Rubber Duckie Brewery

Naturally, when we moved my brewing hobby out of the kitchen into its own space in the basement, complete with a fabulous new state-of-the art system from More Beer, the brewery needed a name. Guess how long it took to come up with one?

It's a ten-gallon capacity Ranco-controlled brewery, with automatic recirculation so I can maintain temps within two degrees. And those glorious pumps have eliminated all that lifting. Five gallons of beer weighs a lot!

The hood (can't see it in the picture) is ten times the hood we currently have in the kitchen. Talking about priorities! That will all change with our new house. And the brewery will be close to the kitchen. Yeah!



Making beer is a fascinating process. I started with the cake mix approach, pouring a dry malt extract into a soup pot on the kitchen stove, bringing it to a boil and adding pelleted hops per a particular schedule depending upon the bittering andflavoring profile I was after. (i.e according to a recipe)



For better flavor--not so boxed tasting as a in the cake mix comparison--I started steeping my grain and doing partial mashes, adding the steeped grains to the boil kettle.



Then I went whole grain. I bought Gott coolers retrofitted with spigots. I turned out some great beers with this setup. But was making a mess of the kitchen and having to lug equipment and beer up and down stairs and outside.


Brewing beer is magic. Here's a simplified play-by-play:


Crush some whole grain (malted barley mostly) and steep it in a pot of water at temperature x. This is called "mashing" and smells incredibly wonderful. We used to make bran mashes for our horses, so this reminds me of those cold evenings when the horses would slurp the steamy stuff.


Drain the resultant sweet liquor into the brew pot. Bring it to a boil. Add hops at different times. (The scent of hops is so wonderful I'm tempted to market hop perfume!) Essentailly the early ones add bitterness and the latter ones flowery notes, a citrusy tang, depending upon hope variety. At the end of the boil (one hour usually) cool the wort through a chiller into the frementing vessel. Add yeast.

















The next morning the thing will be bubbling up a storm. When it has finished fermenting (a gadget called a "hydrometer" assures no bottles will explode) you bottle or keg the beer. Give it a little time to condition, then a few days to chill, and enjoy!

I've been super busy in the last two years so haven't entered many competitions, but I did win a best of show and always enter the Queen of Beer--and manage to always get a ribbon. Go girls!

Cook Rubber Duckie Applique Pattern

The Cook Rubber Duckie

Second in our series is a duckie who is quite the connoisseur of gourmet food--make that gum drops, of course. With her chef's hat and jacket on, she is whipping up a batch of every rubber duckie's favorite; Gum Drop Cookies.

Life in My Rubber Duckie Bathroom

I'm not the only one who enjoys spending time in the rubber duckie bathroom. After he has coerced me into letting the faucet drip so he can have a nice drink, Matanzas Creek aka Manny the Maine Coon enjoys a nap in the other sink. He agrees with the duckies that cleanliness is the highest of virtues. Although he goes about it sans bubble bath thank you very much.

We got press!

The Quilting Rubber Duckie has graced the pages of magazines, including this profile of me in Quilter's Home.

Rubber Duckie Gardener Applique Pattern

Introducing...
Jodie's Sunbonnet Sue Rubber Duckie Applique Block Series

The happy and colorful Rubber Duckie is a perfect subject for quilts, and even better when paired with the idea of Sunbonnet Sue to create a collection of characters for quilt blocks.

Since I love duckies and quilting the two obviously had to meet. Several years ago I shared patterns for bird blocks on my web site so people could test them for a book I was working on. I'm using the same idea for my series of rubber duckie personalities based on the Sunbonnet Sue design that has been loved by quilters for generations. You can find each block on my web site for a limited tim: http://www.jodieandcompany/.

Are you wondering what kind of bush she's watering? A gum drop tree of course! What else would rubber duckies eat?!

The Quilting Rubber Duckie Makes Her Debut at The Trade Show!

The duckies were supposed to be ready to sell at our industrtrade show in Houston at the end of October. Of course, there was a hold up at the factory and another p with the container getting to California, so we had a box air shipped to arrive at my hotel in Houston so I could show them off. With the craziness off preparing for Market and getting a film crew there, meetings, etc., I was surprised when I checked and was told I had a box awaiting me. "The Duckies!" Hopefully no one was in neighboring rooms heard as and squealed with delight as I opened the box in my room .

That evening, the day before the trade show opens, is the day distributors hold their sales meetings. I was told the duckie was shown full screen during a presentation in one of them!

To set the stage and spice up the openings to the new product shows we were filming at the quilting trade show in Houston (I run an internet TV network devoted to quilting) Karen Shields (Sales and Marketing Director) and I made some "finds" on the trade show floor. The folks at United Notions had created an adorable display with a duckie swimming in a dishpan--which Karen and I "discovered." You can watch it on http://www.qnntv.com/

Mail Order Duckie!

The Quilting Rubber Duckie has appeared in mail order catalogs and in Web stores, such as this one, Keepsake Quilting. Doesn't she look great in print?

The Quilting Rubber Duckie--Pincushion?

I have the honor of being considered a national sewing instructor for the Bernina Sewing Machine Compnay. This means that not only do a get a wonderful loaner machine, I am also invited to a retreat each year. This past year was special as it was held at the Bernina factory in Steckborn, Switzerland.
Each year we have an informal challenge with fabulous prizes--just between us teachers. This year's theme was "I've got a Notion." The night before I left for Switzerland (this is serious stuff!) I heated up my glue gun, ran some basting stitches around a circle of blue terry cloth, stuffed it with Airtex stuffing, and glued the terry to a soap dish. Then I glued a Quilting Rubber Duckie to the terry cloth and stuck in some pins, and pins with beads (bubbles!) into the terry cloth. Voila! What everyone needs: A Rubber Duckie Pincushion! It won a prize. Oh that's right, everyone won a prize. Seriously, the event is a huge hoot as these are among the most creative people in the industry. My pincushion now sits on my sewing table as a remembrance of that magical trip.

For the last task in the creation of the duckie I wrote up some silly sayings and a message for the back of the box. And then waited for word that the duckies had shipped. To save on frieght charges, which can be significant, the Quilting Rubber Duckie was to ship with several new Celebridcuks, including Captain Hook. As is goes with most things, a little problem cropped up in that Captain Hook's arm didn't quite fit in the box, so the entire shipment was held up a little.

In the meantime the large quilt trade and consumer shows held annually in Houston were upon us. Two boxes of ducks were air shipped to my hotel. Upon arrival I retrieved them and hustled up to my room to open the box. She is everything I envisioned and more. She's beautiful!

... just a few days later these photos arrived. That's it! That's my Quilting Rubber Duckie!

And she's more beautiful than I had ever dreamed.


The magic word must have been "pastel" for her coloring is right on. I realized as I stared at her photos that I had been totally successful--because I was beaming ear-to-ear.


Now, how many to order and how to market them?

I was stuck in Atlanta traffic on my way home when Craig called to tell me he had e-mailed me photos of the molded and painted duckie. Wow--that was fast!

My eyes must have been saucers as I waited in anticipation of the photos coming up. Yow! She's gorgeous! So, so close. Just a little bright. Too primary for my intended audience. So I sent my suggestions to Craig and...

Having given my a-okay, the sculpt was off to the factory in China to be molded.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the following step in producktion Craig asked me for the colors I wanted the duck painted. I sent him a tracing of David's drawing with the colors painted on and the Pantone numbers accompanying in. I wasn't very happy with the way my colors looked. Afterall my medium is fabric, not paint!

Next step: the sculpt. Bring on the duckie in 3D!

Once again I held my breathe as I opened the e-mail and the first pictures came up. It's amazing how much detail David got with the clay-like material he uses. More than any other duckie I've seen. And interesting that he used pieces of--is that wood?- to make things like the bolt of fabric and scissors and rotary cutter.

But the quilting wasn't right. It looks like couched ribbon rather than thread.






Sure enough the second time was a charm. She's wonderful!

The e-mail arrived with the first images of the sculpter's drawings. I opened it and was pelasantly surpised. While it wasn't "it" it was on the road to being my vision.

The sweetness was there for sure, and the expression very good. It was interesting to discover that "quilted" brings to mind for most people a mattress pad.

I knew we were on the right road and could get this to where I wanted it.

To help David understand what quilting means to quilters, I scanned some pages from a book showing actual quilting stitches on fabric. His next effort was so right-on! Hey David, you're a good stippler! The wings became feathers rather than quilted. Much better. Love that top knot!

The process started with imparting my vision to the sculpter. Having proven to myself that my sculpting skills--or lack thereof--weren't up to the task, I sketched the duck in my mind as best I could to give Craig's sculpter insight into my vision.





In my collecting and research for the book I had fallen for the pretty ducks of the 50's and 60's with their subtle detail and coloring. They were nothing short of beautiful. That's the feel I wanted in my duckie. So, I posed several of these ducks and included them with my sketches. I hit "send" and the e-mail sped off into cyber space. What would come back to me I wondered.

In my research for the book I befriended Craig Wolfe, founder of Celebriducks. The man who took a chance that character ducks immortalizing celebrities would be a hit. Yup, you guessed it, they are! Story has it that Craig and a friend got the idea while in a hot tub. Appropriate...

Craig started his Celebriducks line with such caricatures as Mona Lisa, Betty Boop, Santa Claus and the Three Stooges. The line has since gone on to popular sports figures, music icons and even Jesus himself!


Always supportive of my vision and sure of my drive, Craig was ready to help when I finally decided to take the leap to design my own duck for production.

That first effort was created using FIMO, which proved to ill-afford the detail I was after. I made further attempts with self-hardening clay, such as those seen here.


Meanwhile my rubber duckie book was accepted by Running Press--the editor raved over my proposal.


The book became the Rubber Duckie Kit: a pop culture book about rubber duckies packaged with a very generic, readily-available duck. The history of rubber ducks fascinated me, and together with the current rubber duckie collectors and makers served up a rich history and interesting and hilarious text.

The book was condensed into a Rubber Duckie Mini Kit which resides in a display by the check out counter at major booksellers.

Still, no rubber duckie of my design, but with over 100,000 copies sold in the first year, my notion that rubber duckies have tremendous appeal was confirmed. With thirty books to my credit this was my bestseller. Oh yes, there is a market for things rubber duckie!

This blog is dedicated to the realization of my dream to design, have manufactured, and distribute a rubber duckie.
Having collected rubber duckies for several years, I gained an appreciation for old ducks, made in the 60's. As I researched the makers of these collectibles for a book I wrote (my best seller out of 30 to date!) I became more and more fascinated with them. For example, the Rempel ducks were made by a Russian immigrant who arrived here in the States with nothing. This husband/wife team recreated his idyllic childhood with a book brought to life by the rubber characters he sculpted. These were pretty ducks made by entrepreneurs who loved what they did. Why couldn't I do the same today?
In my research I found several modern-day entrepreneurs who were making rubber ducks , much like toymakers of four decades previous, only the manufacturing is taking place in Asian countries whereas the toy business was centered in Akron, Ohio previously.
As a quilt designer my medium is fabric, so as I set about sculpting from clay my first attempts were scary. Over time I made a few decent duckies. Also, I worked out characters in quilts, honing my idea of what a rubber duckie is.
Of course, on the surface this got me nowhere in my pursuit of bringing my own duckie to market.
Or so it seemed...