marie-madeline studio

the countdown!

Well, it's almost time!  Lord willing in less than a week we'll be heading off to Kansas City for our first-ever Quilt Market as vendors!  Paps and Nanny are due in within the next few days.  Everything that needs to be sewn is sewn --- including some more than once because they just 'weren't working' with everything else.  The beginning of next week should be pretty full with setting up a trial booth in the yard (or somewhere!).  We are sooo excited, and very grateful for the opportunity!

The picture above is a close-up of one of applique tees that's waiting patiently to brighten up our booth.  It's the cupcake applique that's included in our kitty mae skirts pattern.  Instead of doing a cute stitch on the sewing machine we decided on a hand-done blanket stitch, like the one we showed on our flower tee tutorial.  And we added a bit of yellow lace and three french knots on the icing for good measure.

Talk more later!!! xox

A Fabulous Friday

Here's what we've been loving!  How 'bout YOU??? xox the Long ladies

{achaia's picks}

1. suitcases piled high (the higher the better!)

2. my new sweater... I can't wait to get it in the mail

3. Frank Sinatra

4. Oxfords - anyway you cut them, they're fabulous

{abiah's picks}

1. braids in my hair...

2. good food

3. my new maxi skirt from Boden!

4. dancing

{kristie's picks}

 

1. buttons, buttons, and more buttons

2. Cath Kidston fabrics

3. one of my favorite movies

4. a bit of humor

{apphia's picks}

1. the perfectly happy pink cardigan

2. cutest ponytail ever

3. maybe someday...

4. I've got to try these

{abigail's picks}

1. love this combination!

2. my new tee

3. the bunting that Abiah & I made for our room.  We love the word LOVE.

4. our littlest friends

A very happy birthday to Apphia!

We'll say the obvious -- we love our Apphia!  She's a wonderful, Godly, sweet, talented woman.  We can't imagine life without her.  Thank you for being you, Phi!  We wish you the most beautiful 24th year that anyone has ever seen!!

Here are 24 things you might not know about Apphia....

-She loves to read

-Was the first granddaughter born into the family (on both sides!)

-Is a perfectionist

-She's the only one of us kids that has had her tonsils out (oh, and we have to mention that she would hardly eat anything for weeks after they were taken out!  We finally talked her into a PopTart.)

-Designs and hand-drafts all of marie-madeline studio's sewing patterns (shameless plug)

-Loves shades of taupe, blush, and pink

-J.Crew is one of her favorite stores

-Won 4-H Grand Champion in fashion review (jr. division) when she was in 5th grade

-Wore braces and headgear (that headgear wasn't always pleasant)

-She feels things very deeply

-She loves to stay up late

-But hates to get up early

-Has a scar on her knee from cutting herself with a pocket knife when she was a little girl

-She never does anything half way

-Practically collects sewing patterns (we're not kidding!)

-She loves a good blonde joke

-Classic Coke is her very favorite

-She likes to eat cold pizza for breakfast

-She encourages her younger siblings to always do and be their best

-Loves to wear cowboy boots

-She laughs easily

-She irons more than anyone else in the family (we are all impressed)

-Was somewhat of a tomboy when she was younger (she grew out of that quite some time ago!)

-She's very loving

 

Happy, happy birthday, Apphia Jade!  We pray The Lord's richest blessings on you in the year ahead.

love always~ xox Mom, Kay, Absie, & Bug

Titanic 100

The Titanic 100 was a perfectly wonderful experience in every way!  We still haven't stopped talking about it yet.  We gathered with a little under 600 people in Branson, Missouri, to remember and honor the heroism displayed on Titanic's decks as she went down.

There were lots of wonderful events that we were so happy to be a part of including a special trip to the amazing Titanic Museum, visiting with many reenactors, wonderful lectures by some of our favorite speakers, a screening of A Night to Remember (which you really need to see!), a special children's play  commemorating 'women and children first', music by Charlie Zahm, the San Antonio Darlings, Paddy Walsh and the Boilermakers & the boys from Third Class, and many more!

The wonderful event culminated in a fabulous White Star dinner on the Branson Belle showboat as we cruised around Tablerock Lake, at the exact moment Titanic struck the iceberg that sent her down.  Most of us in early 1900s-inspired clothing, naturally.  We girls were so happy to have the opportunity to make our dresses for the occasion, and pull out some of our vintage rhinestone jewelry.  And, Mom got to wear her paternal grandmother's haircomb and maternal grandmother's rhinestone pin.  Dressing for the occasion was just icing on the cake!

As we said earlier, the whole experience was beyond wonderful, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to have joined in.  It was definitely a few days to remember always!

Hope you enjoyed a peek at it! Hugs-- xoUs

Barefoot Roses is back!

We're back from the Titanic 100!  An absolutely wonderful time was had, and we can't wait to share some pictures with y'all.  However, right now, since the pictures need to be gone through a little we will talk about some grand new fabric that just came in!

Does anyone remember Barefoot Roses by Tanya Whelan???  It came out a few years ago, and was Tanya's first line for FreeSpirit fabrics.  Well, this extremely popular line is BACK in the great pink and green colorways that we all love.  And, of course, we got the entire line, so go check it out!

Back again soon, Lord willing, so hang tight! xox the Long ladies

our spring break!

Our spring break a couple weeks ago can surely be labeled as "refreshing".  Although we absolutely LOVE what we do (and, naturally, there's always so much to do), it's always great to get to step away from everything and just laugh, chat, see family and friends, eat yummy food, stare at beautiful wildflowers (evidence: above), snap pictures, shop, play Mexican Train Dominos, watch a movie with friends, relax, stay up late, eat donuts and coke for "brunch", and swim in the hotel pool. (Which we did precisely twice, because once was just not enough.)

Oh, and we got to make pizza with this little sweetheart! A very happy break indeed.

hugs! xo US

P.S.~ Oh, oh, oh!  We almost forgot to mention here on the blog that you'll find all marie-madeline studio fabrics 20% off through April 6th.... happy sewing! xox

A Fabulous Friday.

Some of the things we're currently loving.....

{apphia's picks}

1. the perfect white dress

2. a night-time party

3. a piece of the past (WW2)

4. mercury glass

{abigail's picks}

1. my voile skirt

2. Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven

3. a sweet, vintage dress

4. voile with an old fashioned feel

 

{achaia's picks}

1. sparkles

2. a vibrant shade of blue

3. my new camisole

4. Greek wool tapestry blanket 

{abiah's picks}

1. riding a vespa in Italy

2. Pearl Harbor goodbye

3. cute, oversized clutch

4. Roman Holiday

{kristie's picks}

1. rhinestone jewelry

2. Mountain Dew

3. Errol Flynn

4. pearl buttons

A Fabulous Friday.

Happy Friday to you! xoxx

PS... We plan on going on Spring Break next week, so we won't be blogging much.  Hopefully though, we'll drop in late next week.  See you soon! xo

{abiah's picks}

1. tropical colors are so happy

2. a true, beautiful quote

3. blazers

4. Audrey Hepburn's hair is too cute!

{kristie's picks}

1. happy, red house

2. jean jacket

3. Cath Kidston wallpaper

4. Rancho Viejo Mexican food

{abigail's picks}

1. long hair

2. poplin shirt

3. dancing

4. my new Toms

{apphia's picks}

1. soft floral prints

2. someday I want to see Italy

3. blue ikat from Dear Stella

4. one of my all-time favorite books

{achaia's picks}

1. split stripes maxi dress

2. Three Violent People

3. Gina Lollobrigida's outfits

4. throwback Dr. Pepper

Going Through the Era's Historical Sunday: WW2 Hero

A portrait of Audie Murphy in his Class A uniform as an army captain.

Well, Ashley is again putting on a fabulous event, and I have to join in as often as possible!  Today is 1940s Historical Sunday, so I chose to share my favorite World War 2 hero, Audie Murphy.  I'm terribly notorious for making my writing waaaayyy too long (when in high school my papers were always about 2000 more words than they were supposed to be!), so I'll skim over things and make this as brief as possible.

Audie L. Murphy was the most decorated soldier of World War 2 --- in fact, to this day he is the most decorated US soldier ever.  Joining the army at the age of 17, Audie fought in 7 major campaigns of World War 2, was given a "battle field" commission as 2nd Lieutenant, was wounded three times, and survived.  Audie personally killed 240 Germans, and was one of the only two soldiers left in the orginal company at the end of the war. He received every decoration his country could give (some of them more than once), including some from the French and Belgium governments -- 33 decorations and awards in total.  Audie was awarded the highest award that a soldier can receive, the Congressional Medal of Honor, on August 9th, 1945, just after his 19th birthday.

In 1955 Audie's amazing story was made into a movie that was based on his autobiography.  The movie, To Hell and Back, featuring Audie playing as himself, was a box office hit and the highest grossing picture for Universal Studios until 1975.  Audie L. Murphy was without a doubt a true hero.

xox Achaia

Daffodils in February

It sure brightened our Friday evening when Joe brought these in!  Whoever heard of daffodils in February???

Back again soon! xoxo