2017 Recap

Hello!  We are only a couple of days away from 2018 and I'm having a hard time believing that 2017 is over.  It has been a whirlwind thats for sure.  Trying to figure out how to be a momma and business woman has been my biggest challenge this.  Challenges are good and I hope to see what I can accomplish in the next year.   I was going through some of pictures and thought I would share some of my favorite memories....

I had one project inSpring Primitive Quilt and Projects called Worth Repeating....

October 20th was in Spring Quiltmania Simply Moderne 

May 26th was in Spring Quiltmania

Deirdre from Hat Creek Quilts by way of Australia came and taught at the shop!

I taught a some private sewing classes...

Our annual biggest and best show of the year 

Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio

The Streetsbrough Quilt Quild Show 

Hey look I even used the basket ball hoop to make my booth look cute... what ever it takes!

We had a great time at the Day in the Country at the Randolph County Fairgrounds...

Mom, Jaye and I took a plane all the way to Houston with my 10 month old... while Bubbie and Jaye Bird were hanging out in the hotel room I created this little booth!

We wrapped up the 2016-2017 Olive Grace Block of the Month and I introduced this years BOM!  Which will be starting at the end of January...

May 26th quilt was a big hit ...

The shop got rearranged for the annual Tea Party!

We Sent cards to St. Judes... really proud of how many we sent.   All you awesome customers who came in we sent 50 cards...

My sweet friend and colleague asked me to review her awesome new book Utility Quilting for Everyday Living by Sharon Holland!  Check out my last blog!!!!

My best accomplishment by far year to date is my daughter Jaye! My Joshua and I celebrated her first birthday on the 21st of December. Jaye hadn't gotten any of her teeth up until like three weeks ago so we are a bit grumpy but we are so happy to have a happy and healthy little girl!

At the moment I don't have any resolutions because to me those are pressure.  I have enough happening in 2018 and a lot of deadlines in the first few months... I will share more when I can.  Until the next time I write I wish you a very happy and healthy new year friends... Kori 

UTILITY-STYLE QUILTS FOR EVERYDAY LIVING BLOG TOUR

Hello sweet old and new friends,

Been a minute since I have blogged, Wow time flies when you are busy. I’m so honored to be a part of this blog tour, for the very sweet and talented Sharon Holland's, new book Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living (Landauer 2017).  I have a feeling that I may need to introduce myself, I will be quick, I’m Kori and I’m a pattern designer and quilt shop owner here in northeast Ohio in the rural town of Fowler. My eccentric little studio is in a one-room schoolhouse that sits in between a cornfield and the gingerbread house where I grew up! My passion is design and curating unique products to make awesome quilts and sewn goods! Well, enough about me because I am really excited to show you what I have made out of Sharon’s awesome book Utility Style!

Oh wait, let me back up one second. Sharon and I met at Quilt Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio while she was assistant editor of Sew-it and Quilt-it. I had a booth there and she came and asked me to submit something to the magazine. At that point though I didn’t think I was worthy of something like that but I guess Sharon saw something in me at the time that I didn’t in myself. Fast forward a couple of years and with some new courage and cheerleading from my loved ones, I was on my way to my first market to sell my patterns to quilt shops and hopefully make some great connections. One of my hopes was so to see Sharon and I thought to myself, if I see that sweet lady, I’m going to give her a submission to the magazine. Well I was surprised to find out that Sharon was at market on her own and finding her way to making her big start. (What’s weird is she just blogged about all this just the other day) I believe though our stars collided again and since that spring market Sharon and I have kept in touch. Funny thing is this October we ran into each other at the bus stop in Houston and she asked me to be part of this tour!!! So here we are...

{I planned on doing a big stitch to quilt with the Sue Spargo Dala thread but I think I will have mom add that later!}

this beautiful picture is Sharon's... 

I have chosen Viewpoint, the super fun modern table runner on page 31! Instead of the solid contemporary look she did with her runner, I did what she suggests in the introductions by using a large floral “to demand attention”.  The perks of having a retail store are keeping the ends of bolts and I just happened to have Sharon’s first line from Art Gallery Fabric “Gossamer”. As you can see I used many of her fabrics from this line and then added a few other goodies to make this table runner. My color version is very cottage and feminine. Speaking of color one of my favorite sections of Sharon’s book is her awesome explanation of the color theory on page 10. I felt like I was in color theory class all over again in college, plus I can here Sharon’s voice while I read it. For beginner quilters out there and for new sewists who feel intimidated by picking fabric and playing with color I highly recommend this book just for this reason on its own. I am super impressed! 

Viewpoint cuts out quick and goes together with ease, I tell you that if you need a gift for someone special this is a great project. I was planning on giving it as a Christmas gift but have decided that I’m keeping it for myself!

Anyway, this table runner could be cut in the morning, pieced in the afternoon and the next day quilted! I am a visual pattern maker so Sharon’s diagrams were great and her directions are awesome to follow!!! Like the book’s runner, I did simple line quilting.  Machine quilting on my Bernina is not my favorite because I’m a perfectionist and somehow it doesn’t always come out exactly how I want. However I’m thinking that I may pass this off to my mom in the near future and have her put some big stitches in to add a little extra texture and pizazz! Have you tired the utility quilt stitch yet?  If not look on page 33 again Sharon had great instructions. Side Note: Im lucky to have a mom who does an amazing big stitch and she has found that adding the big stitch after do the quilting is awesome because your project essentially is already basted.  My biggest challenge was making sure that my binding didn’t slip so my half square triangle border would look great and the points would be perfect just like Sharon’s!

I want you to go visit two websites:

The first is Sharon’s blog and website.  Get ready to be inspired…

https://www.sharonhollanddesigns.com/blog/utility-style-quilts-for-everyday-living-blog-tour

The second is Sharon’s Publisher if you want to buy yourself this great book! 

http://landauerpub.com/utility-style-quilts-for-everyday-living.html

I will be ordering Sharon’s book for my shop so if you local in the coming weeks pop on by to see Viewpoint and check out this awesome new book!  I hope to make a big announcment about Sharon coming to the shop this summer.  Sharon and I have some logistics to work out so please stay tuned. 

Next up on the #UtlilityStyleQuiltsFELTour tommorow  is Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Please though visit the other blogs and past blogs from the tour.  Here is the whole list:

Monday 12/4  Heidi Staples - Fabric Mutt

Tuesday 12/5  Amy Friend - During Quiet Time

Wednesday 12/6  Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Thursday 12/7  Amber Johnson - Gigi's Thimble

Friday 12/8  Karen O'Connor - Lady K Quilts Designs

Saturday 12/9  ME Kori Turner-Goodhart - Olive Grace Studios

Sunday 12/10  Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Monday 12/11  Sarah Maxwell - Designs by Sarah J

Tuesday 12/12  Jessica Swift - Jessica Swift

Wednesday 12/13  Lisa Ruble - Love to Color My World

Thursday 12/14  Cindy Wiens - Live a Colorfullife

Friday 12/15  Eleri Kerian - Sew and Tell Project

Saturday 12/16  Anjeanette Klinder - Anjeanette K

Sunday 12/17  Stephanie Kendron - Modern Sewciety

Monday 12/18  Christopher Thompson - The Tattooed Quilter

Tuesday 12/19  Susan Playsted - Homewood Home

Congrats Sharon on such a beautiful book and thank you for asking me to be part of the blog tour.  What an awesome heirloom to pass onto to your loved ones. When they read it they will hear your voice and flip threw the pages see your amazing talent!  

Until next Time friends...always be Creative!

Kori

Around the World Blog Hop

Right before Thanksgiving my friend Sue Spargo {http://www.suespargo.com/weblog2/?p=4166} asked me to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop! I was quite honored because the other two designers that she asked were Jen Kingwell and Valorie Wells.  No pressure or anything I told myself!  All kidding aside over the years Sue has become a great friend but also a mentor.  I have had the opportunity to take her classes as well as she has taught her amazing designs here at the shop!  You will not meet a more humble woman she is an incredible designer, patient teacher and amazing mother.  I could go on and on.  I encourage you to take one of her classes if you can't find one near you, you are in luck you can take a Crafty Class {www.craftsy.com/ext/SueSpargo_4793_D}!  Here is one of the classes she is offering...amazing right?

Most of you know me as a quilt shop owner but before that I was actually an interior designer.  When I started my business my goal was to eventually to design quilt and sewing patterns.  Even though I am not designing the inside of walls anymore I have felt the pulling to design.  In the past year I have been working towards that goal of getting back to designer.  The biggest challenge was deciding what Im really good at and what makes my patterns different from other patterns that are on the market. I had to focus. So I sat down and really thought about it.  Im really good at the the back stitch! I love to back stitch and my mom really encouraged me to add that to all of my designs.  Then I started playing with the wool thread that I bought from Sue and knew I had to use it in my own patterns!  The Genziana wool thread is amazing to do hand embroidery with.  I also use Cosmo embroidery floss and like stitching on patterned cotton.  Here is some up close progress work from two of my patterns that I debuted at quilt market in Houston!

The wool thread gives yours stitches a fuzzy feel and when stitching the thread glides great through the fabric.  A lot of people have a hard time believing that it is easy to work with but you just have to use shorter thread lengths!  As well as hand embroidery I love working with cotton and linen fabrics.  A lot of people ask me what my style is and I like to say I am somewhere between traditional and modern with a hint of vintage and whimsy. 

This leads me into what really inspires my designs and that is truly the places that I have been and the people who I love and have lost. The turquoise and white quilt is called "Kori and Abbie" and the Pillow is called " Spike and Curly".  The small wall quilt is called Camden.  When I set out on this designing adventure I knew right away that I would name the patterns after my inspiration.  I have found that what ever is going on in my life I tend to sketch and design that.  I have been working on blogging about each of my projects so in the next couple week pop on back to see why I named the above projects the way I did!  I will say that Abbie is my very close friend and I just found out I get to be her maid of honor in April and Camden is where Josh and I went on our honeymoon!  I tend to be a little up tight and thinking about the people that I love helps calm me and makes me appreciate each and every moment of life.  So why not use it as inspiration.  Here is a few images of what I have swirling in my brain right now... 

I have love for the sea and have been dreaming up a block of the month for a while.  I think you get the idea of what the theme may be.  I hope to debut it in Minnapolis at quilt market this spring.   I have it all sketched out just need to start stitching!

Now it's time to introduce you to a very talented lady named Kelly McCants but you may know her  also as Modern June!  Kelly is a kindred spirit, designer as well as a fellow vendor at the County Living Fairs shows that we do a few times a year together.  Her creative outlet is specializing in handmade housewares, selling unique fabric with a real love for Oil Cloth and writing lifestyle and sewing books! Thank goodness Kelly lives in Richmond, VA because we probably would get into a lot of trouble together! Monday December 15th she will be taking the turn on the Around the World Blog Hop!  Can't wait to see who she tags next!  Check out her blog: http://oilclothaddict.blogspot.com

I hope that you enjoyed getting to know me a little better.  Leave me a question below if you want to know more! Don't forget to check out Sue and Kelly's blogs.  Thank you Sue for asking me to be part of this awesome blog hop your confidence in me means so much... 

Until next time, Kori 

My Rose of Sharon

So this week I thought I would share with you the first quilt pattern that designed for Olive Grace Studios! This one is special for a lot of reasons.  I have originally named in Posey Pinwheel but as a really started working on my pattern line and started working on how I wanted to inspire people it made sense to name my patterns after people I love and loved and places where I have been. I could not be happier to introduce you to...

OG Pattern #001: Rose of Sharon Quilt & Pillow

I originally designed this quilt for a local quilt shop hop for the shop but last spring I reworked the pattern and added hand embroidery and a pillow to the pattern.  The pattern includes the quilt in sizes baby to king.  The pillow features hand embroidered ladybugs that dance around the pillow perimeter and I did fancy crazy quilt stitches around the flower petals.  I added buttons and a vintage brooch to the center to add some whimsy.  The reason that I named this quilt Rose of Sharon is because I have Rose of Sharon bush growing behind the quilt shop but most importantly because Sharon was my grandma.  She was a huge influence in my life.  Grandma Sharon was very young when she had my mom.  Against all odds though she raised a family and she ran a very successful business with only a 10th grade education.  That is what I call the American dream if I can be half the business woman she was I will be honored. I try to make her proud each day and I truly know that she is smiling and cheering me on from up above.  The other reason that this quilt is so special two years ago when Josh and I got married for each person who was part of our wedding we gave quilts to that I had made.  The original version of the quilt was in red...

The people who got this red Rose of Sharon and the original was my mom and dad.  They are a huge part of my business and without them Olive Grace would not be possible.  I only thought it was fitting to give them the first quilt I made with the OG stamp.  The pillow I thought was a perfect addition to the pattern.  Plus I really wanted to add my touch and specialty to the pattern and that was hand embroidery.  

I hope that you enjoyed meeting Rose of Sharon! See you next week and you can meet Esmeralda...