Getting ready for Houston

I just found out my booth assignment for the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. I will be in #1707 this year. I have a bad memory so I don't know if this is my third or fourth year, but I have always been happy with my booth assignment. Honestly I don't know if there is such a thing as a bad booth number.

When the booth numbers are announced that means it is crunch time. I have to buckle down and get my fabric designs made. For the next 3 weeks I will finish up dyeing fabric and then spend every free moment ironing and folding. I usually take the last week checking my packing list and making sure I have everything I could possibly need while I am away from home for close to two weeks. I have a couple of new pattern/kit ideas I need to hammer out in the next day or two. I have two samples I need to finish. Whew, I'm getting tired just typing this.

I love the Houston show. I was born and raised there so I am comfortable driving the streets. My family still lives in Houston and I have great support from them. My mother in law has always basically became my personal assistant. She provided me a place to stay and fed me and did laundry and ironed fabric ( because I always have more fabric to be ironed) helped build my booth, in other words she takes good care of me. My sister in law and niece both help with ironing and working in my booth. Paula (SIL) is always willing to make samples and has made most of them, some even overnight. My friend Linda is my right arm. She goes with me each day to work the booth, she helps build the booth, and break it down. She helps unload and then reload my truck. Believe me if I had to pay any of these women I could not afford them. They go above and beyond the call of family and friendship, but God knows I love them and appreciate them.

Ok, I have to get busy so I can make those proud who work so hard to help me.

Later,
Diane

Retreat is over and now we sleep...

For 48 hours we laughed, sewed, cut, laughed more, ripped, giggled, sewed more, ripped more, laughed more...well you get the idea.

I got home around 1pm and immediately showered and napped until 4pm, when I got an invitation from the sweet man I married 26 years ago to go to dinner to a favorite place. He invited me to a very nice restaurant, but I wanted to just eat and go so we will save that restaurant for another time. It was far more expensive and I didn't feel I could appreciate it in the tired state I was in.

The above picture is one my friend Lynn made with her Uncle's ties. I think it is beautiful.

I, on the other hand, decided very quickly that silk was NOT my friend and promptly gave all of my ties to her and another friend across the table from us. I used some homespun plaids and stripes to make a block. Then I dug into my bag of tricks and pulled out a set of hand dyed fabrics that I sell http://www.thechickentree.com/ . Man, what a good idea! It is turning out really pretty. I am always looking for samples for my booth at shows and I think this will be good. I like to show how to use hand dyed fabrics in traditional designs.

What do you think?

I will post more later I think I will return to my wonderful bed.

Later,

Diane

Girls just wanna have fun...

I leave in just a bit to go pick up my friend and head over to the retreat. I have been gathering all morning the things I will take with me. It is amazing how much stuff I think I will have time to work on. I have enough stuff to outfit a small quilt shop! LOL

I will have pictures to share when I get back.

Take care,

Diane

I survived!

I'm not 100% (I've never been really) but I am at least out of bed and running errands today. That is a great improvement over yesterday. :^)

Well I had to get well since I leave tomorrow for my weekend retreat. Honestly it is only about a 10 mile drive, but what wonderful 10 miles! No phones ( I even put my cell phone on silent) and no husbands or kids. WOO HOO!
I am not sure how much of the class I am going to participate in. I will take all the supplies in case I want to take part, but I will also take a project of my own to work on. I have a pattern I have been working on and I would really like to get it pieced. You know how quilts look different in fabric than they do on paper.

later,
Diane

It was a good start...

I started out yesterday morning feeling so good with the plan of getting so much accomplished. I did pretty well for a couple of hours too. I got up at the crack of dawn and took #3 (youngest son) to school. I came home and worked on cutting out a new quilt top. I knew I had to be at the LQS (I work there) to run credit cards and make a deposit while the owner is out of town. Well anyway I am busy cutting away at my vast civil war reproduction stash and right as I am about to exclaim I have gotten alot accomplished in a short amount of time I notice it is MUCH later than I thought. No wonder I had almost the whole top cut, I have been cutting for over 3 hours! No wonder my legs are getting tired and stiff! LOL


The rest of the day I just got more behind. I even got stuck at the Dr's office for what should have been a 15 minute visit to get results of my blood work, for more than 2 hours! On top of that Doc decides she wants to look at my throat. She asks, "Does that hurt?" I say no. She looks in my ears and ask "Do you have much pain in your ears?" I say, no. She decides to listen to my lungs, and asks "Hmmm, you sure you don't feel bad?" I reply, "I'm beginning to." :^( I left the office with a bag of sample meds, a prescription and have to go back in 6 weeks for a fasting blood test. I barely made it home and fell into bed knowing I needed to be there since Doc was so concerned. Sure enough I get up this morning and my throat hurts, my ears hurt and I am coughing almost every breath! LOL Either this is mind over matter or she is a GREAT doc and she caught it even before the symptoms started!

If I live I'll be back.

Diane

It's retreat time!

Our guild puts on two retreats a year, one in August and one in January. The January retreat is just a free for all. We bring anything we want to work on and sit and sew and laugh until we are exhausted. In August we have some sort of a class. In the past we have had a jacket retreat, and a crazy quilt retreat.




This time we are have Judy Holley from Baton Rouge, LA http://www.gulfstatesquilting.bizland.com/judy_holley_circuit_class_sample.htm come teach a paper piece clam shell log cabin quilt made from silk ties on Friday. I have never worked with silk before so this will be interesting. Saturday we will have a machine quilting class. I took this class from her a couple of years ago, so Saturday I plan on finishing a quilt I have been working on for my friend Linda. I don't have a picture of it right now, but as soon as I do I will post it.

Well, I'm headed upstairs to see what other things I will need for the reatreat.

Later,

Diane

I'm a topper...or and enabler

I love to quilt. Well to be totally honest I love to top. I will think about, plan, design, pick fabric, cut and piece and love every bit of it, but as soon as I get it to top stage I am happy. I feel complete and move on to the next one. WHY?? Why don't I feel the need to quilt the top? Why don't I desire to put the binding or label on it?
I know a lady in my guild who for the most part finishes each quilt before starting a new one. Sometimes I wish I was like this. I have to make myself get the top out and either quilt it myself or take it to the long arm quilter. But I would be just as happy leaving it in the top form. You see it is all about the designing and the fabric and the colors and the piecing. Quilting is not the important part.
Same thing with dyeing fabric. I love to dye fabric. I love to pick the colors, tear the fabric, mix the dyes, I even like ironing the fabric. But then I am done. I am satisfied. I don't have to see it cut up into pieces or even quilted. I just have to change the white fabric into colored fabric.
Maybe I am just an enabler. I enable others to get the joy of quilting. I enable others to get the joy of cutting and piecing or appliqueing with gorgeous hand dyed fabrics. Well that's my story anyway.

Diane