There are days when I feel like a hamster. I'm on a perpetual treadmill that never stops. I hop off to have a rest and then get up and hop back on!
I do take a few breaks in between to eat, but that seems to about it!
I managed to do a few errands on the way home. I had to as poor Miss Murphy had eaten all her dog food and she was starving! Lexi was kind enough to share although I'm sure she wasn't happy about that.
When I finally arrived home, I had dinner and then down to the studio. I managed to get the binding sewn on that free download quilt of mine which is now packed in a box and waiting to be picked up. I also got another project ready for that box - a quilt top and it's also in the box.
I loaded the next customer quilt onto the long arm and ready to get it quilted tonight.
And now onto the next project which has a deadline of June 16 in the US. And there are more and more in the wings! One more that got added to the mix with a deadline of next week. Yes - I can see that my planning skills are a little lacking! How could this happen? And slowly, one by one, the projects are getting checked off that list of quilts with a deadline. I see that in addition to my weekly list of things to do, that list of deadline quilts is critical and I need to be very diligent about keeping it updated!
And that's it - I'm off and running!
Have a super day!
Ciao!
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Pep talks really do work!
I'm not a gadget girl.
I used to be a gadget girl and I would buy every new little gadget/tool that came out in the quilting world. However, a while back I realized that I couldn't afford to continue to do that. Not only was it a question of money, but it was a question of storage and then it became a question of remembering that I had a gadget designed to do a specific job. The biggest issue of all was that I became smart. So smart (I'm so full of myself!) that I had figured out ways to do the same job without using the gadget. And that was a good thing because I no longer had to remember that I had these gadgets and it saved me time trying to find them when I needed them.
I've made a lot of flying geese lately. Wait until you see my latest magazine quilts - there are a lot of flying geese in them - well not a LOT but there are some. When I was at Spring Market, I ran into Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design. She designs a lot of speciality rulers. As we were chatting, the subject came around to flying geese and she asked why I wasn't using my Wing Clipper which is Deb's ruler designed to make flying geese.
ACK - I have one (wasn't 100% sure where it was) and so I promised her that I would dig it out when I got home as I had more flying geese to make.
When I got home I found the ruler within a few minutes of searching,
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| Wing Clipper ruler by Deb Tucker |
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| Signs of Autumn project (by Studio 180 Design) |
And I also found the Corner Beam ruler in the bag as well. ACK!!!
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| Corner Beam ruler by Deb Tucker |
So the biggest issue with flying geese is that it's hard to get them super accurate and I like super accurate. OK Deb - you win! The Wing Clipper did make better flying geese units than I can do without it. There will be instances when it's better to do them my way, but for this current project, the Wing Clipper is going to be used. I've already sent Deb a note to tell her that I followed up on my promise! And thanks for the PEP talk Deb!
I'll show you the difference between the two if I get a chance to snap some photos. If you have the darn Wing Clipper ruler - get it out! Use it - it does give you perfect flying geese and the bonus? You make four at a time with NO WASTE. None of those little corners get cut off! Hmmmm - I'll miss them!
This is what my cutting table looked like when I arrived home whenever that was - last week? This week? I've no idea any more. Let's just say that it was a HUGE mess.
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| Cutting table is a huge mess |
This is a photo I snapped of the studio this morning. What a huge mess and there is NO time to fix that problem until after the middle of June. I'm working with a lot of the stuff that is on the floor.
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| What a mess - this is crunch time! |
Don't worry - the floor of my office looks exactly the same!!! I load and unload several bags every day with stuff that I hope to get done at work. I'm making progress - one project at a time.
And last night, I got a customer quilt finished. I'll be trimming it tonight and getting the next one done.
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| Customer quilt - DONE |
OK - I must becoming a quilt snob or at least a binding snob. As much as I would like to say that I know a LOT about quilting, I'm always trying to learn new stuff so I try to read about "new" techniques and watch videos about how to do stuff. So I'm watching a video this morning about binding. ACK - it's everything NOT to do about binding. The problem is that this stuff is out there on the internet (remember when it was called the World Wide Web?) Well, this person is making the entire process very complictated and so not helpful, but if someone watches this, they might think this is such a great method. OK - she just redeemed herself with recommending a stitch that I don't use. I'm going to try that today as I bind the quilt that needs to be in a FedEx box this afternoon. But seriously, just because there are videos and tutorials out there, don't believe that they are the best. So many videos/tutorials just don't make sense. It's not that my way is the best way or the only way - I try to go for the most logical way to do things. I guess my logic is different from others!
On that note, I'd better try and clean up part of the mess in my office this morning. Oh shoot - got a meeting as well.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!
Monday, May 29, 2017
Motivational Monday - on MONDAY!
I figure it's better to get the blog post up even if there aren't pictures!
I'm sorry that I missed last week's Motivational Monday. Just a tad too much excitement going on!
My status update? Loads being worked on, loads being completed. Is any of that my 12 projects for the year? Nope - none! Most of what I'm accomplishing isn't technically my own stuff. However, it's either a free download that I designed and want to get put together or it's something for my upcoming lecture on panels or it's something for an upcoming trade show. The project funnel just doesn't seem to end.
The crates arrived - that means, I'm going to dig out the quilts that I finished off two weeks ago and take pictures. I did NOT take pictures when we were at Market. Shame on me!
I've already offloaded MY box of goodies which I hope to dig through later today.
However, time is of the essence as I have a lot of projects that I want to finish before Quilt Canada and I PROMISE to take pictures of those quilts in our booth.
I have declared that I need to be sewing in the officer half a day, every day until Quilt Canada. In addition to prepping some items for a SR (which will do double duty in my lecture presentation), I have stuff for the booth. I have a few customer quilts that need to be done and those will occupy my evening time so sewing HAS to be done in the office which I'm perfectly happy with.
On Friday, I managed to get TWO quilt tops sewn. Both of them were my own design - one of them exists on the Northcott website but I won't tell you which one just yet. But it ended up looking super cute and now I just need a young boy (or could be a girl) to enjoy it. That's a huge hint as to which pattern it is! The other quilt top was a quick one that I designed to help out a SR presentation, but as I mentioned above, it will do double duty for me as well. That one you'll see in a bit. A smidgen of another top got put together and I hope to finish that one and get working on the one that I cut this morning for the magazine deadline which coincides with the Quilt Canada dates. Of course! Thankfully, I'm a very skilled and confident sewer (at least I like to think I am). There is ZERO time for major mistakes.
So while I'm getting lots done, it's not what I would be doing if I wasn't working!
Now last night, I had a rude awakening. I was looking for a particular book. I frantically searched my bookshelves - ALL of them and the few stacks of books on the floor. Nothing - who knows where this book is. Now, this is a lesson - I'll bet any money that that book is in a project box because I found some amazing fabric and wanted to make it. If that is the case, the project box is NOT labeled - trust me - I looked. I've already made this quilt - I have that quilt, but where is the darn book. I hate to buy a new one - that would be silly and I can't imagine that I gave it away. I don't give books away unless they are duplicates. I noticed that this author had a second book out and when I tried to order it last night, it couldn't be shipped to my address??? That's weird, I'm going to try again today.
However as I was rifling through the projects, I was appalled. There are so many. My only thought was - I better live a long healthy life or someone is going to have a huge mess to clean up! It was obscene the amount of stuff that I found. And I did find one project that I had been looking for so that was good!
Enough about me - how are the rest of you doing??? I don't think I've seen too many posts on Facebook, but perhaps that was because I haven't really had time to be on Facebook.
We're almost at the halfway point of what we committed to. I have a sewing retreat (I know - another one!) in a month. Five days - I better choose very carefully what comes with me or I'm be rushing around in December to get all my 12 UFO projects done! I bet I could squeeze at least three of them into ONE tote bag. God forbid that I have a relapse and fill the car with projects that have no hope of ever getting done! And after this trade show, there is a lull - almost four months! Wow!!!!
On that note, I'm off to sew for the afternoon in my office.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!
PS -- for those of you from out of town and have an excellent excuse to not come to my panel lecture, I'll be posting some of the pictures on the blog AFTER the event!
I'm sorry that I missed last week's Motivational Monday. Just a tad too much excitement going on!
My status update? Loads being worked on, loads being completed. Is any of that my 12 projects for the year? Nope - none! Most of what I'm accomplishing isn't technically my own stuff. However, it's either a free download that I designed and want to get put together or it's something for my upcoming lecture on panels or it's something for an upcoming trade show. The project funnel just doesn't seem to end.
The crates arrived - that means, I'm going to dig out the quilts that I finished off two weeks ago and take pictures. I did NOT take pictures when we were at Market. Shame on me!
I've already offloaded MY box of goodies which I hope to dig through later today.
However, time is of the essence as I have a lot of projects that I want to finish before Quilt Canada and I PROMISE to take pictures of those quilts in our booth.
I have declared that I need to be sewing in the officer half a day, every day until Quilt Canada. In addition to prepping some items for a SR (which will do double duty in my lecture presentation), I have stuff for the booth. I have a few customer quilts that need to be done and those will occupy my evening time so sewing HAS to be done in the office which I'm perfectly happy with.
On Friday, I managed to get TWO quilt tops sewn. Both of them were my own design - one of them exists on the Northcott website but I won't tell you which one just yet. But it ended up looking super cute and now I just need a young boy (or could be a girl) to enjoy it. That's a huge hint as to which pattern it is! The other quilt top was a quick one that I designed to help out a SR presentation, but as I mentioned above, it will do double duty for me as well. That one you'll see in a bit. A smidgen of another top got put together and I hope to finish that one and get working on the one that I cut this morning for the magazine deadline which coincides with the Quilt Canada dates. Of course! Thankfully, I'm a very skilled and confident sewer (at least I like to think I am). There is ZERO time for major mistakes.
So while I'm getting lots done, it's not what I would be doing if I wasn't working!
Now last night, I had a rude awakening. I was looking for a particular book. I frantically searched my bookshelves - ALL of them and the few stacks of books on the floor. Nothing - who knows where this book is. Now, this is a lesson - I'll bet any money that that book is in a project box because I found some amazing fabric and wanted to make it. If that is the case, the project box is NOT labeled - trust me - I looked. I've already made this quilt - I have that quilt, but where is the darn book. I hate to buy a new one - that would be silly and I can't imagine that I gave it away. I don't give books away unless they are duplicates. I noticed that this author had a second book out and when I tried to order it last night, it couldn't be shipped to my address??? That's weird, I'm going to try again today.
However as I was rifling through the projects, I was appalled. There are so many. My only thought was - I better live a long healthy life or someone is going to have a huge mess to clean up! It was obscene the amount of stuff that I found. And I did find one project that I had been looking for so that was good!
Enough about me - how are the rest of you doing??? I don't think I've seen too many posts on Facebook, but perhaps that was because I haven't really had time to be on Facebook.
We're almost at the halfway point of what we committed to. I have a sewing retreat (I know - another one!) in a month. Five days - I better choose very carefully what comes with me or I'm be rushing around in December to get all my 12 UFO projects done! I bet I could squeeze at least three of them into ONE tote bag. God forbid that I have a relapse and fill the car with projects that have no hope of ever getting done! And after this trade show, there is a lull - almost four months! Wow!!!!
On that note, I'm off to sew for the afternoon in my office.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!
PS -- for those of you from out of town and have an excellent excuse to not come to my panel lecture, I'll be posting some of the pictures on the blog AFTER the event!
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Deadlines
There is so much happening in my quilt world that I can hardly keep track of it all. And it's all super exciting stuff!
A NEW modern quilt guild was born yesterday. My group met and they have a name and agendas and a private Facebook page (we chose to limit the membership so we could all have an opportunity to interact!). I spoke with the parent organization (Modern Quilt Guild) when I was in St. Louis and alerted them that this was likely going to happen. They were thrilled and I'll be putting the paperwork together shortly. Did you know that there are almost 200 member guilds of the MQG? That is super exciting and I'll share more information in a day or so (OK - when I get a chance). There may still be room for a couple of new members in our group, I have to find out. If so - I'll let you know.
I taught three classes yesterday. Of all the classes I've taught and over almost 20 years of teaching, there have been a "few", the ongoing, year-long classes are my favorite. These are the ones where the students come for a one hour lecture. We ooh and aah over their homework and then I assign new homework. I'm so amazed at the talent of all the participants and I've had the opportunity to see a lot of them branch out. They've seen what the others are doing and know the environment is a sharing one and they're not afraid. I'm so proud of all the participants over the past years. It's just so much fun. And if I could ever tear myself away from the long arm and the sewing machine, I would be better at sharing the photos of their work. This particular project we're working on needs to be shared - the results so far with different colors is amazing!
And it's not just about the quilting, but many of the people in these classes have met a kindred spirit and have become good friends. I feel like a matchmaker sometimes. Just don't forget me! I know I'm super busy, but don't forget me! I want to be part of everything, but alas I have to pick and choose and I hate that!
I taught a machine quilting class in the afternoon and it was super. Again, I love seeing the light bulbs go off in everyone's head when they realize that some of their issues with quilting can be fixed. Easily fixed! I love teaching that class and even though I do a lot of talking, the students go home excited. Every time I teach that class, almost every student in the class thanks me profusely for the new knowledge they have acquired. As a quilt teacher, that makes me very excited! And HYPER! I'm pretty hyper today!
And while it appears early in the year to be discussing classes for next year, it's at least time to discuss classes for the fall. I know! And even though I don't have a lot of time (and sometimes I mess up my schedule), I had a great chat about new classes for the fall at The Hobby Horse. Yep - I'm hyper and super excited!
If that isn't enough, I do have one more class today - Fancy Forest again! It's such a fun class and I want to make all of Elizabeth's patterns. Fool that I am! I met Elizabeth in St. Louis and got my picture taken with her. She had her new pattern in her booth. I'll share when I'm not so rushed!
OK - so here's something for all of you! A deadline! I'm teaching an all day class at Quilt Canada and THREE lectures. Shoot - I can't find the deadline on the web page, but I swear there was a deadline. Doesn't matter - I'll give you a deadline - TODAY. But first - check out this link to see the lectures and my class. You have to scroll about 2/3 of the way down to find me. DO NOT look at anyone else - just search for me! Just kidding! While all the lectures and the class promise to be super exciting and informative, I'm madly cutting up panels, slicing and dicing and well - the paWednesdayre on WEdnesday is going to be fabulous (well I think so!). I'm hard at work coming up with new ideas and the more I make, the more I want to make. I'm ripping through panels faster than - well - I've a lot of ideas to share with you all. And NO - I will not be sharing them on my blog. Sorry - you have to come to the lecture to see them.
On that note, I'm out of here. I'm in the middle of quilting one of my projects (which will wing its way to a customer presentation next week) and then back for my lecture at Quilt Canada. It will be a well travelled quilt by the time it gets back. A cross border traveller no less.
And now there are TWO things that I'm looking for - a pattern and a book. I'm off to find them both! (Hopefully!)
Have a super day!
Ciao!
OH - since I wrote that info on Quilt Canada web page, I copied and pasted to save you time and so you won't get tempted by the other stuff! I'm so bad! I would advise you to bring your camera and a notebook and pencil!
Elaine Theriault Workshop
1031 - Modern: The Evolution of Quilting Tradition
Two Hour Lecture
Wednesday, June 14, 2017 09:00 - 11:00
Cost: $40.00If you think modern quilting is new - think again. Modern quilting has been around for a long time and its' roots lie deep within the traditional quilt world.
Learn the fascinating truth about the modern quilt trend. The modern quilt myths will be exposed and you'll go home with a very clear understanding of what a modern quilt is.You certainly don’t have to be a modern quilter to attend this informative and fun lecture!1031 is a lecture - no supply list
1032 - You made that from a panel?
Two Hour Lecture
Wednesday, June 14, 2017 14:00 - 16:00
Cost: $40.00There are so many neat panels on the market. They come in different sizes and styles. We’re going to learn the basics of working with panels – how to square them up. Then we’ll figure out what a coping border is and how to use one. Then we’re going crazy. Adding borders, slicing and dicing – you’ll never look at panels the same way again!1032 is a lecture - no supply list
303 - Perfecting hand applique
One Full Day Workshop
Friday, June 16, 2017, 08:30 - 16:00
Cost: $130.00
Kit Fee: $10.00Many hand applique techniques will be explored in this hands-on technique class including needleturn, back basting, starch method as well as fusible applique. You'll learn where to apply each of the techniques and why it's common to mix different techniques in the same piece. Various applique tools will be discussed so you'll know which tools will work the best for you. Positioning the applique on the background and the actual hand applique stitch will complete the class. If you're new to hand applique or not happy with your current hand applique, this class will give you the confidence to tackle any hand applique project.
4031 - Are you up for a challenge?
Two-Hour Lecture
Saturday, June 17, 2017, 09:00 - 11:00
Cost: $40.00Have you seen a quilt challenge that you'd love to participate in, but no idea where to start? This interactive lecture is going to give you some inspiration on how to approach a challenge and actually get it finished on time! The first part of the lecture is a trunk show where you'll see various challenge pieces, hear the story of their creation and learn some great techniques. The second half is pure fun and inspiration! You'll be given a small challenge and as a group, we're going to walk through the steps on how to generate ideas and how to turn that idea into a quilt. If you're creative and especially if you're not, this is a safe way to take on a challenge. Promises to be lots of laughs, lots of inspiration and just like a real challenge, there will be prizes.4031 is a lecture - no supply list but bring pencil and notebook
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Grab and go!
Well, that was a surprise!
I had an event in my agenda for Wednesday of this week. It said "Quilt Show Event" and the time was scheduled for 7 - 9 PM. No notes, nothing to back up what this meant. I have to say that I ignored it because I had no clue what that meant.
Let's keep that thought for a moment. I had a great day at work yesterday, I got TWO tops ready for the quilting machine. Yeah - mitered corners, cutting borders, etc. Very happy.
I'm on my way home with not a care in the world. Despite the fact that I'm going to miss the second meeting of the West End Modern Quilt Guild - I feel bad about it, but it couldn't be helped. I have three classes today and I was going to prep them last night. However, I happened to check my e-mail and OH MY GOD - the quilt event was last night and I was supposed to be at Carassauga, a cultural event in my city.
And I'm supposed to be there in one hour! ACK - what to take. I have to have something to do as I know booth sitting can be long sometimes, but it's only for a couple of hours.
I decided to grab my backpack which had my computer and the materials I've been working on for designing quilts. Why that? No idea.
I get there and someone had already set up the quilts from our guild so that was good. I finished my dinner which I had brought with me and I got a T-shirt and a cowboy hat! Yee haw!!! They had a few props, I had a camera and I was good for a selfie!
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| Me at the Canada Pavilion with my orange Tim Horton's camp bracelet |
I also had my Tim's with me so it doesn't get more Canadian than that! I left the glasses for the kids so Shelly, no teaching in those glasses today! Just noticed that the flag behind is from the province where I was born!
Actually, the room set-up was quite good as they had a lot of information about Canada in the room, but I was attached to my laptop.
It wasn't super busy so I didn't feel that bad being on the computer and besides, I was designing quilts so I showed people what I was doing.
It was rolling around to 9 PM which was the time I thought the event ended, but after asking, oh NO - the event goes to MIDNIGHT!!! Are you kidding me???? I'm going to be dead tomorrow! But Idid my five hour volunteering stint so I should be good for a while!
So there went my sewing prep - I'll just have to use the visuals in the book, but I'm prepared.
Thank god I grabbed my backpack because I would have lost my mind to be there with nothing to do for 5 hours when I could have been home making quilts. I think I ended up designing two new ones and fixed one but I'm still not 100% happy with it. I'll send it to the editors and see what they think. It's funny how I used to be a voracious pattern buyer. I still buy them, but not nearly as many and most of what I sew these days is my own creation. Nothing super complicated because if I'm writing a pattern for it, it has to be easy!
I'm curious - if I ran a class on how to use EQ7 - are there enough people locally who have it that would want a class?
On that note, I'm off to teach for the day, then back home to do some quilting!
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!
Friday, May 26, 2017
Charmed I'm sure!
I've earned a reputation. Well - I guess I've always had the reputation - it's just more noticeable. I'm like an energizer bunny - some call it a bottomless pit of energy, some call it hyper - but it's there! I'm OK with that, to be honest. However, I was having a discussion with my mother the other day. I was telling her about all the stuff I need to get done which means that I don't have time to work on updating her family history book (which I keep promising to do) and she said, perhaps I should slow down. HA! NOT going to happen Mom!
I'm also a passionate person and I'm obsessive. We all know that! So that is why when there was an opportunity to collect charms at Missouri Star, the challenge was on and I arose to the occasion without a second thought.
Here are the charms that I collected from my recent trip to Missouri Star. There are thirteen in total and as you can see, there are only 11 in this picture. One of them will be joining the group on Tuesday as it got tucked in someone else's luggage. And one of the charms was sold out!
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| Charms from Missouri Star |
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| Extra charms/pins to swap |
I haven't had time to put them on the bracelet yet. I'm a tad busy and I'm about to perform a miracle this weekend. I have a "few" customer quilts that need to be quilted, a couple of classes to teach, (double booked for the meeting of the Modern Quilt Guild in my neighborhood - wasn't my fault - it happened), two quilts to quilt by Monday and still piecing them! Oh yes - it's going to be a fun weekend. I can hardly wait to get started. I did bring in my big sewing machine today and after a smidgen of paperwork, I'm firing up that machine and we're going to have a sewing session today!
Never mind the numerous patterns that need to be written as well. It's all FUN - I can't even call this work. But I'm hoping the pace will slow down a smidgen after the next trade show (Quilt Canada) in a couple of weeks. It would be nice to just sew and not have a deadline. Not that I think that will ever stop, but ONE quilt deadline at a time would be great, not FIVE.
I've been remiss in posting the links to QUILTsocial this week. It was my week to post about the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 50 sewing machine. Check out the posts (links below). So much fun to write these posts - I can't wait for the next session. WAIT - I had better get started right now, so I'm not going to have to worry about them at the last minute. Oh my god - and check out Murphy photobombing the last post. Lexi is going to be peeved, to say the least. Again, if you don't have this machine or not in the market for a new sewing machine, there are still cool tips throughout the posts. Check them out!
QUILTsocial posts
Monday - Highlights of the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 50
Tuesday - Exploring the Stitch Menus
Wednesday - Remember the five bobbin rule
Thursday - Presser foot storage and presser foot review
Friday - Project of the week
And there you have it - I've got to get the day started!
Have a super day!
Ciao!!!
Thursday, May 25, 2017
My visit to Missouri Star Quilt Company
I'm not even sure where to start. You have to remember that all of this is located in Hamilton, Missouri. Hamilton has a population of just under two thousand people. And what are the odds that this little town has not one but TWO famous people associated with it? The founder of J. C. Penny (James Cash in case you didn't know) was also from Hamilton. One of the shops (yes - MULTIPLE shops) is named Penny's and has the original sign from the local J.C. Penny store. Check out the link above if you want more information on Hamilton. I'm totally fascinated by this entire story!
In addition to what you see in town, keep in mind that there are not one, but TWO state-of-the-art warehouses nearby that support the online business. We didn't get a chance to visit, but I hope to soon!
This link will give you an overview of the many shops of MSQC.
This link will take you to the retreat center. YES - right in the middle of Hamilton, you can book a retreat for up to 37 people!!!! There are no meals provided, but the retreat is inexpensive ($69 US a night) - a kitchen is onsite so you can cook, there are a couple of small cafes and bakeries very close by. Who wants to go???? I'm in - let's book a date! This is a driveable distance. Oh - by the way, I'm moving there so you can all come and visit me! Here's more info on the retreat center.
And here is what I've been looking for - the link to the MAP of the town and where all the shops are located.
Let me just say that this company knows what direction it's going in, they have a team of very smart people running it and everywhere I turned, the attention to detail was amazing. I believe that EACH shop had two very large washrooms for when they were needed.
Each shop was spacious and not crowded and the merchandising in each was impeccable. Now - MSQC is NOT your typical quilt shop. First off - EACH shop is huge and is way bigger than most quilt shops. They have created an entire SHOP for each category of fabric - batiks, primitives, modern, etc. All the other quilt shops I've been to - they have to cram everything into one shop that is smaller in size than one shop of MSQC. Let's keep in mind that the overhead in Hamilton is probably way less than other major centers so they can afford to throw space around!
I did prep a few pictures for you this morning. This is one of the main buildings. MSQC takes up the entire building and there are shops on the ground level as well as on the top level. You'll be able to see this on the map that I posted the link to. The shops are totally interconnected so you can wander from one to the other without going outside. This was EXTREMELY helpful in our charm shopping because I was able to pay $50 at each cash and get the free charm. What was paid for went in the bag, what wasn't paid for, I held in my hand and carried over to the next shop. I know - very sad. It was like a FEEDING FRENZY. Let's keep in mind that there were FOUR of us and we were doing a wee bit of research as well so it wasn't hard to find $50 worth of merchandise to get those damn charms. More on that in a minute.
This next photo is the inside of Florals. Obviously, the flower shop! I'm not huge into florals, but I was ready to lay out some serious cash in this shop.
The layout was any quilt shop owners dream. High ceilings to beautifully display the quilts. Obviously, there is the cash to do it right! And long rows of identical shelving which made it easy for us to view the collections and all the pre-cuts were right there. It doesn't get much better than that!!!
The center of most of the shops was reserved for all the merchandising - the cute things that make you want to buy! And the cutting tables were there as well.
Then there was the main shop. This place was WIDE OPEN and HUGE. A big seating area, loads of quilts on display, T-shirts and other memorabilia things to buy, as well as fabric. This was also the area where you could get your card printed - more about that in a second. At the back of this shop was a demo area that I was ready to move into. Yep - to live - it was that gorgeous! Shoot - I didn't download that picture.
So you registered on a row of iPads in the main shop with your name and where you were from and your e-mail. Then a card was printed out with a bar code on it. Then it was a simple matter of wherever you went, you presented the card and they had you in their system! If you were buying something from them, they can tell what you bought so if you didn't remember, they could help you! I bet they tally that up at the end of the day to see how much each customer bought. Oh yes - don't kid yourself - I bet they saw sales skyrocket when they implemented that damn charm system!
I wonder if we qualified for a prize with the amount we spent? I paid for it all so it looked like I bought a LOT. (which I did!) They also gave you a bracelet that you can put your charms on. One per shop! Thirteen in total. Now you can also buy the charms on their own for $6 and I did buy a couple. I see that I also ended up with a couple of duplicates - not sure how that happened and one pin at the Florals shop was GONE so I got a pin instead of a charm. That's a good enough reason to go back to get that last charm. Oh god - just shoot me - I'm so obsessed it's obscene.
Do you think I can remember what this card is called?? If you go there, go to the main shop first and get this card. I think it is only available in the main shop - on the opposite side of the street from the picture that I posted.
So if anyone wants to buy a charm? I have the modern charm and I have the primitive charm up for grabs. $5 CDN - a bargain! I'll post pictures of them tomorrow. We also ended up with a duplicate BLOCK magazine which is up for grabs. $5 CDN. I'll post the picture tomorrow.
I have to say that I love being in this business. It gives me access to a lot more things than I would have access to as a plain old quilter and trust me, I'm not shy to ask questions. I'm not even going to provide details to protect myself!
We had tickets to go to Jenny's trunk show. It was two hours long which got to be a tad long simply because we wanted to hit the shops. But she is a natural. She is so funny, so connected to her audience and so humble. She truly is an amazing person and all the staff at MSQC were friendly and very welcoming/accommodating.
They had a two-day event - the Missouri Star Academy. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take part in the event, although I would have liked to. Next time!!! But if you get a chance to go to this event next time they plan one, I think it would be very worthwhile! And we know a GREAT place to stay that is way better than a hotel and much closer than any hotel. I'll show you pictures of that ranch another day.
Bottom line - MSQC is NOT your typical quilt store. I think I saw on their website that it was like the Disneyland of quilting. YES - it truly is. Should you be lucky enough to be going to MSQC, I would highly recommend that you leave your credit card at home! Take cash - take LOTS of cash - I mean LOTS and LOTS of cash. Especially if you want the FREE charms, but you could buy them as well. There are few places to eat in town so keep that in mind, but there is a full grocery store. There are bathrooms everywhere and an elevator to whisk you upstairs on that one side of the street if stairs are not your friend. And of course, you can buy the daily deal IN PERSON - which we did - both days!
And trust me - even if you say, "I'm not buying anything", that thought goes out of your head the moment you walk into the shops. It's a buying frenzy and we certainly got caught up in it!
I can't wait to go back (you know - to buy a house!) I'm going to sell my house, move down there. Buy a store front and renovate it for a studio (the space would be amazing) and live upstairs. I would have died and gone to heaven!!! Something to think about!
On that note, I better get a grip on myself today and buckle down to work. No more petting fabric and messing with my charms.
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!!!
In addition to what you see in town, keep in mind that there are not one, but TWO state-of-the-art warehouses nearby that support the online business. We didn't get a chance to visit, but I hope to soon!
This link will give you an overview of the many shops of MSQC.
This link will take you to the retreat center. YES - right in the middle of Hamilton, you can book a retreat for up to 37 people!!!! There are no meals provided, but the retreat is inexpensive ($69 US a night) - a kitchen is onsite so you can cook, there are a couple of small cafes and bakeries very close by. Who wants to go???? I'm in - let's book a date! This is a driveable distance. Oh - by the way, I'm moving there so you can all come and visit me! Here's more info on the retreat center.
And here is what I've been looking for - the link to the MAP of the town and where all the shops are located.
Let me just say that this company knows what direction it's going in, they have a team of very smart people running it and everywhere I turned, the attention to detail was amazing. I believe that EACH shop had two very large washrooms for when they were needed.
Each shop was spacious and not crowded and the merchandising in each was impeccable. Now - MSQC is NOT your typical quilt shop. First off - EACH shop is huge and is way bigger than most quilt shops. They have created an entire SHOP for each category of fabric - batiks, primitives, modern, etc. All the other quilt shops I've been to - they have to cram everything into one shop that is smaller in size than one shop of MSQC. Let's keep in mind that the overhead in Hamilton is probably way less than other major centers so they can afford to throw space around!
I did prep a few pictures for you this morning. This is one of the main buildings. MSQC takes up the entire building and there are shops on the ground level as well as on the top level. You'll be able to see this on the map that I posted the link to. The shops are totally interconnected so you can wander from one to the other without going outside. This was EXTREMELY helpful in our charm shopping because I was able to pay $50 at each cash and get the free charm. What was paid for went in the bag, what wasn't paid for, I held in my hand and carried over to the next shop. I know - very sad. It was like a FEEDING FRENZY. Let's keep in mind that there were FOUR of us and we were doing a wee bit of research as well so it wasn't hard to find $50 worth of merchandise to get those damn charms. More on that in a minute.
 |
| MSQC on one side of Davis Street in Hamilton |
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| Inside Florals at MSQC |
The center of most of the shops was reserved for all the merchandising - the cute things that make you want to buy! And the cutting tables were there as well.
 |
| The shelving along two long walls of Florals and the quilts on display |
 |
| The main shop |
I wonder if we qualified for a prize with the amount we spent? I paid for it all so it looked like I bought a LOT. (which I did!) They also gave you a bracelet that you can put your charms on. One per shop! Thirteen in total. Now you can also buy the charms on their own for $6 and I did buy a couple. I see that I also ended up with a couple of duplicates - not sure how that happened and one pin at the Florals shop was GONE so I got a pin instead of a charm. That's a good enough reason to go back to get that last charm. Oh god - just shoot me - I'm so obsessed it's obscene.
 |
| My card and my bracelet |
So if anyone wants to buy a charm? I have the modern charm and I have the primitive charm up for grabs. $5 CDN - a bargain! I'll post pictures of them tomorrow. We also ended up with a duplicate BLOCK magazine which is up for grabs. $5 CDN. I'll post the picture tomorrow.
I have to say that I love being in this business. It gives me access to a lot more things than I would have access to as a plain old quilter and trust me, I'm not shy to ask questions. I'm not even going to provide details to protect myself!
We had tickets to go to Jenny's trunk show. It was two hours long which got to be a tad long simply because we wanted to hit the shops. But she is a natural. She is so funny, so connected to her audience and so humble. She truly is an amazing person and all the staff at MSQC were friendly and very welcoming/accommodating.
 |
| Jenny's PACKED lecture |
They had a two-day event - the Missouri Star Academy. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take part in the event, although I would have liked to. Next time!!! But if you get a chance to go to this event next time they plan one, I think it would be very worthwhile! And we know a GREAT place to stay that is way better than a hotel and much closer than any hotel. I'll show you pictures of that ranch another day.
Bottom line - MSQC is NOT your typical quilt store. I think I saw on their website that it was like the Disneyland of quilting. YES - it truly is. Should you be lucky enough to be going to MSQC, I would highly recommend that you leave your credit card at home! Take cash - take LOTS of cash - I mean LOTS and LOTS of cash. Especially if you want the FREE charms, but you could buy them as well. There are few places to eat in town so keep that in mind, but there is a full grocery store. There are bathrooms everywhere and an elevator to whisk you upstairs on that one side of the street if stairs are not your friend. And of course, you can buy the daily deal IN PERSON - which we did - both days!
And trust me - even if you say, "I'm not buying anything", that thought goes out of your head the moment you walk into the shops. It's a buying frenzy and we certainly got caught up in it!
I can't wait to go back (you know - to buy a house!) I'm going to sell my house, move down there. Buy a store front and renovate it for a studio (the space would be amazing) and live upstairs. I would have died and gone to heaven!!! Something to think about!
On that note, I better get a grip on myself today and buckle down to work. No more petting fabric and messing with my charms.
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!!!
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
My brain has exploded!
Seriously - my brain has exploded! If you ever get a chance to visit Missouri Star Quilt Company, your brain will explode! I'm so frazzled right now, that I agreed to move there! I don't care what I do - I'll sweep the floor and do it for free so I don't need a visa. That place will just blow your mind!
My only regret is that we didn't have nearly enough time to explore.
We did get to listen to Jenny's presentation. It was held at the Methodist church in Hamilton. It was just Jenny and her husband - gosh, I don't think I even know his name.
I want to be able to tell you in great detail about our visit and include pictures and I just don't have time this morning for that. So bear with me - I have to share this experience with you because it was unbelievable.
All I will say is that at the very first shop, we knew we were in trouble when my NON-quilting colleagues felt the draw of the fabric buying frenzy. Yep - it was incredible and there we were at the car rental place with our Missouri Star bags trying to shove everything we bought into our suitcases without going over the weight limit on the plane!
Have I ever mentioned that I love my job? I'm obsessed and that's all I can say at this moment because I'm so totally overwhelmed by the last 7 days that I need some time to process everything and well - there are upcoming lectures, trunks shows, quilt shows, classes, magazine quilts, customer quilting that I'll be hitting the ground running starting about NOW!
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Day tripping
I don't even know where to start. Yesterday was an amazing day - everywhere we turned or where we went there was something spectacular to see.
We were up early (again, I didn't sleep all that well) and on our way to the airport. I had booked a van to take the four of us to the airport so we could pick up our rental car (I mean standard size SUV). There wasn't that much traffic in the morning (despite it being rush hour), although we did have trouble getting into the car rental place. The front entrance was NOT that well marked. Thank goodness it wasn't me in the car trying to get in. I choose a WHITE SUV - keep that in mind.
Got the address for our first stop plugged into the GPS and we were off. Well, not before we crammed everything into the car. We didn't pack as well as if we were going to the airport to get on a plane so there was stuff everywhere.
Now keep in mind, there are four women in the car and you know what means? Pit stops! We stopped at McDonald's once we got out of the city and the three of them proceeded to have breakfast. I had already had breakfast at the hotel so I really didn't need anything, but a bathroom break was welcomed as I had water and orange juice at the hotel.
We had a four-hour drive so there was another pit stop required. I saw a symbol for a restaurant on my GPS and we pulled into this little town. I see a gas station and was shocked to find it filled with old cars and in each car were mannequins!! It was totally creepy and needless to say, we did NOT stop for a pee break there. Back on the road until we found the next McDonalds. Yes - these ladies love McDonald's. I do not. I think it's because I ate at McDonald's so much when M was little that I can't entertain the thought. Give me Tim's any day so when I can't have Tim's, I just do without! Isn't that just ridiculous on my part?
We finally arrived at our first destination around 1 PM. We weren't sure if we were going to stop there, but decided to do so since the next two stops were very close and we wanted to make sure that we got to our third stop before they closed at 5 PM. As we were getting closer to our first stop, we knew that we were in quilt country as we saw several quilt blocks on the barns. Of course, I'm driving so there is no way that I can take pictures.
BTW - I don't even now what brand of SUV that I picked, however, it's got that damn system that beeps when you cross the yellow/white lines. I know you can shut it off, but I didn't. Just for the fun of it. But what is really cool is that it has a HUD. Do you know what that is?? A heads up display! Yes - when I look ahead of me, I can see the temperature, the gear that I''m in and my speed are projected onto the windshield that only the driver can see. It's pretty weird - I do like the speed part - perhaps it's there to constantly remind people of their speed? It would need to be positioned just a tad differently for me if it were my car.
Anyway, our first stop was Shearwoods which is a shop run by the Amish. A lot of interesting things in the shop - a LOT of our product in the shop which was exciting. It was one of those shops (like most quilt shops) that is out in the middle of nowhere. I mean nowhere! But the GPS knew where to take us. Yes - I did acquire a few things in the shop that I didn't have at home. How could that be? It's amazing how we go from "I don't need anything" to "Oh my - I need to buy that".
We piled back into the car and decided that instead of hitting the next quilt shop that we should check into our hotel so we plugged that address into the GPS. It was about 20 miles away. Hmmmm - my GPS didn't pick up the address, but Jen's phone did. Let's put it this way - my WHITE SUV was caked in mud by the time we arrived. Oh yes - it started to rain about noon and the RANCH that we were staying at was on dirt roads (at least they are gravelled so it's all good). After one or two false starts, we did manage to find the place. All I can say is WOW!!!!!! This place would blow your mind.
There is one main building, the bunk house and a number of small cabins. It was almost the same price for us to rent the bunk house as it was to go to the hotel. I'm very glad that we stayed here - I did question it, but the reviews were amazing and we followed Jen's lead. I'm not even sure where to start to explain this place. The main house has three or four floors. There are only SIX guest rooms in the main house which was built mostly for this entrepreneur to have a place to gather with his family. There is a whole story about it online. It's called Morrell Ranch. The kitchen is almost the same size as the main floor of my house which is a decent size. There are TWO MASSIVE islands, four sinks, two huge ranges, two sets of dining tables (there is no other formal dining room). There are TWO separate guest suites with their own quaint kitchen facilities and four other large guest bedrooms on the main floor. And let's not forget the MASSIVE great room with a grand piano that is dwarfed by the three story ceiling. A wide veranda that is calling my name with a pack of hexies. Can I just live here forever?
Wrapping on three sides of the great room (on the second floor) are bookshelves filled with books and we could bring whatever we wanted to the bunk house. Apparently there is a secret apartment in the house where the owner lives when he is here. The basement has a pool room (yes - there is a small pool and a hot tub), a billiard room, or at least a room with GUNS on the wall and pool cues and a table. We did have a quick game of pool. Hey Ronda and Shelley - where were you when I needed you? An exercise room, a lounge area, and I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff, but we needed to get moving.
Our bunkhouse has FOUR beautiful bedrooms that are to die for. Two bathrooms, a decent sized but well equpped kitchen, laundry room and a great room that isn't large, but certainly functional and well appointed. I took some pictures, but everywhere we looked there is more to see. It's absolutely amazing.
There is a large pond with swans and ducks, there are cows somewhere nearby, and the cutest little baby fawn. He is new born and I don't remember his story, but he's here and so cute. They are bottle feeding him and we were trying to get to the 8 PM feeding, but when we arrived there was no one else around.
I forgot to mention that there is another HUGE facility which is the guest facility. Should you want to get married or have a party, there's a large rotunda and eating area and the fawn is there along with the check-in area.
Here's the bizarre thing - the place is wide open until 10 PM and we are the only ones here. No, there are supposed to be a couple of quilters here as well and we did run into one lady trying to figure out the hot tub, but other than her, the only people we saw was the lady that checked us in and she was long gone when we got back from our other appointment.
We did toss our bags in our rooms and headed out to our third stop of the day. We did all the checking out of this place once we were back from that. Otherwise we would have missed the shopping at MISSOURI STAR COMANY.
Yes - here we are not far from Hamilton, Missouri, home of Jenny Doan and Missouri Star. It's like Mecca for quilters. I will save that for another day, but let's just say that I heard my credit card groan as we walked through the door of the FIRST of about 12 shops - all Missouri Star. It's incredible.
We had a quick bite to eat because there are not a lot of choices in Hamilton. We also stopped for a few groceries (trying to save money so we can spend more at the quilt shop! I think even the non-quilters amongst us will be converted by the time we leave. EVERYONE was drooling over the shops!)
When we got back to the ranch, that's when we did our exploring that I mentioned above. As we came out of the main house (to feed the fawn), it was about 8 PM and there was the MOST beautiful rainbow that I've ever seen. This place is supposed to have some spiritual connection and after seeing that rainbow, I truly believe it. My phone had died by this time and my camera was in the bunkhouse so I relied on the others to take pictures which they did - it was posted to Facebook last night. Absolutely breath-taking. Stunning - I can't say enough about how gorgeous it was.
Now we're getting ready for the day which includes spending as MUCH time at the Missouri Star as possible although we have a flight out this afternoon so we will have to leave shortly after lunch. Boo hoo!!! But still lots of time to do some serious damage. I wonder how much I can shove into my suitcase?
Have a super day and stay tuned for the amazing review of Missouri Star which I hope to get tomorrow.
Ciao!!!!!
We were up early (again, I didn't sleep all that well) and on our way to the airport. I had booked a van to take the four of us to the airport so we could pick up our rental car (I mean standard size SUV). There wasn't that much traffic in the morning (despite it being rush hour), although we did have trouble getting into the car rental place. The front entrance was NOT that well marked. Thank goodness it wasn't me in the car trying to get in. I choose a WHITE SUV - keep that in mind.
Got the address for our first stop plugged into the GPS and we were off. Well, not before we crammed everything into the car. We didn't pack as well as if we were going to the airport to get on a plane so there was stuff everywhere.
Now keep in mind, there are four women in the car and you know what means? Pit stops! We stopped at McDonald's once we got out of the city and the three of them proceeded to have breakfast. I had already had breakfast at the hotel so I really didn't need anything, but a bathroom break was welcomed as I had water and orange juice at the hotel.
We had a four-hour drive so there was another pit stop required. I saw a symbol for a restaurant on my GPS and we pulled into this little town. I see a gas station and was shocked to find it filled with old cars and in each car were mannequins!! It was totally creepy and needless to say, we did NOT stop for a pee break there. Back on the road until we found the next McDonalds. Yes - these ladies love McDonald's. I do not. I think it's because I ate at McDonald's so much when M was little that I can't entertain the thought. Give me Tim's any day so when I can't have Tim's, I just do without! Isn't that just ridiculous on my part?
We finally arrived at our first destination around 1 PM. We weren't sure if we were going to stop there, but decided to do so since the next two stops were very close and we wanted to make sure that we got to our third stop before they closed at 5 PM. As we were getting closer to our first stop, we knew that we were in quilt country as we saw several quilt blocks on the barns. Of course, I'm driving so there is no way that I can take pictures.
BTW - I don't even now what brand of SUV that I picked, however, it's got that damn system that beeps when you cross the yellow/white lines. I know you can shut it off, but I didn't. Just for the fun of it. But what is really cool is that it has a HUD. Do you know what that is?? A heads up display! Yes - when I look ahead of me, I can see the temperature, the gear that I''m in and my speed are projected onto the windshield that only the driver can see. It's pretty weird - I do like the speed part - perhaps it's there to constantly remind people of their speed? It would need to be positioned just a tad differently for me if it were my car.
Anyway, our first stop was Shearwoods which is a shop run by the Amish. A lot of interesting things in the shop - a LOT of our product in the shop which was exciting. It was one of those shops (like most quilt shops) that is out in the middle of nowhere. I mean nowhere! But the GPS knew where to take us. Yes - I did acquire a few things in the shop that I didn't have at home. How could that be? It's amazing how we go from "I don't need anything" to "Oh my - I need to buy that".
We piled back into the car and decided that instead of hitting the next quilt shop that we should check into our hotel so we plugged that address into the GPS. It was about 20 miles away. Hmmmm - my GPS didn't pick up the address, but Jen's phone did. Let's put it this way - my WHITE SUV was caked in mud by the time we arrived. Oh yes - it started to rain about noon and the RANCH that we were staying at was on dirt roads (at least they are gravelled so it's all good). After one or two false starts, we did manage to find the place. All I can say is WOW!!!!!! This place would blow your mind.
There is one main building, the bunk house and a number of small cabins. It was almost the same price for us to rent the bunk house as it was to go to the hotel. I'm very glad that we stayed here - I did question it, but the reviews were amazing and we followed Jen's lead. I'm not even sure where to start to explain this place. The main house has three or four floors. There are only SIX guest rooms in the main house which was built mostly for this entrepreneur to have a place to gather with his family. There is a whole story about it online. It's called Morrell Ranch. The kitchen is almost the same size as the main floor of my house which is a decent size. There are TWO MASSIVE islands, four sinks, two huge ranges, two sets of dining tables (there is no other formal dining room). There are TWO separate guest suites with their own quaint kitchen facilities and four other large guest bedrooms on the main floor. And let's not forget the MASSIVE great room with a grand piano that is dwarfed by the three story ceiling. A wide veranda that is calling my name with a pack of hexies. Can I just live here forever?
Wrapping on three sides of the great room (on the second floor) are bookshelves filled with books and we could bring whatever we wanted to the bunk house. Apparently there is a secret apartment in the house where the owner lives when he is here. The basement has a pool room (yes - there is a small pool and a hot tub), a billiard room, or at least a room with GUNS on the wall and pool cues and a table. We did have a quick game of pool. Hey Ronda and Shelley - where were you when I needed you? An exercise room, a lounge area, and I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff, but we needed to get moving.
Our bunkhouse has FOUR beautiful bedrooms that are to die for. Two bathrooms, a decent sized but well equpped kitchen, laundry room and a great room that isn't large, but certainly functional and well appointed. I took some pictures, but everywhere we looked there is more to see. It's absolutely amazing.
There is a large pond with swans and ducks, there are cows somewhere nearby, and the cutest little baby fawn. He is new born and I don't remember his story, but he's here and so cute. They are bottle feeding him and we were trying to get to the 8 PM feeding, but when we arrived there was no one else around.
I forgot to mention that there is another HUGE facility which is the guest facility. Should you want to get married or have a party, there's a large rotunda and eating area and the fawn is there along with the check-in area.
Here's the bizarre thing - the place is wide open until 10 PM and we are the only ones here. No, there are supposed to be a couple of quilters here as well and we did run into one lady trying to figure out the hot tub, but other than her, the only people we saw was the lady that checked us in and she was long gone when we got back from our other appointment.
We did toss our bags in our rooms and headed out to our third stop of the day. We did all the checking out of this place once we were back from that. Otherwise we would have missed the shopping at MISSOURI STAR COMANY.
Yes - here we are not far from Hamilton, Missouri, home of Jenny Doan and Missouri Star. It's like Mecca for quilters. I will save that for another day, but let's just say that I heard my credit card groan as we walked through the door of the FIRST of about 12 shops - all Missouri Star. It's incredible.
We had a quick bite to eat because there are not a lot of choices in Hamilton. We also stopped for a few groceries (trying to save money so we can spend more at the quilt shop! I think even the non-quilters amongst us will be converted by the time we leave. EVERYONE was drooling over the shops!)
When we got back to the ranch, that's when we did our exploring that I mentioned above. As we came out of the main house (to feed the fawn), it was about 8 PM and there was the MOST beautiful rainbow that I've ever seen. This place is supposed to have some spiritual connection and after seeing that rainbow, I truly believe it. My phone had died by this time and my camera was in the bunkhouse so I relied on the others to take pictures which they did - it was posted to Facebook last night. Absolutely breath-taking. Stunning - I can't say enough about how gorgeous it was.
Now we're getting ready for the day which includes spending as MUCH time at the Missouri Star as possible although we have a flight out this afternoon so we will have to leave shortly after lunch. Boo hoo!!! But still lots of time to do some serious damage. I wonder how much I can shove into my suitcase?
Have a super day and stay tuned for the amazing review of Missouri Star which I hope to get tomorrow.
Ciao!!!!!
Monday, May 22, 2017
Spring Market - Day Three
Wow - Spring Market is over for another year. The time seems to fly by and next thing I knew we were tearing the booth down. I seriously did NOT get a chance to really walk the floor. I finally took a quick run through late in the day yesterday, but I don't think I managed to walk all the aisles. Next time, I schedule my appointments with a big gap to walk the floor.
And why is that? Well, I had appointments and I had a fair number of appointments with various people. I also helped out the sales team if they needed questions answered about some of the projects hanging in the booth. You know - I never even took pictures of the booth. Oh my goodness - what is happening to me? I barely took any pictures at all. I must be slowing down!
And of course, if you had an appointment and they were a tad late, then you had to wait for them. I did miss chatting with one person. I think we got our times mixed up. I missed the text that she was at the booth and then we never did connect. Oh well, we'll go it via e-mail or next market. I already have a lot of stuff in the pipeline, it may be just as well that I didn't get a chance to chat with this editor.
We actually had a steady stream of people all market, but around 2 PM (show closes at 4 PM), everything just went dead. The attendees were finished with their classes and wanted to get out of there. It didn't take long to tear down our booth although we had to wait a fair amount of time to get the crates to our booth. If only they would let us move them ourselves. They are on wheels! However, all convention centers come with very strong unions so best not to step on toes.
We locked the final crate - 2 hours and 45 minutes. I had to laugh because, at one point, we're all sitting around waiting for the crates. The moment the crates arrived, it became a beehive of activity as everyone scurried around taping boxes, rollling quilts and shoving it all into the crates
I must be mad because I went back to Sugarfire for the THIRD time while I was here. Call me adventureous! Seriously, I don't mind eating at the same place - it's really good. I loved the brisket and that's what I wanted. However, there was just an end left by the time I got to the counter. The lady wasn't going to sell it to me - policy I'm sure. Finally I convinced her that I was OK with that piece (I like well done). She said something and then cut up the hunk into chunks and slapped it on my butcher paper on my big metal tray! It was great and so was the company as a couple of us had some good conversations and recapped the show.
Back to the hotel where I finished up some work that I had to do. For some reason, I haven't been sleeping as well as I normally do. Not sure what the situation is, but I seem to be awake more than I sleep. But one more night out and then I'll be home tomorrow.
You see - while most of our crew goes home today, some of us are going on an adventure. Just wait! It's exciting. To give you a clue, just remember we're in St. Louis and what state is St. Louis in? Think about it!
On that note, I'm out of here to finish packing.
Have a super day!
Ciao!!!!
It's also the first day of my week of posting for QUILTsocial. Check it out. Even if you don't have the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 50 (which is the machine that I reviewed this week) or even if you're not in the market for a sewing machine, check it out as there are lots of tips in the posts that will make it worth your while to read.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Spring Market - Day Two
If you're a keener, there are one and a half hour classes (make and takes) that occur before Market opens each day. I like to take these classes for a couple of reasons. First off, with the time that I get up, what the heck would I do with myself until the show opens at 9:30? By 9:30 back home, I have half a day's work done. And there is always something new to learn.
I went to the class yesterday on cutters. You see, I have a cutter - I have a Scan n Cut (the first edition) which I have to confess has never been taken out of the box. Guess what brand of cutter they had in the room? Yep - the Brother Scan n Cut, although it was the second edition. How different can they be?
We didn't cut fabric. No, we cut various styles of vinyl which was super fun except that the motif that we got was for the good old USA so I likely won't be using that anytime soon. We did make a logo for a small tote bag which was fun. Very easy to use and I love that it scans where your stuff is so no need to be super careful on the positioning. It's when you're cutting fabric that things get tricky and I learned about SVG files which I really didn't understand until they got going. It's never too late to learn. But I must pop over to Alex Anderson's booth (who is right beside us) to chat about a couple of supplies - software and stabilizers.
Back to the booth to get ready for the day. I had a lot of appointments for the day which was good, but we were short on space which was also very good. Let's just say that I'm super flexible and I can set up and chat pretty much anywhere! So good to chat with the editors. Always lots to catch up on - fabric collections, quilt submissions and a whole lot more. Super exciting stuff for me. Oh gosh, and one more pattern picked up! I didn't have many designs with me as I just didn't have time to get more done so I'll be working hard when I get home.
I barely got out of the booth all day. Between my appointments and helping the sales reps with customer questions, the day flew by. I did manage to get out later in the day and walked about 1/4 of the show. I have to laugh because the way that I walk the show (as a quilter) and the way a non-quilter walks the floor are two completely different things. I look for new, I look for people that I have a connection with (yes - more talking!)
I had a long chat with Deb Tucker about the advantages of using her rulers. The last couple of quilts that I had made for the magazines and my Sesquicentennial quilt had a lot of flying geese. I promised Deb that when I got back home that I would dig out my Wing Clipper ruler and I would use it! I have no choice now but to get my butt in gear and do that. A promise is a promise! Deb is a wonderful person and always a hoot to have a chat with.
I only have two appointments today and the show ends at 4. I would imagine by noon that it will be pretty quiet and I should have a chance to fly around the remainder of the show so I can at least say I was everywhere! And I remembered to pick up the pattern that I had purchased from a designer. I bought the pattern in Paducah, but it wasn't finished at that tine so I got it now. See - I do remember things!
I've got my work cut out for me when I get home. Not only do I have quilts to make and finish, I've got to get out the Wing Clipper ruler, I've got to crack open that box for the scan n cut and I've got a tool that was given to me to review. More on that when I get home. All super exciting things to say the least.
Well, I see it time to get ready for the day.
Have a super day!!
Ciao!
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Spring Quilt Market - Day One
Yesterday was the first official day of Spring Market. I had several meetings booked with editors and customers and always exciting to show off the new collections.
I have my favorite collections from the new release and it's always fun to see which ones are liked by others. I did get another quilt picked up by a magazine. Yeah - but there isn't an immediate rush on that - fabric isn't even made yet.
I have another round of appointments today. I did manage to get out and see a little bit of the show. Hopefully, a little bit more tomorrow and then tomorrow which is a shorter day, but I only have two appointments so I should be able to get out and see the rest.
I've run into shop owners from back home and we've had some good visits. I think that's what I'm best at. I'm a talking head. I love talking - just like my dad and his dad. The gift of the gab!
Oh, shoot - just realizing that I haven't posted any pictures on Facebook/Instagram (except for my food) so I'll try and do that today so you can see what I've been working on.
The day passed by in a whirlwind and next thing you know - it's time to go back to the hotel. I had yakked about the BBQ place so much that Shirley wanted to go and so the two of us were off to the BBQ place. The line was even longer than the previous night but it went quickly. The food looked equally messy but was very good. And I ran into several people there from Market. One group was there because of my picture I posted the night before!
We had a good chat and a good catch-up since we don't get to see each other that often. Back to the hotel where it was only 8 PM. The rest of my group was just going out. I just can't do that anymore. OK - it's not so much that I can't, as that I don't want to be eating at 10 PM. Too late.
I see that it is raining this morning and there have been some spectacular claps of thunder and lightening. I will have to make quick work of getting over to the convention center which is about a 1-minute walk so I don't get too wet. I have a class at 8 AM so I'll be there for that. I don't even know what it is - I did sign up for two and I can't remember either. That's why we have schedules and agendas!
On that note - I'm off to get ready and have breakfast!
Have a super day!
Ciao!
Friday, May 19, 2017
Spring Market - Schoolhouse
I had finished my booth set-up responsibilities the day before so that left me with the day to check out Schoolhouse. That was super exciting. I've been to Schoolhouse before but always felt guilty as I went back to the booth to help out.
I went through the class/demo listings and picked what I thought would be interesting (in my day job capacity), not personally. There is a difference! I had a lot of fun checking out various projects/collections etc that are being introduced here at Market. Lots of block of the months (maybe some I can teach when I get home), saw lots of people I know, met up with a few people from back home.
I was planning on going to Victoria Findlay Wolfe's schoolhouse, even saw her, said HI and see you later and then I was called into a meeting and that just killed the rest of my day! The meeting was interesting and worth attending so I can't complain. I had also thought of going to Sample Spree, but by the time we finished the meeting, I was too hungry and tired to go to sample spree. And probably just as well as I really do NOT need any more fabric or rulers or whatever.
I decided to jump ship and have dinner on my own. While I like my co-workers, there comes a point when I need my peace and quiet. I'll explode without it! I asked at the front desk for a recommendation for a restaurant and they gave me the same one that we had been to the night before. Nope - I would like something else. How about BBQ? Perfect even though I'm not a huge meat fan.
Sugarfire was not far away from the hotel so I walked over. Whoa - this is a popular place. It was about 8 PM by the time I got there - and the place was packed and there was a line. ACK! Do I want to wait? I had no choice - I wasn't going to wander around and find something else. I'm not a big meat eater so what am I going to choose? I settled on the Big Muddy (I wonder why it's called that?). Sides? Nope - wasn't into potato salad or coleslaw so I thought I could have a milkshake. Live it up a bit. Nope - they were long sold out of ice cream. The cashier said they must have made over 1,500 milkshakes that day!!!
This restaurant is cafeteria style. You get a big metal tray with a sheet of paper on it. They plop your meat choices right on the paper. The salads are in small paper trays - no dishes to wash. My big muddy was actually a burger with a sausage and some brisket. Lots of other stuff got thrown on and it looked like a huge mess, which it was. But it was AMAZING and that's from a very fussy meat eater. Tender, tasty and well, I just ate the meat!!! The rest of the mess, I left on the paper!
Seating was home style. Long rows of tables with old kitchen chairs. It was pretty cool. I met up with a person who was here to help a friend with their booth for Market and an educator for heart valves. An interesting dinner conversation and I laughed because if one ate all their food, it was a heart attack waiting to happen!
Back to the hotel and to bed. I had to shut the A/C off last night. Just can't get it controlled, I hate it and I was just fine without it. No headache this morning.
I see that we had a big thunderstorm this morning but I was busy on the computer. It appears to have settled down which is fine since I need to get my butt to breakfast in a few minutes.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!!
I went through the class/demo listings and picked what I thought would be interesting (in my day job capacity), not personally. There is a difference! I had a lot of fun checking out various projects/collections etc that are being introduced here at Market. Lots of block of the months (maybe some I can teach when I get home), saw lots of people I know, met up with a few people from back home.
I was planning on going to Victoria Findlay Wolfe's schoolhouse, even saw her, said HI and see you later and then I was called into a meeting and that just killed the rest of my day! The meeting was interesting and worth attending so I can't complain. I had also thought of going to Sample Spree, but by the time we finished the meeting, I was too hungry and tired to go to sample spree. And probably just as well as I really do NOT need any more fabric or rulers or whatever.
I decided to jump ship and have dinner on my own. While I like my co-workers, there comes a point when I need my peace and quiet. I'll explode without it! I asked at the front desk for a recommendation for a restaurant and they gave me the same one that we had been to the night before. Nope - I would like something else. How about BBQ? Perfect even though I'm not a huge meat fan.
Sugarfire was not far away from the hotel so I walked over. Whoa - this is a popular place. It was about 8 PM by the time I got there - and the place was packed and there was a line. ACK! Do I want to wait? I had no choice - I wasn't going to wander around and find something else. I'm not a big meat eater so what am I going to choose? I settled on the Big Muddy (I wonder why it's called that?). Sides? Nope - wasn't into potato salad or coleslaw so I thought I could have a milkshake. Live it up a bit. Nope - they were long sold out of ice cream. The cashier said they must have made over 1,500 milkshakes that day!!!
This restaurant is cafeteria style. You get a big metal tray with a sheet of paper on it. They plop your meat choices right on the paper. The salads are in small paper trays - no dishes to wash. My big muddy was actually a burger with a sausage and some brisket. Lots of other stuff got thrown on and it looked like a huge mess, which it was. But it was AMAZING and that's from a very fussy meat eater. Tender, tasty and well, I just ate the meat!!! The rest of the mess, I left on the paper!
Seating was home style. Long rows of tables with old kitchen chairs. It was pretty cool. I met up with a person who was here to help a friend with their booth for Market and an educator for heart valves. An interesting dinner conversation and I laughed because if one ate all their food, it was a heart attack waiting to happen!
Back to the hotel and to bed. I had to shut the A/C off last night. Just can't get it controlled, I hate it and I was just fine without it. No headache this morning.
I see that we had a big thunderstorm this morning but I was busy on the computer. It appears to have settled down which is fine since I need to get my butt to breakfast in a few minutes.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!!
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Spring Market - travel day
Here I am in my hotel room in St. Louis! And yes all my quilts got done.
I finished the quilting on the big quilt (after I had a small ripping out session). The lesson here is never attempt something that you're not 100% sure of especially when there is a deadline! The binding got put on (I'm getting super fast - did you know that I sewed the binding on by machine and it probably took less than one hour. Both sides and the quilt was 80 inches square! The sleeve got made, but not sewn on. I was leaving that for when we got to market. A big thank you to Shirley and Hania who sewed my two sleeves on!
I was up super early so I could pack. I know - there literally was no time to do it before. Then I was off to the airport. Our flight was uneventful except for the landing. It was windy in St. Louis and I swear that plane tipped upon landing. Thankfully it was righted before any damage was done and we were at the airport.
There was quite a contingent of us (thankfully the plane did make it or well you wouldn't be getting new fabrics from us!), so we rented a bus to get us to the hotel. Very efficient way. Did you know that St. Louis is a city divided? Apparently, there is one street that sort of separates the high income and low-income sections. I must say that there is a lot of abandoned buildings here. Hmm - could buy one, fix it up and have an amazing loft space!
We arrived early in the day which was a treat as we don't usually get to our booth until the afternoon. However, I discovered that our crates had not arrived! Yikes, that's not good. A little investigation and it appears that our truck driver was a little bit delayed but everything was good and soon we had those crates open and rushing around like bees to get everything set up.
And I'm already scouting out, chatting up people, working out deals and arrangements for future events. I love coming to these shows and it technically hasn't even started yet!
But around 5 PM, I said, "that's it for me". I was tired and just not functioning anymore. I had to pop out to pick up a quilt from someone anyway. Once I had walked down to the hotel where they were taking a class, I thought I'm very close to the Arch so I'll just walk on over there. Wow - that is such a cool feature/sculpture/structure? It's huge and you can go crazy looking up at it. Apparently, you can go up in it, but as I was on my way there, a lady told me that the tickets were all sold out for today. No worries - I didn't have time, nor did I want to. But I took a few pictures.
The rest of the gang was meeting up soon and so I walked back to the hotel to meet up with them. It was super windy and I was certain that I was going to get caught in the rain. But nope - no rain. It's a bit humid here, but not bad.
We went out for dinner but again, I didn't linger. I mean really - don't these people get tired of being with each other all day? I need a break! I like my solitude!
The temperature in my room is bizarre. Of course, it's set to FREEZING when I arrive. I turn the fan down and make a couple of adjustments, but it's cold when the air conditioning is running and HOT the moment it stops. It's crazy. I didn't sleep well last night and usually wake up with a headache the first night in a new room. My head is pounding right now which isn't fun. But hopefully once I get up and moving and have breakfast, I'll be OK. Oh and the sheets are so tightly tucked in, I can barely get them out!
Anway on that note, I'm out of here to have a shower and get on with the day.
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!
I finished the quilting on the big quilt (after I had a small ripping out session). The lesson here is never attempt something that you're not 100% sure of especially when there is a deadline! The binding got put on (I'm getting super fast - did you know that I sewed the binding on by machine and it probably took less than one hour. Both sides and the quilt was 80 inches square! The sleeve got made, but not sewn on. I was leaving that for when we got to market. A big thank you to Shirley and Hania who sewed my two sleeves on!
I was up super early so I could pack. I know - there literally was no time to do it before. Then I was off to the airport. Our flight was uneventful except for the landing. It was windy in St. Louis and I swear that plane tipped upon landing. Thankfully it was righted before any damage was done and we were at the airport.
There was quite a contingent of us (thankfully the plane did make it or well you wouldn't be getting new fabrics from us!), so we rented a bus to get us to the hotel. Very efficient way. Did you know that St. Louis is a city divided? Apparently, there is one street that sort of separates the high income and low-income sections. I must say that there is a lot of abandoned buildings here. Hmm - could buy one, fix it up and have an amazing loft space!
We arrived early in the day which was a treat as we don't usually get to our booth until the afternoon. However, I discovered that our crates had not arrived! Yikes, that's not good. A little investigation and it appears that our truck driver was a little bit delayed but everything was good and soon we had those crates open and rushing around like bees to get everything set up.
And I'm already scouting out, chatting up people, working out deals and arrangements for future events. I love coming to these shows and it technically hasn't even started yet!
But around 5 PM, I said, "that's it for me". I was tired and just not functioning anymore. I had to pop out to pick up a quilt from someone anyway. Once I had walked down to the hotel where they were taking a class, I thought I'm very close to the Arch so I'll just walk on over there. Wow - that is such a cool feature/sculpture/structure? It's huge and you can go crazy looking up at it. Apparently, you can go up in it, but as I was on my way there, a lady told me that the tickets were all sold out for today. No worries - I didn't have time, nor did I want to. But I took a few pictures.
The rest of the gang was meeting up soon and so I walked back to the hotel to meet up with them. It was super windy and I was certain that I was going to get caught in the rain. But nope - no rain. It's a bit humid here, but not bad.
We went out for dinner but again, I didn't linger. I mean really - don't these people get tired of being with each other all day? I need a break! I like my solitude!
The temperature in my room is bizarre. Of course, it's set to FREEZING when I arrive. I turn the fan down and make a couple of adjustments, but it's cold when the air conditioning is running and HOT the moment it stops. It's crazy. I didn't sleep well last night and usually wake up with a headache the first night in a new room. My head is pounding right now which isn't fun. But hopefully once I get up and moving and have breakfast, I'll be OK. Oh and the sheets are so tightly tucked in, I can barely get them out!
Anway on that note, I'm out of here to have a shower and get on with the day.
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Motivational Monday (on Tuesday again!)
Hmmm - there seems to be a trend happening here. I should have thought twice about posting a motivational blog on Monday. Monday morning is not a good morning for me to blog and well sometimes, it gets missed! I was at the gym, pumping 25 KM out on the bike in one hour.
There is NOTHING like a deadline to get one moving! As I mentioned, my magazine quilt was finished last week (just in time to get into a FedEx box). It arrived yesterday and they love it! Are they just saying that? or do they really like it? I have to admit that it's a nice quilt and I'm quite happy with it.
I'm lying in bed yesterday morning contemplating my day and BAM! I realized that I was supposed to have pieced a block that technically was supposed to have been in the US yesterday. I had called and got an extension to Tuesday. That meant that darn block had to be made - again before the FedEx deadline. Thankfully the block was designed and I quickly grabbed some appropriate fabric and whipped up that block as I visited with my Monday group. I designed a quilt using the block and now the block should be arriving at its destination this morning. Yes - it's worth it for me to set up the machine for ONE hour and sew. That's how restrained my time is these days! (Don't worry though - I did sit in the backyard in the sun for a week bit yesterday with the girls and enjoyed the sun and I had a nice nap on Sunday afternoon in the gazebo with the girls lounging beside me on the floor!)
I seem to be plowing through the projects, minus labels, but that's OK. That list is long, well longish - I think there are 20 items on the deadline list (NONE of them have anything to do with my UFOs). A couple will disappear after tonight and while I'm away, I'm going to have to be brutal with scheduling to see how the rest of the items can get accomplished in the time frames allowed.
I'm madly quilting that 80" square quilt that needed custom quilting. I worked until 9:30 last night and I made good progress. Part of it was a royal pain as I needed to change thread colors up to 10 times in one row! That was brutal. Thankfully I'm over that part and now down to about 3 color changes in one row and every row, it gets easier. I was hoping to get the first pass completed last night, but at 9:30, my brain and body said ENOUGH! The next pass is with ONE thread color and is the lesser half of the quilt so that should go quicker. Then to bind it and it looks like sleeves will be sewn on during setup day A job for anyone sitting there with idle hands.
I have a quilt to bind this morning when it comes in from the long arm quilter. The QUILTsocial blog posts are almost completed - I've no idea how those happened!
The 3-D object - not going to happen! That's OK. I'll finish it and show you cause it's so darn cute.
The other "would like to have" - it's done enough to show the concept. That's all I care about.
Then to pack which means throwing a few clothes into the suitcase, take a few photos of quilts and I'm ready to go. Thankfully the next show is local so no need to travel to that one, but there is a ton of stuff to prepare for it (all items are on that deadline list).
And did you know that practice makes perfect? The more I quilt, the better I become. And I think I much prefer to quilt my own quilts than customers. I'm not afraid to make mistakes! I'm quite happy with the quilting on this quilt, my same old signature design. I can't get away from that. Putting on bindings used to be a horrible job, but I don't even know how many I've done by machine and each one is better than the previous one.
The more I write, the fewer errors pop up on Grammarly! And on and on......
So - get out there and practice something!
I see from the Facebook posts that you are all going gangbusters. Projects are super awesome and they are DONE which is the most exciting part of the whole process. Imagine my progress if all my sewing was related to my UFOs? I wouldn't have any!!!! My last deadline quilt is July 20 and I will likely have two months with no deadline sewing - that's when I'm going to get caught up!
Have a super day!
Ciao!
There is NOTHING like a deadline to get one moving! As I mentioned, my magazine quilt was finished last week (just in time to get into a FedEx box). It arrived yesterday and they love it! Are they just saying that? or do they really like it? I have to admit that it's a nice quilt and I'm quite happy with it.
I'm lying in bed yesterday morning contemplating my day and BAM! I realized that I was supposed to have pieced a block that technically was supposed to have been in the US yesterday. I had called and got an extension to Tuesday. That meant that darn block had to be made - again before the FedEx deadline. Thankfully the block was designed and I quickly grabbed some appropriate fabric and whipped up that block as I visited with my Monday group. I designed a quilt using the block and now the block should be arriving at its destination this morning. Yes - it's worth it for me to set up the machine for ONE hour and sew. That's how restrained my time is these days! (Don't worry though - I did sit in the backyard in the sun for a week bit yesterday with the girls and enjoyed the sun and I had a nice nap on Sunday afternoon in the gazebo with the girls lounging beside me on the floor!)
I seem to be plowing through the projects, minus labels, but that's OK. That list is long, well longish - I think there are 20 items on the deadline list (NONE of them have anything to do with my UFOs). A couple will disappear after tonight and while I'm away, I'm going to have to be brutal with scheduling to see how the rest of the items can get accomplished in the time frames allowed.
I'm madly quilting that 80" square quilt that needed custom quilting. I worked until 9:30 last night and I made good progress. Part of it was a royal pain as I needed to change thread colors up to 10 times in one row! That was brutal. Thankfully I'm over that part and now down to about 3 color changes in one row and every row, it gets easier. I was hoping to get the first pass completed last night, but at 9:30, my brain and body said ENOUGH! The next pass is with ONE thread color and is the lesser half of the quilt so that should go quicker. Then to bind it and it looks like sleeves will be sewn on during setup day A job for anyone sitting there with idle hands.
I have a quilt to bind this morning when it comes in from the long arm quilter. The QUILTsocial blog posts are almost completed - I've no idea how those happened!
The 3-D object - not going to happen! That's OK. I'll finish it and show you cause it's so darn cute.
The other "would like to have" - it's done enough to show the concept. That's all I care about.
Then to pack which means throwing a few clothes into the suitcase, take a few photos of quilts and I'm ready to go. Thankfully the next show is local so no need to travel to that one, but there is a ton of stuff to prepare for it (all items are on that deadline list).
And did you know that practice makes perfect? The more I quilt, the better I become. And I think I much prefer to quilt my own quilts than customers. I'm not afraid to make mistakes! I'm quite happy with the quilting on this quilt, my same old signature design. I can't get away from that. Putting on bindings used to be a horrible job, but I don't even know how many I've done by machine and each one is better than the previous one.
The more I write, the fewer errors pop up on Grammarly! And on and on......
So - get out there and practice something!
I see from the Facebook posts that you are all going gangbusters. Projects are super awesome and they are DONE which is the most exciting part of the whole process. Imagine my progress if all my sewing was related to my UFOs? I wouldn't have any!!!! My last deadline quilt is July 20 and I will likely have two months with no deadline sewing - that's when I'm going to get caught up!
Have a super day!
Ciao!
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Happy Mother's Day!
I guess I had better remember to call my Mom today or I'll be in trouble. Funny how they sometimes seem so above the Mother's Day thing, but god forbid if you forget to call! That's the same with birthdays and anniversarys! Those dates are embedded in my brain!
It would appear that Lexi and Murphy were up to no good last night as I see Lexi has posted something this morning. Those two girls are just big trouble makers!
Speaking of being a Mom, my kid now lives in Vancouver and seems to be liking it there. Just have to figure out a way to get all of her stuff that is in our house out to her (or pitch it!). Here's a recent picture that she had taken.
Yep - that's her teeny weeny dog. Murphy would have a hay day with that little dog.
So I got a package in the mail this past week. I love how it was addressed. Can you see? Didn't have my name on the package - nope - addressed to Mom! I love it!!!!
And this is the coolest card - Mother's Day card with a gold bike! I love the card - thanks kiddo!
And I got a bike charm and bike napkins.
Now those napkins will get used! Again - what is the point of having this stuff if it doesn't get used! Enjoy the moment and move on!
DH wanted to take me out for brunch, but there is NO TIME for brunch. I don't know why people feel obligated to eat out on Mother's Day - I mean the brunch thing. I don't really care, we have our weekly date dinner and I'm OK with that. What I want today is time to work on what I'm supposed to be working on!
Yesterday was a super productive day. I got the quilt top finished and loaded on the long arm, ready to get started later today. I had come up with some quilting patterns, but then thought of another one this morning. Whatever it is, has to be quick as this quilt is BIG (80" square) and it has to be in a suitcase on Wednesday morning with the binding attached. The sleeve can be hand stitched or pinned when we arrive.
I also got the binding done for the other quilt that I will get back from the long arm quilter tomorrow so that one can be finished tomorrow.
I did get part of the next row on that "nice to have" project. It didn't take that long so that was good. If I could get two more rows on, I would be very happy.
I zipped out for a couple of hours yesterday to buy supplies for that 3-D project. It was funny as I ran into someone I knew at all three places. That never happens!
Then back home and got most of the bits cut out and a wee bit of work done on it. It's still on the fence whether it will get finished in time or not.
And last, but not least, I took a ton of photos, edited 57 of them and they are uploaded to the QUILTsocial blog posts. Now to fill in the text. That is the big job of today.
I was super happy with my progress and don't feel any stress. I'm wondering if that is a good thing or a bad thing?
I also decided to dump the photos from my camera card (all 6,058) of them (in one year) to the hard drive of the other computer. Yes - I'm typing this on the laptop!
They will need to be sorted and tagged and probably many of them need to be deleted as they have served their purpose. I might try to do a few every day - again there aren't a lot of topics and they can be moved as groups - dogs, quilt shows, blog pictures, etc. And since they tend to be in groups, that makes it even easier. Heck - I might even get the class photos done!
I have quite a few appointments during the Spring Market and as I'm working, I'm planning out those appointments. There is one that is a bit different from the others and this is where keeping pictures of all your work becomes important. As I was transferring some pictures from one computer to the other yesterday, I found some that I was looking for. Now the key is to assemble them all in one place (iPad is preferable) so they can be shown. BUT this task would be so much easier if all my pictures were in one place, tagged and sorted. Oh well - if life were that easy, where would be the fun?
On that note, I'm out of here to take a few more photos and get writing!
Have a super Mother's Day!!!!
Ciao!
It would appear that Lexi and Murphy were up to no good last night as I see Lexi has posted something this morning. Those two girls are just big trouble makers!
Speaking of being a Mom, my kid now lives in Vancouver and seems to be liking it there. Just have to figure out a way to get all of her stuff that is in our house out to her (or pitch it!). Here's a recent picture that she had taken.
 |
| M |
 |
| And Little Bear |
Yep - that's her teeny weeny dog. Murphy would have a hay day with that little dog.
So I got a package in the mail this past week. I love how it was addressed. Can you see? Didn't have my name on the package - nope - addressed to Mom! I love it!!!!
 |
| Addressed to MOM |
And this is the coolest card - Mother's Day card with a gold bike! I love the card - thanks kiddo!
 |
| Cool Mother's Day card |
 |
| Bike themed goodies |
Now those napkins will get used! Again - what is the point of having this stuff if it doesn't get used! Enjoy the moment and move on!
DH wanted to take me out for brunch, but there is NO TIME for brunch. I don't know why people feel obligated to eat out on Mother's Day - I mean the brunch thing. I don't really care, we have our weekly date dinner and I'm OK with that. What I want today is time to work on what I'm supposed to be working on!
Yesterday was a super productive day. I got the quilt top finished and loaded on the long arm, ready to get started later today. I had come up with some quilting patterns, but then thought of another one this morning. Whatever it is, has to be quick as this quilt is BIG (80" square) and it has to be in a suitcase on Wednesday morning with the binding attached. The sleeve can be hand stitched or pinned when we arrive.
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| Quilt is loaded |
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| Binding prepped |
I zipped out for a couple of hours yesterday to buy supplies for that 3-D project. It was funny as I ran into someone I knew at all three places. That never happens!
Then back home and got most of the bits cut out and a wee bit of work done on it. It's still on the fence whether it will get finished in time or not.
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| 3-D project - cut out |
And last, but not least, I took a ton of photos, edited 57 of them and they are uploaded to the QUILTsocial blog posts. Now to fill in the text. That is the big job of today.
I was super happy with my progress and don't feel any stress. I'm wondering if that is a good thing or a bad thing?
I also decided to dump the photos from my camera card (all 6,058) of them (in one year) to the hard drive of the other computer. Yes - I'm typing this on the laptop!
They will need to be sorted and tagged and probably many of them need to be deleted as they have served their purpose. I might try to do a few every day - again there aren't a lot of topics and they can be moved as groups - dogs, quilt shows, blog pictures, etc. And since they tend to be in groups, that makes it even easier. Heck - I might even get the class photos done!
I have quite a few appointments during the Spring Market and as I'm working, I'm planning out those appointments. There is one that is a bit different from the others and this is where keeping pictures of all your work becomes important. As I was transferring some pictures from one computer to the other yesterday, I found some that I was looking for. Now the key is to assemble them all in one place (iPad is preferable) so they can be shown. BUT this task would be so much easier if all my pictures were in one place, tagged and sorted. Oh well - if life were that easy, where would be the fun?
On that note, I'm out of here to take a few more photos and get writing!
Have a super Mother's Day!!!!
Ciao!
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