LaVieEnRosie

Say Hi to Mark...

My brother called me last night to ask why I hadn't blogged about Market yet.  Others had.  Others had even shared my news.  But I was still lagging behind... apparently, I hadn't had anything else to do since getting home on Tuesday.

So the next time you want me to blog, tell Mark.  He'll be happy to call and pester me about it.  

This will make him happy too - this is Casey Jones, Mark's newly adopted rescue-stray.  Casey is about three years old and a Border Collie mix.  He's a sweetheart and yes, dog-napping has been considered.  Except that Casey would be heartbroken, he's pretty much Velcro'd himself to Mark.

So yes, I was in Houston for Fall Quilt Market.  I had a full-size booth this time...

Yes, they do things much bigger there.  

This was the Ruby Jubilee: Celebrating 40 Years exhibit.  It was inspired by the Infinite Variety exhibit in New York City three years ago.  It was beautiful and very reminiscent of that show.  I'm sad to say that this was the only exhibit I managed to see, nor did I get to take too many pictures of the rest of Market.  It's like this - like most Exhibitors, I get to walk around before Market opens and since I don't like taking pictures without asking first, I don't get to take many pictures.  But I did manage to get a few...

This is Ladies on the Lake by Lisa Bongean - Primitive Gatherings.  It's so much better in person.  The yellow is gorgeous and it sets off the blues and grays perfectly... and there's all this gloriously wonderful quilting by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  The fabrics are a mix of prints and woven plaids, all part of Lisa's upcoming Lakeside Gatherings, it's going to ship in December.  Or January.  Soon.

I don't know if this quilt has an official name to it other than "that awesome Gardenvale quilt that we all want a kit for".  It was made by ModaLissa using the new Jen Kingwell collection, Gardenvale.  But this is what makes Lissa such a genius - the background fabrics are the woven plaids from Lakeside Gatherings!  And the Dresden plate wedges aren't pieced - it's the result of fussy-cutting a couple of the fabrics in the collection.  Now you want a kit too, don't you? 

That's me - on Friday after I'd finished setting up.  The main carpet in the aisles hadn't been laid yet so that's why you can see my booth number in chalk on the floor.  While I moved a few things around, my booth was very much like it was in Pittsburgh.  I was in the back there too.

About 75 hours later, it looked like this...

I took this picture, rolled this out the back of the convention center and that was it for Fall Quilt Market.  Except that my moving adventures are just beginning.  Yes, I'm moving and yes, I'm moving to Texas.  But being closer to my brother is the bonus, not the reason.  If I was moving to be closer to him, I'd probably move to Houston instead of almost 4 hours north on I-75.  I'm moving to Dallas.  

(Oops... I-45.  Golden Child - aka my brother Mark - corrected me.  I could tell you that I did that on purpose just to make him happy but really, I thought that's what it read on Google Maps.  But I might not have been wearing my readers...) 

It's like this... I got a job - a "traditional" one.  

Instead of getting to work in my pajamas or stretchy-sewing-pants - seriously, how many of us actually do yoga in our "yoga pants"? - I'm going to have to take a shower, get dressed in real clothes, put on make-up, fill my travel cup with coffee and drive to work.  And I'm actually going to have to talk to other people when I get there!  

But I think it will be worth it because...

I know what you're thinking and yes, I had to sign an affidavit that I wouldn't barricade myself in the room where they keep the new sample fabrics.  (Fortunately I know which building houses the stacks of boxes of pre-cuts that are "coming soon"... can we say "loophole"!)

So first the kind of sad news - this was my last Quilt Market as Miss Rosie's Quilt Co., a small, stubbornly independent pattern company.  The patterns aren't going away, though some probably will, but how it all works will change.  The good news is that I'm still going to be doing what I'm doing now, I'll just be doing it a little differently.  Quilts?  Patterns?  Check - I'll still be doing that.  And since I won't have to worry about printing, packing and shipping patterns, I will get to do more of some things.  Like maybe blogging?  Yep!  One of the things I'll be doing is blogging for Moda at The Cutting Table.  And more Instagram!  (I know... I'll take lots of pictures.)

What this all means is that you're not getting rid of me.  

It also means that when I refer to Mark, I mean my brother.  The other one will always be Mr. Dunn.  (Or "The Boss.") 

Both can probably be counted on to make sure I blog a bit more frequently.

I'll tell you how it all came about soon - for now, let it suffice to say it started with an e-mail "applying for a job that didn't exist."

 

Thursday...

It's Thursday and that means how many more days until Market?  

No!  Really!  Please don't tell me... it's like those "Countdown to Christmas" clocks.  I know it's coming and I know about when so I don't need the specifics.  That only makes my head hurt.  

In the meantime... working on book quilts?  Check.

Working on the book manuscript?  Check.

Packing for Quilt Market?  Uh... yeah.  I'll get on that right away.  

Two out of three isn't bad.

This was bad...

I fixed it but Diane said I missed one... oh well.  It's not the first time and alas, I expect it won't be the last.    

I think I got the backing right though - isn't it cool?

American Jane - Potluck.  With my leftover nine-patches down the center so that the backing would be just a teeny bit bigger.  

So Quilt Market is next week and I'm looking forward to it.  It's going to be busy and hectic, but that's usually the best part about it.  Someone asked me the other day if I was really okay, that I wasn't still a little tired from all the ups-and-downs of the past few years.  While I think of and miss Rosie and my parents every day, I really am good and I find myself feeling an amazing sense of well-being.  I wish I could tell you that there's a specific reason for it but no matter what's going on in my life, it's just there.  And at any given moment, something silly or small or sweet makes me feel it.   

Like this past week...  I was driving down the highway on my way home from errands when two songs I really like came on the radio, back to back.  Taylor Swift's "Shake it Up" and Maroon 5's "Maps".  (I like the song but I decided not to include the video.)  How could I not dance along?  So there I am, driving down the highway on a beautiful, sunny day, singing and dancing with the radio blasting.  For that moment, life was good and I was happy, and that made me laugh - that and the realization that I surely looked pretty ridiculous.  I did notice - and pass - a gorgeous Audi A8 driven by a rather nice-looking man.  I was still enjoying myself when I got off the highway.  Audi-man got off at the same exit and pulled up next to me at the stoplight, and when I looked over to admire his car, I saw that he was smiling and laughing... at me.  He gave me a "thumbs up" and waved as the light turned green.  I still laugh when I think about it.    

Since laughing is always a good thing, I want to share one of my guilty pleasures with you - a daily habit.  No, sadly, it doesn't involve chocolate, though I have ocassionally enjoyed them together.  Do you like Jerry Seinfeld?  Okay, silly question.  I don't think I know anybody who doesn't love him - he's that funny.  Did you know that he has a website where he shares three short video clips from his personal archives every day?  

The website is JerrySeinfeld.com.  

If you're watching it today, I really loved "Humans Are Designed To Sit."  But "Viagra Guy" and "Death Is Number Two" are hilarious.  

And if you have a little more time, I also love Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.  

I'm off - I have a haircut today.  Wish me luck... Cameron said something about a buzz-cut.  

(I'm kidding!  Ditto for the "going blonde" thing.)  

My news isn't that big...

Or maybe it is...

Okay.  I'm kidding.  I just couldn't help myself... you'll forgive me, right?

I was just planning to change my hair!  

Is it me?

I was born blonde... and I've been blonde a few times since then, perhaps even when I shouldn't have been.  The definition of "honesty" - when I went to a nice salon about ten years ago to "change my look", the stylist looked at my hair and said "... you do know this color does absolutely nothing for you, right?"  

Well apparently not.  Ouch.  

I got over it - and he was right.  But just so you know, I have a hair appointment the day before I leave for Houston... so we'll see.  Will she still be a reddish-head or won't she?

Until then - Happy Thursday!  Or Friday.  

I hope you'll forgive me, I didn't intend to be cryptic and really, I didn't think I had been.  But things always "sound" differently in my head than they probably read.  It's pretty simple - I can't really show any of the quilts I'm working on for the book and since I don't have anything new for Market, that cupboard is a little bare too.  I've been packing a lot of patterns lately for orders - a good news / bad news kind of proposition - but that's b o r i n g.  I really do appreciate that you worry but I promise, I'm good.  Life is good.  And I'm excited about the future.  

Until the next time, this is for everyone frantically trying to get ready for Market...

One of my favorite Non Sequitur cartoons by Wiley Miller.

I hope you have an awesome, fabulous, molto fantastico weekend!

I'll do my best to have one too.

 

Seasons...

I wish I could tell you that the title had something to do with "Fall weather" in Phoenix but alas, that isn't the case.  

While it's gray, overcast and a bit rainy today, it isn't exactly "Fall-like"... that won't really happen until November.  After Market.  It's ironic that I think of my year that way, not as four seasons but as two.  Spring Market and Fall Market, with intermittent holidays and respites in between.  I don't know if that's an Arizona-thing or a business-thing, but some of that will be changing soon.

My big Courthouse Steps came home and because it's as flat as a mogul skiing course, I washed it before binding it in the hopes it would help.  It did... but not enough.  It's going to make a lovely "snuggle quilt".

Back to the "matter at hand... that's really the reason for the title, the reference to "To everything there is a season..." from Ecclesiastes.  Don't fret, I'm not getting all Biblical on you, it's just a way of saying that of all the things I've learned in the past couple of years, the main thing is that there really is a "right time" for everything.  And no, there's usually not anything I can do about it.  Except act on something when you realize you've gotten to a place where you either have to "fish or cut bait".

I did that.  I fished.  And I caught something.  Some-THING... not a "some-ONE".  <Insert one of those "rolling eyes" emoji here, por favor.>

Market is two weeks away and I'll tell you all about it after, mostly because there really isn't much to tell right now other than I'll be making a rather large-ish change soon.  

No, it does not involve puppies, babies, a wedding - or a boy toy, a fabric collection or Dancing with the Stars.  (Those have been the most popular guesses so I figured I'd get them out of the way right now.)

No really.  This is just a random puppy picture from DailyPuppy on Instagram.  A vicarious thrill.  

In the meantime, I working on the quilts and manuscript for the book.  

Yes, progress is intermittent.  Why do you ask?  (I've used "intermittent" twice in one post?  What's up with that?  I blame the friend who is still laughing at my having used the word "cadre" in an e-mail.  LOL)

I've been asked about the book and this is what I can tell you... It's been in the works for several years but I kept postponing it when "life" got in the way.  But when the Exhibitor list for Spring Market was announced, I heard from the nice folks at Martingale... well, that afternoon.  End result - I was back on the schedule.  My manuscript is due the end of this year - they want November 1st, I want December 31st... I'm thinking we're meeting in the middle somewhere.  The book will be published next Fall - in time for Fall Market 2015.  It seems like a long time but really... think about it.  Editing me.  That's a lengthy, time-consuming, arduous process.  It will take a Herculean effort to get it done by next Fall!  

What's in the book?  Easy answer - quilts.  Better answer - scrap quilts.  All the quilts are new and they're all "bigger" quilts - one is even 90" x 90" - and they're all very scrappy.  I am worried about one thing though... so far, most of the quilts have a lot of pieces.  Really.  A lot.  

Pretty?  I found these pieces when I was cleaning out some stuff in my workroom.  They were part of a kit... I might have to add to it so I can make something else with it.  

I will be at Fall Market in Houston with a booth.  I'm sort of in the middle - at the very back of the convention center.  Seriously!  I think I'm the last booth in the aisle.  I'd like to think it's because I'm special - I'm the "milk" - but I think it's because I mailed my contract the day it was due.  Oops.  But I like being in the back, it makes me feel at home.  It also facilitates a quick escape on Monday afternoon.  (Pretend I didn't write that, okay?)  And okay, it also means I'm not far from the ladies room.  That's always nice when you're there by yourself.

I won't have any new patterns at Market this time but I really want to go, partly for business and mostly to see the friends and folks who weren't in Pittsburgh.  So the booth will look mostly the same but I'll try to re-arrange things.  And since a few quilts weren't entirely finished in Pittsburgh, it "technically" does mean that they're new, right?

So that's all the news that's fit to print.  Except this - have you seen these really cute Halloween candy tins?

I'm not usually a "Hello Kitty" kind of girl but I became obsessed with these when a friend told me about them and I saw a picture.  JoAnn's has "had" them but they're running out - I bought the last couple at my store.  But World Market also has them - for $1.00 less!  They're about 2 1/2" tall and a bit less than 2" wide.  I don't really care about the candy - that's just a nice bonus - I just want the tin.  For pins or someting like that.  Okay... or just because they're really cute.  

Until later... let it suffice to say that life is good and getting better.  Really.