I'm pleased to announce-

This is what has been keeping me so busy lately. I am ridiculously excited and can't wait to show you more!

Easter Adventure

I'd been hoping for an opportunity to head south a bit to take some quilt pictures in the red rocks of Utah. After a quick chat with the hubs he told me about a place only 30 minutes away- much better than the 2 hour drive I was thinking of.

After church yesterday we loaded up the kids for our afternoon adventure. Oh you'd have thought we were taking them to dump them off in the middle of nowhere (although the thought crossed my mind a time or two) with all the whining and complaining. We stood firm and told them this was not an optional outing- we were going to have some F.F.F (Forced Family Fun!)

One look at our surroundings and they jumped right in. Climbing around and exploring the lower area was really fun and easy but to get a good picture of my quilt we needed to venture up a bit. 

The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. We were all in T's and perfectly comfortable. It was a gorgeous spring day. 

Here the two boys climbed up to explore a crevasse. Don't you love the halo around boy #2. ;o) 

One thing I forgot to mention was the choice of footwear on this trip. I'd asked the hubs if I could wear flip flops and he said "You can if you want" so I did. I didn't imagine a day of hiking. I just thought he would climb on a rock, hold the quilt while I snapped a couple pics and that would be it. The girl also chose shoes more fitting for a little stroll down a path- not rock climbing.

It was quite an adventure!

We had a hefty climb up the rocks before coming to a landing towards the top. This was the view off to the East (? if my internal compass is on cue)

And the view off to the West (?) 

At one point on our way down we had to go through a little tunnel/cave

It was a bit of a squeeze

But we made it just fine.

Probably my favorite part of the trip was seeing these three work together. After all the complaining about having to go on this "forced-family-fun" outing, they sure had a good time. The boys were so caring and helpful to their sister as she maneuvered across the rocks. Not only is she smaller but like I mentioned before, her inappropriate footwear made different stages of the hike very difficult. The kids stepped up and relied on each other. It was a nice thing for this Mom to see since most of their interactions on a daily basis involve teasing and arguing. It was a good reminder that "Herrick's can do hard things!"

You can get an idea of the are we hiked from this picture. We started on the path to the right. Once it started going up the ledges we kept climbing. We climbed up the area to the right of the tree branches and around the tall rock (just left of the tree) and came out on the far left on the other side of the rocks. 

We all had such a great time and can't wait to go back when the girl and I have good shoes on and I don't have to carry a quilt with me. 

I did manage to get a few great shots of "Promise Ring" on the red rocks though. :o)

HAPPY SEWING!!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Last fall in Houston I had the pleasure of visiting with some of the amazing people from Fons & Porter. Our chit-chat turned into a couple publication opportunities and I am so excited to finally be able to share them with you!

The Summer 2014 issue of Easy Quilts will feature my pattern "Blue and White" using the gorgeous prints from Michael Miller Fabrics. 

I can't even tell you how much I love these prints. They are so out-of-my-box but I fell in love with them and loved sewing up this quilt. The pattern is so simple but the results are sophisticated and stylish.

The other pattern is found in the summer issue of Quilting Quickly. "Scrappy Duo" features the beautiful prints from Helen's Garden by my friend Tamara Kate. LOVE this collection! 

As soon as I saw these prints at market I just knew I had to play with them! These two charming quilts sew up so quickly and the best part is- you get two for the price of one!

Some day I'm going to get pictures of the actual quilts before I send them off so I don't have to resort to taking pictures of the magazine pages. :o)

One of the best parts about having a pattern published in a magazine is getting to see all the other amazing designs in the issue. Both of these mags have some seriously fun ideas and a couple I'm already mentally pulling fabric for. Any leisure sewing is going to have to wait for me since I'm up to my ears in market prep. But you can get started on "Blue and White" or the "Scrappy Duo" right away!

HAPPY SEWING!!