New Give-away Coming Soon!

Dear Friends:

Give-aways have become quite popular in the blogging/quilting world and I would like to participate and make someone happy to receive a free gift in the mail.  I hope you'll agree that snail mail is still very fun to receive!

Please stay tuned, as I'm formulating the give-away.  It will take place very soon.  I'll let you know what's coming up and if you are not on my mailing list through my website, please be sure to sign up here.

Anyone Up For Winning A Quilt?! . . . for FREE?!

Remember Dana of Old Red Barn Co.? We profiled her in our September NuzLetter. Well, as of today, she is giving away 3 quilts through her blog.



Simply click on the link on my sidebar and it will take you directly to her blog where you can sign up to win one of the following quilts. You can also find out a little more about the quilts and Dana gives you tips on how you can increase your chances of winning.




This is my Candy Bar Road pattern. I designed and constructed the quilt top especially for this giveaway. Isn't Dana's photography fantastic?




This pretty quilt was designed and made by my friend Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts:

So go over there now and sign up. That's all you have to do, unless you'd like to do a little more for extra entries . . . Have fun participating in this free giveaway and I hope you win!

Soup Weather . . . or not?

I can't believe it's November 1 and we haven't had our first snow fall in Colorado. It's been in the 60's/70's over the past week and I've been on this soup-making kick . . . that is, if you think making it twice in one week is considered a "kick". This is the last one I made: Minestrone. It's one of those packaged versions with dried beans and a seasoning pack. This one called for a small can of crushed tomatoes. I added one, plus a can of diced tomatoes. It also called for 3/4 cup of pasta. I was pre-occupied as I was making the pasta portion of the soup and accidentally poured the entire pound of pasta in (talking on the phone or something). What do you do at that point? Pull out what you weren't supposed to put in? Nope. Just go with it. I think it looked prettier than it would have with the little bit they said to use. The bread is a multi-grain and went perfectly.

The first soup I made days earlier was a Northwest Lumberjack green pea. That called for carrots, celery, and onion sauteed in margarine. I sauteed it in Smart Balance, then added it to the rest of the soup that had already been cooking. It was so delicious. No picture this time. I'm trying to be a better blogger and am receiving great Blogging Coach lessons from my friend Dana at Old Red Barn Co. Thanks, Dana! ;)

Now Showing This Week at the International Quilt Market

This quilt design is called: Bachelorette Party! It is made with RJR Fabrics' Soiree line that came out in September. It will be showing in RJR's booth at the International Quilt Market.

You can purchase the pattern for this quilt on our website, SuzGuz Designs. Be sure to check out the Green/Lt. Blue/Brown colorway of this quilt, as well.



Showing in Quilting Treasures' booth, the following quilt is made with fabrics designed with Norman Rockwell's artwork. The line is called Rowdy Kids and I named the quilt design, Fond Memories. If you click on the pictures, you can see a closer view of the panels used. In addition, be sure to check out the outside border . . . kids hanging out of car windows.

Quilting Treasures will have a free pattern on their website in November 2008, so you can re-create this quilt, if you are interested.



This young girl, sitting outside the Principal's office, sports a shiner . . .




And the young boy in this frame, concerned for his best friend, patiently waits for the Vet . . .



This is another Quilting Treasures line designed by Julia Cairns called Joyful Days. I named this quilt Joyful Village. It shows off the colorful variety of fabrics you can get with this line and it, too, will be a free pattern available on the Quilting Treasures' website in November 2008, and is also hanging in their booth during International Quilt Market.




All quilts are quilted by Russ Adams of The Back Porch Quilters.

What we did last weekend . . .

Seriously . . . is this not the cutest puppy you ever saw? Meet Maisy . . . our youngest.


And Boomer . . . he's so pretty, even though he could use a good bath after running around in the mud . . .


Erv and I loaded up the SUV with our two dogs and some extra jackets (okay, Erv loaded up the SUV) and drove up to one of our favorite spots to visit: Estes Park, CO, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park is a charming little town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. That is where The Stanley Hotel is located.


The Stanley is where the inspiration for the movie The Shining was gleaned (eek!). The story goes that Stephen King wrote the outline of the story while staying there with his wife.

We are so fortunate to live so close to one of the most beautiful national parks in the country.



I love this shot . . .



And it was so pretty in this area (wish you could see this in person . . . it's so much prettier!) . . .




And this area was very cool . . . we were heading up Trail Ridge Road (the road that takes you from Estes Park, over the Rocky Mountains, to Grand Lake, CO). The road was closed further up, due to snowy weather. I really liked this shot because where we had pulled over, there was no snow on the ground. Then just ahead and into the bend in the road, the weather had changed.




I took over 200 pictures that day. And finally, on our way home before leaving Estes, we took the puppies to a dog park for a good run . . .

Houston International Quilt Market and Block-of-the-Month News

The International Quilt Market, which takes place in Houston next week, is such an exciting event. My dear friend Kari Ramsay, of Fresh Cut Quilts, will have her first booth there, so if you are a quilt shop owner or will be attending the show under other circumstances, please be sure to stop by her booth and say hello. She's a great gal who has some great designs, so please check her out and give her support for her first time displaying her lovely quits and patterns.

Unfortunately, I will not be attending this year's Market. But that's okay, as I have lots to work on. I'm talking with a fabric company about doing a block-of-the-month using their fabrics, then distributing the pattern through their sister company. I'll actually be reviewing the fabrics that will be out during Market, after Market. The next week will give me time to wrap up my ideas for this project, which I am very excited about. In addition, I will be hosting a block-of-the-month on my website. I should have the designs complete within the next 4 weeks, so this should be a fun one to participate in, as it will be ready to go on January 1st. Anyone can participate and if someone decides to join later in the year, the patterns will still be available. I will be charging a minimum (very minimum!) fee because I will be using a third party to deliver the blocks to each club member and the funds will go toward that cost. Using the third party should eliminate any delivery problems we had over the past year with returned e-mails due to problems on the receiver's end. I'll talk more about this real soon!

SuzGuz Designs will have 4 quilts at Market. I know we'll definitely have two, but I believe a third quilt design of mine will be in Quilting Treasures' booth. The 4th quilt will be in RJR's booth. Again, if you are attending, please ask to see our quilts in QT's and RJR's booths! Say hello to Donna for me at Quilting Treasures', and Beatriz at RJR's booth.

Everything Looks Better in White

My husband Erv and I have a running joke, how I believe you can take anything, paint it white, and it will look fantastic! I have tried to do something with this blog to make it look good and, not that I'm there yet, but . . . I just needed to paint-it-white!

I heard on a program, many years ago, that chefs love to use white plates to show off their creations well. I've always stood by this simple rule when it comes to serving up my own creations in the kitchen, but I've also kept it in the back of my mind whenever I look at a beat-up piece of furniture, longing for a new life. So when you're out at a second-hand shop or an antique mall, or happen upon a good yard sale, keep this simple rule in mind and you may end up with a diamond in the rough.