Make A list Monday

Well. It has been a great week!

I got all except one for my market quilts finished! The remaining one needs some final piecing on Monday, and then it too will be off to the quilter for some special attention!

So, here's a sneak peak....

That's quilt #2, with bindings #1,3 and 4. So, there's some pretty obvious departures for me at Market....a little Kaffe, a little solid, both a bit out of my comfort zone....and of course I kept my usual batiks! 

There's also a sneak peak of the new Judy Niemeyer Bali Pops that will be in at the beginning of the year! I'm super excited about this one, since it's really my bright pallette! I'm seeing a Diamond Wedding Ring, and a Garden Wall in my near future!

And of course, immediately following market it is back to the grindstone on Paradise in Bloom. I only really need a few days and that will be ready for quilting....so hopefully I will hand it over mid-November!

Can't believe how quickly things are coming down the pike! Seems like October will be over before it starts!

This week is bound to be more of the same as last week, proofing patterns, getting everything to the printer, and binding, binding, binding! We leave for Market three weeks from today, so it's final push time! I'm tired just thinking about it!

We also have the Quilt Oasis Show this weekend! It's a brand new show in Palm Springs and it starts on Thursday at 10am and runs through Saturday! It's from the same group that hosts the PIQF show in Santa Clara, and so far, there seem to be a lot of people going, so it will be fun to see everyone and take a break from being chained to the sewing machine and computer for a few days.

Well, I better get back to it....market waits for no one!!!

Happy Quikting!

Catherine

Make a List Monday

Well, it has been crazy all week...and this week looks like it will be just as busy!

The Santa Barbara Harvest of Quilts Show was this past weekend, and we had a great time. We stayed at a lovely house, and got a chance to relax even though they were full workdays.

I also taught at Cozy on Sunday, it was the last day of Osprey's Nest, and it is so nice to see them coming together......more pictures soon!!!

This week is all about Market Prep, so it will likely be pretty quiet here, since everything is super secret at this point....

This week, I've got lots of sewing and pattern writing to do....so off to the grind stone I go....

Make A List Monday

Well, it is bound to be crazy this time of year, and we are fulfilling that at the moment.

I like to think for my schedule as pretty organized, I try to "protect" time to accomplish projects and make sure that I am working on priorities and the right things rather than just the fun things (let's face it, it's much more fun to sew on a quilt than to do the taxes, but taxes must be done).  But this week is even crazier than usual....

Here's last week....

A couple of things that had to be done, and a couple of appointments....keep in mind this is the after pic,most all the things that came up midweek have been added and taken care of....

And here's this week, as of today...that's right, no time for any additions, and no time for any frivolous activities either. Which means a lot on the make a list Monday list.....

So, here's the list....

Super secret sewing for market

Super secret sewing for market 2

Super secret sewing for market 3

Super secret sewing for market 4

Follow ups on quilts that should be returning from super secret quilting for market

Make bindings for super secret market sewing....

Make pattern edits from pattern testing for market

Prep for the Santa Barbara show....you see those empty boxes in my planner....one of them will get unpack and repackage the trailer

Sleep ( a little)

Eat (probably lots of snacks to keep the blood sugar going)

Not on the list this week....

Cooking

Baking

Lounging

TV watching

So folks, it's off to run some errands this morning to ensure a productive week....

What are you working on?

Catherine

Fire Island Hosta Sale

That's right, I have kits for Fire Island Hosta available if you are interested....

I have the green original wall hanging size.

And the original color way for the Queen, as well as an alternate border color way/fabric.

They are listed in the shop, and if you have any questions, please drop me a line at catherine@queeniequilts.com.

Fire Island Hosta

As you may know I've been working on my Fire Island Hosta a couple of weeks ago, and since I am teaching a class on it I'm just a few weeks, I needed to take pics and get it to the shop before signups started. On the night that I finished, it was too dark for photos and the next day was raining, so I dropped it off without a good picture just before I left for the Portland Show. I knew I loved it, but it's always totally different to see it hanging and in great lighting.

I got the chance to stop by the shop today and get some photos.

Make sure that you sign up, class starts on Sunday, September 28th at 10am at Cozy Quilt Shop in Rancho San Diego. Signups are capped at 16, so make sure you get your seat, simply call the shop at 619-670-0652.

and now, for the reason you are here.....

What are you sewing on????

Happy Quilting!!!

Catherine

Make A List Monday

This week promises to be super busy, and since I will be away at retreat over the weekend, it will also be very short. Fortunately, I will get time to sew over the weekend, and somehow I am always super productive at retreat, so it looks like an awesome week is ahead!! We'll be retreating at the beach, which I have never done before, so I am looking forward to some beach walks, and beautiful sunsets, and maybe a sunrise, or two (though, based upon my recents sleep patterns, mornings are not my friend).

The guild returns from summer hiatus on Monday evening, and it will be good to see everyone again after a three month break. Plus we have a great speaker and workshop lined up. Monday is also a big mail day schedule wise, with several new patterns set to arrive, and several packed up and ready to go out the door for quilting!

Which leaves Tuesday as errand day, and laundry day, and retreat prep day (cutting, bagging, packing). I am tired just thinking about all the planning. Luckily, Lauren is prepping most of the food, so that I can eat relatively healthy while we are gone, and other than a few healthy snacks that I plan to bring, I don't need to do a lot of that planning work.

This past weekend was fun, I was at Cotton and Chocolate in Thousand Oaks. I taught beginner paper piecing on Friday, and Fire Island Hosta on Saturday. Sunday was an open sew day, working on any Judy you wanted. Several people brought in finished tops, which is always nice to see!

This one is Ilsa's Mariner's Compass, she left out the inner boxes and I love the way the inner side of the border defines the box....and the colors are scrumptious....this picture really doesn't do it a bit of justice.....

this beauty is Marilyn's Mariner's Compass. And it is a stunner. She spent a lot of time getting the perfect fabric for the borders to ensure that they didn't overwhelm the quilt!!!

This one belongs to Judy, and it is the smaller size of the Mariner's Compass. She mismatched the ropes (1 red, 1 green) and left off the boxes. The fabrics are all Christmas Favorites, for a total of 5 fabrics in this one. It has a really sophisticated simplicity to it, which I love.

I love going to class and having people stop by for show and tell, even it they aren't Judy quilts....this one was made by Judy who is working diligently on stash reduction. She is much much much more diligent than me....

The next class at Cotton and Chocolate is on October 4th (Fire Island Hosta) and 5th (open Jusy Work Day). We are also adding a beginner class on Monday, October 6th. Make sure you call the shop to sign up!

Happy Sewing! 

Catherine

Maybe I'm Crazy, and late night ramblings

okay, those of you who know me, know that I am!!!! HAHAHA!!!! Seriously, I'm making myself crazy lately. Can't focus, can't get anything finished, and it is driving me crazy!!!

Does anyone else have this issue at this time of year, flitting from one thing to another, and getting very little accomplished as a result. I know that part of it is the madness called market prep, but so much of it is my own expectations for myself. Have a perfect house, a great job, fulfilling career, great hobby that is creatively inspiring, fit body, good diet, etc etc etc.....and this list goes on and on and on....and we beat ourselves up when the budgets are tight and the things are lingering, and the house is a mess, and the groceries have not been purchased.....And we constantly bombard ourselves with images of perfection - perfect houses, bodies, blogs, pictures, etc, etc, etc. We forget that the intention for this blog is self accountability and self journaling, we start thinking of it as work and another place we need to be "perfect" and "on" and we start hiding things from our readers, and the blog stops being fun, and starts feeling like work.....

We cram so much into a single day that we forget to enjoy the day and the week and the month. Forget to enjoy our friends and the littles, and worry instead about the to do list and the expectations. So, I'm boycotting, for the next 12 hours, I am going to do absolutely nothing. Except maybe sleep, and eat a donut. Because life needs a little fun and a little less stress, for 12 hours. In 12 hours, it's back to the to do list. And part of that to do list is figuring out what this blog is about....what is it's purpose - professional, business, combo, personal accountability, topics etc....for a long time, it was mine and about whatever I chose, but with the business growing it is more often than not a location students come to for information....which I am fine with, but it changes the focus (or should at least)...
So, until I figure out where I am heading with this blog, I may be a little quieter than normal (or not, depending), I need to figure out whether it's work or fun, and how that changes things....

so, until then, happy sewing (and donut eating)....


Catherine

My Quilty Top Ten

SO, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and talking about my quilty 10. These are just my thoughts on what I am as a quilter.....not what anyone else should be.....more of my description of how I see myself...

1. I love points, the pointier the better!!! As a result, I love paper piecing, because you can get pointy points with very little effort.

2. I live simple shapes. Seem like a contradiction??? It sort of is. The truth is, as much as I love points, they aren't always the shape that I want. And they are time consuming. So, sometimes, I like a simple 9 patch or 4 patch block combo. Easy peavey lemon squeezey!

3. I am not really much of a quilter. I can run the long arm and do pantos, but I have not spent a lot of time on the long arm, and have not gotten good at the more advanced shapes. As a result, I send a lot of my quilts out for quilting by someone else. Hi Carrie!!! Hi Kerry!!! Hi Tammy!!! These three ladies do most of my quilting. If you need referrals, let me know, these ladies rock!!!

4. I love teaching. It really is my favorite part. I love seeing the light come on and people embrace new processes.

5. I love batiks. They are my favorites.

6. I'm picky about prints. I love some of them, and no so much others. example : I love Cotton and Steel Basics, but not so much the prints. I know, someone will have a major coronary that I stated that, but this is my opinion, they just aren't my style, and I can't figure out how to use them for quilting. For bags, yes. For pillows, yes. For wearables, some. For quilts, not so much. Same for AMH. Prints are so "personal" to me, some I love, and some not so much, so I can't say I always love anything by any designer, because I don't.

7. My stash is embarrassing. It is huge and full of things I don't know how to use. So many things still exist from my "Thimbleberries" Phase....when I first started quilting it was the rage....and I have tons of it, and now, it just doesn't inspire me. Today, I am inspired by bright, cheery fabrics, not so much the civil war reproductions.

8. My stash is overwhelming. It's huge, and completely unorganized. I really need to spend some serious time combing through everything (you know, the open every box, touch everything once, and find it a home type of organizing).Not the type of thing that I like to do....but I really want to tackle it after market!

9. I am obsessed with Instagram. Seriously obsessed. There are so many quilters out there that inspire me on Instagram.

10. I have a hard time letting fabric go, even if I don't love it anymore....I want it to be used and loved. As a result, I have bins of stuff that doesn't inspire me but I can't get rid of...so I've joined the Bonnie Hunter craze and started working through some of my stash to make it into usable "colored shapes" in hopes that I can work it into something.

And that's about it for me....as you can see stash management is a big topic on my mind lately....

What's on your qulty top 10???