Schedule, Schmedule - for February 2012

So, a few people have asked me this week to publish an updated schedule on the blog, since it hits their RSS feeds, so here it is.....


February 7 - Memory Lane Quilt Shop, El Cajon, CA - Tuesday Night Own It Class
February 10 - 11 - Hemet, CA Quilt Show
February 17 - Monica's Quilt and Bead, Palm Springs, CA - Touch of Spring
February 21 - Amidon Quiltworks, Poway, CA - Dear Jane with Susan Axelrod
February 23 - Amidon Quiltworks, Poway, CA - Bali Wedding Star Class #6

So -- that's where I'll be.....

Hope to see you there!

What an Adventure January Has Been

When I picked my word for the year, I was looking for a little adventure in my life, an little less monotony, maybe a little more excitement. I was thinking a little excitement, maybe a little something new, and it seems that I got it in spades (yes, I know, you should think carefully before you ask, because you just might get it). We've got a lot of changes going on (which seems to be a theme for a lot of people this month), some good stuff, some great stuff, some exciting stuff, and some scary stuff. I am really just thankful that we are all here, and safe and doing our best to learn and grow in the best ways we know how. So, if my blogging is a little irregular, please know that it has more to do with available time than anything else, and once we're back to regularly scheduled programming, I'll let you know.....

So, on to the exciting stuff. This weekend was the beginning of the show season for Queenie Quilts. I was at the Cotton Patchers Guild in Kern County California, aka Bakersfield. It was a really nice weekend, the vendor wranglers were fantastic (thanks again, Jennifer and Whitney), and we were generally spoiled. It was also great to see the girls, both Shawn (Rusty Crow Quilt Shop) and Alicia (The Batty Lady) were there, and since my last show was in October, it had been entirely too long since I had really seen them. So, it was great to catch up on business happenings and have some girl time, while at work. I also got to see some friends from other shops, like Georgia and Richard from  The Calico Mermaid in Porterville, CA. You may remember that I taught at their shop in the fall, and had a blast! It was great to see them, and hear about Richard's adventures with the smoker. When I taught at the shop, Richard made ribs and macaroni salad one night, and I almost moved in, I seriously didn't wanna leave. So, I always want to hear about his adventures in smoking....next test, Pastrami. So if anyone has any info for Richard on smoking Pastrami, let me know!

While I was away, I got some availability information on Judy Niemeyer's newest pattern called Bali Fever.....so I got online and ordered them for the shop. I'm seriously excited about this technique, as it is a totally new approach to paper piecing. I saw the finished product at retreat in Montana in October, and so I knew a little about it, but I can't wait to try it out. So, stay tuned for info on that.

I also got in a fabric shipment, so we'll have a bunch of new products in the shop in the next week or so, as they make their way to the house. Can't wait for you to see some of the new stuff that we saw at Market.

As I mentioned, it's been a little crazy, so I haven't gotten much sewing done in the last week or so, but I plan to remedy that this weekend with a long weekend full of piecing...so expect some pics as I get in and get things done.

See you all soon, until then Happy Quilting! 

Lame Post #3 in a row with no pictures

I have a good reason, I promise!!! It's been rainy here for most of the weekend, so although I took some pictures, they are gray and dark, and generally yucky, so I am sparing you from the yuckiness!! It was a busy weekend here, I put 2 bindings on on Friday, and worked on patterns on Saturday. I lost several hours of Saturday evening on Pinterest, but whose counting. I am completely ready for the tax man, just waiting on a few final pieces of paperwork from the state to include in my filing and I am all ready to go. I cut up the luscious new fabrics for the show in Bakersfield next weekend, and yesterday I even cleaned the car (crazy, isn't it?).

Those of you who know me personally, and have ever seen my car, know that I essentially live in my car, with a 2 hour daily commute, owning my own business, teaching several nights a week and a new years resolution to hit the gym more often, there seems to a profusion of "stuff" in the trunk, add to that a full teaching schedule, and I literally had 3 duffle bags, a sewing machine in its bag, a quilt tools bag (sort of like a scrapbook keeper bag), a makeup bag, one of those mini filing cabinets with all of the class handouts, and 4 quilt project boxes in the trunk. Needless to say, it took me about an hour to get the car all spiffy. I even went to the container store and got a trunk organizer (which I must say is great so far, it keeps things upright, and makes me accountable, plus, if it gets full, you can take the whole thing in the house!). And all this because a friend from college started her own organization business and got me inspired. I must say this having a spiffed up car is quite nice, I just hope that I have the discipline to keep it that way! I promise I'll get some pictures one day this week when it isn't raining!

Well, off to the daily grind. Working a double today, so I won't be home from job #1 until 11pm. Have a great day everyone, and happy quilting!

And then I just gave in to the madness.....

Well, I have finally done it. I've committed myself to a Dear Jane. Yes, I know everyone else did them YEARS ago. I know I'm late to the party. But I'm going to do it, and so are some of my friends, even if I have to drag them kicking and screaming (though I really didn't, most of them just showed up). You see, I've been talking about doing the Jane Sickle quilt for about 5 or 6 years, I even put in on a goals list in 2008, and got started, and then I quickly got frustrated. Those blocks are little (4 1/2 inches)! There are a lot of them (163)! There are triangles! and it required paper piecing! If I'm honest, Jane inspired my love of Judy Niemeyer. You see, I took my first beginner paper piecing class after venting my frustrations on C-9. A really cute block in the third row of Dear Jane that looked easy, but turned out to be the bane of my existence for a while. So, I broke down a took a paper-piecing class, and the rest is history. So, back to Jane.....a group of us is going to be working on the quilt at Amidon Quiltworks on the 3rd Tuesday evening of every month. 6 or 7 blocks a month every month, which equates to a row every 2 months, so essentially we should finish the center in about 2 years. Yes, 2 years, that is not a typo. It's a big quilt, made of little teensey-tiney pieces!  

So, join us for some fun, and I'll try to post about once a month on what I have managed to get done.....

Happy quilting!

Pin, anyone? List, anyone?

So, have you been introduced to the newest way to lose 3 hours on the internet? You know, the one where you look at all of the awesome projects that everyone else is doing and suddenly feel completely inadequate? Seriously girls, there are some super cool things out there on Pinterest. Some uber-talented men and women who post their projects onto a "boards"......either done or going to do, or inspiration, or potentially just something that they are lusting after at the moment. It's really sort of a visual representation of what you are, or want to be.....kind of a vision board on steroids. And like make of the other sites, you can "follow" your friends and spy on what they are lusting over, or see what your idols are working on. I'm really excited to see where this one is going, to see how the quilting world interprets it and uses it to display in process and completed projects. But in the meantime, it's just sucking up a lot of time while I pin all of my favorite shoes...and stalk a few of my idols!!! (it a good way, I promise). So, if you want to join us, just send me your email and I will send you a invitation!


I really can't quite believe that it is Thursday already this week has flown. It's the last week to get all of the home and office projects finished before the show season starts again. My first show for 2012 is next weekend in Bakersfield, so I've spent the evenings this week making sure that I have new fabric packs, registr tape, and all the general supplies you need when you take a shop on the road. You would think that having done this for a full year now that I would have a list of things to take to every show, or some type of checklist (I am the list queen, you know), but so far, I haven't done that, so maybe that will be on the agenda for the week as well (just thinking about making a check list makes me excited, how crazy is that?).

Okay -- off to make that list. Have a great day folks!

 

Adventure Week One - Nada

Well, we're a week into the new year, and I can't quite believe it, it's gone so quickly. Work and work2 have been crazy, and I've been working like a crazy person personally to get organized and ready for the show season which starts in just a few weeks.

In terms of Adventure, the only adventure in my life this week has been in attempting to get organized.....which I am simply not particularly good at. I want to be organized, even obsessively organized, I look at those houses on pinterest (you know the ones, with everything perfectly aligned, and photo ready at any time), and I wonder how do they do it???? Seriously, for my house to be that photogenic, it would have to be cleaned 24/7. And where is the adventure in that? So, I guess my week 1 take on adventure is : there is no adventure in cleaning!

Albums Galore

Well, It's Sunday night, and I really can't quite believe that the weekend is almost over. I had such Grand Plans. Several of which were completed, and several of which are laying in a pile on my bed. Granted, I put them there so that I literally couldn't go to bed until they were complete, but now I am tired, and they are mocking me!!! Totally unfair!!!

On a good note, I got the albums set up in facebook, so you can now click on my page, and see all of the current in process quilts, from inception, through design, and eventually to finished project. My goal is to update these every week, if not sooner, so that you can really see what's going on around here. SO, sign up on my Facebook page, so that you can see everything as we go. Current in process projects include : MiniStars Version 1, MiniStars Version 2, Glacier Star, and Key Lime Pie.


So, see you soon, and have a great week!