I thought I might brighten up your Monday a bit with some fun new fabric.
Don't forget Bernina Club is this Wednesday and Thursday where we'll be celebrating summer and I must say, it's a doozy! Quilt Market is Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you can tag along with me on Facebook. Hopefully I'll be blogging each night as well so stay tuned.
Have a great week everyone!
Encourage one another,
I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus but I have a good excuse.
I've been sick (some would argue I still am).
Perhaps it was all those trips through crowded malls or the long stretches of time away from home visiting friends and family. Maybe it was the hours in packed airports waiting to board cramped airplanes, but for whatever reason I've somehow contracted...
Deep Cleaning Thrombosis.
Have you heard of it? It's rare. I googled it and it's supposedly most common right after the holidays and in the early spring.
It starts with the innocent urge to dust.
Progresses into fluffing pillows,
airing quilts
and rearranging furniture.
In a weakened state, the poor innocent victim may be compelled to display collections all over the house.
(and to put votives in old Jello molds)
and in its full blown stage, it presents itself with the uncontrollable desire to polish silver
and set every table in the house
to look as if they were having a dinner party.
Extreme cases have been reported to cause violent and uncontrollable projectile closet purging and in some extremely severe cases, its victims have reportedly been known to (gasp) label!
This is my second bout with DCT in three years. I know, that's a long time between flare ups but my resistance is normally pretty high and I can usually fight off any urge to clean at the first inkling that an episode might be coming on. I've found leaving town to be especially helpful when I first get that feeling. But this time with all the holiday preparations and merriment I was caught off guard and bam, before I knew it I was in the throws of a full blown episode! Gosh, I even missed a day of work so as not to infect my co workers just in case it is contagious - I'm thoughtful that way. (Actually I stayed home to clean the crud out from under the refrigerator).
Anyway. I should be back to normal in a day or two - sitting in my favorite chair in front of the TV, feet propped up watching Housewives and wasting time on the computer and blogging.
Seriously, what I love best about getting DCT is that it costs next to nothing (except for the cost of Advil and maybe a manicure). I had all this stuff hiding in cupboards and under three inches of dust. All I had to do was uncover it. My only purchase was the two preserved boxwood topiaries here
and here.
Friday I went out to a local interior store to find some good faux plants (I haven't had much luck with house plants. Someone said it's because you're supposed to water them. Have you heard of such a thing?). Anyway I was prepared to spend some bucks but when I saw that they were asking nearly a hundred dollars for six inch boxwoods I left empty handed and I might add, a little sad. On the way home I zipped by my fav HomeGoods for a look see and guess what they had? Um hum those three times as big boxwoods for a third the price. Score. I would have done a happy dance on the way to the car but I was waay too sore from all that scrubbing.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have a junk drawer to put in alphabetical and labeled order.
Welcome 2013 - I'm ready for whatever you throw my way and I now have a labeled place to put it!.
Encourage one another,
This is the day many of us have been looking forward to.
You've reviewed the candidates and you've made your selection.
No, I'm not talking politics here, I'm talking fabric.
Charm squares to be exact.
Thank you to everyone who voted for their favorite charm squares. I wish I had enough fabric for everyone who took the time to play along. It was such fun seeing your choices and reading your sweet comments. I'm the real winner here with such lovely readers (and generous sales reps)!
But sadly there can be but one winner and our lucky winner's name is...
Tina N!
I have emailed Tina and will be getting her five charm squares off to her.
Thanks again. It was fun. We'll be sure to do it again real soon so stay tuned.
Encourage one another,
Tap.Tap. Tap...is this thing on?
Just popping in tonight to let you know I'm alive and well. We were in Las Vegas for a trade show the first of the week and came home to no email service. If you think you're not dependant on the internet, try doing without it for 48 hours! (Breathe Suzanne. Breathe).
Bill and I had a great trip to Vegas. I found lots of new fabric and some fun do-dads that I think you'll love. It's a good thing our uber talented cabinetmaker Dennis called today to say our new cabinet is ready because we are definitely going to need the added shelf space once these fabric orders start arriving.
This weekend I'll be finishing up packing for our trip to London next week. We'll be spending ten days in central London with our son Bryan and his family. Bill and I are especially looking forward to sharing this trip with our kids and grand kids. Hopefully we'll have an internet connection there so I can share some of our trip with you all.
Encourage one another,
A few months ago my Moda sales rep called to say he had something exciting to show me; something he thought you all might like.
The morning Norbert arrived for our appointment he started by pulling some pretty ho hum fabric samples from his sample bag. One by one he opened the cardboard covers to reveal the new collections hidden inside.
After a while I began to fidget and he could see I was less than enamored with his offerings. Trust me, he said. I'm saving the best for last (I always accuse him of doing that). Just when I was beginning to question the wisdom of having him drive all the way from Mission Viejo he showed me what he really drove to Bakersfiled for.
I listened carefully as he explained the program and became so excited that I grabbed the picture of this amazing quilt, excused myself and hurried out to the front of the store to share my find with the girls who were working that day. Look at this, I said. This is so brilliant! Oh yes, it's a gorgeous quilt but the truly amazing part is that it's all precut!! What time deprived quilter wouldn't love the convenience of all these fussy little pieces precut with Steam a Seam 2 already on the back? The gorgeous batiks are already selected. There is no waste. No cutting. All you have to do is peel and fuse. Brilliant. Just Brilliant!
We discussed the cost and agreed we all would gladly pay a little extra for the convenience of having someone else do the "dirty work" for us and we all agreed we thought you would too.
I placed my order and waited, wondering what other quilters might think. Would hard core appliquers want to do this fusible quilt? Would they be willing to pay someone else to laser cut the fifty jillion pieces for them?
My answer came when our hand applique teacher stopped by a few weeks later wondering if I'd seen the new Laundry Basket precut quilt she read about on a blog. If Pam, The Queen of Hand Applique was excited, I suddenly had a new concern. Had I ordered enough kits?
The answer to that question quickly came when we almost immediately presold all of the kits I'd ordered from Norbert that day. (Word does spread fast in the quilting community). = )
So we called Moda to see if we could add to our initial order and they said that the response around the world had been so overwhelming that Laundry Basket had to purchase additional laser cutting equipment to keep up with the demand and that they needed to push back delivery dates to make it fair for all of the shops that ordered.
If you look closely, you can see the straight stitch our model maker used to secure the fused pieces. You could use a straight stitch, blanket stitch, zig zag or satin stitch.
Long story short, we'll be getting our kits in the first week of October and happily we were able to secure a few additional kits. If this looks like a quilt that you'd like to make please give us a call or go here to order. But don't wait, when these are gone I doubt that we can get more.
Encourage one another,
For me one of the best things about getting away for a few weeks of vacation is getting a new prospective on my everyday life. Things that I was willing to overlook before suddenly seem unacceptable now that I'm back. Projects that I'd put on the back burner are now at the top of my "to do" list.
Here's that list:
I'm this close to being obsessed with #1. My sewing/crafting areas are complicated. I have lots of room in my Bakersfield home for sewing but no time to sew when I'm home. I have lots of time to sew (most weekends) in my Ventura home but have no room so my stuff is strewn over 135 miles of central California! I don't know about you all, but if my creative space isn't clean and organized I can't seem to function. I'm determined to do something about it - again.
My problem is that I've lacked vision before. I have absolutely no problem helping others with projects whether it be sewing or decorating, but I often feel overwhelmed with my own decorating/organizing dilemmas. This time however I do have a plan and I'll share some of what I've done to get organized once I get a little further along. I'm excited and motivated so wish me luck!
#2. I love taking pretty pictures for my blog and I have a good camera so the only thing holding me back is a little more knowledge and practice. Photography classes are definitely on my short list for the summer.
#3. Exercise. I used to be so disciplined. Not so much any more. Now that the weather has turned hot I've been swimming. Everyday after work. I love it! Don't hate me for this, but I actually hope for days over 100 degrees so our pool water stays nice and warm. I guess you could say I don't want to be uncomfortable while exercising. I do know that I sleep better when I swim.
So what's on your list for summer? Do share. They say sharing your plans is the first step to making them a reality.
Encourage one another,
Our beautiful Eden roses are just beginning to bloom.
They are so big and heavy that they remind me of huge pink grape clusters drooping under their own weight.
Although they bloom off and on all spring and summer they are never as gorgeous as they are right now during this first bloom. I look forward to them all winter and every morning as I pull out of the driveway I glance over to the brick wall that runs between us and our neighbors to check their progress.
I got up an hour early this morning to finish reading Heaven is Here by blogger Stephanie Neilson.
Reading Stephanie's blog after her accident helped me so much during the time I was caring for Jeff and preparing myself to live the remainder of my life here on earth without him. I know so many of you are going through tough times and I want to recommend this book to you as a source of hope and inspiration.
Stephanie writes about her life after a plane crash where she was burned over eighty percent of her body and how her faith, family and community helped pull her through some unbelievably horrific times. She reminds us that it's what's in our hearts that really matters and urges us to be kinder and more compassionate to one another.
I love that.
In this crazy, busy world, it's our love and compassion and our connection to one another that really matters. With a positive attitude, our faith in God, and the love and support of our family and friends, we can do anything. It is possible to once again find joy through our pain and sorrow.
Have a wonderful Wednesday my friends!
Encourage one another,
I'm back from a few days away with my family.
No blogs.
No computers.
No camera.
Just fun times with the grand kids, our daughters in law and our son. We are only able to get together a few times a year so we try and squeeze the most out of the time we have.
We walked on the beach looking for sea glass, double dog dared one another to swim in the ocean after watching Jaws then snuggled under cozy blankets as we watched movies way past our bedtime.
Twelve year old Sarah asked us to sell her the beach house someday so she and her husband could live there forever. She said Bill and I could live in the downstairs bedroom and she'd take care of us.
These are the times I never want to forget.
I guess it is appropriate that Moda's
California Girl and
Salt Air arrived while I was away.
We have beautiful kits cut from both collections if you're interested.
Encourage one another,
This morning I opened my computer to find this from blog reader Candy:
Not hearing from you for a week is so hard!!! I look so forward to your posts. More importantly I hope everything is okay and that you are just crazy busy.
Thank you Candy; you brought tears to my eyes. Such caring, concerned words from a friend I'm not sure I have ever met. I'm fine. Busy yes, but just fine. I hate the thought of disappointing you...you coming here expecting, I don't know what, and finding a week old post!
I have a few excuses although none of them are really any reason to totally ignore my friends.
Earlier in the week I wanted to show you this when my camera's card reader failed to cooperate.
It was waiting for us when we arrived to work early Tuesday morning (actually there were four of them - one for each of us that worked that day).
Candy from a sweet, thoughtful customer. Reminds me of Valentines Day when I was in the fifth grade and a boy from my class left chocolates at my front door, rang the doorbell and ran. I'll never forget how special that made me feel. After all these years I still smile when I think of the courage it must have taken for him to do that. No matter how old you are, being thought of like that is such a nice feeling.
Bill sent me these beauty's.
As pretty as they look, they smell even better! This year we just exchanged cards and choose to stay home and eat a healthy dinner instead of fighting the crowds at a restaurant.
Our Valentine cards to one another have certainly changed over the years. Mine was about him allowing me to hog all the covers (which he does because I do) and his was something about me buying too many shoes (which I do). What hasn't changed is our love for one another. He is still my favorite valentine!
Well, I'd better push the post button on this so Candy can quit worrying that something horrible has happened to me.
Thank you all for being here.
Encourage one another,
Phew. I'm back. (deep breath).
I love being busy but these last few weeks have been a little much even for me. I've missed you!
Let's catch up a bit shall we?
:: Some of the fun gifts I found at the LA Gift Show last week have started to arrive. I'll show you some here later. I love having more room in our bigger store to do more displays...one of my favorite jobs.
:: Speaking of displays...I never showed you this...
...it's the flannel dress that Beverly made for us. Sadly it doesn't look like we're having a winter this year. Yesterday it was seventy five degrees in LA when I was there for the Craft and Hobby Show. Crazy!
:: Several of you have been asking how I'm doing drinking the Glowing Green Smoothie so now that I've been drinking it for just over three weeks I thought it was time for a progress report.
First let me say that I started it in early January because after months of poor eating habits I was feeling tired and sluggish. I was no longer enjoying foods that I used to love and I was just feeling a need for a dietary change and a total detox. I drink 25 to 30 ounces every morning and although weight loss was not my primary motivation for starting the program I have lost about five pounds. What's really weird is drinking the smoothie has totally taken away all cravings for caffeine and sweets and I feel a definite surge of energy after I finish my morning drink. I was a daily triple latte drinker for years and haven't wanted coffee since starting the program. I can't say that I've noticed an improvement in my hair, nails or skin and certainly haven't had anyone tell me I look better, but I do feel better. Much, much better!
You know it's strange, but when you start your day off by getting 100% of your dietary fiber and daily requirements of fruits and vegetables you just want to continue to eat right throughout the day. I've even thought about starting an exercise program again. Just a thought at this point but who knows!
Will I continue? You bet. I really enjoy drinking that nasty looking green juice and love the boost of energy and sense of well being it gives me.
Do me a favor, will you? If you have tried the Glowing Green Smoothie (and I've heard from many of you that have) would you take a moment to comment to this blog post so others can read about your experience? Whatever your experience, I think sharing can help encourage others.
:: Bill and I met with our travel agent today to book plane fares for Europe at the end of May. We've been saving our air miles for two years and are really looking forward to getting to go again. Somebody pinch me! I'm one lucky and excited girl!
:: I've been putting the finishing touches on a email newsletter where we'll be announcing some fun special events and classes coming up at Strawberry Patches. If you'd like to stay up to date with what we're doing go here and sign up for the newsletter.
:: So are you all doing something special for Super Bowl? I hope to be sewing. I got another one of my crazy ideas that I want to try. If it turns out you know I'll be a sharing.
Until then...
Encourage one another,
