Margo Rose June 11, 2004 Session Start: Fri Jun 11 18:48:22 2004 * gladdy 13We are using protocol for this meeting so if you have a question, please just type a "?" If you have a comment just type "!" Please wait your turn and when you are recognized, state your question or comment then. I would like to introduce our guest speaker for tonight, Margo Rose Check out her web site, http://www.future-heirlooms.com Hello Everyone! Thank you for asking me to come! Margo, can you tell us alittle bit about yourself please? Well, let's see I'm a short fat grandma who happens to design quilts. I tell people that I learned quilting "under the frame" == and can show them the scars if they doubt me. I think I had a rather unusual upbringing -- my mother thought museums were better than school and my grandparents were "original" homesteaders in Kansas so I had a unique childhood to say the least I quilt, tat, crochet, needle point (design in all of those), love miniatures, history, archaeology -- hmm, about everything. I guess that's the basics -- I've had Future Heirlooms now for about 20 years Oh, well, -- we're doing the 6 month "Cleaning House" at Future Heirlooms on July 1st -- you can find new pages, new patterns -- a whole lot of fun stuff there And I guess the biggest thing is that I have a new web site also opening on July 1st. It's Wee Village Dot Com and that's where you're going to find everything Wee Village! I will warn everyone that I have a "antic" sense of humor (grin) In St. Louis you shared with us some of yourt echniques for brining the designs together in the class and with the transitions pieces. Will you share that with everyone Out of the Block? sure The Wee Village just grew -- literally -- in a pot of plants in my guest bathroom. I had mushrooms sprouting everywhere. That gave me the idea for the Wee Village -- and like those mushrooms, I've always thought that the quilts made with the houses should be individual pieces of artistry. That's why I've never shown off my own quilt -- I want quilters to do their own thing Now, THINK OUT OF THE BLOCK -- try putting the blocks so the edges hang over the sides of the block -- work whole cloth, applique all the pieces together into one big unit -- it's your village -- your imagination Try something new -- a new technique, something you thought of yourself, try colors or fabrics that you've never used before. How about making a Wee Cluster of houses on top of a doorway? Or a waterfall coming down into your aquarium? That's all Out Of The Block is -- do it your way because in YOUR Wee Village, it's right. Now in St. Louis, I showed quilters how I "layered" trees to form a backdrop for the houses, then overlapped one house on top of another to give a more dimensional feel to the work -- arrange things the way you want! I surf web photo pages and I find wee villages everywhere...so cool to see how different each one is. You should visit the Gallery at Future Heirlooms -- we're working on updating it. Or you can join the Wee Village Group on Yahoo. There are over 1300 quilters there all doing the WV or Olde Towne. How many Wee VIllage structures do you have planned? They are wonderful. I have been collecting your BOM ones and plan to get the rest a little later. Thanks for the BOM ones, sure makes it easier on the pocketbook. :-) I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA TASMIN! LOLOLOL Every time I think I'm done with the little houses, I think of another one that I just have to do! I know that this year there are 24 wee Houses in Olde Towne and I think there will be another Pin Block for this year. There is a secret behind the 24 blocks -- and no one has guessed it yet. Margo..I love all the Wee Village patterns and find I want and (need) them all..thanks for the designs Thankyou Lyn I looked in the Gallery and the quilts are wonderful...are most of them needleturn or fused applique? They use a wide variety of techniques Mariel -- and often combine them on the same block That's another facet of THINK OUT OF THE BLOCK -- don't bother with the little circles -- use buttons if you want (smile), embroidery, what ever you like! i just wanted to say how proud we all are of our very own msdesigns being spotlighted on your site :) Part of the fun we have in the Wee Village group is that I give out clues for the upcoming blocks. Would you like to have some of your own? Thank you DLS - I love having her on the Spotlight! There will be two blocks for download in July -- one of the clues is "Goes Up Gradually" Do all of the wee village designs come printed or do you have to order the CD You can order the individual printed packets from Future Heirlooms for both the Wee Village and Olde Towne. If you prefer to print them yourself, there are links so you can do so from quiltpatterns.com. Quilters Warehouse also carries the Wee Village do you do a lot of emblishing on the wee village's and if yes could you tell us about that please I DID NOT embellish my own blocks -- I left that to the quilters and boy! did they surprise me with what they did! The January Houses especially are something to behold -- they have scenes in the windows, lace curtains -- all kinds of things beads? Yes, they use beads extensively -- sometimes for snow glitter, fruit -- eyes -- all kinds of things. Mariel> On your site, it says that the BOMs are free...I couldn't find the link for the free stuff :( AW, Mariel, the link is ALWAYS on the picture of the newest Wee House on the main page. If you bookmark my web site, please bookmark the main page and navigate from there each month I tell everyone to do that because I have one web site that insists on linking directly to the download area and that steals my bandwidth. I have to change the name of the page each month to prevent it. Margo do you travel to the major shows and which ones Lorraine, I do not travel well. 4 years ago I had a series of heart attacks and once I was over that, they found cancer. I'm now cancer free but have bronchitus, halitosis and other defects of old age. I am going to be trying to make a few shows here and there in the coming year -- but as of yet, I don't have an agenda. LOLOL -- thank you Lorraine! I also have a 6 year old with apraxia -- which is why I work at home a lot of the time. do you have any new projects besides the villages that you can tell us about? NEW PROJECTS -- GRAB YOUR HATS LADIES! LOLOL On the drawing board -- three 20" angels, 14 snowflakes, a mama dragon, more celtic work with Cari Buziak! -- hmm, new medallions, there will be 11 (I think) new Camelot blocks in July Two new pegasus's planned this year, two new unicorns -- AND WE WILL BE DOING A SHORT BOM IN AUGUST! I'm already working on the BOM for next year -- and if you liked the Wee Village, I think you're going to love this have you ever considered doing a tv program ?? like on pbs ? so that other's may become aware of what you do and therefore become hooked on quilting ?!! I'd love to do a show -- but no one has ever asked me. Besides -- I look even fatter on the little screen than I do in real life! LOL LOL If they gave me a big screen to hide me from the chin down -- hehehe When did you first get the ideas for your Wee Village and Old Towne? Oh Mariel -- that is a story in itself. I had about fifteen plants that needed repotted -- and I used cheap potting soil. Every single plant popped up full of mushrooms! Our grand daughter was 14 months old and everything was going in her mouth so I picked mushrooms very carefully. One day it just kind of hit me -- I could see wee doors, windows -- little paths -- and the Wee Village was born It just kept growing on me -- even though the mushrooms finally stopped. The Olde Towne is a different story -- originally the project was called "The Wee Junkyard" LOL I wanted to see what the Wee Folk would use as their houses if they were near a Big Folk dump and well -- things started happening again Do you work up each block in fabric before posting the pattern? Nope -- Mariel -- I don't have time really, to sew. I do layouts but rarely any sewing. I leave that to a group of quilters who for some unknown reason put up with me and they test sew the blocks for me. I have others who help me edit them and get them ready for downloading too. i would love to hear more about the angels...i just love angels LOL -- it is a "tryptich" of angels m'dear -- they can be done together or singly. I really don't want to give away a lot of details on them yet because I am prone to changing things at the last minute. I will tell you that you should stock up on metallic embroidery thread, trims and other fun things You have a rather big adventure in the works. Would you like to share your dream? Oh my, you've heard about the retreat? O.K. -- everyone put on their "Dreaming Hat" Imagine a place that looks something like the house from Bonanza! LOL -- when you enter the lobby you find to one side a 24-7 "cafe" that also opens out onto an enclose patio with a huge central fireplace. If you turn the other way you'll discover a 24-7 quilt shop At the registration desk you can obtain your room -- one that you can share with up to 7 other quilters if you want to hold costs down. Each cabin has the usual amenities plus -- fold down ironing boards, cutting tables, fabric storage, computer hookups (electric quilt already installed) It will also have a mini kitchen and fridge for late night sewing sessions (grin). The best part will be the class rooms -- able to hold thirty quilters with cutting tables, irons and boards, sewing machine "desks" not tables, a raised speakers platform with sound, lighting and overheads sounds great Margo-- when does it open? LOL -- actually, I'm looking for land right now. wow great We also want to make this family friendly -- a largish pond suitable for DH to go fishing, a small sandy beach for swimming, a playground for kids -- hiking trails too You also have a link to EQ...do you design on EQ or what exactly does that involve? Also, you can order "kits" on your site...please explain what comes in the kits. :) Yes, I use EQ -- versions 3-4 AND 5 for various reasons. I also use Paint Shop Pro, Adobe and other assorted programs to turn out the patterns that you download The kits are not from me -- Kimberly Darwin of Batting A 1000 Hand Dyed Fabrics and I have been working together over 4 years now. She produces some of the best hand dyed fabrics I've ever seen and she "kits" each house for me. hello Margo! could you give us your web address again? THANKS FOR ALL YOUR INFORMATION You are awsome!! LOL -- thank you Mardelle -- actually, I think the quilters are pretty awesome! the address is: http://www.future-heirlooms.com and on July 1st Sandy Harris of Sundrop Designs who does the Wee Folk, Kimberly Darwin of Batting A 1000 and I will open our new web site -- Wee Village Dot Com Will this dream place happen, margo? where will it be? Sounds like heaven, to me. I might move in! LOL Ill be happy to clean rooms or do other work for FQs ! LOL -- I'm hoping that we'll have ground to break for it in the next 18 months Does Kimberly Darwin have a website? Yes she does -- http://www.battinga1000.com You can go to her web site directly from mine if you like I want to go tto that place too sorry pop up are happing\ LOL to the pop ups. Believe me, when it is ready I'll be blasting the news all over the place. I want it to be open year round too -- Can the wee village kits be purchased from your web site? No -- the kits come from Kimberly Darwin and I believe she ships in 24 hours, much as I try to do. We are separate business's that work together. Has the internet expanded your business? Or is the internet the only place you can get the patterns, kits and so forth? Also, where is your Dream village going to be geographically? MARIEL - I've only been on the Internet -- never a "brick and mortar" and I've sold patterns to every country except Africa, a few in the Orient and Middle East (smile). The Dream Village has several possible sites: We are looking for areas within 1 hour of an International airport, an area of at least 40 but as much as 360 acres with easy access to water. That means Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky are all in the running. i tried kimberly darwin link and can't get it to work . do you have another link i can try try this pontiac46750 http://www.bat1000.com/ Pontiac -- please write me privately at margo@future- heirlooms.com and I'll make sure you have the right link. does the Wee Village Countryside CD include all the patterns Margo? The Wee Village Countryside includes all the patterns for the wall hanging -- it does not have any of the Wee Village BOM patterns on it. Tell about Margo money please! MARGO MONEY! LOLOL MARGO MONEY -- this is basically how it works. You send me an order. I ship the order and with it you get about 10% of your total order back with the patterns in MARGO MONEY. Now, you can save the money or spend it right away -- the next time you order, just type in the serial numbers in the special instructions area of the CCNow order form and I will deduct that from your new order! If you order with snail mail, just send the money with your order form and deduct the total from your check to me. Do you take credit card orders, Margo? OOPS -- Credit and debit cards through CCNow only m'dear. Is Margo money good only on your patterns Margo? DAMIA -- NOPE -- check out Sundrop Designs AND Batting A 1000 Hand Dyed fabrics. Both Sandy and Kimberly have specials going where they accept Margo Money too! Margo-- you have been a delight! Thank you so much for coming and being a wonderful guest! I thank you for the chance m'dear -- this has been fun!