March Snowbuddies Pattern

Hello All!

Another month has flown by like a blink of an eye.  I just returned from a week’s vacation with girlfriends at a Get-A-Way Retreat hosted by my sistah friend, Jeanette Pie’.  This was her 47^th Retreat that she has shared with a huge group of ladies.  There were 60+ of us there.   Her groupies (they are a wonderful, lively, talented bunch) threw a Surprise 60^th Birthday party for Jeanette.  This has been in the making for a year and I just was so excited to be a part of the party and surprise.  I now believe something that I did not think was possible…….75 ladies can keep a secret for a year!  The tittering and giggling was contagious before the big “Surprise” and a few of us had the job of getting Jeanette out of the conference room and back for the party.  That was not easy!!  We lured her away with wine!! Worked!!  It was a fabulous party!!

Lancaster and Lancaster County are just amazing places to experience.  The Amish and Mennonite are visible everywhere in their horse and buggies and their very somber dark unadorned clothing.  They are very quiet and subdued and I love it when they begin to speak Pennsylvania Dutch…..I suppose they might be talking about us.  Fabric for quilts is in abundance everywhere….and holy smokes! the prices…just marked up $1.00 per yard over wholesale prices.  I am not a Batik fan but was a bit tempted by beautiful Batiks at $6.00 per yard.  Though I restrained myself because of checking heavy bags at the airport and did not bring home more than a few pieces of fabric, but imagine how much fabric was purchased by 60+ ladies at a Retreat.

The creativity in a room of 60 ladies, the imagination and techniques are so fun to experience.  I always feel like I come away with some new ideas and inspirations.  Kindred spirits for sure with the goal of making a birthday special for an extra-special lady and revisiting and making new friends. 

Although it was rainy and a bit snowy while I was in Lancaster, I imagined the children flying kites in another month or so.  Thus, my inspiration for my March themed Snowbuddie……“Kite Flying.”  I don’t think we would see an Amish child wearing red mittens as will be shown in my wool version, but the simplicity of a kite surely still brings joy and fun to anyone of any age.  

The night before I left for the airport, I decided to add the Snowbuddie Wool project to my bag for Show n Tell.  Well, I had not put the blocks together yet, plus factor in that March, April and May remained to be designed.  Geesh!  So I quickly put together the blocks and added a couple borders.  Below is a photo of how it looks put together.  Really is cute.  I love how the blocks float without any sashing.  The designs have been enlarged and the blocks are 10 ½” X 10 ½” square.  To Be Added yet are the appliques for March thru May and then the project will be finished. 

Available Now –

     Background Kit – Includes Black flannel for Blocks, Checked wool for scalloped Penny Rugs, Inner Black circle wool, Wool for Snowbuddie heads, Wool for Carrot Noses,

                              Black wool for months - $38.00

     Individual Monthly Kits – June through March are now available for an additional $10.00 each.  This includes the wool for the remainder of the appliques for each block.

                              These kits can be purchases separately but the Background kit is needed in order to complete the project.

Contact Carrie for ordering information – 970-686-6346 or carrie@starrypinespatterncompany.com

Winner This Month of the “Victorian Vintage Pillow” Pre-traced Project:

We are happy to announce that Robin C. is the winner of the pre-traced project.  We had a lot of fun making this project.  The ladies in the class colored with their favorite colors and we heat set the colors.  Then the project is embroidered in Black to outline the colors.  Robin we will be contacting you to get your mailing information.  Congratulations!

Bee and I will work on sending out some Valentine’s Day recipes next week.  Never know, even a surprise or two!!

Connie and Bee