Another one of the quilt tops made in the class I taught in Ontonagon, Michigan.

Just one of the quilt tops made in the class I taught in Ontonagon, Michigan.

We made it to Ontonagon, Michigan yesterday. It is truly beautiful here. It is on Lake Superior and we can hear the water lapping on the shore from our windows. It is cool and refreshing. I did a mini lecture last night showing quilts and visiting. Today I taught a workshop and really had a fun day. Tomorrow we will follow the coast to the Picture Rocks and who knows what else. There is no cell phone service at our hotel and limited internet access. It makes us relax a little and enjoy our time here. I will try to post pictures tomorrow. Tonight we are going to agate beach to look for stones and watch the sunset. Stay tuned.

I have been on so many wonderful teaching trips this year, I can not believe how

fortunate I am. I started my year in Georgetown, Texas where I taught

my ‘Shooting Stars’ workshop. I went on to Austin, Texas  to

teach ‘Road to Success with Silk’ and ‘Labyrinth’.

    

February took me to Little Rock, Arkansas to teach Labyrinth and Shining Star.

I met up with friends I made when I taught on the Caribbean Cruise sponsored by

 Stitchin Heaven quilt shop, and made more friends. The snow storms

cancelled my trip to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas but I will go there next year.

The end of February I taught at the Quilt Box right here in Graham.

March was Ponca City, Oklahoma; Wichita, Kansas and Great Falls, Montana.

       

I went to retreat at the Compass Centre in Mt. Calm, Texas for some

great R & R. Melissa who is the owner had done my Lyra quilt and has a kit for

it on her website. Compass Centre.com

April included Baytown, Texas; Tyler, Texas; Edmond, Oklahoma

and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This month is San Antonio where I will teach my Labyrinth class at

Seventh Heaven Quilt Shop.

Call Dixie if you want to sign up for the class.  (210) 822-9980

Can you understand why I may be a little tired? I just want you to be able to

see how much fun we have in guild and quilt shop workshops, and

we also get a lot done.I forgot to mention my trip to New York in January

for a fabulous Martha Stewart Dreamers into Doers event.

I am adding new ribbons to my website for anyone looking for very

unusual ribbons to embellish quilts, table runners or whatever suits your fancy.

Shop owners contact me for information on getting patterns

or ribbons for your shop.

Debbie Maddy

940-549-4058

info@calicocarriage.com

Calico Carriage Quilt Designs

     February came to Texas with a vengeance. We have more snow 

and colder temperatures than we have seen in years. That means

stay inside and sew.

     I have some important news about a correction and I need everyone to spread the

word for me. As many of you know I have a new pattern out called

              Labyrinth.

 

It is a very beautiful quilt that appeals to a great many quilters. It is

especially appealing to men. Men quilters love making it and men in general are

drawn to its maze like quality.  When I designed it I made each size

build on the previous size with the king size having two full rings to

the maze. I received numerous calls wanting the queen size version to

also include the full two rings. I felt I needed to get this out to the quilters

and did the original corrections without testing it as I always do by cutting

and sewing each and every size. Needless to say, I made mistakes. I have

corrected these mistakes and have posted a pdf on my website with the
CORRECTED QUEEN instructions. Look on the upper right area of my

website (www.calicocarriage.com) for Pattern Corrections.

The last 2,000 of these patterns have been printed with the corrections.

If you are in doubt, please go to the website…download the PDF…then

compare your pattern with the corrected pages. I sincerely apologize

for any problems or inconvenience you have encountered.

Please tell your friends and customers to check out the web page.

     I have added some beautiful new and unusual ribbons to my website.

I only stock these ribbons because I love them and they are hard to find.

Two of the newest ones are brand new Kaffe Fassett ribbons based on his

new Kite Tails fabric.

It comes in pink, yellow and black

and in red and orange.

There is an allium ribbon that looks like fireworks exploding,

gorgeous fall leaves on a gold background and a

fun granny square type design.

The Simple Stars Beautiful Quilts book has been very popular and we have reprinted
yet another time. This printing has an updated cover and is full color throughout.

The new cover quilt is made with Civil War Reunion from Moda fabrics.

I have been traveling a lot to teach and have met some wonderful ladies and men. I will continue to travel extensively this year and do hope you will check out my itinerary to see if I will be teaching close to you.As always I love to add new venues that are close to already booked sites to save travel expenses for everyone. My next trip is to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas and on to Little Rock. I will be catching up with great friends I made when I taught on Stitchin Heaven's quilt cruise last year.

By the way, be sure to keep checking on that itinerary because I will be
teaching on another Stitchin Heaven cruise in January 2012 with great ladies
from Moda fabrics.

I am home from fall quilt market and I have two new patterns that are ready for you to see.

The first one is called  "Lyra’ and it has large lap (72”X 72”),

queen (95” X 111”) and king (119” X 119”) versions.

The piecing is so simple to do in sections, even new quilters can piece it.

This is a sample done in new Timeless Treasures

Tonga Batiks ~ Park Slope & Cobble Hill collections.

This version is made with Moda’s Sunkissed and Central Park

I also have a new Block of the Month called Star Gazing.

It is a collection of eight unique stars and finishing kit instructions for

a queen size and king size version. I made samples using three new fabric lines.

Fresh Flowers by Moda

 

Tonga Batiks Park Slope & Cobble Hill by Timeless Treasures

 

Montego Batiks by Moda

Check with your local quilt shop to see if they have these new patterns or plan to do this “Block of the Month”

Shop owners please let us know if you need these new patterns for your store.

 

My final day in Manhattan started with a trip to the fabulous quilt shop

The City Quilter

It is located at 133 West 25th Street  between 6th and 7th Ave.

 

When you enter the shop you see a great floor cloth with New York images.

The wonderful owners of the shop are Cathy Izzo

and her husband Dale.

They have owned the shop since February 1997. The shop is absolutely jam packed with goodies.

Everywhere you look there is something to catch your eye and interest.

This is just one of the samples on the wall.

Cathy and Dale have numerous fabrics that are exclusive to their shop.

Below is Statue of Liberty exclusive to them by Hoffman Fabrics.

I love this black and white!

Fashion District retro New York.

This is subway maps in three color ways. 

They also have projects pertaining to Manhattan.

This is a perfect trip memory quilt.

I was told that almost all of the employees are multi talented.

One is an artist, one a costume designer,  and one is a model.

Think of all that creativity! 

These beautiful ladies are two of their employees.

This is an example of a wool project that is a kit. 

Little wool creatures.

Wool cake and cookies.

 

A pillow kit and a sample of another quilt to make.

 

Cute quilt with bicycle embroidery. 

This is more of Cathy and Dale’s exclusive fabrics.    

It has vintage New York postcards on it.

This is a quilt made with the post card fabric.

What a great memory of a trip to New York.

Another quilt example to use Photos or photo style fabric.

A great little pincushion book and sample. What do you think about the bacon and egg?

Cathy stocks unusual ribbons for embellishing.

And a stash of silk fabric to make scrumptious quilts and table runners.

They will be carrying my Fine Dining pattern that is great done in silk with ribbon embellishment.

This is the classroom.

They even supply the sewing machines so you can take a class while visiting the city  Cathy and and another employee in front of a wall of fabrics.

Check out the classes they are offering for this spring.

Paula Nadelstern will be teaching as well as Kaffe Fassett and Liza Lucy.

     Below are some class samples.

A wall of books and patterns.

This quilt is going to be a pattern someday. I love it.Another little niche of patterns and samples.  

More wool. The colors look good enough to eat.  I simply adored these story book panels. Kaffe Fassett fabrics to drool over.

Cathy and Dale are now Bernina dealers.

Cathy also cuts 2 1/2” strips for their City Strippers kits.

 

While I was in the shop taking pictures and talking to Cathy and Dale,

Three couples came into the shop.

This is Brian and Susanne from Denmark.

   Maria and Elmer from Brazil.

I was unable to get names for this couple from Japan.

This is definitely an international store!

I loved this quilt that looks like a kaleidoscope of the Empire State building.

One section of the store is dedicated to fabrics from Japan.

I love it when the employees are happy and smiling even first thing in the morning.     

Dale took me to the basement to show me what was down there.

One thing was his desk with the first quilt he ever made. I think he did a great job. 

They have a long arm quilting machine and offer custom quilting.

More fabrics!

There is storage that goes all the way under the store.     There is also an appliqué group called the Appliqué Support group that meets in the basement.

All of the New York fabrics can be purchased online at The City Quilter.

I has so much fun at The City Quilter, I wanted to stay all day.

I did have to leave to go to Timeless Treasures Fabrics to see Emily Cohen.

She gave me a tour of their new space and I got to see what is new for spring

and a hint of what will be new for fall.

We just finished packing the quilts I am donating to the

Martha Stewart Dreamers Into Doers Shelter Event

All three quilts were made using my Modern Art With Fabric book.

This quilt is made with Moda Fabrics.

This quilt is also made with Moda Fabrics.

This quilt is made with Timeless Treasures Fabrics

 

I am really getting excited. To read all about the trip go to my December 15, 2009 posting.

Be sure to check out the Enchanted Makeovers website to keep up with all the fabulous donations.

Tomorrow I am off to give a lecture for the Land Of Lakes Quilt Guild in Lewisville Texas.