Some good news...for me!

What a nice surprise to open an email from McCalls Pattern company and see one of my designs featured! I have had several friends tell me they have gotten a couple of emails with my patterns shown, but this is the first one I have received. http://www.mccall.com/newsletters/BM200910Quilts_2/newspage.html

It is so exciting to FINALLY see some of my hard work paying off. I'm not even close to where I want to be in this business yet, but I think I am headed in the right direction.

I also got an email reminder yesterday, about an event coming up in December, at which I am the featured speaker. It is the American Sewing Guild's Holiday Luncheon being held at The Priory here in Pittsburgh. It is open to members and non-members. If you'd like some info on this event, check out the Guild's website: http://www.sewpittsburgh.org

To Mary from Lake Pulaski and anyone else who might be interested!

Mary from Lake Pulaski, you'll be happy to know I have finally started to piece my design Chocolate Raspberry Torte! I have decided to attempt to make it in miniature and have completed one block so far. The block will finish at about 3" in this format. Most of the block can be paper pieced, which makes it easier, but the center square will have to be cut with a template because it is an odd size. When I produce the pattern for it, I will include a foundation to make the quilt in miniature as well as bed-size, depending on whether I lose my mind making the miniature version or not!

My Dilemma

I'm curious about how other people keep their studios. Are they neat and organized or pure chaos? At the moment, mine is complete chaos, which I can handle, (I don't like it like this, but I can handle it). But I have a friend coming to work on some projects with me that we want to have ready for Spring Market, so I need to have everything put away so there is room for both of us to work. My time at home is limited because I work about 30 hours a week for a local sewing machine dealer, where I teach quilting and machine embroidery classes, as well as a few purse and home dec classes. One of my days off is Tuesday, but every Tuesday, I take out my aunt/friend who has MS to doctors appointments or run errands with her. Sunday is my other day off, but my husband works 12 hours that day, so it is up to me to take care of our 2 children all day. So most of the time, I have to choose between trying to clean up my mess or working on a new project. Fortunately, the batteries in my camera are dead, or I might be tempted to post a picture of my mess!

I live in a small 3 bedroom home, that has a familyroom, so I have been able to take over the diningroom and the livingroom for my business space. But both of those rooms are in the front of the house, so if someone comes to visit, they have to walk through or past my mess to reach the familyroom. It would be nice not to have to apologize for the condition of my home, but is that more important than doing something creative? According to my mother, YES! I don't expect to get rich from quilt designing, but I hope to get to the point where I can build another room onto the back of my house for my studio. One with a door that can be closed and locked!

Not in the mood to post

It has been longer than usual since I have posted, due to some things in my personal life, but I will be getting back to work and hope to have some quilty things to show you soon. I plan on finally producing some patterns for designs that I have been sitting on for awhile, like SPRING SHOWERS. Let me know what you think about this one.

I have been told that I will have a block in the 100 EASY BLOCKS magazine from Quiltmaker, which is due to arrive on the newsstand in early November, so I am very excited to see that. I believe Quiltmaker will be giving me at least one issue to give away, so if you want to have a chance to win it, leave me a comment and mention 100 EASY BLOCKS. Make sure I have a way to get back in touch with you in the event you are the lucky winner.

OOPS!!!!

I missed my deadline to have this quilt shown at Fall Quilt Market in Houston because I had my dates wrong! I thought I had a couple more days to get this to the fabric manufacturer, but...time's up. Maybe they will want it for Spring Market. I work really well on a deadline usually, but if you have the date wrong, I guess there's no hope of finishing on time, unless you think the deadline is earlier than it is! I'll have to give permission to SOME people to lie to me. Not everyone, mind you, just a select few.

WARNING

There is a certain evil person out there, who, I think, checks my blog regularly to see if I'm going to tell you all of the evil things she does. Well, I'm going to put her mind at ease, (sort of)--yes, I am going to tell you ALL about her, just not yet. But she is put on notice, that it IS coming.

Chautauqua Residences

These pictures are just a few of the beautiful homes in Chautauqua Institution. Most of the summer residents are gone by this time of the year and a lot of the cottages have been winterized. They have custom-made tarps (I'm not sure if that's the right word for what I am describing, but its the best I can come up with at the moment) that are attached to the balconies and porch roofs to protect the houses from the snow and wind that will be coming soon to this region. They are usually striped and match the exterior of the house and are beautiful in their own way.

I just completed 2 course proposals to teach at Chautauqua Institution next summer, so with any luck, I might actually get to spend some time there when the season is in full swing!

If there is anyone out there who has been fortunate to have the opportunity to spend some time at CI, I would love to hear from you about your experience.