Texas!

Jim and I climbed on a plane Monday night and headed for San Antonio and Bernina University (the annual dealer convention).  Now I knew it would be hot in TX, it's in the south right?  And everyone kept saying it's a dry heat - HA!  Who cares if it's dry or wet when the heat index is ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN????  We arrived Tues morning about 1:30am, it was NINETY.  Ugh.  (Of course it was just as bad back home where it was hot AND humid!

So we overslept and then walked the Riverwalk - very pretty, very nice - to find breakfast and then headed to the Alamo.  What a sad and solemn place.  I kindof knew the story about the Alamo - unlike some people who shall remain nameless, and it's not Jim who knew more of the story than I did - I knew it was a horrible battle and many lives were lost.  I didn't realize that everyone in the Alamo except women and children were killed.  Reading the story boards was a sad lesson in what man can do to other men.

When I was young, we traveled from Massachusetts to Tennessee to visit a cousin who was living there.  My Dad was a history buff so we went to visit Davy Crockett's birthplace.  I remember it was a small log cabin and I kept thinking, how did people live here?  It was so small.

So now I've visited both Davy's Crockett's birthplace and where he died.

After the Alamo we had to behave ourselves and go to BU, which started that morning while we were sleeping . . . .  I'm sure my rep will read this blog and know we played hooky . . .   It was a nice little, and very needed!,  mini vacation, even if it was only for a few hours.

BU is always made fun by all the people you see - friends, big names, famous people - classes you take, lectures you attend.  It's always interesting to hear about the ways others do thing differently than you do and you always come away with some ideas to try once you get home.

I took a hands on class and made a lace ornament like these for a class we'll have this fall.

I saw a big name and a friendly face in Kaye England, who gave me a huge hug that was MOST appreciated.  Thanks Kaye.  We've had to postpone Kaye's visit this September (it's the weekend Sara is due to have our new grandson) so we'll be rescheduling for next year in the next couple of weeks.

We had dinners and lunches with good friends who we enjoy very much.  Let me just say the Hayes family had us laughing for almost three hours one evening!   Those lunches and dinners were full of family talk, business talk and just a good time.  Sometimes I think I learn just as much at meal times as I do in classes.

I came home with class ideas, marketing ideas, event ideas, display ideas - my brain is hopping!

So what am I doing today?  Working at the shop putting all these ideas into practice?  No, I'm playing hooky and having a Nathan day.  It's very much needed after the brain drain of BU.  It lets all those ideas simmer around and percolate a bit more.  The mind is much more relaxed and open to all kinds of ideas when rocking a baby, ok he's almost a toddler, how did that happen????, to sleep.

Stay tuned for what happens when all those ideas finish percolating!

Till next time.

Life And The Unexpected

On the Today show yesterday Ann said something that made my head snap up - she was talking about the reality check of realizing your mental age does NOT go with the image you see in the mirror.  Hmpf - yup, that's me.  My age and body image in the mirror do not jive with my mental picture of me.  I look at recent pictures and think - who is that?  And then I realize - it's me.  Holy Old Age Batman - when did that happen????

I turned 54 this month.  Age doesn't really mean much to me, I never can remember how old I am, I have to think of how old Jim is or how old my oldest son is and then figure it out from there.  I can never figure out how old anyone else is either, I'm terrible at guessing.  I have some pretty spry 80 something customers and that's what I want to be, an older woman who no one can figure out how old she is.

If that's going to happen, I need to change some things and get with the program.  More exercise, eat better - all that stuff that most of us put off - till we get older.  It's a heck of a thing to look at a picture and realize that you are older - NOW!

Fracturing my ankle last month was a rude awakening of the helplessness and frustration of not being physically capable of doing what I wanted when I wanted.  It was a look into what life could be like in my later years and I have to tell you, I didn't like it.  I discovered I'm not really a good patient - no patience.  I really can't believe how long it's taking for this ankle to get back to "normal".

Just when you are cruising along in life, things happen that change everything - grandchildren are born, elderly parents need care, something affects your health.  It's all a wake up call.  Eat better, get some exercise and take care of YOU so you don't have to depend on others to take care of you.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, I know that.  I could start running to strengthen my heart and get hit by a car (I'd be really ticked that I'd run for nothing since I HATE running).  I'm just going to hedge my bets and prepare my body for a healthy as possible older age.   Ok, running is definitely not in my future but getting back to yoga is.  Dieting - nope, as soon as someone tells me I can't have something, I CRAVE it, but I will make better choices of what I do eat.

My goal is that next year when I look at recent pictures, I'll see an image that looks a little closer to the one I have in my head.

Till next time.

Pictures From The Birthday Party!

Delicious Cake!

Cutting the cake.

Lori and Jim

Thanks to everyone for a great party and 15 wonderful years!

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!