The Author

The Author
Brian Haggard

My Dyslexia

Having the skill to write, spell, and punctuate has never been my strong suit. Growing up as a young child I was always nurtured to be creative and artistic which came naturally to me but I could never quite grasp written language. I now know that it's a learning disabilty with a name: DYSLEXIA.



I write from the heart and I make my best effort to get the words on the page properly but as you'll see I don't always succeed. I ask you to enjoy what I write and post but to be understanding and kind. Brian

Things you want to know

Followers

Blogs I Follow

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Merry Christmas to you all.....

Well, a note to you all this has been a wonderful year, I am so happy to share it with you and as soon as I can I will.
There are many thing in the coming year that are going to prove to be difficult but I am so looking forward to then.
One that I can talk about is that in the fall next year there will be a new pattern book with my publisher C&T cant wait it truly been a labor of love.
Also We are getting moved in to our new studio and retreat center I hope you will all stop bye either bye taking a class or joining a Sewing bee with us.
I hope that the studio will truly be a place of living inspiration for creativity to grow.
Please keep following the blog for details.
Thanks to each and everyone of you who have had anything to do with the great strides in my career this year, I hope to not disappoint you in the coming year.

Please post your comments and share your thoughts I always love to read what you have to say.
Hugs and Grins from Brian
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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Hello out there in blog land its me...

I cant believe the new things that are happening I am so excited to share but until contracts are signed I have to keep my mouth closed,
as you know for me that is hard. LOL
Just wanted you to know that I have been to the Houston Quilt Market for my first time and it was overwhelming to say the least but in a good way. It was a new experience Book signings and meeting people that know what it is i do and love the ideas that I have brought to the table. I meet with a lot of people and it was the fastest days of my life. I got to meet Alex Anderson, Rachel Ashwell, and so many more people. Cant wait to do it again. Then I returned home to quilt talks one of then in Bloomington In that was one great group, a lot of fun had by all especially me.


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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Button Button Whos Got the Button


Buttons are a great passion of mine if that is not clear bye now LOL

The images on this quilt were made of buttons on my computer.

These images were made bye placing the buttons face down on the scanner bed and arranging then with old scissors and needle cases.

I have had lots of questions about weather the buttons have been sewed on or how did I put them on I am happy to report they were hours of hand sewing to make this border.

Disclaimer: ( no buttons were hurt destroyed or altered in any way in the making of this quilt)
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The Men of my Family

Some times a quilt can be just a small piece that shows a few family pictures these are the men of my family.


I created this wall piece with pictures of my Great grandfathers and I even snuck in a picture of my Dad Rich Haggard in the 50's this is one of my favorite pictures of my dad.

He is the one in the upper right hand corner hands on hips and head tilted back. All the buttons on this quilt are work buttons or trouser buttons from uniform or work related. The fabrics were chosen for the male look as well. The black stitching was to keep in the masculine feel of the whole quilt.

Maybe you should make a piece to honor your father or grandfather to day.


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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Etta Mae Special Day

This quilt was a work of love for the lady that made a great difference in my life my Great grandma, she was truly the matriarch of our family and she was great to show me how to sew small finger puppets and how to bake and definitely clean house witch I have forgotten.LOL






The picture is of her graduation in 1915 from Connersville High school IN she would be holding her diploma in her left hand and as you can see I own the very diploma so i had to take it to a copy shop because it was to big to put on my scanner to reduce it and then i could copy it on to fabric.

The small motifs around the edges are just out of my head. I can it doodling with thread. hope you enjoy.
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Saturday, October 8, 2011

This is what they mean the view from the top

Alright does anyone else see fabric made out of this for your next quilt? The tree tops are so cool from the top side. I hope to make fabric out of the photos and make a wonderful in-flight quilt.
Note: the leaves are fresher at the top of the tree I do know this because our pilot got close enough to grab some. What joy for all of us two year olds in that balloon. LOL
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Shadow dreams

This is so cool. The balloon casts a shadow on the ground as you are in flight from the sun as you drift along. It's just a shadow dream.

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Four crazy Fools

Well here we are four Crazy Fools really glad to be on the ground and make a toast to another great adventure. Smiles all around.
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words of Wisdom

This was in the hanger back at the airport It sure makes more sense after the flight. LOL
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Two hotties inflating a Balloon

OK. Here are two men that really have no clue what they are doing Pat on the left and Kevin on the right.
Pat was nice enough to do this for Kevin's and my birthdays. THANKS Pat for a great time had by all. (Unforgettable) that is what this was.
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Bucket list birthday flight

Check this off the list. Yes, I'm just saying someone just turned 51 but don't let him know I told you.

This week for Kevin's birthday his brother Pat, our dear friend Colleen, and myself took a hot air balloon ride. You must add this to your bucket list if its not already on it. Great fun had by all. We arrived at the Bloomington, IN airport to meet with our pilot and to be picked up and to travel to the site to inflate the balloon. Oh--you get to help. Then you all get into the basket and the ground crew assist you off the ground slowly and as any young girl would do you SCREAM your fool head off. Just kidding. You really sit in the bottom of the basket and cry quietly to yourself because you are a grown ass man. Sorry I digress. LOL Really you just ask when the in-flight service starts because you need a drink. All kidding aside it is the most peaceful ride you will have when the burners are off, when they are on they make it so you can't hear for a bit. The pilot was able to sit it on the side of the hill in a persons front yard with no problems at all. You then one at a time get out and hold the basket on the ground and file out onto the ground and you, as any adult would do, get down and kiss the ground. LOL you look at all your friends and say CHECK I can now check that off my bucket list.
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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Things to share

A note to share about what has been happening. there have been many quilt guilds and private shop owners asking for talks, book signings and classes. This info is coming soon. I am working on getting it all put together to send out. Thanks for your patience. Chat soon, Brian

The Retreat Project

Well Ladies and Gentlemen here is the piece that we created in my first retreat I had nine wonderful students That just blow me away with there skills and there enthusiasm and a drive like I have never seen the likes of.
I am bursting with pride for this being my first retreat. Everything went as planned and I know I had more fun with the student then they had with me.
The energy in the room was so much fun to keep up with and yet I had to lay down in the middle of the day Saturday. I could not stay awake any longer After 30 min I was back at it again.
The students work was truly something to be proud of.
We also had a few extra people with us--my Mom and my Aunt Dee. My Mom and Aunt Dee worked on some embroidery pieces as well. And what fun we all had sharing stories and trading tales, and a nice glass of wine did not take away from all the fun. LOL
Just a quick thanks to all nine of you , you know who you are, for what will go down as a great retreat to get my feet wet. You have made me look forward to so many more. Brian

A great BIG thanks to Kevin for all the help with the blog and for the help keeping everything running smoothly for the ladies, carrying bags and making everyone of us feel comfortable. Thanks Kevin
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Sunday

On Sunday we came down to find that Jody had pulled an all-nighter! Talk about one dedicated stitcher!


It was kind of a lazy morning. Some stitched, some explored the campus, some cleaned up the work space and the group picture.


About 11:30 I told the students I had a surprise a gift that I made the students a small basket with stork scissors, a Key to the cherished life we all live and some soap that was to clean life up because it gets messy then we headed over for brunch--which was definitely the best meal of the weekend.


After brunch we all hugged, professed our undying love for one another and hit the road.




The Graduating Class



St. Mary-of-the-Woods

The Stations of the Cross

St. Mother Theodore Guerin's story.

St. Mother Theodore Guerin
The Grotto

The Church of the Immaculate Conception

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Saturday

Ok. A little delay here between real-time and posting. The blogger took a nap.

On Saturday we warmed up the quiches that we'd made and Costco mini cinnamon rolls that we'd brought and put some fruit out. Jody already had the coffee on. By 10 the dishes were cleared away and the needles came out of their holsters.

Brian sat with each student to give guidance about planning and layout and to draw motifs to stitch (using, of course, the Frixion pen--dark enough to see--disappears with the kiss of an iron.)

The rest of the day (between food breaks) was spent stitching and laughing. Everyone was focused on their projects but having big fun at the same time. It's just what we were hoping for. Brian spent the rest of the day drawing and giving advice. With the exception of a much needed 30 minute nap, he was doing one-on-one instruction until well after midnight.
Our dinner on Saturday was next door in the library (isn't that where everyone dines?) It was pretty good and we're thinking that we'll probably have all the meals catered if we go to St. Mary's again.

About 9 we broke out the cheese and crackers and cookies which provided enough fuel for everyone to work until a little after 1 Sunday morning. At least one obsessed soul snuck back to the classroom in her pajamas. . .yes, we're naming names Loretta.


Jody Baker

Linda Wolka
Diana Fricke (Aunt Dee)

Debbie Haggard (Mom)

Carol Shelley


Tonna Bridgewater

Loretta Kays

Sally Peters and Brian

Karen Garrity

Janet Bryan

Friday night

Everyone finished up by about 10 and then we sat around and chit-chatted and told stories--some of them might have even been true. We snacked on snacks, drank some drinks and played some board games. About 1-ish the last of the diehards headed off to bed. Reveille was scheduled for 9 Saturday morning.

Reposted from Retreat Blog 9/15/11

And it begins. . .

The troops started arriving about 2:30 and we were all here by 3:30. A little before 4 we started the class with a little history of crazy-quilting and a demonstration of how to piece the quilt. The quilt that I put together had a photo of Aunt Dee's granddaughter, Emma, for Dee to embroider. Mom is teaching Dee some embroidery stitches this weekend. Everyone just had time to get their stations set up and their supplies organized before we broke for dinner. After dinner we came back with the goal of everyone getting their quilts pieced on Friday night. By 6 we were rolling and everyone finished up by about 10.

So THAT's how it's done. (Brian and Sally Peters.)


A Happy Quilter. (Kathy Hynes)


Family and friends. (Tonna Bridgewater, Loretta Kays, Janet Bryan and Karen Garrity's back)


Filling an iron is fascinating. (Jody Baker)


In the glow of the sewing machine light (Linda Wolka)

Reposted on 9/15/11 from Retreat blog.

Food . . .

Ostensibly, we're here to quilt but a girl or boy's gotta eat. We're eating with the students in O'Shaughnessey Hall for dinner on Friday, lunch on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. Saturday morning we're serving quiche in Goodwin Guesthouse and Saturday night dinner is catered forus in the President's Room of the library. . .aren't we special, lol. And, we bright snacks. And the students brought snacks. And we all brought wine. You know--priorities.

O'Shaughnessey Dining Hall behind Providence Hall

Reposted from Retreat blog on 9/15/11

Here we are. . .




St. Mary-of-the-Woods welcomes us to Goodwin Guesthouse.



Reposted from Retreat Blog 09/15/11

Welcome to One Crazy-Quilt Retreat

We're blogging live from the retreat. 9 students are busy with the first steps of their crazy quilts.

You'll be seeing posts from me, Aunt Dee and my partner, Kevin. We'll try to convey the feel of the weekend.

First thanks goes to the fantastic conference staff here at St. Mary's. Not enough good things can be said about Julie White. We started working with her back in March. Mom, Kevin and I made a visit in April. We fell in love with the campus and saw that the facilities would be great for a retreat. Julie was so responsive and accommodating--we just knew that we'd have a great experience. And a few hours into it, we certainly haven't been disappointed.

We met Julie Worthington, the first Julie's co-worker today and she's been wonderfully funny and helpful too.
If you're looking for a quiet, beautiful, reasonably priced retreat facility be sure to give the Julies a call.


More to come soon. . .
Brian
Reposted from Retreat blog on 9/15/11
Sunday, September 4, 2011

Introduction to a good friend

Hey everyone, I want to introduce you to a very special friend. She is the person responsible for all the practically all the quilting in my last book and is helping me currently on the new book. Very sadly she has moved away from Indianapolis where we both lived, to a new location in Atlanta, Georgia. She has a wonderful home which I am helping here design from Indy and soon will be traveling to help here there. She is a one of a kind sweetheart.
I MISS YOU MELISSA SEE YOU SOON.
This is a photo taken the day before she left for her new life in Georgia. It was a happy day, I gave here her copy of the book before everyone else at the book launch party because she left town before all the festivities happened. Sadly she was not able to attend and hear all the great comments. Also, she missed the cry fest.


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