New Class Announcement

Well, I have been busy the last week or so booking classes, guild shows, and even a mini-retreat, see the details below and join us if you can.

MiniRetreat at Cotton and Chocolate in Thousand Oaks, CA
January 11 6-9pm
January 12 10am-4pm
January 13 10am-3pm

This is a mini-retreat, with most students focusing on the Feathered Goose, but we do have a few who want to do the Bali BedRunner and Forever Yours!. Please call the shop at 805-241-0061 to reserve your spot. We will only have 12 spots, so sign up quickly.

Sunday Primer Series in Palm Desert

Sunday, January 20 10-4
Sunday, February 24 10-4
Sunday, March 24 10-4

We will be focusing on the Bali Bedrunner in this series, but we have a few people who would like to work on the Celebration Tree Skirt and a few who are finishing up some Judy projects that had previously started. Call Monica's Quilt and Bead Creations at 760-772-2400 to reserve your spot.

Glendale
And then I will be doing a guild workshop and speaking engagement at the Glendale Guild on February 13&16. We are still working on the plan for this one, so stay tuned for more information. This will likely be a tablerunner class, but I will let you know as soon as everything is booked......


In the meantime, look for a new announcement on the shop grand re-opening and a redesign of the website.


See you all soon, and have a great week.






Cat

Last Show of the Season - Check

Well, the last show of the fall season is complete....I can't quite fathom that it is the middle of October. We packed up the booth for the last time this year, and it was both exciting, and a bit sad. Exciting that we get to move on to other responsibilities and priorities (the website, the laundry, market, etc), and a bit sad to say farewell to some weekend friends that I only see when on the road. Now, to unpack the trailer, sort everything out, and do an inventory.....I'm always amazed what I find, and what I have lost during the season. Last year, I found 2 unopened extension cords, which I had looked for all season. They were in the bottom of a crate full of plastic bags (the ones you put product in for customers). And somewhere I lost an entire set of sharpies -- seriously, a box f 10 just up a disappeared one at a time.

This week is sure to be an adventure, it is the final week before people depart to market, the final push for pattern printing, folding and bagging, final decisions about what props to take to market and which to leave home. It's always a bit nuts, it's always the week when weird things happen -- brakes on the car die, iphone screens get broken...all things that make for stress during the most stressful week of the year. But we'll make it through, we always do.

So, back to the grind, and I'll see you all next week.


Cat

Be careful what you ask for....

So, for my 2012 word of the year, I chose adventure. That was January. I was thinking an exotic vacation, a growing business, maybe even a little romance. I got a new job, a new apartment in a new city, and some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Though the year until now has not been remotely what I intended on January 1, it has been a most awesome adventure. Shows the power of words.....

Here's to the beginning of fall, and the start of the plan for next year.....perhaps I'll be more specific in my word choice......

Cat

The To Do List

So, those of you that know me, know that I am a list maker, I even have lists of lists (scary, huh?). There is something incredibly satisfying to me to put something on a list for safe-keeping and then mark it off when I am done, unfortunately, the last few weeks have gotten a little out of control, and there has been very little marking off of items on the quilt prep list. In an effort to be accountable (and not let the weekend fly by without getting in front of some of these things), I thought I might share my list of quilty/quilty room-- so that you can help me be accountable.

Blog Posts : New Judy Patterns -- Feathered Star and Log Cabin Series 1
Finish putting together my Mariner's Compass TOM from July
Summer Solstice - Y seams and final 4 seams
Amazon Star - pick binding
Package Mailed to Tammy for Quilting (why is this one so complicated, it's already packed to go)
Assemble new desk
get organized (ok, this one has it's own mini-list, but I won't bore you with it)
pick fabrics for Glacier Star
pick fabrics for One for All Seasons
Bind 3 quilts for classes
3 supply lists
update facebook and website with new class schedule
add 33 new items to the store -- yes, I have that many new things that have come in in the past 3 weeks
place a Moda order
place a Kauffman order
schedule photo shoot
alter Joyce's birthday dress
write 4 patterns
proof  2 patterns
take a nap
schedule a spa day

Whew!!! Well I feel better that they are on a list. Now I just need to get them done. More later folks!

Santa Barbara

We are at the Santa Barbara guild this weekend.....vending at the Harvest of Quilts Show. The ladies are amazing, the food fantastic and a record setup time ----I was late getting off work, and got the booth set up in under 2 hours!!!! Completely exhausted and frazzled, but finished and it looks great!

See you soon,

More new stuff

Aren't my titles just stunning? Seriously folks, I always intend to have witty titles, but I can never seem to come up with them, at least not in a time crunch.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here. I've done a wedding, a weekend at home in Memphis, and 2 shows in 4 weeks. And I am ready for a nice long holiday, but I don't think that will occur any time soon. We've got tons of things going on around here. Finishing quilts for family members who are getting married, finishing samples for classes and shows, getting new fabrics in, getting them up on the website (which is always an adventure), and finishing up all of the paperwork. I vow that this will be my one and only disorganized year, it is simply too much work (not to mention my memory is not nearly as good as I think it is).

Next week is the Santa Barbara Quilt Show, at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds. It is the first time that I have done this show, so I am super excited!

Wish me luck and happy quilting!

Some things change, and some never will

Well, I'm sitting on the couch in my Mom's house...the one that was my childhood home until I got my first place....and as I meander around town, I'm touched by those things that are so different, and those that are completely timeless.....

Seriously, there are new stoplights, restaurants, and entire shopping centers, and some of my childhood favorites are completely gone (exit Bojangles, Squash Blossom and Sessel's). And yet, there are some things that never change -- Overton Park, Shelby Farms, and a Starbucks on every corner.

I can't believe I left for college 20 years ago last weekend.....it seems it was closer to 5 or maybe 10, but it's been 20 years!!!!

SO, while I am here, I'm just going to look around and notice all of the changes. I am going to spend some time with family and old friends, and appreciate them. I am going to walk down memory lane, and remember the great decisions, and the ones that were slightly insane (at least in the eyes of an older and wiser Catherine). I'm going to just hang out, relax, and eat some old-time Memphis BBQ, on a paper plate with a plastic fork at a little run down hole-in-the-wall place full of memories.

But I'll be back soon with some new patterns, and new quilts.....until then, I hope each of you will take some time to step back and smell the BBQ, and be thankful for all of the amazing people and places in our lives.


Cat