Toasters

Does anyone make a decent toaster? You'd think making a piece of toast would be simple. We have had a least 3 toasters since I got married 13 years ago and not one of them has been worth the price we paid! Plus, we each had our own toasters before we got married and they probably didn't work well either. My Mother's Day gift earlier this month was a toaster oven, more of a family gift, but still better than the king size chocolate bar I got last year. I will have to destroy it before my husband will admit defeat and look for something else, but the thing that I have noticed with the toaster oven is that you don't really get toast from it. You get a piece of bread that is still mostly white, but has sort of a biscotti consistency with all of the moisture leeched out of it! If anyone is enjoying a good piece of toast this morning, please let me know what brand toaster you have. I will have to hide it somewhere in the house and will only be able to use it when my husband isn't home, but I don't think a good piece of toast is too much to ask for!

Maybe a toast quilt is in order to justify this silly post!

My Latest

Why do people assume just because you quilt, you can or would want to sew anything? I spent the day yesterday making 5 pierogi costumes for my son's field trip. For those of you that might now know why anyone would want a pierogi costume, here in Pittsburgh, after the 5th inning at the Pittsburgh Pirate games, there is a race called the Great Pierogi Race. Look it up on the internet, if you're curious. My son's class is going to PNC Park for their field trip but afterward they are going to a park close to the school for a picnic and games.

Now it was much simpler than I expected, and I don't mind doing things for my kids, but I would love to know why people think if you quilt, you can sew ANYTHING else! Does anyone else run into this?

BTW, what do you think about my latest design? I really need to quit my day job so I can sew all these designs out! I'm back to trying to design one per day again now that Market it over, so at some point, I will start sewing some of these out and publishing patterns. If anyone has an opinion on which one/s I should start with, I would LOVE to hear it!

Gym or blog--Which would you choose?

You can tell by my posting what my choice was. Tomorrow I have to get back into workout mode, but I'm going to take one more day off from working out to work on all my post-Market stuff .

My "studio"(dining room) is a wreck. And even though I know where everything is, I still have to rearrange everything to get any real work done. I have patterns everywhere. Fabric piled on top of fabric. Works in progress waiting in line.

My friends decided I need to move my whole operation to my living room, which doesn't get used, and give the dining room back to my family. Why can't I have both? The only problem with that is my living room is the only room in the house that looked like it was finished. Before long, my husband and 2 kids will be living in an apartment. I remember the blissful days when I didn't have to share my space, somedays I really miss them.

My comfort lies in the possibility that someday my "hobby turned occupation" may make it possible for me to have a real studio. One with a door that can be closed and locked and where I won't find school papers and insurance bills on top of my ironing board!

Whew!

Spring Market ended here yesterday in Pittsburgh. What an amazing experience! I'm not sure when I'll be able to wear heels again though, as every muscle in my body aches from standing around and walking the length of the exhibit hall in the shoes I chose to wear. I think I'll treat myself to a massage the following Monday after Market next time. Unfortunately, I didn't plan well and have to get back to teaching today at my "regular gig". I hope no one notices my tennis shoes.

I got to meet so many people that I only know via email and Facebook it was like a big party! And since Market was in my hometown, I got to see a lot of people that I already know in real life. In fact, I was talking to a lady in my booth on Saturday and noticed her name tag. I looked at her and said,"That's not your name." She was shocked and said, "How did you know that?" Because I know _______ ________ and you're not her. (Left blank to protect the GUILTY but you know who you are and I'll keep your secret for a fee)

We had a good laugh and I'm expecting an email from the real _______ _______ very soon!

My Booth!

I just got back from setting up my booth at Market and I have to admit it doesn't look as finished as the other booths I looked at, but it will have to do this time.

The coolest thing about Market is getting to see people in person that you've seen a million times before on TV shows, in magazines and on the covers of books. The first famous person I saw today was Eleanor Burns. I am so used to seeing her all over the place, that it didn't even faze me that she was ELEANOR BURNS. I saw a few more familiar faces, but most of the booths stood empty. I guess all the big names will be there tomorrow.

Here's something I found strange today. When I arrived this morning and tried to find my booth, it didn't exist, so I found someone who worked in the convention center to tell them about the mistake. They came to the row where my booth should have been and realized they gave my "neighbor" a whole booth instead of dividing it in half. They could have put a wall in the center of the booth, which would have been really simple, but instead, had to bring the back wall of the booth forward 4' and THEN divide the width in half. So in between the back wall of my booth and the booth behind mine, there is a 4' deep unusable space.

It reminds me of the time my brother went to buy his then girlfriend-now wife roses for Valentine's Day. The clerk asked him if he wanted long stem or short. After asking what the price difference was, my brother decided on short stem, so the clerk took the dozen roses he had in his hand and cut the stems off right in front of my brother. Wouldn't it make more sense to charge more for short stem roses since there is extra work involved?

Spring Market

Well, as soon as my kids are off to school, I will be packing up my car to head to the convention center here in Pittsburgh to set up my booth for Market. This will be my first time vending, so I'm really excited about it, but also a little nervous. I have been designing things all my life, but I only started my pattern company 6 years ago. Six years isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things, but if my designs aren't "well received", I think I need to make some tough choices. Unfortunately, I don't have the desire to do anything else, so if this doesn't work out, I don't know what I'll do!

Hopefully, I'll have some really exciting stuff to tell you about next week after this is all over.

Do you dream about Chocolate?

I SHOULD be working on getting ready for Market, but when inspiration strikes, you just can't ignore it! If and when I sew this one out, it will be called Chocolate Raspberry Torte and I'm pretty excited about doing it. I don't usually use brown much, but there is something about brown and pink that makes me think of dessert. In all honesty, a lot of things make me think of dessert, but this color combination in particular does.

Too much?

While I have been busy trying to help my friend with her fabric sale and getting ready for Quilt Market, I haven't been designing too many quilt blocks or quilts, but I came up with this and thought someone might have an opinion they'd like to share. Is the border too much? What do you think about the colors? What do you think about the layout? Do you like quilts on point? Do I ask too many questions?

BTW, my friend's fabric sale went okay. It could have and should have been much better, but I think with the economy the way it is, people are afraid to spend very much money, even when they are getting something at half price.

As soon as Market is over and I decide whether I will vend at Fall Market or not, my friends and I plan to work on a book! I have never done this before, but I figure with the help of good friends, you can do anything, right?