23 Days to Quilt Market:

As promised I’m going to attempt to post each day about the status of my infamous “To-Do” list that consumes my life for at least a month before Quilt Market. I’ve decided to try this to keep myself on track (guilt works wonders in my life) as well as keep you informed. If all goes well I should be able to post from Portland in less than a month and hopefully show you photos of how everything has come together.

The most important items on TODAY's do or die list are:
Pack and ship the Lindsay Dark quilt to NY so that they can have it photographed for an ad that will run in Fons & Porter Quilting magazine. I applied the binding over the weekend, the UPS box is ready to ship, I just have to go online and schedule a pick-up, print the label and seal it shut! This is going to be easy to check off!

This project needs a better name. Lindsay “Dark” has an identical companion quilt which is know as “Lindsay Light”. If you have a suggestion on what to name it, feel free to post it as a comment!

Lindsay Light must go to the quilter today. I have to construct the backing before 4pm and have everything ready for Mary (the quilter) to pick-up. It isn’t easy being my quilter. I am happy to pay the prevailing rate and don’t expect a discount, but every project seems to have an unreasonable deadline, not to mention the pressure of having your work featured in magazines and handouts. I know they want it perfect and I always seem to need it back in a minute and a half!

I hope Mary had a relaxing weekend because I have not one, but TWO Lindsay quilts waiting for her! The red/taupe Union Square is for The Quilt Gallery ads that you have been seeing in McCalls Quilting. The ad will not run until the October issue, but it is made from the Lindsay Collection, so I need the project for Market and the ad deadline for the October issue is May 26th!

I have to finish writing a section of the Lindsay Dark/Light instructions. NY needs them by tomorrow morning so that they can have them ready as soon as the photo is ready. This project will be a free handout and Emily in NY is the world’s best proof-reader. She needs the time to proof, design the layout and have the color printing done. All that means is that she is down to the wire too. Almost everything is written and proofed at my end (I used those instructions to make the second quilt). The difference between the light/dark is the mitered stripe blocks. Mitered squares are a piece of cake, but mitered rectangles require set in seams. In addition to the instructions I also provide step-by-step illustrations that I draw in Corel then convert to Adobe for NY to publish. Leaving the tricky part to the end probably wasn’t the best idea. At times like this I envy Nike and their motto “Just Do It”. I think those are perfect quilting instructions!

I also have to finish editing the video’s I filmed yesterday. With any luck all the footage I need is in the camera and only the editing needs to be finished. In addition to the step-by-step video that we film each month for our Crazy Patch BOM, I also film step-by-steps for Timeless. This is not as glamorous as you might think 90% off the work is done on Sunday mornings in the shop, in my socks, unscripted. I try to edit ASAP before my nail polish color changes or we loose the pieces I prep for the camera just incase I have to re-do a segment.

It would be nice to finish and bind the adult size chenille quilt from yesterday’s video. I have some long rehearsal hours to attend with our daughter this week and hand stitching some bindings will keep me from entering “I could be getting so much done” panic mode.

I have stars to sew to complete the Becky Kelly project for the booth. Becky is an extremely talented illustrator that is doing work for Timeless, but she doesn’t sew. Every now and then I volunteer to make samples for “other” people. I get to keep the quilt after it has been displayed. If I intend to buy the fabric line for the store anyway it becomes a win-win situation for everyone involved. This is probably not one of those times.

This is by NO means the entire list. I won’t bore you with hemming pants, prepping for class projects and BOM’s here in the shop, pulling orders, updating mailing lists or preparing e-updates because I would NEVER get anything done!

Stay tuned tomorrow when I believe the crisis will revolve around the Quilts and More project deadline!

Sew Something!
Karen