Getting back into the Groove of Things After Santa

I have a customer quilt on my Gammill that has been there for 3 days.  I don't like quilts to be on my machine for 3 days.  I have to finish it tomorrow or it's going to get ugly around here.  I'm not really a custom-type quilter.  I really appreciate what those ladies/gents that do, I'm just not one of them.     This picture is of a block in my "Scrappy Nest #2" Pattern, made with Moda's "Cattails & Clover" fabric line by Kansas Troubles.

I love to stipple, I love the look it gives a quilt.  The quilts that I have made in my Rusty Crow  Patterns are always stippled.  I want anyone who looks at my quilts to know they can do that too.  The last thing I want is someone to look at my patterns and say, "I could never get it to look like that."  My quilts will never hang in a museum, but I hope that they keep my family and friends warm and happy for years to come. 
 

Quick Weekend Away before Santa Arrives

Mike and I have promised ourselves to do more weekends away.  So this past weekend, we spent it close to home.  We stayed at the Crystal pier Hotel in Pacific Beach, CA.  A local landmark, that we never stayed at before.  It was a Blast!!  What a treasure.  Basically, they are darling little cottages on a pier.  The public walks out front of the cottages, but there is lots of privacy on the back side.  The pier closes the gates at sunset, so at 5:00pm, the place was all ours. I would go back tomorrow if I could.  What a great little holiday we had. Now back to real life.

Christmas Quilts have piled up at me Feet.

I posted not even a week ago that I finished my Christmas Quilts.  Apparently, I lied.  Since then, I have quilted 4 quilts and have 3 more to go.  Which actually is probably a good thing.  My husband's work truck decided that Christmas time is a great time to get a new transmission thingy.  So $$$$$ zillion dollars later, his truck is running and I'm behind my machine.  Life.  Thank you for the work!!  I'm really very grateful for my quilting customers, thank you, thank you, thank you....

Thursday night, Mike (husband of 25 years) and I are going to Crystal Pier for 2 nights.  For those of you not from San Diego, Crystal Pier has cottages on both sides of the pier.  So you have the sound of water under you the whole time.  We have always wanted to stay there, so we decided to do it during the winter, when the tourists have thinned out.  Pretty sure, Mike will have a pole in the water at some point.  The man lives to fish.  I'll let you know how that goes. 
Then Saturday we are heading up north to a fellow quilter's holiday party. 
So back to Mr. G, I go.  The quilts won't quilt themselves.

Christmas Made in America

I'm glad to see the push to buy Christmas presents Made In America.  Anything to get the country working is a step in the right direction. I know lots of people who are getting quilts made here!!

All the printing for my business I do here, but I do shop prices, I have to admit. The Rag Rug Tool is manufactured up past Los Angeles.  I love the idea of using my local businesses.  In the quilting world, we aren't very good at this.  All the fabric is made somewhere else, books are printed in China.  I would love to see our mills that once clothed the world, busy once again making fabulous bolts of quilting fabric.  Farmers growing cotton, and all the industries that support the farming communities, lots of jobs.  I think this will be my Christmas wish for our industry.  How big a Stocking do you think I need for that one?

Lists, lists, lists, I have constant lists. Quiets the noises in my head!

This is the time of year for lists.  I use to make lists that I would just keep in my head.  So guess what happened to those lists.  Like the way of 8-track tapes and Speed Racer, disappeared into the abyss of my memory.  I had a vendor friend, who started making lists 2 hours before we started to tear down on the last day of the quilt shows.  I always thought that was really smart, make a list of things you need to restock or reorder.
Not me, always thought I would remember that.  No, get to the next show and still be out of it. 

So I started writing things down, better now.  Not perfect, still gotta manage to find the lists once I've create them.  Still, at least it's written down somewhere in the universe, that alone makes me feel better, in control.  So, back to my original thought, I'm getting things checked off mine.  Presents are bought, not wrapped yet, but in the house.  Christmas cards are gone, the free turkey from Thanksgiving is in the freezer so we won't starve on Christmas, and the chocolate chips are bought for the baking that starts next week. 
My Rusty Crow Winter Newsletter went out today.  That was a BIG check off my list.  I loved seeing so many familiar names in my address book.  Made me happy all over again to be a quilter. 

So continue with this lists topic, I hope Santa has me on his.

One more Christmas quilt to get done!!! Dinner with WA Friends!

Christmas with grown kids is very different than Christmas of the past.  It's all good, just different.  I don't worry much about them peeking now that they are in their 20's.  I love that I don't have to worry about the most popular toy being found, wrapped and parked under our tree.

Rusty Crow Quilting has one more promised Christmas quilt, then this quilter is going to start baking, shopping and enjoying the holiday.  Starting with the Rusty Crow Holiday party tomorrow night. 

Tonight, Mike and I are having dinners with old friends from Washington.  Can't wait to meet up over a Margarita and catch up!!

Getting ready for the Annual Rusty Crow Christmas Party

Every year on the first Wednesday of December, all the quilters associated with Rusty Crow Quilt Shop, get together and Party.  I decorate the classroom and make Chocolate Martinis as a THANK YOU for supporting me, quilting for me, cutting for me, bagging fabric for me, tying fat quarters for me, making samples for me, well you get the idea.  I have many, many wonderful peeps, who peep for me.  I give everyone a big fat discount on everything at the party.  We laugh, eat tons, drink Martinis like sailors (fancy sailors) and have a Nasty Santa Exchange.  If you are in town and want to come, please call.  760-752-7784!  Bring a gift and a dish to share, your Martini is waiting.

Last Wednesday night quilt class until 2012

The fact that I can already write 2012 in a real sentence and it not be science fiction is funny to me.  I remember went I graduated from high school in 1980 and thinking, "Wow, I'm going to see another century come and go." 

I'm going to turn 50 in 2012.  Another funny thought.  The 20's were a blink, too busy with life to appreciate any of it.  The 30's were about growing into a real person with responsibilities and raising decent little people.  The 40's, I developed who I really wanted to be, the focus was clearing and I had real goals that I wanted to achieve that weren't child or relationship related.  Besides, I already hit the jackpot in that department and plan on a lifetime with them. 

But 50, well now.  I'm really hoping it blows my hair back, in a unforgettably good way.  If the end of 2011 is any indication of whats to come, I'm pretty excited.  Rusty Crow Patterns are getting noticed, I'm really trying to focus on the future, making plans to grow the business.  I want to bring as many of my talented friends and peeps along for the ride. 

So before 2011 disappears into the history books, I wish it would take the ten pounds of pre-holiday weight that I want to lose so I won't fell guilty about eating more than my share of Christmas goodies.  Another funny thought.

Undone Christmas Quilts= No Shopping

Working on another Christmas quilt for a friend.  I have not shopped at all this season, but I usually don't until all my quilting work is done.  I don't want to feel guilty that everyone doesn't have the quilts that they need for presents.  Someone will catch me at the mall, and think why hasn't she called me!!!!  Uck! Too much Pressure.

I'm all most done with Christmas cards for my husband's business clients.  That is TV work, mindless repetitiion, like binding.  I usually don't do anything creative after 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  Morning is my best and most productive time. 
When is your most productive time of the day?
Regardless, have a great one. Shawn

Home from Houston, Turkey Day Done, and only 8 more quilts to get done before Christmas.

This past month has flow by.  Rusty Crow made is debut in Houston for both Market and Festival.  Met lots of great people.   I made wonderful new friends that I hope I have forever.  The new patterns were well received. Rusty Crow is now in business with United Notions and hoping to make a few more connections with distributors.

 Here is a photo of the newest Needle Keeper that we have kitted.

Saturday, Woot Woot

Saturday is here, we have June gloom outside.  However, compared to the rest of the country, that seems to be one second from busting into Hades, I'm glad for the respite.

The word Woot makes me smile when I read it.  I don't know why, I even use it, not sure of that either.


So today I thought I would find out what it means and share that with you.  An educational blog, who knew. 
Woot comes from the gamers, on-line, live in their own world kind of folk.  When they would fight for, steal or find a treasure, some would type out to each other, "Wow, loot."  Which has been shortened to Woot.  The rest of us mere mortals have picked up the term to mean excited or joy. 

So now I know why I smile at the word.  Because if, I too found a pot of gold or plate of chocolate chip cookies I would be wooting all over the place.  Wooting, I want dibs on that one!!! 

Happy Wooting Saturday to all

Tuesday, and I'm still not done

This past weekend was kinda a bust of a quilt show. It happens once in a while, you have to take the good with the bad. Thank goodness, that kind of bad doesn't happen to often. So I'm driving home from Arizona thinking about what I could have done to make the booth better, what I could have demo-ed to make them dust off the pocket books and buy, buy, buy.
Jared went with me, he took care of Catherine's booth, Queenie Quilts. She had a big job interview in LA and couldn't go. He was a great sport about it. Thanks goodness he was reading Dune, because he had a lot of time on his hands.

Susan Johnson, a dear friend of me and Mike's died on Sunday. You are missed. Fish on.

Getting ready for Arizona

I have a show this next week in Prescott, AZ. If you have never been there, it's definitely worth a trip. Very small, but quite historic wild west kind of town. There are two quilt guilds that take turns every year hosting a quilt show. This will be my third year in a row as a vendor.

Hope all my Arizona friends will make a trip up the mountain to kick off the beginning of summer and see a great show.

Mittens in May

I'm writing this with my favorite fingerless mittens that a dear friend gave me at Christmas. Now I do love them, but I didn't think I would still be using them in May.

I'm have gotten a couple of customer quilts done this week. I'm working on Patterns that need to be sewn by someone other than me for testing.

I'm glad summer is just around the corner. I need a break. I'm trying not to be feeling guilty for not doing the Long Beach Show, I got asked again yesterday. Ugh!!!

I think I will grab my nook and a quilt and go sit by the pool, it's too cold to stay in the house today. Happy Holiday Weekend to everyone.

Monday after a Quilt Sho

Mondays after a quilt show are always a day of running into things. Things I need to do, things I have forgot to do, things I want to avoid. So I do the things that have to get done, the ones that affect others and keep me out of the doghouse.

Mondays should be a day off after a quilt show. Shows are hard. I love them, but they are hard. People either love your stuff or go screaming by your booth with blinders on. Not a lot of middle ground. It would help if I didn't feel like I need to bring everything I own, but I like the way the booth looks after 6 hours of set-up.......

When I get home from a show, my truck always stays packed until Wednesday or so, I grab things out as I need them, like a big mobile closet. Pillow and toothbrush first, next day maybe my show notebook, my dirty clothes the day before I leave again.

However, today, I have to unpack the whole thing, Mike says we need to make a Costco run. No one wants celery or half a bag of frozen pot stickers for breakfast, and the hot dog buns don't fit in the toaster. But I'm buying a couple of pizzas, no cooking for me tonight.

Happy days to all of you, Shawn

Ok, I'm going to start this again.

Friends and family have been after me to start a Blog. Lots of changes are starting around here and it seems I need to write them down. It is going to be an amazing year, I should keep a closer tab on all the great things that are coming. Writing has always been a love of mine, so this should be this hard.
So I go to sign up for this blog and realize that I did this a year ago. I just read them. So here I am, I found this little treasure that I'm going to dust off and try to keep going.

Quilting is another love of mine as are the people in it with me. Quilters are some of the nicest people I have had the pleasure to have in my life. You make it easy to live.

So thank you and I hope to have the chance to talk to you again.
Shawn