Busy, Busy, Busy . . . Party, Party, Party!

It's been a whirlwind since before we left for market and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any in the near distant future.  Is crazy REALLY the new norm???

My Mother's Day gardening spree was cut short when I mis-stepped on the deck stairs and rolled my ankle.  Isn't it pretty?  This is what a broken ankle looks like three days after you fracture it in two places.  I was going to keep taking pictures as it grew more and more colorful & my toes resembled sausages, but pretty soon, even looking at it seemed to make it hurt more.  I've graduated to just wearing the boot outside of the house but the ankle is STILL swollen!  You'd think by now it would be back to normal.  Nope, 4-6 weeks the dr tells me.  HA, it's been 4 weeks, enough already.  More X-Rays Thurs, I'm hoping for a miracle cure.


Having a fractured ankle makes everything in life SO much more interesting and slower.  I didn't realize how much more time everything takes when you're gimping around.

We did our annual Memorial Day Sidewalk Sale at the shop over Memorial Day weekend.  That's always fun - good buys and we clean out!






While planning that, I've been working on the shop's 15th birthday party and listening with something close to horror as Sara and Brian planned Nathan's first birthday party at my house.  I stopped listening closely when the talk turned to tents and chairs for 60 some odd people.  Yikes!

Let me tell you, more military precision went into planning a one year old's birthday party than I thought possibile!








And speaking of the shop's birthday - 

Stop by the shop on June 11th from 10-4.  We're having cake, punch, drawings, games and FUN!  We're 15 and we're celebrating!

If you can't make it in person, we'll be doing an online party too.  

• In-store party guests will be eligible for hourly drawings and three BIG end of the day drawings.  We'll have cake and punch at the shop and games to test your skills and let you win MORE hourly drawing tickets.  Every $20 you spend will get you a ticket for the end of the day drawings!  You must be present to win the hourly drawings but you won't have to be present for the end of the day drawings!

End of the day drawing prizes - must be picked up in the shop

Taylor Compact Cabinet in Teak!


Elna Sew Fun Mechanical machine - great for classes!



Reliable Iron - great steam!

• Can't Join Us in person?  Online Party Guests - every order placed June 11th will receive a free gift and for every $20 you spend on your online order, you'll get a ticket to win a $100 QP shopping spree!

Join us - let's PARTY!

Quilt Market

One part of the quilt market show floor.

Quilt Market is the wholesale show for the quilting industry.  It's held twice a year, fall is always in Houston, TX and spring market moves around the country.  This spring we were in Salt Lake City.

Market is a brain drain - so many choices, colors, patterns, people - all jammed into a convention center the size of four football fields!  Big names - Eleanor Burns, Ricky Tims, Alex Anderson, Amy Butler - big and small quilt shops from all over the world.  Friend you haven't seen since fall market.  It's overwhelming.  Then you're expected to think coherently and order product for your shop that make sense and don't blow your budget.  I come home brain tired.  It's a tough job but someone has to do it and I'm glad it's me!

The fabric companies all have great displays to entice you:

This is Nancy Halverson's display for her fabric and new book.

Terry Atkinson had this great  chair in her booth that matched her new pattern the Texas Two Step - look for a class on this quilt this summer. 

Benartex had a great front porch display showcasing samples that used their new fabrics.  Loved the bike leaning against the post!

Crab Apple Hill had a gorgeous display of their new Christmas patterns.  

This is a display touting Kaufman's Kona solids.  The fabrics looked SO enticing in the candy jars!

And this was my favorite display - LOVED the dingy filled with Benartex's new nautical line.  I have this red dingy that just may find it's way into the shop as a display . . .

I'll be back next time with some pictures of our HandiQuilter training, where they treated us like kings and queens - including a walk on the red carpet!

Salt Lake City

Jim and I played hooky from Schoolhouse at Quilt Market Thursday afternoon and went to the gardens that surround the Temple.  Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.  Words can't describe so here are some pictures I'd like to share.  Enjoy.

 








Pictures from quilt market next time.

Mom' s Day Is Garden Day

What do you do on Mother's Day?  We generally pick a yard project and get our children (free labor!) to help.  It's a tradition we started when they were in school and couldn't afford presents.  We've dug stumps, put in gardens, painted, moved 14 tons of stones, put in a pond - all kinds of fun things.  It's worked out really well but they're getting older now and have caught on that it would be much easier to just buy me something! I love that we're all together.  This year we're tackling the front gardens.

So Jim, Nathan and I headed out to the Hallock's farm on Thursday to stock up.  They have 30,000 square feet of greenhouses to wander through.  The riot of colors is amazing.  Nathan wasn't sure about the whole thing but he was out for the day, so he was happy.  Jim gets his tomato plants so he's happy.  I was in heaven.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that first step into the nursery - summer IS coming!

We came home with the back of the truck loaded.  The grand plan for today is to get everything in pots and in the ground since we leave for Quilt Market on Wed.  We'll see how much gets done!

The beds look great but underneath that mulch almost 30 years of composting, mulching and feeding the soil is gone - replaced with whatever they backfilled with after construction of the new porch and ramp.  UGH.  I tried planting the daffodils from the pots and three inches down hit hard pack.  Double UGH.

I have my fingers crossed that all my garden soil is underneath this mulch on the side.  We'll have to dig carefully around my oldest's lilac tree - planted for him the year he was born.  I dug it up and moved it from Massachusetts when he was three.  It took a big excavating machine to move it 27 years later!  I was worried it wouldn't make it, but it's blooming! (Jim thinks I'm going to let him trim it this afternoon - ha!  Left to his own devices it would be in the shape of a lollipop when he's done.)

I'm not sure how much we'll actually get done.  I'll be happy if we just get the soil ready and I can plant tomorrow.  We'll see.  The kids will be home for the day - what more could a Mom want?

Happy Mother's Day everyone.  Enjoy your day!

The Dress

Here's something else I'm sure we all do - watch what people are wearing.  Isn't it interesting what people choose to wear at various times?  Sometimes I watch women - men are mostly boring wearing the same tux, suit, jacket etc - and am amused, stunned, horrified and entranced all at the same event!  Sometimes I wonder just what kind of mirrors people are looking into before they step out the door.

I love to watch the red carpet at the Oscars.  The dresses and the fabrics are amazing.  The elegance of the women that night just amazes me.  Then there are dresses that make you shake your head and think WHAT WAS SHE THINKING????  The swan dress comes immediately to mind!  I mean really - there was no mirror to look in before she left?  


There are some women who always look great.  Halle Berry always looks amazing, elegant and chic at the same time.  Elizabeth Taylor, Kate Winslet, Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana - these women have that sense of style that is ageless.  I'll bet they had quite a bit of input into their outfits.


I got up to watch the Royal wedding Friday.  Yes, I know I'm on the wrong side of the pond and I shouldn't care, but I wanted to see the dress.  I thought Diana's gown was, not ugly, but overpowering.  It overwhelmed her.  It was a dress with a person to hold it up, not a dress that showcased the bride.  

Kate's dress on the other hand, showcased the bride beautifully.  She has that sense of self which gives her the confidence to know what she'll look best in and boy did she pick a gorgeous gown!


The lace - gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!  Here's a link to a short blog that has some details about the Carrickmacross lace detailing her gown.  The lace motifs, including a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, represented England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. 


Made from ivory and white satin gazar (a silk organza, a lightweight fabric with a plain weave), the dress had an underskirt made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.  Down the back of the dress were 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops.


The lace applique for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace.  Workers washed their hands every 30 minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine.  Needles were changed every three hours to keep them sharp and clean.


Gorgeous bride and gorgeous dress!


Until next time.

Company's Coming to QP!

 Are you like me?  Company is coming so you clean like crazy?  All the "good" stuff goes out and everyday stuff gets put away?  We're not going THAT far getting ready for this week's hop but the combination of the hop and spring is really bringing out the cleaning, sorting and shifting stuff around at the shop!  New displays are everywhere.

  
Bon Voyage! greets everyone as they enter to entice them to join us on our Pink Sand Beaches Cruise to Bermuda in April of 2012.














Our April Showers display shows off our Butterfly lines of fabric and makes us think of SPRING!

Ok, I admit it - I've gone more than a little crazy with the Easy Stripe Table Runners!  I thought I'd be able to hang all our samples across the top of the cutting table.  I mean really, how many samples could we have?  More than I thought!  This is but a selection of them!  They're just so danged easy - they're addicting!  


And here's our display of kits - ready to go!

Speaking of addicting - can anyone have too many purses?  For someone who doesn't really like to carry one, I have LOTS!  We have all kinds of purses and totes along with cute little buttons, hardware to go with some great samples made by the staff and borrowed from designers (thank you Sandy Brawner and Karen Montgomery!)


It's definitely ALWAYS time to make a new purse or tote!




Two new samples - Migration on the left and Sea Glass on the right.  Both use the almost new Creative Grid ruler for time saving half square triangles.  We have patterns for both and kits for Sea Glass.


These are but a few of the temptations we have for you - stop in or visit the web page for more!


Until next time.

Weddings & Engagements

Sunset in Key West

We are just back from Key West where our oldest son married his Stefanie and our middle one announced he'd asked his Stephanie to marry him.  (It gets very confusing at the table with the two Stef(ph)anies and the two James!)

The wedding was gorgeous, held at the Reach Resort out on their pavillion that overlooked the water.  Picture perfect weather - 86 and sunny every day.  By the time the wedding started at 5:30, it had cooled to a perfect temp.

Besotted with each other.

Jeremy focusing on getting the rings off his finger.

Mr & Mrs James Welch Jr.

Nathan was less than impressed with the whole thing and fell asleep after watching Stefanie come down the aisle.  He did manage to wake up after the formal pictures were taken.  The photographer said she'd photoshop eyes on his eyelids  :0) 

Sara, Nathan & Brian

Reception was held at a restaurant above Duval Street.

Dancing with the groom.

Jeremy & His Stephanie

No trip to Key West would be complete without a visit to the southern most point of the US or to watch the sunset.

Sara, Nathan & Brian 

Sunset in Key West

A wonderful time was had by all.  Gorgeous weather, gorgeous wedding, family & good friends - what more can you ask for?

Till next time. 

.