So, the next big event around here is the Gals and Pals shopping day: next weekend. Speaking of which, I’m supposed to be a model in the style show, and I forgot to call the clothing store that is doing the style show to make an appointment to get outfitted. Note to self: make phone call.
The key thing to remember here is that I’m prepping my make-and-take project NOW, and not, say, next Friday. (This represents real growth on my part, I think.) I think that the idea is actually going to work as planned, so I’m willing to talk about it. It’s actually Mom’s idea: we are going to do fiber postcards. Really, really, simple, most-of-its-already-done fiber postcards.
I’m going to have the postcards all fused and zigzag the edges, and a bunch of prefused fabric ready for people to cut into simple shapes. No sewing, just fusing shapes in place. I still need to make a couple more samples, but here’s a start:
(the heart cherries are based on something I saw on Tracey aka peppermintpatcher’s blog). The white pumpkin is based on wallhanging I’m working on.
So, the crazy part? Yeah. I need to prep about 75-100 cards. This, my MQResource postcard swapping friends, is why I’m going to be late on my postcard swapping obligation…
After this event, I think the next big thing is my trip to teach at Quilting with Machines*** in Ohio. After that is the high school musical, though, that actually starts in earnest next week, when I get to start going to rehearsals. After THAT, I can’t remember what’s next. Oh! After that is my trip to see my sister and her family for a long weekend… And somewhere in there I have several big customer quilt projects.
Tonight, though, I guess we are going to watch the movie Elf. Mark called and suggested the boys run to the library to pick out a movie. No idea how or why they chose this one, but…maybe it’ll be good for a few laughs??
Read More
1 Comment
I read someone’s comment about wondering where September went. The heck with that, I want to know where AUGUST went.
Today’s weather makes it feel like it’s more like mid-November. Rain (and lots of it), cold (mid-50s), and WIND. Howling wind. Yuck.
On a brighter note, at least it’s not snowing.
Yet.
I really thought I’d gotten an in-focus picture, but clearly I was wrong. This is Checkerboard Stars. I think this is the 3rd time I’ve made it, and this time I went for something that looked more like the pattern cover. I really like this pattern, and have liked each version of it that I’ve made. Though, my Christmas version is my favorite… I don’t seem to have a full shot of the Christmas version on the blog (at least not that I can find in 30 seconds of searching, but this post has a full shot of a patriotic version that I made for a baby, plus a quick look at the Christmasy one.
I was tossing quilts around because it’s time to move things — and generally do a clean-up of the shop in anticipation of the Gals and Pals event happening in town on the 10th. (We did this last year, it’s a shopping/style show/hangout with your friends kind of a day.) I’m way behind on getting my make-and-take project ready and need to get working on that tonight. I’ll share the plan AFTER I make sure the plan is actually going to work.
(If anyone is relatively local and would like more info on the event, send me an e-mail, and I can let you know the plans: suzanne at suzanneearley dot net).
The other shop sample quilt I’ve made recently but not shared is this one:
I can’t remember it’s name. The pattern I used is from Kim Diehl’s book…simple something. The name is escaping me at the moment.
Both photos are slightly fuzzy, and I didn’t do close-ups of the quilting, because it’s just allover textures (done by the awesomely talented Intelliquilter. That thing is amazing. Just sayin’.) The bottom one is a Baptist Fan, I would NEVER do a Baptist Fan any other way.
You’ll note that both are unbound. Most of the shop samples seem to get hung up that way and…they are still that way. I need to find someone around here that really loves to do binding and see about bartering for binding services.
Either that or I need to just suck it up and do the binding. It doesn’t really take that long, especially if I do it all on the machine.
Read More
5 Comments
Another in-motion picture — that’s OK, she was busy today! It’s inventory time, and since the boys went skiing, I was lucky enough to have Lucy has a helper for a couple of hours this morning. She worked on counting yarn, I was messing around with the fabric. I’m trying to figure out why I have MORE of a couple of things than the inventory sheet says I should have. I expected to have LESS, but MORE? Wonder what I screwed up…
I’ve still got a lot of counting yet to do, but I have to admit to not working very hard at it, I’m “technically” on vacation…
This morning I finished up the quilt top, it’s a project that my sister asked me to make. She’ll be giving it away to a friend’s mother. If she can bear to give it away.
If *I* can bear to let her have it to be given away. I have PLENTY(!!) of quilts in my home, but I keep falling in love with the new ones I make.
I’ll show you the picture of the quilt here, but if you want to know more about the quilt, you’ll have to go visit my other blog.
I hope you are having a lovely day, I’m going to go park myself in a chair for a bit with a book, and then I’m going to take myself to the movies (Australia), and then I’m going to sit around waiting for my intrepid skiers to return home. No phone calls, which I take as a positive thing.
Later!
Suzanne
Read More
0 Comments
Last Saturday, several businesses in town had live window displays. Somehow, I managed to talk my mother into sitting in the window and knitting for two hours.
The clothing store had a bride and groom, the museum had a soldier in uniform, another place had a family decorating a Christmas tree.
Guess who’s picture made the front page of Traer’s paper today? Yup, you guessed it — my mama!
You can blame the terrible title on the cold I’m suffering.
Suzanne
Read More
0 Comments
I need to try to take a better picture later when the light is different, so you don’t just see the reflections in the glass.
I bought 2 more sets of boxes and it is so stinking cute. It’s like I planned it this way, but really, I wasn’t thinking about the boxes matching the quilt when I bought the boxes.
I can’t really take credit for this cuteness either:
The Library has a Wreath display, and this is the first year we’ve had our act together to make one. Mom actually knitted those little socks. Aren’t they adorable? Even cuter in person. We tied jingle bells on them, and stuck knitting needles and floral picks that look like striped candy in each sock. I can’t wait to take it over and see what other people have done this year.
Speaking of DOING, I need to get some quilting done, so:
TTFN. Yak at ya later!
Suzanne
Read More
0 Comments
Yes, my friends, it’s that time of year. Time to skip right past Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas.
Shopping at Hobby Lobby last night, I bought some deco junk and then raided the home stash to try to get something done before our town’s Holiday Happening’s festivities kick off this weekend (with a lighted parade this evening, that will probably be in the rain. Oh joy.)
So, for the last 5 hours I’ve been (a) helping customers or (b) fiddling with crap. I warpped the pole with greenery and lights but after I hung the quilt up, it looked like crap. The dark greenery looked awful with the acid green. So the light and greenery (that was a pain in the tush to put UP, came back down.) And now I have this:
I found the stacking boxes at Sam’s Club, and don’t they look AMAZING with the quilt and the pole and the red and white checkerboard???
What I think I need (in addition to wiping the sand and crud off the front of the shop) is MORE of those boxes. Like, I don’t know: 3 or 4 stacks of those boxes!!!
And so now, even though it took me 5 hours to just get this much done, all of a sudden, while looking at this picture, the BAH and the HUMBUG have apparently disappeared. Too bad I can’t just run to Sam’s Club right now.
I have to figure out what the heck I’m going to do with the pumpkins that I pulled out of the window, though. Maybe my Mom wants them to make pumpkin-y things like bread. Mom?
Read More
0 Comments
1. Gas prices the likes of which we haven’t seen in….I don’t know how long:
Yes, I actually took a picture.
2. Pictures of the entries at our Fiber Arts Festival this past week. It’s always been called a quilt show (becuase it’s always been just a quilt show….). Now that it has more stuff in it, we gave it a new name, but the new name doesn’t trip off the tongue quite as easily. Whatever you call it, it was fun, and we had a bunch of neat stuff. I am experimenting with posting all of the pictures over on my other blog, and if you have a few minutes and some interest, you are welcome to go take a look.
2008 Fiber Arts Festival Pictures
I am without energy today, so that’s all you get.
Read More
0 Comments
I’m starting to go a little crazy getting ready for the Saturday event here in town — it’s a ladies day out, and we are making checkbook covers here at the shop.
While I was doing some stuff getting ready, I thought I’d take some pictures, and I put together a really rudimentary tutorial on how/what we are doing. They are super simple. Super. Simple. Great gift idea, if I do say so myself.
I have to run home now and try to come up with something to feed my hungry football players, so this is all you get for a blog post today. Sorry.
Wool Felt Checkbook Covers
Read More
0 Comments
So, this morning, I get an e-mail from someone who had been browsing my shop website and she was wondering if there was something wrong with her computer that when she clicked on the images to enlarge them, all she got was a blank page. And if it wasn’t her computer were there no larger pictures?
Well, there darned well better be pictures, becuase my sister and I both spent hours scanning/cropping/photoshopping/uploading those dangblasted pictures.
So, I wander over to the shop, and…yup, click to enlarge…works just fine.
And then I wonder.
That was Firefox. What about Internet Explorer??
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH NNNNNOOOOOOOOO………
Many Bad Words were used.
I futzed around with IE settings for a bit, poked around the shopping cart software a bit, and I’m stumped. If I set the photos to magnify or zoom, it works, but click to enlarge…not so much…
I’ve sent in a customer support ticket, but now I’m paranoid. How long has it been broken? How many customers have left my shop in disgust because they can’t view the enlarged pictures of the fabrics?
I’d love it if the whole world would switch to Firefox, but since that’s not going to happen, and so many people use IE, the shopping cart people better fix this tout de suite.
Technology: when it’s good, it’s very good indeed. When it’s bad, it’s horrid.*
Suzanne
*apologies to Longfellow
Read More
0 Comments
Apparently the newspaper from a bigger community about 45 minutes away picked up the story from my local paper — I went to the gas station this morning and one of the ladies asked if she could have my autograph. I just laughed, thinking she was referring to the story in the local paper. Imagine my surprise when she siad she’d opened the Marshalltown paper and found me there!
http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/510212.html?nav=5002
It looks like it’s a shortened version of the story.
Not that I actually read it.
ROFLOL
Read More
0 Comments
