Only in New York

Tuesday and Wednesday were travel days for me. I was in New York City working with Timeless Treasures on my "next" and "next after that" fabric lines. Now that I have officially named the line that will be released at Spring Quilt Market we can eliminate some confusion and start to call to that one "Lauren".

Part of the joy of working with Timeless Treasures is that they have absolutely no restrictions on what I want my fabric lines to look like. I truly appreciate the latitude they extend to me because I love working with different styles, so why should all of my fabric lines have to look the same? They did suggest that for the new line a girls name seemed appropriate.

Several seasons ago I did a collection named "Lindsay". It was so named because my youngest daughter thought it was the "coolest stuff" I had ever done. The new line is named after my married daughter who is now Lauren Olson. The line was based on an antique floral piece that I fell in love with. It has beautiful shaded roses, lilacs and morning glory vines on a really great background. The coordinates are soft and bedroom like in a classic Ralph Lauren style. The line has a lot more in common with Ralph than it does with my 29 year old urban chic, sophisticated daughter. Unfortunately if I design an urban chic sophisticated fabric line, it wouldn't make sense to name it Lauren. I actually called my daughter to make sure that it was OK to put her name on a fabric line that isn't her taste. She graciously agreed and now I want to make a public commitment that if I ever design an urban chic and sophisticated fabric collection, I will name it "Olson".

My time in New York is always fun and frequently eventful. There is always something strange happening in that town. This time the weather was wonderful with only a slight chill in the air - until I left the office and started to walk around SoHo to do a little shopping. I was on the phone with my daughter when I literally ran right into a pile of snow!

A film crew was getting ready to shoot something right outside of the Old Navy store on Broadway. I finished my conversation with Lauren and used my phone to snap a few photos to share with you.

This one is of the crew setting up the lights and equipment on the opposite side of the street. Those are normal people walking by and lots of traffic on the street like nothing strange was happening!

I assumed that the filming was an Old Navy commercial, because the "snow" was limited to the sidewalk just outside the store, but the next day I found out that they have been filming a movie all around the area.

What you are looking at in this photo is one of the several Arctic Glacier trucks that were filled with giant blocks of ice. The crew was sliding the blocks of ice down a ramp into a tree chipper and using a hose to spread the "snow" around the sidewalk.

If those crazy Old Navy mannequins show up in a commercial standing outside in the snow, you can say you saw the "before" photos here. Come to think of it, if this is an Old Navy commercial they are filming, isn't it a bit weird that they are using real snow and fake people?

And for those of you that were wondering, I got back to the hotel too late, too hungry and much too tired to request a goldfish to keep company!