"a sum of the parts that make us whole"

the history of

b e y o n d   t h e   r e e f

you probably know enough about this blog author, and this blog, 
to know that I don't like to blog too much about myself

events, sure.  beyond the reef, sure.  places, sure.

but not

"I.Me.My"
unless of course, I "rotary cutter my finger", and I think there's a lesson in it for someone, somewhere

so this post will be a little difficult for me to craft, and a little longer than usual

history lesson

beyond the reef was started in 1994 drinking coffee on a lanai in Hanalei, Kauai

it would rain every morning

and my friend, author, Jill Marie Landis, and I would sit in the still of the morning

drinking coffee and watching the rain

she would be reading or writing a book, and I would be working on some applique

when Jill's friends started asking her where they could buy the pattern for the project I was working on

Jill said to me, "you have to do this!"

I had just started hunter|hughes w/friend and business partner John Hunter

providing commercial/corporate interior design to fortune 100 companies
but that didn't stop me
beyond the reef was born

a few months later Jill and I visited a lovely woman named Julie Yukimura

Owner of The Kapaia Stitchery

"These are nice," she said, and started carrying the patterns

if you have ever been to Kauai, you will know about Kapaia Stitchery

Julie has passed on, but her family carries on the tradition

in the one story plantation style building by the side of the cutoff road into town

please visit them and say hello

it's a great shop filled with treasures and surprises

fast forward

corporate clients had demands, and schedules never faltered

but I managed to design a few beyond the reef quilts a year and attend a few quilt shows a year

recently, the hunter (john) and the hughes (me) decided to retire
and I became a full time beyond the reef designer, quilt maker, pattern maker, shipping clerk

it was time for a new look for beyond the reef

I sat down with a mac and a few books and dove right in to learn

illustrator, inDesign, photoshop, bridge

I must say, THAT is the accomplishment of which I am the most proud

if I could just stop right there, that would be enough for me

(architecture/interiors is a pc based cad based world)

I selected a printer after interviewing a few folks face to face shake your hand nice to meet you style

I worked with ssylvester.com photography on a new quilt photo concept

and then, as Jill tells people about getting a whole book written,

I put my butt in the chair and started drawing and writing and remaking about 25 of my 35 patterns

Lisa did proofs. Jill was the wordsmith. Kenna was in charge of encouragement.
Katey was a great distraction. Paul took care of the computer. Buddy took one for the team. 
Rose cheered me on. Roberta made me take 12 mile bike rides to clear my head.
And John took one last look at the press sheets.


Don't ever believe the people that tell you they do it all themselves.
They don't.
we are all a sum of the parts that make us whole
we are all better because we are connected
because we reach out to each other
and walk through life
together

the design concept

it's an interesting project to approach

keep a company's graphic standards, core vision, and values intact

while updating the whole suite of packaging and marketing materials

(my corporate design, creative, process driven, side of me will always be a big part of who I am)
working with companies like Mercedes Benz, Quiksilver, Epson, Mars Inc. 
and some 'not to be named' demanding music, film and television Producers
gave me great insight, and trained me well

living in the moment
I hope you will all agree

that the beyond the reef you have all come to know and love

has not been lost in the remake

and that you'll be just as excited as I am

with the results of this new project

I hope that the shop owners and book/magazine publishers and fabric companies

will be delighted, too

okay.  that's enough of that!

we'll do a giveaway post as soon as they arrive

so now, it's on to something other than

I.Me.Mine

did you know there's a quilt show coming up?

Seven Sisters Quilt Show

Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo

next weekend, Sat/Sun

it's a combined Guild show

and a lovely time to be on the central coast

take a weekend off and take a drive up the coast

be.do.create

natalie

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

A Gift of Love - Quilting Style!

a fabulous email

a gift of love

every once in a while, not often enough for me, I must say....

I hear from one of our followers, our friends, our virtual on line quilt friends

this time I asked, "may I share this with our readers?"

as a follow up, she wrote, 

"I would be completely Honored if you posted it on the blog! 

 

The funny thing is that originally all the blocks with color were going to be together. It was rather overpowering, to say the least.  So I went with the sashing which really gave you a view of each block. And made it Not look like a fruit salad. :0)

 

Credit the 14 year old with the little blue squares at the corners. At first I wanted to be lazy and not  use them but once I did one I knew it made it perfect.

 

Of course please be sure to include Tomi as my long arm quilter. She is completely amazing and does the best work and, of course, accepts shipments to her in Victorville."

"Natalie,

 

I've been meaning to send pictures of the Beyond the Reef quilt I made at Xmas.  I apologize if the pics are difficult, I'm pretty lazy and not very adept at resizing files.  The close up shows the wonderful work of my long arm quilter Tomi Guapo at www.sunkissedquilts.com.

 

This quilt was a special gift to the babysitter/house cleaner that works for my son and his family in Sofia Bulgaria.  She, apparently, loves the quilts they have and told my daughter in law that if she ever wanted to give her a gift before they left that she would love to have a quilt. Who can resist a desire that that?  The sitter is in her twenties and is a fun and adventurous girl that toured Italy on a motorcycle with her boyfriend on vacation last year. My son explained that a quilt for her ought to be bold and exciting and not sedate at all.  I sent pictures of the fabrics, that I bought at Road.  They were enthusiastically approved.

 

It is definite that my son and his family will move on from his assignment in Bulgaria as an administrator for the Peace Corp program in that part of the world, and their quilts will continue to travel with them.  But one Beyond the Reef inspired design has a permanent home there."

 

-an avid beyond the reef follower

while we don't have many official followers, 

our statistics say we have readers in just about every country in the world!

so, thank you to our loyal follower, "G"

the story is lovely, the sentiment, grand

and we are happy to have a little part of beyond the reef bringing joy

to

Bulgaria!

Happy Easter

Happy Spring

oh, happy days.

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

PS - we will post the Martingale & Company giveaway later tonite; go enjoy the holiday!

Book Giveaway Winner!

Book Giveaway

WINNER

(I know, it's not Wednesday....)

we have a winner - Robin!

thanks for stopping by - please email me your postal addy

I am so thankful to all of you that leave comments, that follow along

and please remember to thank Martingale & Company

for the lovely books that they provide for the giveaways.

I am sorry - I know we talked about announcing the winners on Wednesday

and posting a new book on Sunday, but I had a bit of a 

GLITCH

this week

the week started out wonderfully.

I got the machines out, and serviced each and every one of them, put new needles in,

and got great new 3 ply Superior Thread wound in the bobbins.

(how many of you use MasterPiece?)

(yes, I do love my old metal machines)

I made my famous Green Curry Zucchini/Soup and a lovely salad w/Apple Pears...

and had the girls over to help with some sewing I wanted to get done

I fed them, and cut the fabrics while they stitched away

(don't you love this Hoffman California Fabrics batik?!?)

 but the next morning, well, it happened

yep.

while cutting the second quilt that I wanted to sew

I left the rotary cutter

O P E N

banging right into the blade

so I apologize for missing wednesday's deadline

it bears a quick discussion here

quilting is actually a dangerous sport

(okay, it's not sky diving or race car driving or ocean paddling, but...)

we have pins, really sharp scissors, rotary cutters, threads, machines with sharp needles

threaded needles

and all sorts of doo-dads that can be stepped on, run into, swallowed or worse

so

do as I say, not as I do

please, practice safe quilting out there; slow down; enjoy the process; pick up the threads

use the magnetic wand around and under your work area

and keep a big roll of 3" painters tape handy to pick up those little threads

do it for the dogs, cats, kids, barefoot husband

in your home

on another note, I wanted to give you another

"PSP"

(project sneak peek)

fabric credits to Hoffman California Fabrics

fabric design credits to McKenna Ryan

quilt credits to beyond the reef

and thread credits to Superior and Mettler

(so far)

it's going to be another busy week

for all of us

so, pop on over to the facebook page and drop everyone a quick note

and I will post a new

Martingale & Company

book 

next 

Sunday

HappiestDays

be.do.create

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com