Sounds of Summer

It’s summertime! Lora and I grew up on The Beach Boys. We sang all summer long to our Beach Boy albums. We knew every word and sang those songs over and over and over. I’m sure we drove our parents bonkers. At sixteen, full of beach songs, we’d load our little Topper sail boat on top of our used 1971 Dodge Demon (which we bought for $500 of hard-earned babysitting money) and head to Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton, CA. We’d sail or lay on the beach, thoroughly enjoying our Sum Sum Summertime. We were so cool.

Forty-five years later, I’ve been listening to The Best of The Beach Boys Sounds of Summer on YouTube. And I’m singing along at the top of my voice. “I wish they all could be California giiiiirrrrllllsss.” Our first car, that old 1971 Dodge Demon, is worth $34-60K now. Hindsight being 20/20, I wish we had kept that old clunker. [We had to pump the brakes half the time in order to stop. We used a flashlight to check the dashboard at night. A little “butterfly” piece would get stuck in the air intake and make the car stall out, but Lora could fix it in a couple minutes. All the guys at school thought she was a motor-head but that really was all she could fix. lol.] It’s hard to see the future value of some things. More than cars get precious with age, you know.

How you holding up? Need a little beach music? Remember, the older you get, the more precious you are. You’ve a lot to offer. Your community needs you. Check out a guild, church group, garden clubs, Girl Scouts – so many different groups are looking forward to connecting with a rare precious hottie, like yourself.

I Love Us in August

The next block to the free “I Love Us” Sew Along is available, I Love Us in August. I Love Us February through August are now ready for download. I had a 90 day expiration for each month but more quilters kept joining so I haven’t expired any of the blocks yet. I changed it to 120 days, but you can still download February’s block. Jump in anytime! The water’s warm.

What’s New?

Welcome to the THREE YARD QUILT series by Material Girlfriends! Choose three fabrics, a light, medium, and dark (one yard of each) to make the fun quilts in this series! All are ‘Throw’ size, great for a baby quilt, a reading quilt for a child (or adult), over a chair or sofa, or a gift for a loved one. 

We named the pattern series in the military phonetic alphabet. It was a nod to my sweet father-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Charles F. Norton, who passed away last year. He loved using the military phonetic alphabet anytime he had to spell something over the phone. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. I haven’t written or even designed that many patterns quite yet. We have 3YD Alpha, 3YD Bravo, 3YD Charlie, and 3YD Echo. (3YD Delta and 3YD Foxtrot are still in the writing phase.)

These patterns are geared to be beginner friendly. The clear and detailed cutting and sewing diagrams make the block assembly quick and easy!

3YD Kits

We have 3YD kits available for $35.99. However, the kits are really 3 1/2 yards total. We include 1/2 yard for binding. The pattern is sold separately. Backing and batting are not included in the 3YD kits.

Lollipops and Gumdrops Quilt Pattern

Also new to our online store is Lollipops & Gumdrops. This pretty quilt uses the Hoffman 885 Dots Sunset collection, plus 1 1/2 yards of a light background. (I have the background in stock. Let me know if you’d like me to make you a full kit. I’ve been busy with my yard so I didn’t get full kits made just yet.)

Ad Astra Quilt Pattern

Ad Astra is our dog’s name. She is a red Border Collie and belongs to our youngest son, Joshua. When Josh picked her out and brought her home, she had literal stars in her eyes. He named her Ad Astra, which is latin for “To The Stars”. We call her Addy for short. (No, I didn’t make her this quilt. I just liked her name.) Ad Astra uses the Hoffman 885 Ocean 25 fat quarter bundle plus 2 3/4 background fabric and 1 1/4 yard of border. (I have the background and border in stock. Let me know if you’d like me to make you a full kit.)

Precious with Age

Since we are on the subject of “Old is the new New,” have you checked out the Grandma Era trend? There are lots of articles on the internet regarding the Grandma Era. Just google “Grandma Era” or “Granny Era” for more information. Young adults are learning vegetable gardening, crocheting, knitting, embroidering, cooking from scratch, sewing, and quilting. They are learning these ‘new hobbies’ from women from our generation. Are you undervaluing your skill sets? Your quilts? Think again! The old clunker has a high ticket value! You’ve a lot to offer!

I wish we all could be California Giiiiiirrrrllls. I wish we all could be California…

Singing with my Singer,

Lisa Norton