Tuesday was my Mom's birthday. After lunch with friends my sister and I took her to see the Crazy Quilts at teh Iowa Historical building. They were fantastic. Here are just a few of the closeups I took. Both my Mom and my sister Jan love making crazy quilts so they got lots of ideas.

The first picture is Mom with her newest great grand daughter Kali Mae (Mae is Mom's middle name, too).

Here's a fun new sample called Decadence. It would make a nice little table topper.

Charlie and I drove out to Blair Nebraska this afternoon. We both graduated from Dana College which closed recently due to financial difficulties. We spent some happy years there (we were married the Summer after my Sophmore year) and wanted to see it again. It makes us both sad that it is closed.

Even though it was cold, the sun shone most of the time and we enjoyed the drive. On the way home we stopped at Desoto Bend National Wildlife Refuge hoping to see some eagles. I've gotten hooked on watching the Eagle Cam at Decorah. The first egg is supposed to hatch on April 1st. You can check it out at www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/ .

Mardell finished quilting Becky's quilt made completely from my Prairie Homefront fabric. She found a picture of an old quilt in a book and together we drafted the block. I love her sashing.

I have submitted the designs for my next line - no word yet on when fabric will be available. We're still tweaking the colors.

I finally got to visit our Danish Imigrant Museum for the Grete Schioler Textile exhibit. It was really impressive and I enjoyed it very much. Her works will be on display through July 10. For more information visit http://www.danishmuseum.org/ . Of course, I was most attracted to the two or three that could be csalled quilts in the exhibit but all were beautiful.

Last week Carol completed this sample for our Box of Chocolate kit. I love a pink and brown quilt. This one is lap sized, but consider it for an heirloom baby quilt. Pink and brown quilts are so popular for nurseries now.

Baby quilts are certainly changing. I'm never surprised anymore at what the young mothers choose. Brown in combination with pink or aqua or green is prevalent and they certainly don't always choose a "baby" print. Just as they seem to want unusual names, they also want one of a kind nurseries.

We try to have kits for babies in many colors and styles, but we're open to helping you choose the fabrics for any nursery project.

Several years ago my Mom designed these herb embroideries for kitchen towels. I always thought they were such nice designs. Feeling Spring like, I redid them and put them into this little wall quilt. They'll really fit into my kitchen. Of course we made kits.

Speaking of Spring, this first day turned out to be pretty nice in the late afternoon. Charlie and I spent a few hours outside and just got started on the yearly task of picking up all the downed branches and sticks. It felt good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.

We had a fun day yesterday celebrating National Quilt Day with our free stashbuster class.

Carol completed this flannel throw using Moonlight Lodge by Holly Taylor for Moda. It has the lodge look but is very refined.

There's still time for you to join us for our free stashbuster class on Saturday for National Quilt Day. Just give us a call 712-764-7012.

Nadine made this really cute rain cape for her great grand daughter Cassidy using one of our fun vinyl covered fabrics.People are coming up with all sorts of uses for the fabric.

We have a great group from Nebraska enjoying our Retreat Center this weekend. When I went home tonight they were all sdet up and sewing like crazy!

Carol finished this sample for her grandson, Grant who's in Cub Scouts. We're calling it Scout's Honor.

I worked with Carol today and she and I pulled fabrics for a black and white queen sized quilt. I'll be showing you a photo soon.

Don't forget to sign up for our free Stashbuster Class on National Quilt Day March 20. See the Events page on our website www.prairiestarquilts.com .

I just added five new kits to our website http://www.prairiestarquilts.com/ . From top to bottom they are Indian Creek, ABC's, Fifi and Fido, A Star is Born and Tara Revisited. We have a policy here that we usually don't make a sample unless we plan to make kits for it. This requires lots of planning and extra work, but we think it is just one more way to provide good service for our customers.

Kits aren't for everyone but there are some real advantages. For instance, I love selecting my own fabric and tweaking patterns. But I also enjoy having a few kits on hand for that odd little bit of sewing time that I might find - I can just grab a kit and get started without sorting through my fabric collection. For those who have a hard time with fabric selection, a kit allows them to know what the finished quilt will look like. Also, we have many travelers stop by and they often do not have the time it takes to choose all the fabrics for a project. Kits can sometimes save you money. Most patterns will have a minimum of 1/4 yard for yardage. If you really don't need that much of a particular fabric, we can put in just the amount you need - this is especially true for quilts like Tara Revisted.