Thursday, February 5, 2009

Friends

It was so cold last evening that I decided to snuggle up on the sofa with my laptop, clean out some files, back up some long over due folders and catch up with the blogs that my friends write. I have some strange friends.

Take Karen Snyder for example. Karen is an absolutely delightful person. She is lots of fun to be around, has a wicked sense of humor, but not much of a singing voice (Don’t worry Karen, I won’t tell them about Delta Dawn. What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico). I also credit her with introducing me to Lemon Drop Martinis, for which I will be forever grateful.

Karen has just closed her retail quilting store in Washington (The state of Washington. Karen LOVES when you clarify where she lives by adding “state”) Now that she is no longer running a retail store and making fudge every day she has plenty of free time. Yep, her retail store sold quilting fabric and fudge. (If my store also sold fudge, you could lay money on the fact that I would weigh 300+ lbs – Karen doesn’t). Karen has decided to fill her leisurely retirement days by writing more quilting books for Krause Publishing, designing fabric for Timeless Treasures and acting as the national spokesperson for Elna sewing machines. If you ever have the chance to meet her you will probably never suspect that she is also a nut case.

I can prove my point.

These are photos of Karen’s sewing room. I snitched these photos directly from Karen’s blog, not some fancy schmancy glossy paged magazine. If you want to see more of her room, there is a link right over there on the right under “My Favorite Blogs”. You can scroll through Karen’s posts and take a virtual tour of her sewing room. Despite the fact that Karen obviously has an affinity for the color orange, can you honestly believe that any normal quilter is THAT organized? My friend Debbie, from New Jersey (also a state) has actually been in this very sewing room in person and claims that it really is that neat. As far as I can tell there are only 2 possible explanations.

1. Karen’s real last name is Stepford
2. There is a fake wall hiding the mess.

Both of us are named Karen. Both of us design our own line of fabric. Karen writes books, I publish patterns. This is Karen’s work area…….. I’m not going to show you mine.
Karen - the messy one.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorry, no fake wall that I could tell. I don't care what she says, I think she has a butler and I'm jealous as he__.

No one will be seeing pictures of my sewing "studio" either!

Debbie in NJ

Anonymous said...

Karen, you crack me up! As I write, the studio isn't quite as tidy as in the photos. If my mom taught me something, it was to clean up for company and the camera! Thanks for keeping my Delta Dawn secret (NOT!) and keeping mum about the Ole and Lena jokes.

happy zombie said...

What a sweet and funny write-up about Karen. The Other Karen... the Karen from WA State.

There is a fake wall... though we call it the Columbia River. On the other side of the river, that's where the mess is. AKA... my sewing room.

Anonymous said...

Karen Snyder's Mom speaking: What wonderful things you said about Karen. I wish you could have known her as I have! Is this the girl that couldn't keep her room clean, that would rather be riding her horse, or feeding crows on the roof from her bedroom?
Who could never be on time amd always had a stomach ache when it came time to wash the dishes?

Is this the one who makes her 85 year old Mother come down to her store and fold fabric, fold fat quarters and do the jobs no one else wants to do? Is this the one who gives her a lunch break providing said Mother buys lunch?

All her life she has whined about being the middle child - so maybe she is getting her due now with the nice things being said about her.
-------------------------
P. S. I agree with you -- in spades!!

PG Wagner said...

Geeeeez....at first I thought you posted a photo from the Container Store or something......

Anonymous said...

Karen, that was a great write up..as one of the messers that can work in that area, it is not always that tidy, but she does clean up well, doesn't she??

If you think KS is a nut case, she comes from good nut stock and you should meet the infamous Bette....what a true nut!!!!
Wonderful and as you can tell, very funny in her own right!

Anonymous said...

As Karen Snyder's younger sister, I've been seriously overshadowed in recent years by my talented and accomplished sibling. But at least I've still had my identity as the efficient, organized one. Until now! While the studio is gorgeous (and I, the super shopper in the family, found most of those orange and aqua containers for her), it's not quite representative of her life. When my son stayed with her for a few days in December, they had to clear off a bed for him. For some reason, all four guest beds were piled high with quilts and fabric . . .