It was a bright and sunny afternoon
When a delivery in Burlingtoon
Caused endless smiles and many gasps—
Fantastisch gifts from Sinterklaas!

Monkey uttered not a single word
But his eyes sparkled above his beard.
He pushed up his sleeves and started to mug
So we could take photos to put on the blog.

We heard one oink. The elephant’s a mystery.
The chocolate was captured, so it is history.
It’s clear that Zappos didn’t deliver these shoes,
Moreover, they usually come in twos.

Dear Sinterklaas shook his head sadly
When he discovered that Linda rhymes badly.
She did not learn poetry like her dear friend,
But she tried, and hopes it’s okay in the end.

Dank u! Dank u! U maakte ons glimlachen.

Thank you! Thank you! You made us smile.

We wish you a Merry Christmas with time to sew!

Linda & Monkey

 Monkey has a Stars & Stripes chair and lots of friends.

They chatted about freedom and liberty.

Monkey shared his sunflower seeds.

A good time was had by all.

We Canadians wish the same for you. (Roll over the photos for captions.)

Linda took more than 200 photos in a short time and there are at least 36 more that are as good as these. Consider yourself lucky. We appreciate you so much that we limited ourselves to only 4 photos for the 4th. 

While our friends celebrate the American Revolution of 1776 (freedom), everyone can join the Quilting Revolution of 2006 with Inklingo (free).

Happy 4th of July to all of our American friends, and Happy Monday to everyone. Thank you for visiting.

Linda & Monkey

New to Inklingo? Order and download free shapes and start sewing in the next few minutes. Quick Start (Always FREE.) There are triangles, diamonds, and squares  in the free collection—great for dozens of different blocks.

  1

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, the seventh child and second daughter of Reverend George Austen and his wife, Cassandra.

  2

I relented and let Monkey play in the snow the other day. It was pretty cold, but I was looking for something I could use on Christmas cards.

We’d better hurry up and decide. We are running out of time, and there are a few elderly relatives who would miss it. Any suggestions?

  3

This is quite an adventure.

  4

This was not a good day for sewing on the front porch.

  5

This tree is almost as good as the ones on Gulf Shore Blvd in Naples.

  6

Hello!  Hello!  Where are you going?  Don’t leave me here!

This is an unusual day for me, and not just because it is Jane Austen’s birthday. I am going to a Christmas lunch with four friends. It is at a neighbour’s, and it will be fun. The house will be elegantly decorated for the holidays and the hostess is a wonderful cook. Last time, we were still sitting around the dining room table at 5:30 when her husband came home. There was lots to talk about, even though none of them are quilters. 

This is your last reminder about Maria Peagler’s Facebook giveaway! You can still enter to win one of five great prizes. See the details in my previous messages.

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen! 

And Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Linda & Monkey

If you are looking for the 80 second video with everything you need to know about Inklingo (yes, everything, and it will make you laugh if you turn on the sound), click here or search the archives (above the header).

Every branch in the woods was painted white overnight. We finally have some snow! Until now, we have only had a few flurries, but this is the real thing. Doesn’t it look pretty?

Unfortunately there are flash freeze warnings and major traffic problems. We are lucky to be able to stay cosy at home, at least until this afternoon.

Monkey jumped into his snowsuit and scarf, but I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

He’s going to have to admire the scene from inside.

Silent protest.

I’ll distract him with chocolate and some Inklingo shapes, and by reminding you to enter Maria Peagler’s Facebook draw for wonderful prizes.

The prizes are great! Even if you stay inside, like us, you can enter. If you’ve already entered, you can enter again and again. All the details are in my previous message.

If you haven’t tried Inklingo yet, download free triangles, diamonds, and squares  here!

If I can catch a photo of the cardinals on the bird feeders, I’ll let you know.

Linda & Monkey

If you are looking for the 80 second video with everything you need to know about Inklingo (yes, everything, and it will make you laugh if you turn on the sound), click here or search the archives (above the header).

It was a beautiful summer day in Burlington yesterday. I had just finished the Inklingo Hexagon Quilt Design Book (free!) and I needed to unwind. I decided to stitch a few hexagons on the front porch. 

There was a lovely breeze and entertainment. As you can see, friendship took precedence over sewing this time.

Click to play.

Good things happen when you sew on the go.

There have been many wonderful private comments about the new Design Book. That makes me feel great. Now we need some public ones! 

  Please tell everyone you know.

If you would like to help spread the word about Inklingo, this is a good link
http://lindafranz.com/shop/hexagon-quilt-templates/5

• Please tell all your friends.
• Write to every Internet group you belong to, and tell them there is a Hexagon Quilt Design Book ($20 value) free from inklingo.com.
• Tell quilters at your next bee or guild meeting.
• Tell everyone at the local quilt shop, because they can sell Inklingo downloads now too.
• Put this video on your web site or blog.
• Give 1 – 5 stars to Sewing a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt on YouTube.
• Give 1 – 5 stars to Friends & the Blue Chair on YouTube.
• Subscribe to the All About Inklingo blog, and tell your friends to too!

Tell them Inklingo is the quilting tool we’ve always wanted. Use your own words. Short is best. Some of my recent favs are: “Inklingo ROCKS!” “I’d give up my rotary cutter before I’d give up Inklingo.” “I wouldn’t be sewing at all, if not for Inklingo.” “Inklingo makes machine sewing so much more fun.”

You don’t have to actually grab anyone’s ear, but if you do, do it gently,
like this little guy.

We hope you will help spread the word, so more quilters will know about Inklingo.

I think we’ve found the best way to sew hexagons, don’t you?

Thank you for visiting.

Linda & Monkey & Monkey’s Friend

PS  You can put How to Sew a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt and Friends & the Blue Chair on your own blog or web site just by copying the “embed code” from YouTube.

PPS  If you are looking for something else, like Jane Austen, Lucy Boston, or machine piecing, please use the Search box (up at the top). There is a lot of good stuff in the archives of this blog.

NOTE  To read the captions, you will need to close the pets thingy:

 Close

This is our first time using Slide.com. It was pretty easy but I spent a lot of time trying to remove the pets thingy. Does anyone know how to do that? (At least the ad is about Pets and this is a message about Monkey. It could be worse.) Or can you recommend another slide program than works on a self-hosted WordPress blog? 

Rain is pouring down in Burlington right now. It is cosy inside, and good to think of sunshine and blue skies in Naples five winters ago. I hope you are enjoying good weather wherever you are.

Linda & Monkey

 PS  If you’re looking for something, try the Search box up at the top. You can find great stuff in the archives. 

PPS  To make this Inklingo-related, I’ll mention that Monkey is a hand piecing snob. If you have a basket on your bike, you can take your sewing along.