up appears, be sure to click the radio button to follow publicly.

When you subscribe to either, you're the first to hear about all of the fun stuff I'm doing for YOU! By subscribing to my email announcements, you'll also receive special offers like this contest that are only offered to subscribers.

There are lots of new and wonderful things coming from Patrick Lose Studios that I know you'll want to be a part of. So take a couple of minutes to join and watch your email or the blog to see if you're the winner! Thanks for joining a great group of quilting and crafting enthusiasts.

Cheers!
Patrick :-)

More fun than a barrel of quilters...

It's 8:30 in the morning and already over 85 degrees and I'm working on details for a Christmas-in-July retreat in the desert. But, even though the weather is no inspiration, I'm getting really excited for it to finally happen. We tell every new person that signs up that they're gonna love the group that's coming and that doesn't even begin to tell it. This is gonna be "fun" with a capital "F". I know we'll spend the better part of the weekend laughing and that's what I'm looking forward to the most.

I think it's great that so many of the quilters who will be attending are coming on their own. They're not bringing a friend or two to ease them into this group which can be pretty intimidating (but only in the best of ways)! I think they realize that, if you want to make friends fast, throwing yourself into the middle of a group of quilters is a pretty good way to do it.

A couple of years ago, when I first got my website up and running, one of the first quilters to find it and contact me is a woman named Roz from Albuquerque. She had nothing but good things to say about my work so, of course, becoming friends was imperative. We also both have grandchildren and, as many of you already know, if you can find someone to share grandchildren stories with, you've truly found a friend! Well, over the last couple of years, I've heard from Roz now and then and it's always nice to get a quick note letting me know what she's up to.

I got this wild hair and decided that I should give her a call and let her know about the retreat just on the off chance she might have the weekend free and want to have a little bit of a quilting adventure. I was thrilled when she said she wouldn't miss it and would not only be there but would also bring her sister from Oklahoma! Wow :-)

As I said, this is gonna be BIG fun and Roz and her sister and all of the fun-loving quilters and friends who have signed on (most with wild abandon) are the reason why. Sure, we'll probably get some quilting done but, better than that, we'll be able to share ideas and help each other grow as artists. Riiiight...and if that doesn't work, what the hell...we'll just laugh a lot!

There are a couple of spots left for any of you adventurous quilters out there who want to join us...if you dare. I promise you'll be glad you did. The more, the merrier!

Break Time

I have a bad habit of not pulling myself away from work once in awhile so I decided to stop working around lunch time today. My friend, Gary, and I went to eat at The Corner Bakery and then went to pay a vist to one of the local quilt shops, The Quilter's Bee. It's always nice to stop in there and visit with Margaret and the "gang".

The shop isn't as far from my house as some of the other local shops so, when I have a little time to get out of the studio, I try to drop by with some of the new things I've been working on to get their reactions and opinions. They're good for my ego, that's for sure. I love the support I get from quilt shops and I try to offer mine to them whenever possible.

Tomorrow I get to spend the afternoon at another local favorite, 3 Dudes Quilting. I'm really looking forward to meeting more local quilters and just having a relaxing afternoon at another shop.

Since I took a break from work this afternoon, I'm not gonna get into what I've been working on the past few days. You'll find out soon enough ;-)

Thanks for looking in on me.

A Profitable Kind of Party!

I just got an email from Barb Geraldi, at The Yankee Quilter in Oxford, CT. They just had their first Party with Patrick!™ today. For the shop owners out there who haven't yet figured out why they should join us, I thought I should pass on an excerpt from Barb's email:

"Oh My God - Party with Patrick kick-off today and I didn't move from the register for 2 solid hours! The ladies loved the projects and the ideas and everyone was very excited. Somewhere around 30-40 people (participated)...."

Looks like The Yankee Quilter could be pushing to become one of the biggest parties in the bunch with their first try!

Thanks for the update, Barb, and I'm anxious to watch you and Cheryl make it even more successful. Don't forget to take some pics to share next time!

Cheers!

Patrick ;-)

Another Kind of Party

I can't wait for my first retreat, That Dam Christmas Party, next month. The group of quilters that has signed on so far is a bunch of nuts and that's just what we need for this Christmas fruitcake.

The retreat is going to be a Christmas-in-July event unlike any others you may have attended. We're going to be "holed up" in the 1930's era Boulder Dam Hotel in Boulder City, Nevada from Friday, July 17th until Sunday the 19th. You gotta see this place. It's just oozing with history! There's even a Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) museum in the place.

We'll be working night and day in the open-all-night "Santa's Workshop" on holiday U.F.O.s and Christmas presents and I'll be offering classes in two NEW holiday/winter patterns that will be introduced for the first time at the retreat. There's going to be lots of fun and silliness and a stray Christmas carol here and there, I'm sure. Oh, did I forget to mention that the hotel has a very nice bar? 'nuff said.

Check out the details at:
http://www.patricklose.net/online/dcpintro.html.
More will be available as we get closer to the date.

If you'd like to join us, there are still a few spots available for more fun-loving, somnambulilstic, quilter types! For more information or to sign up for the madness, contact Gary at 623-414-9464 or gary@patricklose.net.

Like I said in my last post, I love my job! ;-)

Party Pics

We've gotten lots of comments on the "Batty Bridal Veils" so I thought you might like to see more photos from our parties that have been held so far.

I love my job! Every month, I get to send out a party packet with a project I've designed and recipes and other party ideas and wait for the photos and stories to come in a few weeks later about how much fun everyone is having. I'm loving it. Even better than that, so are the partiers!

If you want to see more of the fun, click here or you can paste the following address into your browser: http://www.patricklose.net/pwp/wallflowers.html. You can even get a peek at the project offered for June. If you're a Party with Patrick™ member shop, we need more photos! Don't be shy.

If your local shop isn't a member and you want to party with us, make sure you let them know that you want them to join. Shop owners need to know what you want so they can offer it.

That's all for now. Have a great day!

"The Battle of the Batty Bridal Veils" Begins

Reports from the May Party with Patrick!™ events are starting to come in from our "affiliates" across the country (none yet from Canada) and it looks like there's been a good time going on with "The Battle of the Batty Bridal Veils" competition! The project for May's party, an applique table topper called "Heart to Heart", is shown at left as made by one of our very talented partiers. Click it to see a larger version.

The May party's theme is a send-up of a wedding party and the partiers were asked to create and wear the silliest bridal veil they could come up with using, literally, whatever they wanted. Hosts and hostesses from the member shops are sending in photos of their individual contests from which I'll choose a "winner". The title is, at best, dubious. But it looks like there was a lot of fun going on in the process. And that's what Party with Patrick! is all about. Take a look here: http://www.patricklose.net/pwp/veils.html

There's a lot more than that going on lately and, honestly, that's why I've been too busy to get a post here recently. I'll do my best to update more often. Busy is good, that's for sure!

I hope all is well with you and, if you Twitter, you can follow me here: http://twitter.com/patricklose

Thanks for looking in on me ;-)