Quilts and More Magazine called!

I got a call today from Quilts and More magazine!!! The editor is coming to my studio later this month to chat about a T-shirt quilt pattern to publish in the magazine!! Very exciting:) I might actually be a real live quilt designer for real...first Stephanie Brandenburg and Quilt magazine and now this. And I thought I was just a stay-at-home homeschooling retired Physical Therapist...how life changes to encompass all that you love if you just do it! Meeting isn't until the 21st but I will keep you posted:)

Recovering and Second Shop Open****

I wish that referred to recovering from Thanksgiving fun, but no, it refers to recovering from a horrible cold...well, I hope the recovery part will start today. Better now than Christmas though I guess. I hope everyone out there is well and enjoying the kick off to the holidays:)

I am a week behind on custom orders but I think I will catch up alright this time...doing better on that procrastination problem I tend to have. And it only took 47 years!

I am slowly putting up new pics on my site...new listings as well as new photos of existing listings. I hired a local photographer to help me out with this. Her site is http://photos-by-jessica.smugmug.com/. She has been photographing several families in town and was willing to dive into the world of inanimate objects. We still have a few quirks to work out, but she is so open to suggestion and really loves photography so I am hoping for a long-term relationship here. Pics today are hers.

**** Important news: I have started up a second shop on Etsy. I have the need to feel more orderly by separating fabric for sale from finished quilts. I will see how it all goes but I am hoping that each shop will have a cleaner, more organized feel to them. Several quilts will show up on both sites for awhile. I will let the listings expire on meandering thread naturally. My new shop is Crazyquiltgirl17...for now...I have one chance to change the name so I am thinking long and hard how I want to do that. So, check out the new stock at http://www.etsy.com/shop/crazyquiltgirl17.

Balance

Finding balance in life when your work is what you love is so difficult for me. I have a million ideas and a closet full of quilts that need to be finished and obsessing about it all consumes me. Today I vow to breathe...and enjoy...and find balance for today anyway. I have my lists made, projects on the machine and more ready to fly but time will be made for all the other very important things in life!

Pics to follow soon of all that I am working on...several new items for Etsy are on the way:)

Quilt Magazine!! Seriously??!!

It seems the City Gardens quilt I made with the Brandenburg fabric will be in Quilt Magazine soon! I received an email yesterday from Stephanie asking for my permission...uh, yeah...! They will be taking photos on Friday I guess:) Very cool, very fun...but I will believe it when I see it:) Here's the quilt again: I will keep you posted:)

Overload!

Okay...so I drove to South Amana (Iowa) to deliver the quilts to Stephanie. I get there and she looks over the projects and gives me all this wonderful praise which in itself was enough. But then she tells me she wants me to keep designing with this fabric and another line coming out soon...she's talking about all her plans and I'm listening and I'm dumbfounded. Doesn't she know I'm just a 'retired' physical therapist? I'm no artist! I'm just pretending...or am I?

I get in the car and ask my daughter...so did I have the "deer in the headlights" look on my face that I was feeling inside? She laughs at me and says no, I didn't look or sound like an idiot. When I started my Etsy site a couple years ago I felt humbled by all that is available out there but figured I'd at least try it, but it will surely be at least a year before anyone would buy anything and even then...I probably can't make any real money at this...and no one respects you for making quilts.

Boy was I wrong...moral of the story: Keep on towards doing what you love and quite possibly it will work out and you will never have to complain about your job again!!!

Now I am back home and I have so many ideas in my head I cannot sew fast enough. I have to remind myself to breathe and just enjoy the process. I have a hefty list of projects to accomplish over the next few weeks and money coming in to pay off those pesky bills to boot:) Life is good!

Huge Project Completed!!

Big sigh of relief...project completed...quilt, tablerunner, and pattern ready to drive to Stephanie Brandenburg in the morning:) She is taking it to Houston quilt market to help sell her new daydreams line...which by the way is amazing! Might even put the pattern in a magazine??!! More on that when I find out more:)

Daydreams II Projects

Well, as usual it has been awhile since I have been here. I cannot yet seem to manage everything efficiently. Life has been busy and The Meandering Thread has picked up considerably:) I have nothing to complain about except that my house is a shambles and, it seems I can live with that!

I wanted to share my most recent projects. Stephanie Brandenburg...my fav fabric designer (see photo to right:)) asked me to design a quilt using her new fabric line Daydreams II. She will be taking this to Houston quilt market next week so I have my work cut out for me this weekend quilting this and writing up the pattern. While I waited for fabric to arrive from Stephanie I put together the 2 table runners shown using what I had at the time. This fabric is so amazing! I have many more ideas running around in my head but for now I must focus so I'm off to quilt!

Awesome Blog Post!!

Waking Up Full of Awesome

August 3rd, 2011 | Author: melissa

There was a time when you were five years old,

and you woke up full of awesome.

You knew you were awesome.

You loved yourself.

You thought you were beautiful,

even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.

You loved your body, and the things it could do.

You thought you were strong.

You knew you were smart.

Do you still have it?

The awesome.

Did someone take it from you?

Did you let them?

Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?

Why the hell would you listen to them?

Did you consider they might be full of shit?

Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?

Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?

Are you freaking kidding me?

Look at her. She is full of awesome.

You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.

All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.

Amelia says Good Morning.

Blog.pigtailpals.com

Wake up awesome girls!!!

Should I open a second shop??

I need some feedback...I am considering opening a second Etsy shop that will sell fabric only. It seems to me that The Meandering Thread is cluttered with all the fabric and as such not so easy to find what you want. If you would take a second to tell me what you think I would greatly appreciate it. I have at least 100 yards of destash fabric I need to list so I want to make this decision before I begin that process.

Thanks in advance for your input!!!

Another Tshirt Quilt Completed:)

I finally completed the T-shirt quilt I made for my daughter's dance teacher as a surprise. I'm finding I like darker fabrics with T-shirt quilts...probably because the shirts are often lighter in color and it gives more contrast. This quilt though has so much color anyway. She was surprised and pleased with it...it is fun to make something for people who will appreciate it:)

I have completed the laminate backed quilt...I will post pics after I get it bound. I do not like machine binding but with this I think I will have to. The thought of needling through that sticky laminate fabric is a recipe for major frustration.

Another pic of my kitties:) We have nearly 3000 square feet in this house (including the basement) and most of the time at least 3/4 cats can be found in my studio!

More Destashing

I listed a bunch of destash fabrics yesterday. I have so very much more to get through but it all takes time:) Something new coming...I am making scarves. Something I have wanted to do for a long time as once the cold hits I am never outside without one. These are patchwork on the front and minkee on the back. Here is a sneak peak:)

Aside from this I have been working on quilts for friends...a laminate backed quilt for soccer games for one and a tshirt quilt for my daughter's dance teacher as a surprise. The soccer quilt is taking me forever because I am on my 3rd one! Ok, this is your lesson to plan ahead...the first one I just picked up some fabrics and started cutting...realizing half way through I did not have enough of the focus fabric to make it as big as I wanted. The second one came along beautifully and I love it, but again I did not really plan as it was about 10 inches too long to fit the laminate backing I bought for it...heavy sigh. Now the third one is on the design wall and although I rather like it I am wondering if she is going to think it is too bold and obnoxious! At this point however I am thinking I will go ahead and make it anyway. If she does not care for it I will keep that one and make yet another as I bought 2 laminate designs. You see, I have good intentions of being timely!

Off to sew:)

For Me:)

I've been thinking ... scary, I know. My thought is I deserve to have my own king size quilt (or 2 or 3) and a few quilted doo dads around my house that are not for sale. So, although I do have a closet full of work, I am going to fit in some time each day to work on projects for myself. I think I deserve it:) And I so very much want to own some of these things! It is crazy the way we get when we are sellers, or trying to be. Everything we make is done with someone else in mind. We have to be careful to hold onto all that we love about our talents. I have lost that part where I actually have something beautiful to call mine in the end. So, hopefully very soon I can begin posting my new things:) I do have a king size quilt that is about 1/3 completed. I think I will start with that. Oh, the fabric I have!!! It is insane actually, but I do so very much love it.

Ok, enough for now...ooh, except for a couple of pics of our vacation to North Carolina...well, they won't load, so will try again in a while:(

T-shirt quilt Hot off the Press:)

I just finished another T-shirt quilt for a graduation gift. Thought you might want to see:) I put my heart into these quilts and then the disappear -- pics are all I have left:( But I so love that someone is going to be thrilled to receive it and snuggle up under it!

Ready for Action!

Well, I've been back from MQS now for a week and a half. I have neglected my yoga and running and am feeling the effects of that, however I have accomplished a major feat....my new studio space:) On the way home from Kansas City I was once again lost in thought about how to make my studio more work friendly. AND, where in the world was I going to put 30 bolts of new fabric??!! Truly there was not one single spot as it was. Soooo...I talked with my husband about this idea I have had to take over our living room for a studio to have everything close (my Gammill is in the adjacent room) as opposed to running up and down the stairs, into the sunporch and such and so. To accomplish this I had to move his computer desk away from his neighborhood watch locale (he's a bit nosey:)) and into the sunporch. Amazingly, he said YES! So, I was off and running and here is the result...now I have no excuse for poor productivity, all the space I can, reasonably, ask for, and everything related to quilting all together.

I have to share my pics even though there will be some tweaking, more decorating and such ... it's my favorite place in the world now:) The T-shirt quilt is the first project completed in my new space...accomplished in 2 very long days since I procrastinated by moving my studio instead of working...so worth it!

Now back to work. I have 5 more T-shirt quilts to make, much to quilt, and 30 new bolts of fabric to list on Etsy. That should keep me busy for a bit:) Then there is the issue of what I have done to the rest of my house...but it will wait and I plan to hide out in my studio anyway with a path to the coffee pot and kitties all around...

Etsian of Interest

I've run across a woman on Etsy with a daughter who has autism. She has changed and dedicated her life to providing a life for her child and sells Abby's artwork on Etsy to help pay for medical costs providing necessary therapies and such to keep her healthy and happy. Check out her site and help out if you can...Abby's use of color and design is fabulous and her prints will make beautiful framed artwork for your home:) Looking at these designs makes me want to have them in fabric. They remind me of the work of George Mendoza for Art of Possibilities studio as well as my favorite line from Troy corporation seen in my most recent table runners.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AidforAbby?ref=pr_shop

Off to Machine Quilters Showcase

Tomorrow morning I am headed out on my yearly trek to Machine Quilter's Showcase in Kansas City. I will be taking a short detour on the way to Country Expressions quilt shop in Stewartsville, the home of Tula Pink designs. I have never been to this shop so I'm excited to see what it is like:) I also plan to hit the Fabri-quilt warehouse on Wednesday morning to look for fabric to offer to Etsians. I have been there once and am very excited to go again equipt with my wholesale paperwork in place. You never know what wonderful things I may find:)

Wednesday afternoon and evening will be spent at the show. I did not sign up for classes this year so I'm just there to pick up supplies and see whats new. Gammill has made some major upgrades to their machines and although I am not willing to buy a new one just yet, I am curious to see how it runs and if I 'need' to think again..hehe...new and better, right?? $17,800 worth of new and better though so I'm thinking it can wait....maybe...

I'll peruse the quilts looking for ideas which is always fun although show entries are quilted within an inch of their lives and no one (okay, very few) wants to pay for that kind of detail. I am always amazed at the patience these people have...it takes hours and hours over weeks to complete. I'll post some pics upon my return to show you what I mean.

Back after the show with pics and new threads and new gadgets and I'm sure fabric and, and, and...I'm in my element here, can you tell:)

The Beauty in Custom

I wanted to share some wonderful photos I received from a woman who asked me to make a custom quilt for her last year. She wanted something special for her new home; something handmade and unique just for her because she deserved it (and she does!!). Most of the time I make things and never get to see how they are being used and loved. I cherish such pictures because what I do is my passion. I feel connected to each piece; letting them go is not always easy. With custom pieces I want to know about the person I am creating for. It gives me something to think about while I am making it...I think about their story and what I know about it and I picture it in their home. I could ramble on about this but I will spare you and show you the pics of her beautiful boys and their family quilt.

I have one more thing to say about his quilt ... I NEVER would have chosen the bold coral solid fabric. I gave her options. The coral was my least favorite but it was her choice and it made the most beautiful quilt:) A shout out to you Heather for helping me to look outside the box with regards to color. It's a lesson I hope I take to my sewing room with me more and take some chances!

Fabric anyone?!

Instead of sewing lately I have been sorting through fabric...reorganizing what I love and parting with things I may still love, but cannot see myself getting to. I'm listing my destash fabrics on Etsy so someone can get some use out of them:) The rest I am lovingly moving about in part to remind myself to STOP BUYING MORE FABRIC!! There is no way that I can ever use what I do have let alone more but I am as always hopelessly addicted. It is good to go through things and be inspired/reinspired and just reminded of what there is to work with. Pics are of my messes...the stuff on the ironing board includes all the blenders and such I needed washed and ironed so they are ready for use. Then there are piles and the fabric in the cabinet that I intend to offer for sale (to make room for new:)). Do ya think I have a problem????

I've ordered more of Stephanie Brandenburg's fabrics also for sale so they will eventually be listed. I am having trouble getting Camelot to communicate with me through email at the moment so I guess I'm going to have to call them directly. I ordered bolts 3 weeks ago and have not heard anything...heavy sigh.

Anyway, thought I'd entertain you with my obsessions:)

Shop Hop Results!

We shopped and we hopped and look at all the goodies I found! The last photo is a fabric line from Makower in England based on the artist Matisse...I love it!!! The blue and red line in the first pic is actually purely for me:) I recently painted my kitchen the perfect light blue and am accenting with red here and there. This fabric will become a table runner for my buffet and a topper for my table.

The rest is miscellaneous gotta haves...a few supplies...fun stuff. I could have bought a hundred yards more but I really have to back off a bit these days and only buy what I cannot live without:)

Just wanted to share:)