You Can't Do This In Florida

I wouldn't exactly call our son "Mr Science". Brandon has always been attracted to off the wall crazy stunts because they are, well.... crazy... not because of the scientific properties involved. I spent much of his adolescence praying that he came home with limbs intact and hoping that he wasn't being escorted by the local police. Not that he was a "bad" kid, he just liked doing goofy stuff. If you get more than one boy with an attraction to goofy stuff in the same room, even if it is for just a few minutes, chances are you are going to need stain remover. Left unattended you may require a fire extinguisher or a new counter top. That only begins to explain why we have home video of what appears to be a flying vacuum cleaner. But I digress.

We have had a real cold snap here in the 'burg. Our overnight lows have been in the teens or even single digits for over a week. The windchill has been frigid by any standards. It was not enough to put a damper on Brandon and his now adult friends and their goofy antics.

It turns out that when the temperature is 5 degrees or below and you toss boiling water into the air - it vaporizes! It also makes a really cool sound! Scientific principals aside, it is fun!

Boiling tap water combine with frigid temperatures and you have what amounts to a poor mans version of fireworks. After the Steeler victory last night Brandon and his friends tossed several gallons of boiling water into the air to celebrate - and nobody lost a finger or shot their eye out.

Naturally I had to get Brandon to show me how it was done. Early this morning we boiled up some water in the microwave and whoosh! Vapor! How cool is that?

Ok, you had to know that Brandon got that "goofy" gene somewhere.

Home From the South

I did it. I managed to fly to Florida for the Ricky Tims Super Seminar, visit my friend and my daughter and return relatively unscathed. Five luke warm days in the somewhat Florida sunshine. Not exactly the perfect vacation...... but I would do it again in a minute!

My plan was to take my new, bright shocking pink, camera with me so that I could document my travels and share the photos with you here on the blog. That plan went awry when my purse fell over in the car on the way to the airport and that cute little camera slid out of my bag. I never even noticed the shocking pink camera on the car floor. Better in the car than in the bin at airport security, which is where I thought I had lost it until I phoned my husband.

No problem, I had my fancy schmancy phone with me. That would work just fine..... or not. If you want to see my photos of the trip, you will have to stop by and look at them on my phone. I've spent the last several hours emailing them to myself, but they never arrive. We will have to make do without my original photos

Flying for me is never easy, and I should have known better than to book a flight through Newark in any month where there is a chance of snow. When I tried to check in for my Wednesday morning flight, Continental informed me that my flights had been canceled. They had no options and their operators were very busy. They suggested I "try again later" before hanging up on me. I outsmarted them and booked a USAIRWAY one way ticket through Charlotte. I arrived at the airport very early for my flight so that I would have time to get my Continental refund before I left the burgh. With refund slip in hand, I checked the departure board and noticed that the 12:00 flight to Charlotte had been delayed. I headed straight for that gate and because other poor unfortunate travelers were going to miss their connections, they were rerouted and I was able to snag a seat on the earlier flight - the one that left so late that I actually arrived in Charlotte on schedule - instead of late, and made my connection for sunny Florida. Yippee!

After a night in West Palm, Bernie and I headed for Jacksonville, UNF, and the seminar. We found Lindsay, checked in to our hotel and registered for the seminar. That isn't a photo of the seminar building, that is the fancy new dorm at UNF with the lazy river. I couldn't find a photo of the University Center - work with me here....

There were over 370 women (and one man) attending. Ricky starts on time, stops on time and keeps things moving. Even though Bernie and I were just a few rows from the back, we had no problem seeing everything that was presented. The room was large, the presentations were on Power Point and shown on a large overhead screen. There were tight video shots of the "real life" demos and I don't think there was a bad seat in the house. I was impressed.

The days were paced to move quickly, but there were also generous breaks in the morning and afternoon. Lunch was an hour and a half, which was more than enough time to get out, eat and be back in your seat without having to rush. The doors opened at 7:30 am and the sessions started at 8:30. I would have preferred a later start and less break time, especially the morning that Bernie had to scrape ice from the windshield - in sunny Florida. Luckily the days got warmer the longer I stayed. The last night that I was there we actually ate outside on the patio! Now that I am home, I hear that Jacksonville is in the 70's. - figures......

The seminar days flew by. Alex Anderson did a segment on drawing your own hand quilting designs. As always, Alex made herself available at every break to sign autographs, take photos and listen to endless stories about how her fans have connected with her over the years. I was no different.

On Friday Lindsay joined us for the afternoon session. I specifically wanted her there to meet Alex. The quilt featured on the front cover of the Start Quilting book has a border on it made from fabric that I designed for Timeless Treasures. I named the fabric line after Lindsay. Lindsay's birthday is January 15th, Alex's birthday is January 14th. I now have a photo (on my phone) of Lindsay and Alex and the book which she autographed. Just for fun.

One absolutely delightful segment was presented by Libby Lehman. (that is Ricky's quilt, Libby does thread painting) Libby is a national treasure. She is hysterical, talented, more fun than you can imagine and a very good teacher. Her honest, down to earth comments about her work were great fun to listen to and I don't think anyone left the room thinking "I could never do that". On the contrary, I think everyone that possibly could, raced home to give it a try! I even considered giving it a try on the sewing machine that Lindsay took to school with her, but there just wasn't time.

Blending the seminar with a college visit required that we include Lindsay with meals, take her shoping to Target for "necessities" and spring for a very expensive birthday dinner. Bernie and I have been friends for over 20 years so there was lots of talking and laughing. There justs wasn't time for anything else.

Sunday morning we headed back to West Palm and stopped to vist with another of Bernies friends over lunch. Cindy's home was absolutely delightful, beautifully decorated with quilts - some of which are published and award winning. It was a perfect ending to a great weekend. Then I had to fly home. I left in the wee hours of the morning and other than a 5 hour layover in Atlanta due to mechanical dificulties, all went well.

Quilting weekend, daughter visit, warmer temperatures than we had at home. Steeler victory, New England loss, what else could a girl want? ...... I want to do it again!

I'm glad that is over......

There is nothing like the year end inventory to suck the fun out of having a retail store. It is not only a necessary evil, it is required by law. Weighing several thousand bolts of fabric, counting zippers and fat quarters and patterns and notions and thread (3,380 spools to be exact) and packages of pins and needles and ........ well you get the idea. Then comes the paperwork that inventory generates. The cross checking and verifying and correcting and when it is all done, it is TAX TIME. What kind of reward is that?

It is no wonder that after all of the numbers are put to bed I try to schedule some sort of treat for myself. A pedicure in the middle of winter, a shopping splurge for a special treat, anything that I can dangle as a carrot to help me get through the fact that I spend most of my holiday lifting, counting or answering paperwork questions.

This year I have gone a little overboard. Ricky Tim's is hosting one of his Super Quilting Seminars with special guests Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman in Jacksonville Florida. On the campus of the University of North Florida. Our youngest daughter attends UNF in Jacksonville and her birthday is next weekend - the same weekend as the seminar. When my BFF Bernie discovered this, she suggested we attend. I could not have agreed more.

I'm sure my daughter, who was just home for 3 weeks is dying to spend her 20th birthday with her Mom and her Mom's best friend. Although I have already been informed that we can take her out to dinner, but we aren't invited to the party her friends are throwing.... I can't imagine why.

Seeing Lindsay for her birthday is a bonus. My main reason, besides spending time with Bernie, in what I hope will be the Florida sunshine, is business related. This seminar is serious business. Day one starts at 2:30 and runs until 7:30 pm. Day two starts at 7:30 AM and doesn't finish until 5:30 and then there is an evening concert by Rick at 7:30 pm. Day three runs from 7:30 am until 5:30 pm. That is a lot of hours to fill. The entire thing is lecture demo style. No sewing, no cutting, no materials list. I know that I can be long winded. I once talked for 45 minutes on batting alone, but 2 1/2 days is a LONG time. What can they possibly tell us that will hold the interest of everyone for that long? I can't wait to find out, and then I will share it with you.

At least I hope I have the chance to find out. As I write this another storm is set to hit the New York area on Wednesday. Naturally I have to fly through Newark NJ to get to Florida - on Wednesday. I'm leaving a day early because it is not uncommon for my flights to go a bit haywire. Later this week I will either be able to tell you about the wonderful time I had at the Ricky Tims Seminar or you will be forced to listen to me whine about yet another airline disaster. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Holiday Sewing Help

As a pattern designer/instruction writer I get lots of feedback from consumers. Mostly in the form of phone calls and emails, because my name, address, email and every other bit of contact information possible is on everything I publish. I always cringe, just a little bit when the staff hands me the phone and says "It's a customer with a problem". I am human, and try as hard as I possibly can not to, I do make mistakes. We go above and beyond to correct an issue as quickly and efficiently as possible and do everything we possibly can to remedy the situation they create. I want you to be happy with our products. I also appreciate constructive criticism. It is nice to hear that you think another illustration or arrow or red line would help someone be more successful in the future.

Sometimes is isn't me with the problem. From time-to-time we get calls or emails from extremely irritated customers, that insist I am A COMPLETE MORON THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN OUT BACK AND SHOT for writing such horrid instructions. After walking them through the step-by-step instructions that I KNOW are correct because they have been followed hundreds of times, we discover the step they skipped or what they "think" they read and get them back on the right track. Most of customers are grateful for the personalized attention. Sometimes, much to my amusement, when the light bulb finally goes off in the consumers head, they are so embarrassed by the conversation they simply hang up on me!

Sometimes the messages are just plain funny. If you are stressed over holiday sewing, you are going to enjoy the following. Bernie is my BFF. She lives in Florida and has a degree in Family and Consumer Science - that's Home Ec. for us common folk. She recently had an issue with our Tea Towel Apron pattern and the following is the email she sent me. Enjoy!

"I want you to know, that despite your best intentions, your "Quick and Easy Apron" pattern directions are not idiot proof. I am living, almost breathing (despite a stuffy nose) example of it. May I suggest that in future printings you print the "finished edge" line in RED with the caption "Do NOT cut on this line, you Moron". I have already altered my directions in this way - too late. Never mind that I had already made one of these with great success. I'm blaming the cold meds for this disaster. It might also be helpful to suggest that the consumer use a "good quality" tea towel and not one with a rather loose weave that cost $2.

Of course the SMART thing to do, once I realized my cutting error, would have been to attach a casing out of "regular" fabric. I decided instead to sew the corners, that I had just lopped off, back on. Great idea, except that I sewed one of the corners, wrong sides together, instead of right sides together. I had to rip that one out, a nightmare on the loosely woven fabric. Except, I ripped out the one I had sewn correctly, so I ended up ripping them both out. It would have been "smarter yet" to sew them back on using the serger. Except the one I own has been buried in my closet since we did the kitchen remodel, seven years ago..... and it is threaded in black.

Despite ending up with a ravelled mess, I forged ahead. By the time I had everything sewn back on, trimmed correctly and top stitched, the bottom of the casing ended up too "high" on the sides. I decided to sew grosgrain ribbon loops further down to pull the ties through so that they were not right under my boobs. By the time I finished sewing the cute contrasting pocket on, it had been 2 1/2 hours since I started! I fully expect it to unravel the first time I wash it, but it looks SO cute hanging on the side of my fridge!

My plan was to make these for my quilt group for next Christmas. I have 12 months to make 7 aprons. I better get started."

Ho Ho Ho..............

Holiday Sewing

The Christmas crunch has started. We have hosted our first session of Handmade for the Holiday demonstrations at the shop. Fliers, ads and circulars have started to arrive at my house by the pound. There are turkeys in defrost mode in millions of refrigerators across the country. I have received catalogs for every food product that could possibly be shipped as a gift - and a few that you might not want to receive! It is time to turn on the sewing machine and get started on those gifts that I intend to give. That was today's plan. Get going. Check some gifts off that list......

I did get to sew for most of the day. First I had to prepare an email blast that will go out on Monday morning to our local customers. I try to send a sampling of photos of new fabrics and products to those that can walk into our store. Very few of our fabrics are uploaded to our website. Sometimes I make a suggestion for what the new fabric might be used for.

On Friday Jerry, our UPS man delivered the mother lode of novelty fabrics. Each one was more adorable than the last. Opening the boxes in a fabric delivery is like Christmas all year round. Judging by this shipment, we have been very good girls this year.

There were chef prints and daisies and stripes with fruit. PacMan looking ghosts and French postcards and knitting sheep. Adorable knitting sheep. I suggested to my email audience that the sheep would make a great looking knitting bag. Too cute. Back to sewing.

My oldest would love something made out of the French line. We can always use a new sample of the Easy Stripe Table Runner. My baby sister had those chef prints in her kitchen at one point. I wonder if she would like an apron, or maybe a table runner. I should get started....

Several hours later I had done a lot of sewing. No gifts to show for my time, just some class prep for next week and this adorable knitting bag. I don't need a knitting bag. Nobody on my gift list knits. I just couldn't resist. Those sheep, trimmed with a sweater print, stitched into my version of the Chinese Take-Out bag was just too perfect to not stitch up. I even made and added those great looking handles using the pattern from Aunties Too. I had a great time making that bag.

Anyone on my gift list want to learn to knit?

Introducing the Quick Trim Ruler!

I mentioned late in the summer that I had designed a ruler for Creative Grid and promised to show it to everyone here on the blog as soon as we had samples and video ready to go. I have to admit that it took longer to find time to shoot the video than it did to produce the ruler! We filmed quick demonstrations at Quilt Market that are available on You Tube and on the Checker Distributors website. Keep in mind that these are last minute videos that were filmed on the convention floor, not professional studio shots. You will hear lots of convention noise in the background as people stopped by asking questions and making comments just off camera. I can hear them, but you can't, that explains my temporary distractions. If you would like to see me, exhausted, having a bad hair day on the last day of Market, click on the link below. Keep in mind it is all about the RULER - not me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxzlBFVq0d0

Designing the ruler and working with the Creative Grid team has been a delightful experience. When they agree to do something, consider it done. I suggested the ruler on a Friday afternoon. I emailed drawings of what I wanted it to look like Monday morning. One week later the design was approved, changes had been made, Plexiglas had been ordered and two weeks later I had a prototype in my hand. For someone that is use to taking a year to pull a fabric line together that is like working at the speed of light!

I have had the ruler to work with for almost 2 months. I LOVE the way it works and I hope you will too! Naturally I had to design a few quilts to work with the ruler - although the ruler works with ANY 45 degree angle line on ANY pattern you already own.

Both our Sea Glass, pictured here, and the Migration pattern have step-by-step illustrations of how to position the ruler right in the instructions. Both quilts are "jelly roll" projects as well. One set of 40 strips with just a little more fabric added will make either one of the quilts.

My absolute favorite part of the ruler is that I no longer have to draw a zillion lines to sew on. I simply pre-trim the pieces and sit down and sew. Perfect every time. Demonstrating the ruler to both customers and other shop owners I have discovered that everyone else loves the idea of using the ruler to trim their binding strips. Apparently that has been a big issue for most quilters - problem solved! Feel free to go back and watch that segment of the video if you missed it or stop in the shop, we would love to show you in person! If you don't live near The Quilt Company, stop in your favorite quilt shop and ask for a demo on the ruler, I am pretty confident that I showed it to every quilt shop owner that attended Quilt Market! Tell them I sent you!

PS If you can't find the Quick Trim Ruler in your area, call the shop and order one by phone. The price is just $16 + postage and we would be happy to send you one.

Market

I have to say that the combination of joy, exhaustion, creativity and adrenalin of attending International Quilt Market has me wishing I was facing a three day weekend instead of a full work week, but I wouldn't want to miss it for the world.

Four full days of teaching, demonstrating, walking the floor, and placing orders, combine with drinks and dinners with other shop owners and vendors that feel more like family is more fun than work, but exhausting just the same.

Debby and I have fun no matter where we go. Sometimes I am pretty sure that we are the only two people that find the situation funny, but that doesn't deter us from having a good time. For example, Ty Pennington was at Quilt Market. He is offering a new fabric line called Impressions and you could stop by this booth to meet him. During set-up time, when the walls of the booth had to be screwed together, Ty was nowhere to be found. There were a few girls and a cordless drill manhandling things into place. Where is that DIY guy when you need him?

Talk about fun.....

The Swirly Girls pattern company has designed a new block of the month program for Michael Miller fabrics. MM was gracious enough to invite us to a beautiful breakfast so that Susan, from Swirly Girls could explain the program to us. Deb loved it immediately, but I was a bit more cautious. I know what it is like to be in over your head, making promises that you only hope you can keep for the next 12 months. I usually prefer to be in charge of my own destiny, so I decided to think about it. By our last day at Market neither of us had seen anything that we liked better than the new Clubhouse program, so we stopped by to give it another look. I then realized that if you bought the program, Swirly Girls (also girls that know how to have fun) allowed one person from your party to be entered into their glass wind tunnel. You had the opportunity to "grab" as much Swirly Girl cash as possible in 30 seconds.

That made the decision.

We were definitely doing the program.

Guess who was going in the booth

Deb secured enough cash to
win two charm packs of the
same fabrics that are used in the block of the month.

I guess she will still be buying lottery tickets if she really wants to strike it rich.

Deb's quote "That isn't as easy as it looks!"

Luckily the quilt is beautiful and you can look forward to making it starting just after the first of the year.

Wind tunnel not included.