Iraqi Bundles of Love

Calling all STASHES that are collecting dust! here is a great world community project you can do today brought to my attention by Quilt Festival Director, Karey Bresenhan. Please visit this blog TODAY and get involved -

Our goal should be to so OVERWHELM THE APO BOX THEY HAVE TO BRING CONTAINERS IN TO DEAL WITH THE OVERFLOW - EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY BEYOND THEIR IMAGINATIONS!

SEPTEMBER 7TH IS THE DEADLINE...

That's a little prayer, girls - C'mon... let's do this thing! I love this idea on the eve of Eric's return from a year in Iraq - email me at laurie@popsbindings.com if you need more info -

Making Lemonade in The Quilter Magazine

It is very touching to have someone tell your story...this month's The Quilter Magazine tells mine through the words of a very talented writer, Lucy Fazely. Lucy and I had a great time talking on the phone, as she is in the midwest and I am in Florida, in the dead of winter while I was very comfortable in Florida's mild winter and she was freezin' her toes off up north! But retelling how Lollipops got started warmed us both and sharing our common humanity of family life and new hope quickly crept into our conversation - we are both old souls.

That Eric is now in the last days of his third tour of duty in Iraq, his last time there I hope, is also very heart warming. That we are at war and our soldiers continue to die is distressing and hurts my heart...I remind all of you that these are all our future, these young men and women who serve and who slip through our fingers...through the power of the cloth - now I mean fat quarters here, people! - and the joy of creating quilts that will warm and give love to those who need that comfort, we must continue to make LEMONADE! Please read the article - buy the magazine - it's inspiring even if I say so my little self! (well I am not so LITTLE but you catch my drift...)

How Do They Do It?

Ok. I am amazed. How do certain famous quilters do all the things that they do and still manage to FB, TWIT and BLOG??? Take Pat Sloan, for example...I recently joined Facebook with the hopes of keeping in touch with all of you while I was 'Down Under'...to tell you about my trip and show you all the wonderful things I was seeing...people, quilts, quilt stores, fabrics, oh and yeah - the GBR - which is the Aussie way of saying the Great Barrier Reef...

But did I blog you ONCE???? or Facebook you with any pix of my trip???? or even say 'BOO!'? Heck no. First of all, unlike the good ol' US of A, to connect up to the internet at a hotel is not FREE...they charge you BY THE MINUTE...and if that's not bad enough, there is a minimum number of minutes that you HAVE to pay for regardless of how long you stay connected - so in one place, I really learned my lesson - it was like $29 AUS for two minutes!!! OMG...so that was the end of the bloggin' idea...and keepin' in touch with you and btw, - I was so darn BUSY - who had time to BLOG?

So, back to my original thought - since joining FB, (FB= Facebook for all your girls out there in Paducah!) I see Pat Sloan and Alex Anderson and oh WAIT a minute -

[irritating interruption from the husband on Honey Do mission of hanging pictures in our bedroom after I've looked at them leaning up against the wall for 2 years...finally gettin' to it before football season - whew!]

Ok I am back...yeah so you know these women BLOG, they FB, they TWITTER (now that is seriously crazy) and they still find time to post the status of their most recent projects for us all to drool over...when on EARTH do they have time to SEW and CREATE when they are on FB, TWIT and BG 24/7?????...

Maybe because they are so IMPORTANTE they have magical quilting powers - like for 1) they get fabrics from MODA for FREE as well as in advance of the rest of us because Moda LIKES them...well we do, too but STILL and 2)they MUST have personal assistants that KEEP THEIR STUDIOS NEAT AND TIDY SO THEY CAN FIND THE FABRIC THAT MODA GIVES THEM...yikes...or 3)they know SABRINA who twitches (not twitters) her nose and POOF! magic quilt! or 4)they are just, sadly, organized women who can get 4x as many things done in a day than me...rats, I hate the thought of that -

[Oh God...there he goes again...another husbandus blogus interruptus to approve said picture placement of giganto mirror over bed - not on ceiling ladies....PLEASE!]

[Back, again. Well no wonder I don't Tweet, rarely BLOG and occassionaly FB...it's like having a baby in the house...ok, ok that was mean - and afterall, it looks GREAT except now the sheets, which I just washed on Friday, have to be re-washed because, you guessed it, he used the bed to stand on and uh 'forgot to take off his sandals'...ugh! 'honey, it's only messed up on MY side of the bed...']

Are these other women married? or maybe their husbands are less OCD/ADHD/IDHD (only know the first one, sorry, the rest just sound official)...I am truly amazed at their ability to keep it altogether and still SLEEP...now wait a minute, maybe I am on to something there - they never tell us that they SLEEP...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I feel better!

Sewing for Soldiers at the Sewing Garrett - Daytona Beach, FL

My son, Sgt. W. Eric Rodman, is serving in Al Asad, Iraq with the US Army - 3rd Platoon of they 23rd Ordnance Company out of Grafenwehr, Germany. This is his, and probably many other soldiers' in his unit, 3rd Tour of Duty in Iraq. Each time he goes 'down range,' as he calls it, I get together with other quilters and make quilts for his unit - he sends us the platoon emblem and we recreate it in some way for use in the quilts.

Well, this time, being new to Fernandina Beach, FL and having little time to join a local guild, I was sort of at a loss as to how I would make good on this commitment - making 25 quilts for Eric's unit. But last year, just before Quilt Market in October, providence came a calling...I met Gracye Beaman, owner of The Sewing Garrett in Daytona Beach, FL. Gracye is a Brother, Babylock, Janome and Ulna dealer and has an awesome store right off of I-95 - a must visit if you are coming down our way. We got to know each other at market and then invited me to teach at her store in November - a new friendship formed. After a bonding sewing sister week in January, I approached Gracye with this project - and she immediately opened her store and heart to the idea of making quilts for activity duty soldiers -

Flash forward to May 2009 - after advertising on the local PBS station, which Gracye sponsors through corporate donation, we had an unbelievable group of women come out for a two day sewing and quilting bonanza! These are the MOST WONDERFUL GROUP OF WOMEN you could will ever meet - many who are wives, daughters, relatives of veterans and activie duty soldiers themselves - I started our first day off explaining the quilt pattern choice - called A Soldiers Quilt - this quilt was made by Civil War women whose husbands and sons and nephews were going off to fight our Nation's bloodiest and most heart-breaking war. At that time, they had to provide all their own gear - so the women made their men quilts - just large enough to cover a cot in the event they got wounded - and filled with scraps from their dresses and shirts and pants to remind their loved one of home. This story so touched my heart that I HAD to use the pattern - I knew it was perfect for our guys in Al Asad.

The slide show shows some shots of the day - and soon I will post some footage where I let the girls tell our Soldiers brief messages of the heart -

I want all to know - I love my son with all my heart and I know that all the women who came out wanted to show their love for the soldiers serving overseas - and guys and girls,if you are readin this - they THANKED me for the opportunity to SERVE YOU!!! The quilts will ship out this week - all our love and prayers - THE SEWING GARRETT SOLDIERS QUILTERS!

Back in the Iraqi Saddle Again and a Contest!

Well girls (and you guys if you are reading) we are back to the year in Iraq - the year of 'Mom's going to bite off all her fingernails with worry ' time again...for those of you who don't know, my son, Sgt. W. Eric Rodman, is a soldier in the US Army. This is his third tour of duty over there...the first time was in 2003 when the war began - that's right, he saw the 'shock and awe' campaign take place...the second time was two years later and now he is back again in 2009...many people think they might know what the military families go through - you might empathize - but truthfully, it is all you think it might be and more - You anguish and worry and say many late night prayers to the Good Lord to send all his angels to your son (or daughter) each and every day so that they will come home with all his fingers and toes...Here is Eric and his gorgeous wifey, Nette..won't they make me the most beautiful grandchildren? If he could just stay home and focus on that - oh now that would make me a happy Momma! And no matter what, it is his wife who goes through the most pain during this time, although they live in Germany and love it - I know for her, it is just not the same when Eric is away even surrounded with all that beauty and Europe right at her front door...

So what do I do to comfort him and remind him I love him and am thinking of him while he is in harm's way? Well of course, I make him quilts! - for his unit and him and anybody else he asks me to make one for! Now, in the past I had ALOT of help because of my good buddies in Savannah, GA - but I am still kind of new to Fernandina Beach, FL and don't really know many quilters here - so I got to thinking about how I am going to make all these quilts this time... and how to make it fun and maybe get to know some more of you - and I got an idea! What we usually do is take their Platoon Emblem and incorporate it into their quilts - this time he has a REALLY cool one - and here it is...Isn't that so neat?


Well so now I am kinda of thinking of all of you out there and how you might want to help me out in designing a lap size quilt for his plattoon - I am thinking we will take the three best ideas and post them here for you to vote on and then whichever receives the most votes will win a great prize from Lollipops Designer Bindings website! Like a $100 gift certificate - how does that sound? so help me design it and then that will make this whole process a little less lonely for me and hopefully I get to meet more of you online - so come on girls, jump on in and give me your thoughts! I can't wait to see what you all come up with...and maybe a few of you might even want to help make them? if I supply all the fabric? let me know - many blessings and warmest stitches - Laurie M.

Doing Up Your Denim - Viking Sew Sunsational Jan 2009

There are some unique opportunities out there ladies to have special times of learning about our craft of sewing and embroidering and quilting and Viking's Sew Sunsational Event in Cocoa, Florida is just one of those experiences.

Each year, Viking Store Manager and Creator of the event, Peg Gowen and her Area Manager Priscilla Haga, put together a 'Sunsational' week of fabulous teachers, classes, shopping and of course, great food! I don't know how she does it, but Peg consistently delivers a return on your investment of a few hundred dollars for this week-long event that will change the way you use your sewing & embroidery machine forever! Headliners like Me & My Sister Barb and Mary were there along with sewing giant Linda McGehee - what a thrill to take classes with these women who are fun and inspirational and sew willing to share their tips and secrets to successful sewing and quilting...

This year I taught a special Dazzling Denim workshop, introducing women to the incredible new Majestic Hoop for the Viking Designer Diamond. This hoop enables you to complete the entire back of a denim jacket or vest ALL AT ONCE! Unfortunately, I left my camera in my bag upstairs but I am hoping the ladies will send me photos of their finished projects...I DO have photos of the samples I made for the event (and for other events throughout the year with AQS) - I tell you this was impressive to see all the different colors and ideas the women came up with the dress up their denim!



We used Anita Goodesign's Roses II CD - I created several designs in 4D Embroidery and then we worked with these designs to fit onto the backs of the jackets and vests the ladies brought with them. In addition, a few of the attendees wanted to try out another fabulous new design group for the Viking - the embroidery couching designs which use a special couching foot and Viking designed motifs. I created a beautiful design from the 'freebie' that comes with the Special Couching Kit and, using yarns that are made especially for this purpose, we embroideried couched a large design on the back of a jacket, again, all at once in the large Majestic Hoop - I LOVE that hoop!


Now of course, we also spend a considerable amount of time embellishing edges, cuffs and necklines with my Lollipops bias binding - I introduced a new way of using it - you gather or ruffle it (we used a ruffler foot). This is sewwwwwwwww easy to do and the results are impressive - and such an easy way to dress up your denim! You simply open up the bias and iron it so that the raw edges are now together - attach the ruffler, set it on 6 for a nice even ruffle and let 'r rip! see the pix of this method! it is fun and I just love the result! You can use it to create a flower (put a button in the middle), finish edges, tuck into hemlines, ruffle the edges a quilt - I mean there are LOTS of possibilites! We also embellished with buttons and crystals - oh they are so pretty but unfortunately do not come across well in
these pix. Here are some more pictures from another project...showing the gathered bias...







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So, just touching base - meant to tell this story LAST month but I guess I am a lousy blogger! the idea is so fun but still kind of new to me so I have to get used to doing it more regularly...


I hope you all are busy sewing, piecing, quilting, designing, having fun out there - please let me hear from you and what you are creating! that is the best part of my job....hearing from you!


Pray for our soldiers - they are all our sons and daughters!


Warmest Wishes,


Laurie