Calling Lisa LaPorta!

Why is that when you get the Christmas decorations out, you end up redecorating most of the house? Suddenly curtains that have worked for longer than you want to think about - don't, chairs don't fit where they're supposed to and things that HAVE to be displayed to make it really Christmas, need more room than you have???? How can that be?

Jim & I enjoy watching Designed to Sell on HGTV & like Lisa LaPorta & "Clivey's" shows the best. And would someone tell me WHY ANYONE would let their homes be shown on TV in the state some of those are???? My mother would die of embarassment! And I'd never want anyone to see the state of my sewing room - Lisa would spend her $2,000 budget without ever leaving that space!

I was wishing Lisa & Clive would show up at my house for the past few months and tell me just how to get a TV, love seat, couch, end tables & a treadmill into my family room. The problem with the room is the fireplace - one whole wall is bricked, it's gorgeous, we love it but it makes getting everything into the space not an easy task. Double windows take up a huge hunk of the second wall, the third "wall" is a huge opening into the kitchen - leaving one full wall to put furniture on. Of course that wall is directly across from the double windows meaning the light reflects off the TV . . . .

Of course Lisa would just take out the TV, arrange the furniture with the fireplace being the focal point and spent $400 on accessories - but Jim would have a meltdown over the no TV. So for two years we've been looking for a corner TV unit. Have we found one that would fit into the 46" we have? NO!!!!

This all came to a head this year as my Santa collection sat in boxes waiting for the mess we've ignored in the family room to be resolved & an "inherited" (meaning a piece of furniture one of the kids no longer had room for but didn't want to get rid of) ended up in our family room while I was in TX. This entertainment unit is huge and DID NOT fit in the 46". I lived with it for a month, then said it's got to go. We moved it down to Sara's bedroom where it is still HUGE but thankfull out of my sight for the moment!

Back to the stores looking for a corner TV unit. No luck. We tried bureaus, tables - nothing worked. Finally last night Jim took the old TV unit that was too big down to his workshop, cut some of it off, put the side back on & it fits perfectly.

The Nativty & my Santas are displayed, Christmas can come now.

Christmas Shopping for Myself

I grew up in Massachusetts. My Dad watched baseball , which meant the Sox and Yaz, and football when the Pats still played in Boston. Soccer hadn't take the US by storm back them, the Celtics I don't remember much and we didn't start watching hockey until Bobby Orr arrived at the Boston Garden - how's THAT for dating yourself!

Yesterday was the first day you could buy Red Sox tickets. I've been saying for years now that I wanted to go back to Boston to watch a Red Sox game. Yup, I am a life long Red Sox fan living in Yankee country. It makes for some interesting conversations during baseball season! I can't quote you statistics, but I know if they've won or lost and let me tell you, until the last six or seven years, they lost more than they won. I can name most of the players, but not all and I can't tell you who is pitching when.

BUT I love to go to Fenway. I've been to other stadiums and there very nice but the seats I can afford are so far away from the field, watching on TV is better. Fenway Park is the oldest baseball park in the US. It's small, crowded and yes, there are poles in the way of a bunch of seats. But it has something not many other ball parks have anymore - character and history. Here's some Fenway trivia for you - the first official game played in Fenway Park was April 20, 1912 - the Sox beat the Yankees (back then called the Highlanders!)

We did make it to a game this September. Our boys bought us tickets and we talked my older brother & sister-in-law into going with us. (Didn't take much talking, Laurel said yes and Sooky had no choice!) This is Laurel with Tim Wakefield in Yawkey Way before the game. We had a great time and I decided then & there, no more excuses, at least one game every year from now on.

So that's how one computer at the store was tied up yesterday trying to get chosen randomly to buy tickets to see the Twins (Jim is from Minnesota) play in April. Jim kept on long after our boys had given up and was rewarded! Four tickets are ours! I am sure Sooky complained about how cold it will be in Fenway in April - but we skipped over him and went straight to Laurel - who said "We're In!" He'll grump, but he'll go and give us a running commentary on stats and players & we'll eat ice cream even though it's freezing - cuz we're from New England & ice cream is a way of life. We'll just drink cocoa with it!

So that was all the Christmas shopping I did yesterday. Cards aren't written, all the gifts aren't made but I have Red Sox tickets, the kids are all coming home for Christmas - it will be a good one!

Till next time.

Gifts & There's Still Time

I am convinced there is still time to make things for gifts. Now some people call this a state of denial but I prefer to think of it as optimism!

I have the kids' significant others to think about this year. Sara's Brian is easy and done, can't say what we're giving him since Sara just may read this and she'll blab. The two others, Stephanie and Stefanie, will take a little more thought but I will be making them each a Teeny Tiny Tote and probably putting in a gift certificate to somewhere for them. These are the perfect size to hold a cell phone, license, a credit card or two and a bit of cash. My friend Sandy made mine & I use it when shopping, going to baseball games (I didn't take my phone into Fenway!) and any time I want my hands free.

I made my Mom some kitchen towels with fabric cuffs - every kitchen can always use new dish towels! Her wish was no clothes this year - so what the heck do you get then???? I'm probably also going to make her a Teeny Tiny Tote and stick a Barnes & Noble gift certificate in it since she loves to read.

The nephews always get new pillowcases of the weirdest, whackiest fabrics I can find. I fill the slot of crazy aunt very well there! Pillowcases are a great gift for teenagers who seem to want things you've never heard of . . . Pillowcases also make great wrapping for larger, bulkier packages. We have some great kits on the website.

I'm going to make some Potato Chip Bags for friends. It's another pattern from my friend Sandy Brawner. It's not too big, not too small & has two pockets inside so you can actually find things when you want them.

My boys are the quandry. Self supporting & no longer in need of Mom and Dad to fill in gaps of things they need & can't afford - ok there are some things they want & can't afford but neither can their parents! - it's hard to find things they haven't gone out & bought for themselves. And since they live in PA, it's easier for them to "forget" my rule of no buying personal stuff in December! When they left after family pictures yesterday, it was with the sound of their mother's voice ringing in their ears that she'd better have a Christmas list in the next couple of days or they were getting coal. We'll see how effective that threat was.

There is plenty of time to still make gifts. The making of the gifts is the easy part - the carving out of the time to do it is harder!

Till next time.

A Date with 8

No, that isn't the same thing as my friend Kris at Cozy Cottage wrote about in her blog last week! Jim & I went to Hartford CT for a Bernina training on the new 830 sewing machine - Kris had a little more excitement with her date with 8, but I think that's excitement I can do without! You can find a link to Kris' blog on the left.


Hartford is about 4 hours from us & we could have gone there or to Baltimore - BUT by going to CT, I got a chance to spend the day with my friend from grade school, Betsey. In Baltimore I would have been in the hotel room working on samples - absolutely no thinking time needed for that destination decision! (I bought shoes and Betsey & I had our make-up done - what a hoot!)

This is the room full of anxious Bernina dealers waiting for Jill, the Bernina trainer, to tell us we could touch the machines. We were lucky, when we earned the incentive trip to Switzerland, we were given an 830 early, so we've had the machine in the shop for a month or so & have been able to play. Some in the room were seeing the machine for the first time.

(I like to sit up the back at these things, but I think when Jill saw our name tages, she assigned us seats up front where she could keep an eye on Jim, who loves to tease her.)

The training team & education departments have been hard at work making samples & had displays across the front of the room.

The tempation to take that birth announcement home with me, was almost too much to resist! It was really cute & I have all good intentions of making one for the shop . . . .

This is a piece of the tote bag we were supposed to be making at training. As usual, I came home with pieces of something & not a finished project. I have good intentions of actually finishing the tote bag but it will probably be pieces of it displayed for awhile!

We also started a computer cozy - yes, started. Another project that will be pieces . . . .

The whole purpose of the trainings - besides getting to see friends that you usually don't see! - is to get familiar with the machine, have a district meeting & go over new promotions, new marketing, etc, etc, etc. We are really supposed to go home & actually make the sample pieces into the project . . . .

The 830 is an AWESOME machine. It's big, with tons of room between the needle & the side of the machine, it's FAST & really easy to use. I was very sad when Roger, our district manager, said that our Swiss trip machines would have to go back to be updated and they would replace it with a new one. I don't want a new one!

Jim spent Thurs in sales training with me, then on Friday and Saturday, went to tech training where he was FINALLY able to take the machine apart and see what made it tick. The tech room is a frightening place to a non techie - lots of naked machines with people hooked to them by tiny wires attached to their wrists. Quite frankly, I don't want to know how or why it works, I just want it work!

That's Ernie hiding behind a machine on the left.

And this is Jim with Tom from Patchworks Plus in NY. Tom bragged while we were in Switzerland about flour from a local mill & how wonderful it was. He brought 5 pounds to training for me so I could try it. I'll let you know on Monday how it compares to my favorite King Arthur flour.

Till next time.

Pictorial Quilts at Market

Isn't this GORGEOUS? Pictorial quilts are my favorite types of quilts and there were some absolutely gorgeous ones at this quilt market.

I really like the pictorials that are all fabric without painting on fabric. Somehow when it's painted, it's not really a quilt anymore to me, it's a painting . . . I'm sure I will incite all kinds of reactions with that statement!

This is a close up of the rock to the left. The piecing is amazing!

The wave on this quilt was AMAZING! Look at the piecing/applique in the close up.

Look at the thread painting detail here.

Someday when I have nothing else that absolutely has to be done right then, I'm going to pull out all the pictures I've taken & saved for pictorial quilts and I'm actually going to START one!

Until next time.

Greetings!

My whirlwind trip of Houston & Quilt Market is over & I'm glad to be home - even if it is a heck of alot colder here than it was in TX! A "light" frost is predicited tonight - yikes!

Market was wonderful as usual. It was also a brain drain as usual! New fabrics, new patterns, new pattern companies, new fabric companies, new techniques and just an almost overwhelming canophy of sights, sounds & colors - that's quilt market.

This is the front of the George Brown Convention Center where market is held every fall. At the moment, it is hosting Quilt Festival, a huge quilt show open to the public.

And this is the view from one of the portholes looking onto the convention floor. What you are seeing is about 1/5th of the show. My plan of action at market is to walk the entire show the first day and just look - ok, I only got to the fourth booth before I was ordering something, but it's good to have a plan! I started walking the show floor at 9:30 Friday morning, I did stop for lunch , and finished at row 2300 at almost 6 o'clock. And yes, my grand plan of just looking the first day fell completely apart by the end of the first row!

So what were my impressions of market?

Redwork & embroidery is still strong & I found lots of new patterns that will arrive soon, some already have. I found a new designer who had the cutest wallhangings & pillows. I'm stitching this one now and have pumpkin buttons & leaves coming to compliment it. Click here to see the pattern.
The same designer also had this wallhanging/pillow called Flowers Tall - Flowers Small. It will be perfect for spring. Click here for a close up.

Isn't this the cutest dress? It's made from a T-shirt! The pattern has toddler sizes & it's really easy. Sweet Tea Dress pattern - click here. There were quite a few patterns for babies & toddlers clothing, look for some new ones from Jackie Clark to arrive soon.

Purses were also EVERYWHERE at market. New pattern companies had some great new ones that will be arriving soon and I bought more than a few of Penny Sturgis's newest creations. They'll also be arriving soon.

Fabrics ran the gamut - colorful jewel tones, reproductions, calm blues & tans, batiks in every shade & color. And yes, I ordered Christmas 09 fabrics already! Yikes! Two new lines are coming from two friends of mine - both named Karen and both designing for Timeless Treasures. Karen Snyder, my fall market roomie has a new 30's line coming in Dec and also a new line of redwork fabrics. Karen Montgomery has a really calm, cool blue & tan line coming that I'm going to cheat and do whatever she does out of it.

One of the nicest parts of quilt market for me is to see friends in person that I chat with online and on the phone with during the rest of the year. It's nice to see expressions & laugh in real time rather than just read notes or chat on the phone. This group I've surrounded myself with are a bunch of amazing women, who I am blessed to call my friends & colleagues. Some of my best ideas have either come from them or been polished by them & I came home with some beauties this time too! Look for some exciting new things to happen in the new year at QP!

Until next time.

HandiQuilter Craziness!

Last weekend we hosted the first ever HQ hands-on seminar outside of Utah. It was a test of sorts to see how it would go over - and it went over big! We had a great time & everyone learned quite a bit. Gina, our territory manager, was the educator for this test.

This is the Saturday group, all but one owned an HQ15 and the 12th student had claimed one of the machines for sale.

This is the Sunday group - 5 had machines already and 7 were seeing what all this HQ craze was about. Two went home as HQ owners/devotees!

Gina lectured/demoed on threads, needles, tensions, pantographs, free hand style, maintenance & more! Attendees had time for hands on experience too.

We want to thank Gina for coming & giving such wonderful seminars and we're so thrilled, we're going to do it next spring too! Stay tuned!