Time's up

Well, this is it, tomorrow is make or break.

We just unloaded a truck with nearly 300 bolts of fabric that we hope will be almost empty by this time tomorrow! The owner of the store where I teach, offered her shop as a place for my friend to have her fabric sale. My friend didn't want to have her sale too close to home or negatively effect her partner's sales in the shop, so she was going to have to rent a conference room, or something, somewhere in a big city and do it all on her own.

I'm so glad that's not the case and I pray it will be enough to pay her health insurance bill.

There are less than 3 weeks to go until Quilt Market and I'm hoping between now and then, that I won't have to worry about my friend so much.

If we have good luck tomorrow, I will try and post a message about it. If the news isn't so good, I don't know if I will write about it at all. I've really tried to get the word out and do as much as I can, but you always wonder if you could do more. I know that money's tight right now for almost everyone, so I feel a little guilty about asking people to buy fabric that they don't necessarily need, but I'm hoping they do it anyway!

Its official

I am finally confirmed as a vendor at Quilt Market. Whew, that was a close one!

I tend to wait until the last minute to do the things I need to do. I have been talking about vending at Market since last year and now its only 3 weeks away. This will be my first time and, I hope, my "big break"! I have been at this for 6 years now and it would be wonderful to be able to do this full time instead of having to work a "real" job and design on the side. There would be nothing better than being able to make a living doing what you love to do!

I am trying to be positive but I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch.

Its alway something!

For those of you who have been following my posts about the predicament my friend is in, I want to give you an update. She is still taking orders, but she can't fill them right now or return emails because she is in the hospital at the moment. She hopes to be back in her shop and able to answer emails tomorrow, so hold tight. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

I am not a crook!

I spent this last weekend at my friends' quilt shop, cutting fabric and boxing it up to send out to those of you who have contacted me about the sale. We had quite a few orders, but because she is practically giving the fabric away, I'm not sure how close she is to meeting her goal.

I have done all I can, including sending a message to a new Yahoo group that I just joined about 2 weeks ago. They all think I am a scammer! And since my messages are still on moderation, I can't defend myself. In my "real" life, I don't think I know anyone that DOESN'T trust me, so its hard to listen to people talking about you as if you're not there and frustrating since I can't respond to their comments in a timely manner. I didn't join the group for the purpose of asking them for help, but my friend needs help NOW, so I stuck my neck out. I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon!

There is still a lot of fabric available and it is gorgeous, so if anyone else is interested in a great deal, PLEASE contact me! Make sure I have some way of getting in touch with you. My email is: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Michele

Hi Michele,

Thank you for wanting to help! I have no way of reaching you since I don't have your email, so if you see this post, comment again and put your email in or email me at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Sue

THANKS!!!

Lost in the shuffle?

Yesterday, I posted an incredible offer, and to my surprise, I only had two takers! If you like great fabric at a REALLY great price, you should check out yesterday's blog post.

Thanks,
Sue

Have I got a deal for you!

People can be so cruel, even people you thought you were in love with and were once in love with you. I have a very good and generous friend who is going through a divorce to a man who has had a girlfriend for the past 8 years and now thinks his wife should walk away with nothing.

He made it almost impossible for her to find a lawyer because he knows all of them in town and they were all afraid to take her on as a client. She finally found someone who didn't care who he was or what he could do to them. Now another problem has come up.

Supposedly, he was fired from his job in February and lost his health insurance. She has health problems, ( I am being vague to protect her) that make her uninsurable if she loses the insurance she has now. And she, literally, cannot live without her medications. He neglected to tell her about losing his job when it happened and now a couple of months later, must come up with the money to pay for COBRA starting from the day he stopped working.

She has no savings to draw from since she started a new business back in November and things have been so slow with the economy the way it is. And since there usually isn't any profit to speak of with a new business anyway for a couple of years, she has been forced to sell some of her "stock" at or near her cost to pay her bills.

"What is this stock?", I hear you saying to yourself. It is first quality quilter's cotton fabric from 2 of the most well-known fabric manufacturers. She is not trying to liquidate, she is only offering to sell as much fabric as necessary to pay her bills and keep her insured, so the offer is limited and will end as soon as she raises enough money to pay her bills. These are hand-dyes and hand-dye look fabrics that normally sell for $10 to $12 per yard she must sell for $6 per yard.

I'm sorry this post sounds like an infomercial, but I am talking about life or death for my friend. If there is anyone interested in getting in touch with my friend, please leave me a comment including your email address and I will get her contact information to you. I can also tell you which lines of fabric she has so you can check them out at the manufacturers' websites.

This could happen to almost any one of us, so I hope you'll consider helping her. Please feel free to let others know about this offer.

Thank you,
Sue

Enough is enough

What a world we live in!

I wish there was another punctuation symbol to use when the point you're trying to make isn't a happy one. The exclamation point makes any statement look like a positive one and, unfortunately, my initial sentence isn't a positive one. I am so angry about the recent piracy situation, I could scream! How dare these criminals try to make it sound like they've been wronged! They brought this on themselves. Its not like they were "in the wrong place at the wrong time". They put themselves there, they caused their own deaths, and WE didn't go looking for them until THEY broke the law.

Ok, I feel a little better now.

On a more quilty note: "What do you think about my latest design? Should I sew it out? Is it too busy? Are you bored with this stuff yet? Is my sister crazy for taking her 16 year old daughter to get tattooed? (not quilty, I know, but I would love to hear your opinions anyway)

Killing two fish with one piece of stale bread?

Trying to figure out how to pick up two of my quilts that have been hanging in my friend's quilt shop, a couple of hours north of home, I hit upon the idea of meeting my friend and her boyfriend at the Spillway in Linesville, PA. I hadn't been there in at least 20 years, and my children had heard of it, but hadn't gotten to see it for themselves. It took us about 2 hours to get there, and my friends, about an hour and a half. Its amazing how much fun your kids can have throwing old bread to thousands of huge, ugly fish! Some of the fish aren't even in the water when they gather to fight over the food.

It was something I wanted to show my children for awhile, so I was glad to be able to combine my errand with something fun for them. We hung out at the lake for a bit, went for lunch with my friends, then headed home. We got home early enough there was still enough daylight left for my 8 year old son to get some time in at the skateboard park. He's embarrassed to have me sit in the park and watch, so I had to sit in the car with my daughter, who was getting annoyed every time I gasped over a fall or a jump he made. This is usually my husband's job, he's used to it and he can have it!

Marquis Star Quilt

In between planning for Market and my regular teaching schedule, I am still attempting to keep producing new blocks and quilt designs daily. Every once in a while, I think I come up with something unique. I might be wrong, of course, but I think this one is pretty cool! I just wish I didn't have to wait until after Market before I can sew any of these designs out.

Speaking of Market, if anyone out there has any advice for a newbie, I'm all ears. I have several good friends helping me out, but I could always use more help.

Paper Piecing Class Spy?

I spent the day at the Quilting and Sewing Expo in Cleveland yesterday and took a class in paper piecing to see if I could pick up any tips from the teacher. I thought her method was interesting because she didn't use any tools other than glue and scissors (and a sewing machine of course), but I still prefer my Add-A-Quarter ruler and greeting card. I don't like the idea of my seam allowances not being even and straight. I know that that is MY problem, but it took all I had not to try and take over the class! I guess I have always been a little anal-compulsive, (and if I have the wrong term, please, by all means, correct me). Always having to put the same shoe on first, is one example that comes to mind, and when I used to do cross stitch, stitching in such a way, that the back looks almost as nice as the front. If only some of that would rub off on my housekeeping!

Anyway, the class got me thinking that I should start teaching more. The only problem with that is I don't like to travel much. I don't like to be away from "my stuff". My kids don't like it when I go away either, so maybe this is something to think about for the future. I guess I'll keep teaching locally and concentrate on adding new designs to my line and see what happens.

My First Pattern

This design was the result of my taking a paper piecing class. Once I learned the technique, I thought about what could be done with it. One of my sisters owns the first quilt I made from this design. It's very primitive compared to this one. I used all scraps because I didn't want to waste any fabric if my design wasn't going to work. I added the houses in the corners where the first one had trees. The scarf is 3 dimensional and the nose is a button that I originally made with polymer clay. I sent one of my original buttons to a button company and had a resin button made so I don't have to walk around for a day with my hands stained from the dye in the clay! If anyone needs a carrot button for a project, I may have an extra one or two (hundred).

Venting

I don't know how many of you teach, but some days I wish I had never started. Something that comes so easy to me can be nearly impossible for someone else and that frustrates me. I don't understand how some people can't sew a straight seam to save their lives, even with pins and a foot with a guide. The machine could probably do a better job if they would push the start button and walk away!

I'm exaggerating, of course, but after a class like I had yesterday, I wonder why I bother.

There was one woman who, even after I matched all her intersections and pinned, sewed down the wrong side. I don't know what else I could have done for her other than sew it myself and I did that on several occasions. This went on all day, since the class was the result of 4 people asking me to teach them a project they wanted to have finished for Easter, so we planned to work as long as necessary. We started at 10:30 and went until the store closed at 5:00. I knew the original 4 people would be no trouble at all, but as they were talking about the upcoming class, a few others asked to join. I would never turn anyone away if I have room for them and think the project is something they can handle.

I am totally exhausted. I have the WHOLE day to recover before I have to do it all again!

Still Playing Around

I'm still exploring the possibilities of this layout and creating new blocks. But I think I would have a hard time sewing some of these blocks out, they have so many pieces. I don't like to sew the same thing over and over, so if I have to make a quilt like this, I call in my friends! I prefer paper piecing over any other method of piecing, so it is easier to have multiple people working on the same project. I have a project coming up that I'm gonna have to call the friends in for!

My internet friend, Karen Gass of Cotton Spice, wants to publish one of my designs in her online magazine. She has chosen a design similar to the one pictured, so unless she doesn't mind waiting FOREVER, I'm going ask for help. Thank God for good friends!

"Maybe Someday"

This is another one of my designs I have been sitting on for awhile. I'm not sure how much interest there would be in this design, so I have hesitated putting any more time into it. I enjoy designing quilts like this, but I don't know how many other people out there would like to sew it out. There is still a lot of work to do on this design, so unless I get some feedback, I will probably put it back into the "maybe someday" file.

Now For Something Completely Different

About 20 years ago, I shared a duplex with my best friend. The place was falling apart, but it had STAINED GLASS WINDOWS! When we were looking for a place to live, we came across this place that was pretty run down, but we fell in love with the windows and the wooden banister, and lived there for 2 years. When we moved out, we joked about taking the windows with us, but settled for pictures instead. I had planned on having a copy made for my friend someday, but when I became a quilter, decided I would make a stained glass quilt for her instead. I got as far as drawing the design and buying the fabric, so maybe I will actually be able to give her a stained glass "window" sometime in the near future.

I Can't Help Myself

I'm on a roll. In my continuing effort to design a block a day, I have been using the same layout over and over, so I hope those of you who have been paying attention aren't getting bored. The fun part for me is to design the block. Then, if I use the same layout, I can compare the new design to previous ones and decide whether they are worth putting any more work into. I can't possibly sew all of these out, nor would I want to, but it will give me a lot to choose from, if the day comes, when I am so inclined to make one of these!

Quilter's Home

Is anyone else following this story about the controversial quilts in the March issue of Quilter's Home? I have been very interested since I have a quilt in that issue. Not one of the quilts in the article but one of the featured quilts.

I am amazed at the reaction of some people who refuse to look at the magazine or read the article and yet feel compelled to make a judgement about it. On lemondrop for instance, people are up in arms about the Jesus with a gun quilt without ever wanting to hear the story behind it. Shawn Quinlan, another Pittsburgh quilter, is known for his controversial quilts, but if you talk to him and find out about his motivation in creating certain designs, you will find a very sensitive and intelligent man whose quilting is actually therapeutic for him. The quilt in question, was the result of his filming at an NRA convention where he saw a man holding a sign saying, "Jesus for Guns". People think he is mocking Jesus, when he is actually mocking people who choose to use the name of Jesus to promote their own cause. I honestly don't think Jesus would join that cause!

Just Playing Around

In an earlier post, I said my New Year's Resolution was to create a new block each day of 2009. I have to admit that some days I didn't even open my quilt design software, BUT on other days, I have designed MORE than one block, so I think, all in all, so far this year I have stuck with my resolution. I have been using the same quilt layout when I put the new blocks in a quilt and have really liked the results on some of them. I don't know which ones I will actually make into quilts or publish a pattern, so if anyone has an opinion, I'd like to hear it.

Other Peoples' Patterns

Some days go so well, I feel I've got nothing interesting to talk about. Today was one of those days. I have some regular students that have taken so many of my classes that its like hanging out with friends. We have been working on a purse pattern that is pretty involved but worth the trouble. I like to teach other people's patterns but I have a habit of editing them, sometimes to the point where I have redone the entire design.

Recently, I found a table runner design that is really cute, but the designer wrote the instructions for the runner to be done using 2" squares when it could easily be done with strips. She has the maker cutting fabric into 2" squares and then sewing the same fabric back together in rows. Does that make sense to anyone? I contacted the designer to ask if there was any reason it had to be done in squares and her response was that they just like the look of squares. This will be the last pattern I buy from this designer. I hope no one out there feels this way about any of my designs and if they do, I hope they will let me know!