Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Life is Good... .( or a Dog's Life)

How many of you have Plumeria and have been waiting for them to bloom? We brought back several 'stick's of Plumeria several years ago from Hawaii, and have patiently waited for the darn things to bloom. Well, finally after 3 (?) years, my patience has paid off. ONE of the plants is blooming. Can't say much for the other 6. I was thinking that this HOT Texas summer has been heck on all our flowers, I realized that we actually had quite a few blooms coloring our yard. 
 
So, I went around and took pictures of about 10 different plants that were in bloom in our yard. Oleanader, Impatiens (poor things wilt in the sun, then perk up again with a bit of water), Altheas, Vinca, and several varieties of Jasmine. These little pinks things always blossom after a good rain and pop up in the strangest places. The others I would have to go look up the names, but won't right now.
 
I've been busy finishing up lots of t-shirt quilts for kids that are headed back to back or off to college for the first time. (I remember those days!!). While it might have seemed that I was buried under t-shirts, I always enjoy looking at the collection of shirts that each person brings. It warms my heart knowing that these quilts will be treasured and bring fond memories to these people. I've really been enjoying several of the quilts that I finished the last couple of weeks because my customers are getting more creative with the fabrics they are choosing. I think the most popular fabric lines have been from the Sorbet Line from Sentimental Studios for Moda Fabrics. No links as this line is pretty much gone from the shelves, but I've included a sample of the fabric from the line. I just love the Peacocks and the colors.
 
My other favorite line is Urban Couture by Basic Grey for Moda Fabrics Especially the Red Grunge. I've been working on a simple quilt using 3 charm packs and some yardage. Look for pictures soon, as I plan on finishing that top at Retreat next week.
 
This is Shiner. Need I say it, he is one happy dog. This Blue Heeler is my shadow. Since I work from home, he 'might' be just a bit spoiled... I couldn't resist snapping this shot, as he was groaning in his sleep. I'm sure he is dreaming about catching a Frisbee or chasing tennis balls. 
 
Oh, and see that quilt is lounging on? That is HAND QUILTED - back in the days when I still did hand - quilting!!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Road Trip to Moda and P&B Fabrics in Dallas !

Have always heard about going to the Moda & P&B fabric warehouses, so a couple of my longarm buddies and I went to Dallas last week to check it out. Sharon D. had been there before, so we were armed with colored stickers to mark our bolts of fabric! Of course mine were Red, Barb's were Blue and Sharons were Yellow. Oh, make a note. .. P&B warehouse is NOT air conditioned! So, when it is 100 degrees outside, it is at least 110 in the warehouse! They did have fans going, but I got a little dizzy from the heat - or maybe from the fabric... who knows.

On Thursday we went to Moda. Ahh, sweet air conditioning... You have to understand. At 7:30 in the morning it was already 95 degrees and about 90 percent humidity. Rows and rows of fabric, it was wonderful... What was nice was picking out 'partial' bolts. Instead of getting the usual 15 yard bolts, they had lots of bolts with anywhere from 6 yards up to the 15 yard bolts.

After about 3 hours and a relaxing lunch, we headed over to Cabbage Rose quilt shop in Fort Worth. We were getting a bit frustrated with the condescending lady in the GPS who kept having to recalculate because the stupid signs were AFTER the exit instead of before the exit.

After another break and dinner, we went to the Dallas Guild meeting. Not much to say there, we were a bit under-whelmed with the experience. Then back to the hotel where we bid the GPS lady goodnight. Friday morning we are all ready to head back to Houston, and my car has been broken into! Oh NO! Some jerk has busted the window out of my car. The GPS lady has been kidnapped! THEY LEFT THE FABRIC! whew!

Can't say enough nice stuff about the manager at the hotel. He had my car cleaned and arranged for a glass guy to come fix the car. We were finally on the road a few hours later, getting home AFTER the fabric that Moda shipped for us arrived.