Out with the old and in with the NEW

Be watching for a preview of my newest print for my Mixmasters Scribbles line for Robert Kaufman, soon. The existing Scribbles prints are being phased out to make room for the new so get 'em while you can here!

Another tease

I promised another peek at Quilting Celebrations and here's a little taste of autumn. Since it's July 4th weekend, though, it's just a little taste because it's time to celebrate SUMMER! If you want to see a bit more, take a look at the slide show on my website and you'll get another glimpse.

What I love about this piece is the quilting by uber-talented long arm quilter, Jessica Jones. She quilted several pieces in this premier issue and I can't wait for you to see more of her work.

I'm off to enjoy more of this beautiful Iowa summer. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather on this trip but the forecast calls for more rain and storms starting tomorrow and lasting a few days, at least. Sounds like July of 1993. That's worrisome considering the already flooding rivers. Having gone through the Great Floods of '93 here in Des Moines, I sure hope the rains are minimal here. We're back on the road on Monday so we shouldn't have to deal with too much of it.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL holiday weekend!

Making memories

Here's another peek at a portion of one of the embroidery designs from my Christmas collection for Amazing Designs. Hint: If you have my book "A Patrick Lose Christmas" you can see the whole image :-) This will be an applique embroidery, I believe. It's also one of my personal favorite Christmastime illustrations.

I'm going to try to get another peek from Quilting Celebrations posted soon. I got print-outs of the page layouts Tony has designed so far and I couldn't be happier. It's like a "party on paper"! The colors and layouts are so full of life and I know you're gonna love the look of this new magazine.

We're still on the road with my daughter, Katie, and my granddaughters and the time with them has been wonderful. A highlight was our trip to the beautiful Winterset City Park in Winterset, Iowa (thanks for the suggestion Jeanne and Tony!). Lily and Lauryn had a blast going through the "hedge maze" and climbing the tower to look out over Madison County - home of the covered bridges. Another wonderful time was taking Lily to Toy Story 3. What a great movie! Lily was actually crying "No! No!" at the screen at one point but I won't say anything more so I don't spoil it if you haven't seen it yet. Go see it :)

Gotta run...more fun coming today with the girls. Talk to you soon and be on the lookout for the QC sneak peek coming soon ;-)

Cheers -

Another winner :)

Congratulations to Leslie McSorley who's won the pack of 4 fat quarters in our contest! If you're reading this, Leslie, please email Gary with your shipping address. His email is gary@patricklose.net. We've also sent you an email.

Thanks to all who visited the new website and commented and keep an eye out for future giveaways!

Summer Sun

The July/August issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting features my "Sunny Trio" wall hanging design with a sunflower theme on page 46. It's on newsstands now if you want to take a look!
With some easy-to-figure adjustments to the instructions, this design also makes a great table runner for your summer picnics...indoors or out! Just add as many of the blocks as you'd like to fit your table.

This is a great Party-with-Patrick-style project and very stash-friendly. Or there's even a kit available from F&P.

Hope you like it :)

Random sneak peek

Here's a portion of a design that I hope makes the cut in the new embroidery collection ;)

I had so many ideas for this one that I think I could do two or three Christmas collections!

Quilt Cafe

My good friend and art director of Quilting Celebrations, Tony, sent me an email today wondering if everything was okay because he hadn't heard from me for awhile. I've been so busy that friends wonder if I've slid off the face of the planet. No small wonder with everything that's going on. I'm still kicking, Tony :)

The first event at my new Quilt & Create Studio took place yesterday morning and it was a great success. We offered our first Quilt Cafe, mixing morning coffee, quilting, and camaraderie, and the ladies had so much fun that they've now put in a request to be there as a group every Wednesday. We're going to do it again tomorrow morning and maybe we'll have a new group come in for that. If you're in the Phoenix area and want to hang out and quilt with us in the studio, come on over! We'll be adding events often as we get the studio "up and running" full steam so check the calendar from time to time.

My entire collection of machine embroidery designs for Halloween is now off to the digitizer and I can't wait to start seeing them come to "life" in thread. Amazing Designs, who I've licensed the designs to, has also asked that I get a collection of Christmas designs to them as soon as possible. More specifically - by the end of June. But that really means that I have to have a whole collection of designs to them by the end of next week when we head out on another trip to Iowa. It looks like I won't have time for much breathing until we hit the road. But that's okay. It means I'm finally going to be getting you lots more of the embroidery designs you've been asking for!

I better get to the studio and my drawing board, huh? I hope you all have a wonderful day :)

A bit more

Here's another peek from the same project. I'm glad you're liking this one. I really enjoyed making it and I have a feeling you will, too.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Random sneak peeks :)

One of the questions I'm most often asked is "What are you working on now?" Sometimes I can't really answer without giving away something I shouldn't....for whatever reason.

So, I've decided to offer little random "sneak peeks" of projects that I'm either working on or are finished but not yet in print such as the photo to the left. Yep, I'm a tease. But it gives you an idea of the kinds of things going on in my head or in the studio.

This one's a little glimpse of a quilted and hand-stitched project from Quilting Celebrations, my magazine coming in September. As you can see, I'm still using my Satinesque collection from Robert Kaufman and I'm really getting into the warm and whimsical look of using perle cotton and hand embroidery to add even more interest to a piece. I'm sure you can tell that this will be a project for Christmas and it's okay for me to say that I think this is one of my all-time favorites.

That's the random sneak peek for today. Check back from time to time for more little bits of what's going on around here. Trust me when I say "It's been BUSY!"

Now...don't you have something you should be creating? ;-)

Cheers!

NEW WEBSITE and CONTEST!

Finally! The new website has launched and I'm hoping you'll stop by and take a look at www.patricklose.net :)

There's still a bit of work to do on it but it's there, for the most part. What's left is to add more of what we hope to offer you. I hope you'll let us know what you think by posting your comments here or on Facebook.

Of course, this would all be more fun if there were a contest involved, right? So here goes:

Those who visit the new site and post comments here or on Facebook before Saturday, June 19th, will be entered in a drawing to win 4 fat quarters from my fabric collections.

So...go visit the new site, make yourself at home there, and don't be a stranger :) Good luck.

Cheers!

A Busy Saturday

Still working on the studio - among so many other things. My brain is kinda mushy today from all of the things it's been expected to do lately.

Everyone who's stopped by to say "hello" says it's looking great and they want to come hang out with us for classes and sew days. I think we're going to open up in the next week or so and let the rest of the space "evolve". I want to see how things work and go from there. Maybe we don't need to be doing as much work on it as I think ...or all at once. So, if you're in the area, stay tuned for the class/event schedule.

The new website should be up and running (for the most part) sometime in the coming week (UPDATE: whenever the developers get around to it, I guess) so keep an eye out for that. I've been told this very thing for a couple of months now so I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes. When it's finally up and running, it will be a lot easier to get my patterns and fabrics if your local quilt shop isn't carrying them!

I've posted a couple of sneak peek "teasers" on the fan pages of designs that will be included in my Halloween collection of machine embroidery designs. I can't give you the whole show, yet, but you'll get a taste if you take a look here: Patrick Lose fan page or Party with Patrick fan page. I'll post more from time to time so stay tuned.

I'm headed back to the drawing board for more designing and to choose fabrics for the applique embroideries from the collection that are being digitized. I'm hoping for a relaxing afternoon and I hope you have the same :)

Another busy day

I'm trying to catch up here, after the trip, with everything going on in my life! Unpacking and reorganizing after a two week absence and trying to get out new designs AND getting the studio ready has been quite a challenge.

First stop today will be IKEA (one of my favorite places in the world) for more inspiration and solutions for the studio space. We've got a very ecclectic mix going on with everything from primitive to artsy "whimsical" to contemporary...demonstrating that quilting and crafting is compatible with ALL styles. Something for everyone I hope :)

I'm also finishing up designs this weekend for my new Halloween- themed embroideries that will be available in August or September, new fabrics - including more yarn-dyes (woo-hoo!), and projects for a new book. Honestly...just the tip of the iceberg.

Yep...my head is spinning ;-)

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Party Time in Iowa

If you're not a member of Party with Patrick at your local participating quilt shop, this is the project you'll be missing out on at the May parties. Your local shop isn't a member shop? Let them know that you want to party with us!

Every month, there's a new quilted project for members to make at the parties, held at the shop. Shop owners and their hosts and hostesses have been very creative at coming up with their own monthly themes and offerings including snacks made from the recipes that come with your membership.

It's a lot of fun, at the very least, and I'm in Iowa right now visiting and teaching at four member shops! I'll be at Common Threads, Pine Needles Sewing Center, The Stitch and Quilting Connection and I can't wait to party with everyone there.

We're also spending the next two days getting all of the projects for Quilting Celebrations photographed and, although it's a challenging task, I'm really looking forward to it. I think you're gonna love the magazine.

On another note...what the heck happened to spring? It's stormy and cold here. I hope you're enjoying a more acceptable spring where you are ;-)

Cheers ~

New pattern!

Here's just one of the new patterns that will be available in June. This one is lots of fun to make and includes patterns and instructions for a 15 x 30" banner and a 12" scalloped edge candle mat. The bats' eyes are white buttons with black thread "pupils" and I designed the banner hanger to coordinate. It will also be available to order!


Keep an eye out here for the other new releases coming soon :)

Happy May Day!

Do you celebrate May Day or did you as a kid? If so, what was, or is, customary where you live?

I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa and kids loved May Day. Each May 1st, we made baskets out of construction paper or "oak tag" (who else remembers the multi-use wonders of oak tag?) or attached pipe cleaner handles to custom-decorated plastic or paper cups and filled them with penny candy and maybe a few violets to deliver to the front doors of "unsuspecting" friends and neighbors.

One of the objects of this funny little custom was to get the task accomplished without being caught. It was fairly impossible. When I was a kid, it seemed the time between Easter Sunday and Independence Day was a barren, uneventful stretch of time on the calendar with no trees to decorate or feasts to celebrate or gifts to receive save for the the simple pleasures of a few baskets of candy bestowed by friends and playmates on May Day. So, we looked forward to the day and we waited by our doors and windows and hid in the shrubs outside hoping to catch the carriers of the candies in the act! Another part of the custom, if I remember it correctly, was that the basket-bringers were to be kissed, if caught. But we didn't partake in that aspect as kids...ick.

There were lots of kids in our small neighborhood. That's mostly because I'm the eldest of eight in my family alone. But what was so wonderful about the block we lived on was that the adults could be just as childlike as we were when it came to the holidays and celebrations throughout the year. I'll never forget catching one of our favorite neighbor ladies, Mattie (Mary), hiding in the bushes across the street from our house with an armload of eight of those green strawberry basket containers filled to the tops with candy as she waited to dart across the street to drop them on our front porch and run back home. What a great memory and what an impression her actions must have made that, 40 years or more later, I remember it like it was yesterday! Even though I don't celebrate May Day anymore, those kinds of childhood memories have become a part of what I think about every May 1st.

If you have memories of May Day or still celebrate it today, we'd love to hear about it. Judging from all of the fun submissions we got on the Halloween question last week, I'll bet you have some interesting thoughts to offer. So, let's have another contest; Answer the questions at the beginning of this blog post, as a comment here or on my personal Facebook fan page or the Party with Patrick fan page. We'll take submissions through Wednesday, May 5th and anyone who submits will be entered into a drawing for a Scribbles fat quarter pack of 11 pieces from the collection. Post as many times as you'd like but each name will only be entered into the drawing once.

And if you'd like to make a cute little construction paper or oak tag basket, there's a pattern offered here: http://www.patricklose.net/pwp/maybasket.html

Fill it with candy or little flowers and sneak off to make someone's day! Have fun :)

Lazy works for me

So, as I said before, I'm opening a small studio in Phoenix. Yesterday was another day of the usual...

The city was supposed to send an inspector on Monday to approve turning on the electricity (nothing better to do, I guess) Of course there's a hefty fee for this and I still can't tell why that's necessary because it took all of 5 minutes when he finally showed up yesterday (Monday wasn't good for him even though we had an appointment).

So once he gave his blessing on our having electricity, the power company sent out a guy to install a meter. Why? There's already a meter there. It was the only meter turned off for the building but he said it didn't have our suite number on it so he refused to turn on the power even though it was the right meter. Many phone calls and much wasted time later, another guy comes out and says it's no problem the number wasn't on it and turns it on. This is AFTER the carpet cleaner showed up...needing the electricity we should have had the day before.

The carpet cleaner is another story altogether. He didn't end up needing the electricity after all. He told us it would be more expensive to clean the carpet than to replace it. Unbelievable. How can that be? These guys didn't want to do their jobs. The carpet cleaner actually admitted that he tells his customers to schedule early in the day because if you're his last call, the job doesn't get done well...or at all in our case.

So Gary went on a rampage and ripped the carpet out of the place and we're going to have new carpet...it's a reward for what we've had to go through so far. Maybe I should hire some other lazy person so we can justify a 60" flat screen TV on the wall ;-)

Maybe today is when the fun starts? ;-) Hope you have a good one!

Cheers

Congratulations to our latest winner!

I love being able to start off the day by telling someone they've won a prize! Tina Romo submitted an answer to our question, "What's your favorite Halloween trick or treat?", and her name was drawn from all of the entrants. She's won a tower of 29 fat quarters from my Dot-to-Dot collection from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. That's more than 7 yards of fabric! Congratulations, Tina, and I hope you enjoy the prize. Of course, we'd love to see photos of anything you make using the fabrics ;-)

We had more responses to this contest than any other we've held and really enjoyed all of your submissions. I hope you had a chance to read through them and enjoy them, too. If so, maybe you've gotten some new ideas for your next Halloween celebration? I know I had some good laughs from some of the answers and was also reminded of lots of Halloweens past. Great fun and great memories!

I'll be spending the day, again, getting my studio ready to open. I decided I wanted to try out having a space to work in that I could share with fellow creative types and offer classes and open sewing/crafting sessions. I found while working with the Dam Quilters in Boulder City that I love having the instant feedback on my designs and that I'm more inspired to create when I'm in the midst of other creative people (especially when they like what I'm working on!). I'm sure we'll also be holding some fun retreats there and maybe you'll want to join us for those? If you're local to the Phoenix area, I hope you'll consider spending some time with us there. Keep an eye out here for details. You can also subscribe to my email list and join the local discussion here for updates.

Time for me to get to work....

Don't you have something creative you should be doing? ;-)

Cheers!

Good answers :)

Thanks for all of the great answers and comments on the Halloween question. Everyone who posted here, on my personal fan page and on the Party with Patrick fan page will be entered in the drawing for the tower of fat quarters. It's gonna take awhile to account for and enter all of the names so we hope to draw at the beginning of the week. Stay tuned...

A Halloween contest in April?

Yep, you're right, it's the middle of April. But I have a question for you about Halloween and I need your answers soon if you'd like the chance to have them published in Quilting Celebrations and to win a great prize!

The question is - What's your favorite Halloween Trick or Treat?

Don't blurt out your answer right away. Give it some thought and think like this:

- A "trick" might mean a harmless prank you pull on friends or co-workers. It could be a tip or suggestion you have for giving a ghoulish gift, creating a creepy costume, or staging a spooky soiree.

- A "treat" could be your favorite beggars' night swag when you were a kid or what you like to give the goblins at your door nowadays. Or it might be something as simple as the feeling you get when you see your kids or grandkids in their costumes (perhaps the ones you made for them).

Whatever your thoughts on the subject are, I want to hear them and I think our readers will love to hear what you have to say, too. Tell me - in a single word, a sentence or a paragraph - what your favorite Halloween trick or treat is.

You can post your answer here as a comment. You can also post on my personal Facebook fan page or the Party with Patrick fan page. But please do it on or before Friday, April 23. If you do, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a fat quarter tower of 29 cuts from my Dot-to-Dot collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. That's one of each color offered and over 7 yards of fabric! Any person who submits an answer to the question, whether it's published or not, will be entered in the drawing for the fabric. But be sure your answer is posted here or on one of the fan pages to be qualified. You may also submit as many answers as you'd like but your name will only be entered into the drawing once.

So, get your thoughts in gear and jot down your favorites to submit. I'll be anxious to hear - and share - what you have to say.

Go to it!

Chained to the drawing board...

It's a love/hate thing I have for this feeling that there are so many new designs in my head that I can't get them out fast enough. I love the feeling that there isn't a creative block anywhere on the horizon but I hate that I can't realize all of the ideas faster! In any case, I couldn't be happier with my latest round of designs :)

I've got a plethora of ideas for my pattern line, a book, a venture into hand embroidery patterns and also for digitized machine embroidery. We have an online membership club in the works and hope to launch as soon as our new website is up and running in a month or so. The projects for my magazine, Quilting Celebrations, are almost finished and ready to photograph and I love them. I hope you will, too. So, there's a lot going on here, as usual, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My latest fabric design, Fizz, is going gangbusters and Robert Kaufman Fabrics is doing their best to keep up with the orders. Hopefully, it will arrive at an independent quilt shop near you soon. There are a few more designs coming from RK in the near future so there will be no shortage of fun fabrics to play with.

As happens each year, sales have started to pick up for the fall and holiday offerings in my pattern line. It seems you're all starting earlier each year on your holiday quilting and doing more of it! I have lots of fall, holiday and winter designs so you can get going.

Please stop by my fan page on Facebook and also the Party with Patrick fan page for up to the minute info on all that's going on here.

Even with all of this new stuff, it's back to the drawing board for me. I don't use the word "plethora" unless I really mean it.

Don't you have some quilting you should be doing...? ;-)

FREE pattern!

I've offered this before but, in case you missed it, here's a link to a free pattern for a great kids' project for you from my appearance on "America Sews". This could be a fun Easter weekend project to entertain the kids or grandkids.

Click here for the free pattern!

I hope you like it and that you're having a wonderful weekend!

Party with Patrick ONLINE!

Party with Patrick is entering its second year in many quilt shops and, if you're not partying with us, here's what you'll be missing out on in April :(

But, if you're one of the many who have been asking and hoping for an online version of Party with Patrick, you're about to get your wish.

We realize many of you don't have a shop in your area that is a participating member of the club so we've been developing an online party for you. We still have a few details to iron out but it's looking as though the club will operate much like Party with Patrick operates in quilt shops.

If you choose to party with us, you'll get a new project each month along with a couple of recipes, blank recipe cards for your personal use, and stationery designed to coordinate with the month's theme. We'll even be offering kits you can purchase to complete the projects using my personal fabric choices!

That's the bare bones of it but I just wanted those of you who are anxious to know that we're not ignoring you. There's a lot going on and we're just figuring out the logistics on our end. Please speak up and let us know if you want to be on the invitation list here.

So, check back here from time to time or, if you want to be involved with a fun group of partiers right from the start, join in the conversation here and on the Party with Patrick fan page.

Back to the drawing board.....

:)

AWOL

If it's a little quiet it's because I'm taking some much needed time for designing and instruction writing and doing it away from home at the lake where there aren't as many distractions.

I'll add a real post (and get rid of the St. Pat's Day theme) soon :)

Cheers!

Talent all over the place

If you've been following my posts here and on Facebook, you already know that I'm really excited about my new project, Quilting Celebrations, which will be on newsstands in September. We've been working on the projects and enjoying the entire process (which, just for the record, is a process!). Much of the reason for that is the group of people who have become a part of it by spending time with us quilting up a storm to complete the projects I've designed.

I could make and quilt them myself or enlist the talents of quilting peers all over the world to help me finish them in time for the deadline but that's not what Quilting Celebrations is about. What we've chosen to do is get together with quilting friends and, as we do every month with Party with Patrick, work on the projects together. One of my favorite quilting clans is in Boulder City, NV, and we spend "work weekends" at the Boulder Dam Hotel there cranking out my latest designs.

If you're a quilter and go to retreats or day classes, you know how much fun it is to have the company of fellow creative-types and spend the time quilting, grazing on snacks and laughing. These friends have become very dear to me and I feel privileged to have their help. Groups of like-minded quilters exist everywhere and you're missing out if you're not a part of one. I have some photos of the gang I wanted to post here but realized that the projects show up in most of them and I can't show those to you yet :(

Just when I was counting my blessings over these friends, I had the good fortune to meet another extremely talented quilter. I had a great time this past Tuesday night speaking to the Night Owls Chapter of the Arizona Quilter's Guild. What a fun bunch of people. I took a trunk show of my stuff and we played show-n-tell and I told them bits and pieces about what it's like to do what I do for a living.

One of the quilters who attended is an extremely talented girl named Jessica who I had attempted to contact in the past about her work. I think fate brought us together because I really wanted her to do the longarm quilting on some of my larger quilts. This young dynamo has actually quilted over 4000 quilts! Well, long story short, I brought a pile of my tops to her last night and she's getting started on them. A couple of them will be featured in Quilting Celebrations but I'm not going to make you wait for the magazine to come out to see her work. This stuff is too good to wait that long for. Jessica's website and tons of photos of her beautiful quilting accomplishments can be seen here: http://www.jessicasquiltingstudio.com/ Be sure to click on the small "Customer Quilts" button in the yellow box to see all of the photos.

You're probably off to Jessica's page anyway so I'll end here and get back to some hand embroidery on a holiday project for the magazine. Have a great Friday, everyone, and spend some time this weekend with your quilting and creative friends if you have the chance.

And if you're in the Phoenix area and would like to become involved with Night Owls, here's their info:

Night Owls - Phoenix
St. Paul's Church
330 W. Coral Gables Dr.
2nd Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

Guaranteed fun :)

Cheers!

Quilting Celebrations!

As I said in my blog post last week (see below), quilters and otherwise creative people know how to celebrate. We also enjoy incorporating quilting and creativity into our celebrations of holidays, seasons, and life events throughout the year. Those of you who entered the contest told wonderful stories of how quilting is an integral part of your celebrating and gift-giving.

When I began developing Party with Patrick over a year and a half ago, I wanted to turn my love for designing seasonal and “celebratory” quilting and crafting projects, along with your love for making them, into a monthly club that quilt shop owners could offer to their customers. We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of the club and I couldn’t be happier with its success and with the number of new friends I’ve made because of it.

As quilters, there’s another thing that’s pretty universal about us; we have hearty appetites for the things that get our creative juices flowing. So, with that said, I’m about to offer a lot more of those things to whet your appetite.

I told you all I’ve been working on a big project and guess what? You’ll be able to grab it off the newsstands this September! It’s my magazine, Quilting Celebrations and it’s like Party with Patrick on steroids. I can’t give a lot of the details here but if Party with Patrick is “a monthly dose of Patrick Lose”, then Quilting Celebrations is an overdose!

You’ve shown me that you love to have projects to quilt that are just the right size and won’t end up being the next UFO in your heap. You’ve told me that you’re making multiples of the Party with Patrick projects and proudly giving them to everyone you know. You’re showing me, more and more as the club grows, that you really enjoy the “monthly celebration of quilting and camaraderie”. You might say that Quilting Celebrations will be “party central”.

If you’re a Party with Patrick member, you’ll still have your exclusive projects each month and the parties and get-togethers that go along with it. But, if you embrace my new magazine the way you’ve welcomed my club, you’re going to have even more to create and celebrate throughout the year!

So I hope you’ll look forward to Quilting Celebrations as much as I’m looking forward to bringing it to you. Now you know what’s going on and we can talk about it. I hope you’ll be among the first to join the new Patrick Lose fan page on Facebook where most of the discussions about the magazine and all of the new things I’m doing will take place. There’s also a Party with Patrick fan page specifically for the club. I’d love to hear what you think so speak up!

Cheers :)

A Reason to Celebrate

As I said a couple of posts ago, I've been working on a SUPER exciting project lately and I can't wait to tell you all about it. There's going to be an announcement here and on Facebook soon so I wanted to give you a heads-up so you can keep an eye out for it. I want you guys to be the first to know!

Here's a hint: if you like to Party with Patrick and if you've been enjoying the projects I've designed for the club and all the other stuff I design, you're gonna have LOTS more of it.

I'm anxious to let you in on the secret so keep your eyeballs peeled and your ears to the ground and we'll have something to CELEBRATE, together, very soon :)

Cheers!

Become a fan on Facebook

You don't have to be a member of the Party with Patrick club at your local quilt shop to be a fan of it on Facebook. By becoming a fan, you're the first to know what's new around here and what I've been designing lately. You also get to interact with other quilters and make friends all over the world. We also have lots of contests and you could be the next winner of my fabrics, books, or patterns!

So go to the Party with Patrick Facebook fan page and join us today to see what it's all about. We'd love to see you there :)

Cheers!

This could be the start of something BIG :)

Quilters know how to celebrate. That's how I came up with the idea for Party with Patrick. They also know how to bring their creativity as well as their creations into the events and holidays they celebrate throughout the year.

I'm in the midst of a very exciting project that you'll be hearing more about soon. Believe it or not, quilters like you have been involved in it from its inception because I've been slowly creating it based on what I know about quilters' love of life and love for celebrating the events of life - big and small alike. But I'd like to have your input, even more, as I continue to develop this project.

So, how about another contest?

Tell us how you incorporate quilting and creativity into your celebrations of holidays and life events throughout the year and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a 12 pack of fat quarters from my Marble Mania collection for Timeless Treasures.

Let us know the big and small ways you use your creative energy to spice up a holiday party or welcome a baby or create an heirloom for a couple of newlyweds. Maybe you've quilted a birthday or graduation gift or a runner for the Thanksgiving table? I want to hear about it and share your ideas with other quilters who love celebrating life as much as you do!

Comment on this post by 5 p.m. Monday for your chance to win. And be sure to check back to see what others have to say. If your idea is something really special, you may be contacted to be a part of my project, if you'd like. The name of the winner will be drawn on Tuesday.

You can also post your comment on the Party with Patrick fan page here.

Let's hear what you have to say.

Cheers!

More winners!

Congratulations to Joann Linden and Susan Klinkhammer who each won an 8 pack of fat quarters in the drawing from yesterday's contest! Ladies, your fabric is on it's way with your orders.

Be on the lookout for more contests right here and on the Party with Patrick Facebook fan page :)

Cheers!

Another chance to win fabric!

How about another contest? Order two or more patterns today and be entered for a chance to win one of two 8 packs of a variety of fat quarters from my collections for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Visit www.patricklose.net and shop online or call 623-414-9464 or email gary@patricklose.net to order. Good luck and Happy Quilting!

More retreat photos

Thankfully, Nancy didn't really feel this way about the past weekend at the Party with Patrick in Phoenix retreat :) She just doesn't like having her picture taken, either. We love you anyway, Nancy and hope to see you and the rest of the gang again SOON!

But for now, I've posted a few more snapshots from the retreat on the Party with Patrick Facebook fan page. I'm looking forward to getting more photos posted from everyone who took them. And, yes, that is a not-so-subtle hint to the aforementioned to get them posted :) I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Party with Patrick is about to enter it's second year as the most fabulous and FUN membership club operating in quilt shops. Each month, our member shops offer a great party where a new project is introduced to their members and they work together on the project in the month's theme sharing food, friendship and fun.

If you're a PWP member shop and haven't renewed your membership, you have til the end of the month to do so to keep your Charter Member status and get the discount on the 2010 membership fee.

If you haven't joined the party yet, what are you waiting for? We're having a blast!

PWP fun in Phoenix!

Here's my first photo of the gang from the "Party with Patrick in Phoenix" retreat. Good times and FUN and talented people!! Pictured, L-R; Ken, Claudia, Roberta, Gary, Liat, Nancy, Mary, Betty, me, and Pat. Old and new friends :)

You really should ask your local quilt shop owner or quilt guild to organize a Party with Patrick event in your area. We had a blast and this retreat was actually put together as somewhat of a last-minute gathering because we wanted to have one in the Phoenix area before the heat hits us. No doubt, there will be another one planned here very soon and I hope everyone in the photo will be there to make it a reunion as well (This is a reminder for you guys to send me your photos from the weekend to post here, too!).

Our Dam Christmas Party retreat is filling up fast. I believe we only have 7 spots left so, if you want to do some Christmas-in-July partying with other Party with Patrick cohorts, contact Gary as soon as possible to reserve your spot.

Contest/Win a pack of 8 fat quarters: Place an order before 10 p.m. CST today totaling 10.00 or more (before shipping) and be entered to win a fat quarter pack of my newest fabrics!

More to come...

In need of a particular fabric?

Many of you contact us looking for your favorite print from my fabric collections when you can't find them at your local quilt shop. Now we can help. All you have to do is contact us to order any of my available prints.

Call us at 623-414-9464 or email gary@patricklose.net to place your order!

You can also order any of my patterns and books this way if your local shop doesn't carry them.

The Party with Patrick in Phoenix retreat this past weekend was a blast and we'll have photos to post soon so you can see what you missed.

Hope you had a great quilting-filled weekend :)

Now available online

"Luck o' the Irish" and "Upwardly Mobile" have now been added to our secure online shopping cart for immediate ordering on the website!(www.patricklose.net)

Just wanted you to know in case your local shop isn't carrying them.

We're off to another retreat today and really looking forward to it. I hope you have a great quilting-filled weekend as well.

Cheers :)

Congratulations to Marilynn DeHoney who is the winner of the February Party with Patrick prize of 29 fat quarters from my Dot-to-Dot collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

I couldn't stop with one prize, so I added a second prize of 8 fat quarters from various collections of fabrics I've done for RK and Jill Pesti won that prize. Congrats to you, too, Jill!

We're getting ready for our second retreat of the year coming up this weekend at the Dobson Ranch Inn right here in the Phoenix metro area. There are still spots available if you'd like to join us for a weekend of Party with Patrick-style quilting and camaraderie. This one's a small retreat but I bet with a group this size we have even more opportunity to get to know one another. If you'd like to join us, contact Gary at 623-414-9464 or gary@patricklose.net.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and that winter is waning wherever you are!

Here comes another new pattern...

"Upwardly Mobile", featuring patterns and instructions for creating a 15 x 25" banner and a 12 x 12" mini quilt, is the newest pattern to be added to my line and will be shipping the first week in March.

This lady bug is movin' on up a brightly flowered vine that's made using lots of colors from my new Fizz collection from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Fizz will be available in quilt shops beginning in March. Click here to see all of my patterns and click here to see the entire Fizz collection.

Hopefully, this will give those of you who are still dealing with winter's worst a glimmer of hope for spring.

I hope you like this new pattern and Fizz :)

Cheers!

"I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it."

Yes, Gary, Jan, Tony, and all of my friends who try to keep me focused - I'm off task again with good reason; Here's my new grandbaby! As I said on the Party with Patrick fan page, comments about the little bean looking just like me are cheap and unimaginative so you don't need to go there ;-)

My daughter, Katie, wondered if it was going to be twins this time because of the way she's been feeling but this ultrasound image put those "worries" to rest. Just one. Just WONDERFUL!

Back to work before I get scolded. I have lots to do. I'll be appearing/speaking at the Quilting in the Desert banquet tonight in Phoenix. If you'll be there, make sure you say "hi".

Cheers!

An Irish Welcome

I've been busy for the past few days on lots of new designs and I already have one of them quilted. Luck o' the Irish is a 15 x 30" applique door banner or wall hanging that's perfect for St. Patrick's Day but fun, anytime, for those of us that are Irish every day of the year ;-)

The one I made uses fabrics from my own collections but you can use a wide variety of festive greens from your stash on this one. I love how the Lime from my new Fizz collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics works for the background - it reminds me of green beer! Satinesque Stripe, also for RKF, is perfect for the binding.

I hope you like this new pattern which will be ready to ship the first week in February. Be sure to tell your local quilt shop owner that you saw it here and that you'd like them to carry it and all of the patterns from my line.

This is my offering of a "wee little bit o' springtime" to those of you that are still dealing with ice, snow, and cold. I hope it lifts your spirits! :-)

More Fizz

Hope everyone's having a great weekend. I thought I'd post another color from my new Fizz Collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. This one's called Raspberry.

I'm off to a book signing soon. Then it will be back to the drawing board later this afternoon to work on new patterns and embroidery designs. I'm really looking forward to both.

If you're in the Phoenix area, stop by 3 Dudes Quilting between 1 and 3 this afternoon and say "hi".

Cheers!

-------------------
Update: As always, we had a wonderful time at 3 Dudes Quilting. Thanks to the Dudes and their great customers!!

It's unanimous. Winter s*cks! ;-)

Congratulations to Vicci Conway who's the winner of my Tropical Table Toppers pattern! Thanks to everyone who offered their "sentiments" on winter where they are. I feel for all of you and I hope there's a big thaw coming.

We'll have another contest soon but, to the Party with Patrick members, get your January (LOVE) projects done and post photos and comments on the PWP fan page on Facebook. You'll be entered to win the fat quarter tower giveaway of my Dot-to-Dot collection. See your Party with Patrick host or Hostess or click here for details! You MUST be a fan on the FB fan page and post there to be entered.

It's super busy here with lots of designing and quilting going on. The paperwork, instruction writing, and day-to-day grind of business has been put on hold for the weekend. I don't mind working weekends if its all creative stuff. I'm also looking forward to spending a few hours at 3 Dudes Quilting tomorrow afternoon signing books. If you're local, please stop by and visit!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Effervescent!

Here's my latest print from my Mixmasters Collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. It's called FIZZ and I think you'll agree that it's got a bubbly personality. This one's so new that most shop owners and buyers haven't even seen it yet. In fact, I just realized that I can't tell you how many colors we ended up with in this line but it's quite a few. I'll find out how many and get back to you.

I wanted it to look like fizzy drinks and the colors even have fun, soda-fountain-type names like Cranberry, Blueberry, Cider, Vanilla, and Champagne, to name a few. The one pictured is Ice. It's useful in more than "bubbly" applications, too. I'm using Root Beer (colored as the name suggests) for the center of a sunflower and it looks great.

I just wanted to give you a sneak peek so you'll be on the lookout when it hits quilt shops. When? Hmmm....I can't answer that off the top of my head, either, but it's SOON, I swear. Don't you love getting to see it so early that even I can't give you all of the details? ;-)

Let me know what you think of it here or on the Party with Patrick Facebook page!

Have a great evening.

Do I hear teeth chattering?

From what I hear on the news, it's most likely cold where you are. I heard last night that there were 5 U.S. states where the temperature wouldn't be above zero overnight. Please don't hate me for living in the Phoenix area. I spent 40 winters in Iowa before I moved here. But I also have to say I STILL miss winter in Iowa. Yeah, the cold and wind gets old fast but I love the snow.

So, if you're over the winter already and can't just drop everything and go off on a warm-weather getaway, maybe you'd like to work on a quilting project that helps to take your mind off of the sound of bitter cold winds whistling at the windows and doors and warms you up a little on the inside. My Tropical Table Toppers pattern may be just the ticket to that balmy place in your dreams.

Anyone who is a fan on my Party with Patrick Facebook fan page and comments there by the end of the work day on Tuesday, January 11th, will be entered for a chance to win the pattern. Click here, become a fan and add a quick comment telling us how you're feeling about winter where you are (no profanity, please). That enters you in the drawing. We'll draw for the prize on Wednesday and you could have a Tropical Table Toppers pattern by next weekend!

Just doing our part for shivering quilters everywhere.

Stay warm! I'm back to the drawing board :-)

Another Booming Party!

It's happened again....another Party with Patrick has outgrown its venue! I just posted a couple of days ago how Fiddlesticks had to move the Party out of the shop and into the Boulder Dam Hotel conference room across the street. Today I got this email announcement to her customers from Peg at Common Threads in North Liberty, Iowa:

"For those of you who have not been able to join us for a Party with Patrick, now is the time! Patrick Lose, designer and quilter, hosts parties at Common Threads the last Thursday of every month. He sends a design exclusive to the party, a party theme and recipes to share. Common Threads has only been able to accommodate ten people at these parties until now. Thursday, January 27th, we will open it up to all. Please join us at the South Slope Community Center for Party with Patrick!"

Peg is blatantly trying to overtake a couple of other shops for the position of biggest PWP (most members). I'll root for any of you that take this on - knowing that, as with any party, the MORE the merrier! I think a lot of participating shops have realized this, too.

So, CONGRATULATIONS to Peg and the gang at Common Threads. We miss you guys and I wish I could be there for your "expansion". I know you won't let the cold and ever-accumulating white stuff spoil a good party.

Don't forget about our Party with Patrick retreat in Coralville, Iowa at the beautiful Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. Be sure to take the photo tour on their website (Iowa is beautiful). We're starting to get sign-ups for the retreats so reserve your spot now before they fill up!

That's all for now. Yesterday's "day-of-designing" didn't quite pan out so I'm gonna try again today. You want new stuff, right?

Have a happy Friday :-)

Hello to the newbies

Just wanted to take a minute to say "thanks" to all of the new blog followers here. I appreciate your interest in my work. It will be a little quiet today here and on Facebook and Twitter. I'm going to try to spend the rest of the day designing because the day-to-day stuff has kept me from the drawing board recently. But I have another new fabric collection to show you...soon!

Have a great day :)

The Party Keeps Getting Bigger

I want to congratulate Fiddlesticks Quilts in Boulder City, NV for being yet another Party with Patrick member shop that has to take its monthly events to a larger, off-site location because the parties are getting too BIG! If this doesn't tell you how successful PWP can be for your shop, then I give up! ;-) Fiddlesticks held the very first Party with Patrick back in March 2009. Congratulations to Merry, Jan and the gang for being such hardcore partiers :) You ROCK!

If your local quilt shop isn't a participating shop, and you want to PARTY with us, speak with the shop owner and let them know what they're missing. They can join at any time for a successful year full of fun and friendship and you can have your "monthly dose of Patrick Lose". It's a win-win situation for you both :)

More soon....

Party and Win!

Do you Party with Patrick at your local quilt shop? If so, you have another chance to win a tower of 29 fat quarters from my Dot-to-Dot Collection from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

Party with Patrick projects are manageable-sized quilted pieces that are easy enough to complete in a short time but a few of you partiers are still finding ways to turn them in to UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

This is a new year, people! Let's at least start the year with the resolve to not send any more projects into UFO limbo, okay? I'll help you out by offering some incentive to finish the January party project which you can see here.

If you're a member and complete the January project, go to the PWP fan page on Facebook. If you're not a fan, become one and post a photo of your finished piece and a few words about your PWP experience. Your name will be entered in the Valentine's Day drawing to win the fat quarter tower. It's that easy.

The Party keeps getting bigger and the fan page community grows larger every day. Join us and get to know some of your fellow quilters from across the United States and Canada. That's what Party with Patrick is all about...quilting and camaraderie!

Looking ahead

The year has hardly begun and we're already gearing up and planning for our 2010 events. The one you all keep asking about is our Dam Christmas Party at The Boulder Dam Hotel in Boulder City, NV. The dates are set and we're working on the details. Bookmark this page and you can check back for updates: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=236997203253

If you're interested in attending the Dam Christmas Party or any of our other retreats being planned for 2010, RSVP while you're there and we'll be sure to get info to you as it becomes available. You can also email us at gary@patricklose.net for more information.

We've got another contest coming up to ring in the new year so stay tuned!

Cheers and Happy 2010!!
Patrick

Another Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS, Mary O'Net! You've won the fat quarter "tower" of my Dot-to-Dot Collection!!! :-) We just announced it on the Party with Patrick fan page on Facebook. Won't it be great to start the new year with a bunch of new fabrics?

Please contact us at gary@patricklose.net with your contact and mailing info and we'll get the fabrics shipped out.

Stay tuned here and on the fan page because there may just be an announcement for another giveaway soon ;-) And, believe it or not, I have ANOTHER fun new fabric print to show you and you'll be among the very first to see it...even before many quilt shop owners! Cool, huh?

Hope you're having a fabulous ending to 2009.

Party with Patrick and build your stash!

This is just a little peek at part of the prize for my new contest and when you see the whole photo, I'm sure you'll agree, this would be a wonderful prize to win.

In case you haven't heard, Party with Patrick! is my club that's been up and running in independent quilt shops since February of this year. We've been having a blast and I want the party to get even bigger. So I created a fan page for PWP on Facebook as a place for partiers and wannabes to get together and share all the fun. The page is starting to gather some fans but we need more. Here's where you come in.

There are just a few rules for this contest. They're simple but they must be followed to the letter to make you eligible to win:

1) Go to the Party with Patrick fan page (click here) and sign up to be a fan before 5:00 CST on Tuesday, December 22. You don't have to be a PWP member to join.
2) Add a comment to the page that tells us:
a) What you enjoy about the club if you're a member, or
b) Why you'd like to become a member at your local quilt shop
3) PWP is currently only operating in the United States and Canada so you must be a resident of either to be eligible.

That's all you need to do but feel free to add photos or stories from your PWP events if you're already a member. We'd also love to see photos of your finished party projects. That's what the fan page is all about. It's like a scrapbook of the parties and the partiers.

I hope lots of shop owners will enter this contest, too!

If you're not a member, I hope you'll join at your local shop. If they don't offer the club, be sure to let them know you want to PARTY!

Oh...yeah...you probably want to know who won the last contest. Drumroll, please.......

The winner of the 4 fat quarters of Satinesque Stripe is Leslie Stamp! CONGRATULATIONS, Leslie :) Thanks to all who subscribed to my email news list.

I suppose you also want to know what this FABULOUS new prize is? Well, take a look here.

So what do you think of that? Doesn't that make you want to Party with Patrick?

Ho ho ho ;-)

BIG giveaway :)

I'm getting ready to announce another contest and a WAY bigger prize :) Let me know when you're ready!

Check back here at 6:05 CST for the winner and next contest details!

Win 4 fat quarters of Satinesque Stripe!

Subscribe to my email list and be the first to see all of the fun stuff I'm designing for YOU! On top of that, if you sign up as a new subscriber by Tuesday, December 15th, your name will be entered in a drawing to win 4 fat quarters of my new Satinesque Stripe in holiday colors. I'm having a great time using it in my newest projects and I know you will, too.

Take a look here for all of the patterns and books available for those quilters on your gift list. And, because we're in the holiday spirit around here, any orders over $50.00 placed between now and December 20th will get free Priority Mail shipping! That means you could have your order within 2-3 days.

No purchase is necessary to be entered in the drawing, but your subscription information must include your first and last name and the mailing address where you'd like us to ship the fabric, if you're the winner. So, sign up and good luck!

I have Christmas shopping to do :)

STAY TUNED because you won't believe what the prize for the next contest will be. Some lucky quilter is going to have an awful lot of new fabrics to choose from in their stash!

Check out this new cookbook...

Michele at The Quilting Gallery has compiled a new cookbook, titled Quilter's Cookbook, and I think you should take a look.

"The first-ever Quilter's Cookbook, with recipes submitted by more than 100 quilters from nine countries around the world, is now available. There never seems to be enough time to quilt. That's why the theme for this Cookbook is "Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting!" There are 119 recipes, most with heart-warming family stories..."

It features photos of beautiful quilts and serves up the stories behind them, as well. You can also click on the button ad in the lower right margin for more information on this downloadable collection of recipes and stories from quilters all over the world.

Have a great day!

Fabric giveaway

Thanks to everyone who signed up to follow my blog! You were all entered in our drawing for the half yard cuts of my new Satinesque Stripe.

Because we're in the holiday spirit around here, we decided to give two prizes this time. The first prize is the 4 half yard cuts and the second prize is 4 fat quarters of the same Christmas colors.

The winner of the fat quarters is Debbie (WoolenSails) and the winner of the half yard cuts is Jean (Rannyjean)! Congratulations, Ladies :) Please email your mailing addresses to Gary (gary@patricklose.net) and we'll get these out to you right away.

Thanks, again, everyone and I hope you'll be checking back for more contests. I'll have a post soon about what's going on around here so stay tuned.

Ho ho ho!

We have a winner!

A big "Thank you" to all of you who entered our contest for a chance to win my two newest patterns, Christmas Card Caddy and Merry & Bright. We enjoyed reading about your gift ideas for the quilting friends and family members on your gift list this year.

We're happy to say that Gini Howard's entry was drawn and we'll be sending her the patterns by Priority Mail today. If you're reading this here first, Gini, CONGRATULATIONS! We sent you an email earlier and need your mailing address:)

Now, that's a fun way to start off the week. If you haven't signed up to follow my blog, take a look at my December 4th post. You could win two yards of my newest fabric, if you sign up by the end of the day, today. Wouldn't that come in handy, Gini?

Take a look at the Party with Patrick fan page on Facebook for some new photos from Cheryl and Barbara at The Yankee Quilter and Linda and Rick at Little Stitches Sewing of their recent Party with Patrick events. Both shops always have such great parties! :) While you're there, sign up to be a fan and stay up to date on what's happening with PWP.

Happy Christmastime