HOUSTON QUILT MARKET 2009

What a whirlwind tour. Set up was not so fun, especially because I had pulled an all-nighter, and that just doesn't work for me like it used to, oh thirty or forty years ago. But alas, my husband put on his McGuyver hat and here are a couple pictures of my booth. I went for clean and uncluttered; a place to kick off your shoes, ya know, (I sure did!) and visit with everyone. That's my favorite part. And hearing the response to my new Woodland Delight and upcoming fabric patterns.

We stopped and ran off to Schoolhouse where Sandi and I both talked about creating fresh shop displays. The room was packed, so most of the photos we saw were too far away or the back of peoples heads. But alas, Mary Abreu and Jona came through with close-ups. I want to scrounge around to find some other shots, because I want you to see the back of that jacket I'm wearing. It's one of my upcoming patterns and I love it!

Here are are some of my lovely neighbors: Patty Young in her very cheerful space. She makes me feel so tall. Then Anne Maxfield and Val Pillow of Pillow and Maxfield. Their booth was 3 thumbs up in my book (oops, I was trying to keep that 3rd thumb of mine a secret). My closest next door neighbor was Sandi Henderson, and I have no idea why I have no pics of her booth. We still haven't looked through our cell phone or Jennifer's camera yet, but this is a good start.

Now I had lots of visitors, but the photo's were just plain crappy (sorry, just being honest). Patty gave us a photo lesson using an awesome flash, which I must purchase ASAP. That's why her photos are always so bombdalicious and Jennifer used her flash to take that picture of Patty and I. Anyway, I only have one so far that I can share. Weren't Missy and Liz of Sweet Funky Vintage were ever so matchy in my booth?!

If you've read other blogs, you might have noticed that Michael Miller Fabrics set up an elaborate, uh, how shall I say, trailer park called Camp Michael Miller. At one point Kathy walked "across the street" into my booth and commented on how our side of the street was so sophisticated. We all had fun with it, but before we left for dinner one eve, Tim got this picture of the raccoon "roadkill". I think it was playing possum because next day the raccoon was fine.

The gnome and Christine (MMF) paid us a visit. Actually, Christine came to visit our comfy chair and we enjoyed her company. Oh, and the jacket Jennifer is wearing is another version of the pattern. The back is pleated, and you're not seeing that in my pictures.

I didn't wander away as much as I'd wanted, but made it a point to go find my Twitter friend and fellow fabric designer Michelle Engel Bencsko. We have never met in person, so here we are in her lovely booth!

Quilt Market would be incomplete without dinner one night with Joey and Jona (Fabritopia). Tim is taking the picture, but he was there cracking one joke after another with Joey. We just have to get together more often.

Okay, here are the winners of the GIVEAWAY I posted before I left for Market.

Trillium:
Paula, Seriously! You need to do something I hate for a change - my budget cannot keep up with you. This is TDF!I think it's my fav yet! I love those large scale flowers - those are coming to live with me. At least they can keep me company since my hubby will likely move out after this!

Julie @ Joy's Hope:
One, no scratch that, one hundred yards in each print please. Or some fat quarters... I won't be picky. ADORE IT!!! Need to build a new cabinet to hold the yumminess. My husband will most likely have words with you.

Robyn:

Oh my...you are amazing! These are stunning! How could you out-do your last line - it's stunning! And these are gorgeous! I love the brown and pink line - so perfect for my daughters room! Ok - I'm officially in love - when oh when will these be available? :) :)

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Just send me your address and we'll send the goodies. xoxo

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I want to thank everyone for such incredibly loving comments about my new collection. You all certainly make doing what I do more rewarding!

Woodland DELIGHT!

As usual before a show, the to-do lists are longer than the hours in a day, and whenever possible we multi task. As we were finishing up some photos of some upcoming clothing patterns I had the idea to have Jennifer take some quick shots of me. I picked up a stack of fabric and started playing around. Amelia was "helping" us, as four year olds do, so I asked, "Mia, make Mimi laugh". That's all I needed to get a couple good shots. Now knowing that you really do care about the behind the scenes around here, I am going to reveal why Jennifer was able to get this delightful laugh out of me....

I WAS GOOSED!

Here is what we were really photographing...my Audrey and Petite Audrey upcoming patterns. Frankly, I am DELIGHTED again. Hmm, does anyone smell a theme here? For those coming to Quilt Market you will see these and my other patterns made up in the new Woodland Delight fabrics. When I return from Market I will add additional photos of the other patterns, then dive into the written instructions. As for when these patterns will be ready, I promise to keep you posted.
I adore Simone and her impeccable handbag making skills. She made up the Jackie bag for me as I showed you in my last post AND now my larger version pattern called Oh Jackie! Here it is. I was so tempted to use it as my carry on. Maybe on the return flight.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful comments you left on my last post. Some of what you said made me laugh, confirmed why I love what I do, and a time or two brought tears to my eyes.
If you are headed to Market I hope you will come to the fun Schoolhouse with Sandi Henderson and I. There will be giveaways...OF COURSE. If you aren't going we will take lots of photos for you. I will choose the winners of the Woodland Delight giveaway in my next post...hope you can wait. xoxo

WOODLAND DELIGHT IS HERE

Well here it is. I'm feeling ever so fashionably late in posting my Woodland Delight reveal. Sure, I could lead you to believe that. Truth is I am buried under projects and fabrics and have lost track of days and times. Did I already mention that every surface here is covered? We eat standing and the garage is in no better shape...just another extension of the creative explosion going on here. It's a love-hate thing. I hate the deadlines and pressures, yet love the creative juices that come to the surface when squeezed to the forefront. I do have dreams of showing up at Quilt Market with one sleeve missing. If that really happens please just pretend it's Project Runway and it's a fierce new look.

Woodland Delight is a playful collection of three cheerful colorways; brown, pink and gray. Do you like it like I like it??? Oh I hope so. It's been so fun to work with. Yup, cheery, chirpy fun.
I frankly still have much to do, so I can only give you some snippets of works in progress.

As you may know, I am working on patterns. Here is the Jackie handbag, which you might recognize from Spring Market. Well, my dear friend Simone is making a couple Jackie bags in my new fabrics. She just sent this photo to tease me and it worked. In turn I am teasing you with one of my upcoming girls patterns. If you like this, then hopefully you'll like the women's version, as well. I will be introducing these and my other patterns at the Houston Quilt Market in less than two weeks now!!

{GIVEAWAY}

I would so love to hear what you think, which combos you like...anything. And to show my deep appreciation for all your delightful comments and encouragement, I have 3 stacks of fat quarters that I would be thrilled to share. Just leave your comments.

I have more to tell you. Sandi Henderson and I are are putting on a Schoolhouse during Quilt Market. Just imagine that! Here's the Scoop:

Creating Fresh Shop Displays

ROOM: 372D TIME: 11:50-12:20

Sandi and I plan to share some great ideas and GIVEAWAYS

Just looked at the clock. Yup, I did, but kinda wish I hadn't. Oh well, another late night. Just me and the sewing machine. And some Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. xoxo

Note to self: my header needs changed. Another day...

SHEILA HAS SPOKEN

Since the last experience with my husband's GPS, I wanted you to know I attempted to smooth things over. That is, until Tim told me Sheila said, "It's either my way or the highway". Yeah, more like the toll road! I accused her of taking kickbacks. Tim isn't helping. We can drive across town to see Jennifer and the kids and he takes SHEILA. Not only takes her, he turns her on. Why? Should I be worried? Yeah, well the other night I was nestled up close to Tim and was going on and on about you know who, then asked, "You like me better, right?" There was dead silence. Yes, way! His delayed chuckle was not comforting at all!

I also had to introduce you to our retired weatherman, Bob Gregory, that I spoke of in my last post. Don't you just love him? This video still makes me laugh so hard I cry.



I can hardly believe that I leave for Quilt Market in a little over 3 weeks. Still no fabrics and patterns are not ready either. Geez, no pressure! I'm here twiddling my thumbs, tapping my fingers, and.....set myself up on Facebook! Why, you ask? Twitter wasn't enough of a time sucker? No good answer. It appears to be equally addicting though. Started thinking...hope I don't end up in a Twitter and Facebook recovery group. Will you be there? Cool!

Finally, it thrills me to come across images like this. This is a new Pink Fig pattern featuring Summer Soiree fabrics. Go check them out!

When you hear from me again, it will hopefully be with my newest fabric reveal. And may that be VERY SOON, I hope, I hope.

OH SHEILA, YOU'RE BREAKIN MY HEART....

Nothing gets your mind off your funk mood better than the panic of a TV shoot. Oh, just kidding. It was actually great fun. Here I am on set with Pokey Bolton and Laura Gunn. See, we're smiling. But let me back up and give you the lowdown.

Okay, you remember my last post? I revealed four concerns and I have updates to share.

1. Sheila (my husband's GPS) and I are not on speaking terms. My husband programmed her to get me to Cleveland. She likes Tim. They have a mutual respect. He doesn't take her too literally. If she tells him to turn left, he has an inner compass that tells him he should really turn right. I don't have that inner compass. When God was handing out Sense of Direction, I got lost and could never find that line. Hence, I need Sheila to work with me.

I got to Cleveland just fine. But when I hopped in the car to head home, Sheila was missing from her assigned spot. I found her on the floor. Asked her if she was hiding from me, then placed her back and set her up to take me home. Once I'm on the highway in heavy traffic she jumps ship again. This time she unplugs herself! The little snot! I "had speaks" with her. Had to pull off, get her repositioned and reprogrammed. However, she clearly received a concussion during her fall. She told me to get off on the Ohio Turnpike (a toll road). I didn't come in that way. Hmmpphh.

I put a call in to Tim to tell on her. He told me to just ignore Sheila. That was easier said than done. She tried to get me to turn off at every exit. When I refused, she began tacking hours on to my drive home. She was relentless. I began singing "Oh Sheila, you're breaking my heart, You're shakin my confidence daily". By the time I stopped I was 2 hrs from home, but she had tacked on an additional 6+ hours; clearly punishment for disobeying her. I reprogrammed her again. This time her concussion subsided and she quit hounding me and admitted i only had a couple hours left. When I got home I told Tim he could get Sheila out of the car. Poor Tim is in an awkward situation. He likes both of us. Sheila and I don't like each other. Puts him in the middle. He did take me to dinner and left Sheila home. That's a good sign.

2. I think I did okay. For me, it was like the first time driving a car....so much to remember all at once. Here I was trying to act casual and easy going, but my mind was swirling with thoughts like, "Am I hunching over? Are my boobs resting on the table? Has the iron automatically turned off (YES, it did!)? There were no retakes, so that's a good sign. Thank you for all the incredible advise. What wonderful friends. More than one suggested Depends in case I got to laughing too hard.

3. Don't know how I looked on the screen. I know I felt bloated, but I chose to sit instead of stand, eliminating the need to suck it in. I brought 3 different pair of Spanx and contemplated wearing all three, but was concerned that might restrict blood flow to my brain.

4. Being a newcomer, I took the whole list of rules so seriously. I could just see me showing up in black and having them pull an old, dusty beige shirt off a rack and tell me to change. But, Pokey wore a black cardigan for one of the segments and another gal wore a black jacket in her shoot. Next time, right?

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It was fun. Everyone was so kind. I met several highly creative women and had a great time with my fellow Michael Miller designer, Laura. We had some good laughs, usually at my expense (go figure). As far as when our segments will hit the air, all we know is it will be sometime after the New Year. I'll let you know.

I will also have a project and article in the Fall issue of Quilt Scene. I understand that magazine will be available during Quilt Market. I'm very pleased with how this turned out and can't wait for you to see!

Now on to some Summer Soiree inspiration. This first tunic is from none other than Simone.

Then I found these lovelies in my Summer Soiree Flickr group; made by Georgiapeachez. Lots more where these came from! Go check these gals out.

TONGUE-TIED TV TUTORIAL

Today is a frantically busy day around here. Tomorrow I leave for a TV shoot for Quilting Arts. You might think this is exciting, but for me, not so much. Here are just a few things I'm dealing with today:

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1. I am driving instead of flying because it would actually take longer to fly with a lay over in the opposite direction! I have no sense of direction and am not gadget savvy, but will be taking my husband's GPS that we named Sheila. I haven't been fond of Sheila because she tends to dominate the conversations when we travel. I've kind of made fun of her a time or two. I have her sitting on the kitchen counter and have been speaking kindly to her, hoping anything I've said will be overlooked once we hit the road together.

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2. I am not a natural in front of the camera. In fact, I have a fear of becoming tongue-tied. It's probably because I think tongue-tied people are hilarious. I quickly jot down what they accidently said so I can crack up over and over again. Like our local weather man that said "warm mare ass" instead of "warm air mass". Then he started laughing so hard he was red and wheezing and couldn't talk. Then, at a high school play, the star (who was a very close friend of the family) said "a fat of heathers" instead of "a hat of feathers". She just kept on and never noticed. Will I do that? Or will I hear myself and start laughing so hard that I pee my pants? Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of!

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3. I didn't lose the 10 lbs to counteract the 10 lbs the camera puts on.

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4. And worst of all, I have nothing to wear! Do you know all the rules about what you can and cannot wear? Well, here goes: NO black, white, prints or patterns, sleeveless or short sleeve (long sleeve not a great choice either), turtlenecks, dangle jewelry, colorful nail polish, noisy shoes. 80% of my closet is black, white or black & white. The remaining 20% clashes with the project I am demonstrating. So I spent my entire Sunday running to EVERY clothing store. No seriously! Guess what colors are in? Black and white and purple. Purple clashes with my project. I sure wish my patterns were complete because I would've had the perfect thing to wear. Oh well, I still don't know what I'm wearing, but perfecting my demo, a manicure, renting car and sweet talking Sheila are now at the top of my list.

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You know I must have a colorful blog post prepared for you, so here's the WOW!

No, I haven't opened a shoe store. But after just reading that Jessica over at Mia Joie just sold 65+ pair of shoes in less than 2 hours, I'm kicking myself that I didn't open a Summer Soiree Shoe Store myself! I missed the whole thing, but I guess quite a few others did too. Amazing. Look at those tiny houndstooth mary janes. And the ....oh, ALL of them! Jessica, you are amazing. Thank you for doing exactly what I imagined could be done with my fabrics.


Changing subjects, I just need to brag on my own daughter for a moment. I mentioned previously that Jennifer became a Stella & Dot Stylist a few months ago and has already been promoted to a Director. She is totally in her element. As a mom, you just know and delight in seeing your children find that thing that lights them up. Here are some recent pictures of a Stella & Dot event in San Francisco. Just a proud mom here.

Jennifer with some of her team

Jennifer on stage

Go check out her blog and the Stella & Dot jewelry.

Oh, almost forgot a couple things. First, thanks so much for all the kind comments on my blog and in personal emails. You are so kind. I am doing much better. It was just so weird how the memories returned during the anniversary time. Some of you shared some powerful things that you have also dealt with. Truth is, we all deal with things and it's comforting to know we are not alone.

THEN, HELLO. Laura Gunn and I will both be doing a TV shoot the same day. Laura is being interviewed (Lucky Dog!). We'll take lots of pictures and keep you posted. Now, back to frantic mode. xoxo

FUNK, FUNK GO AWAY

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours.” Eric Idle

I have been in a real funk lately. While I know some of the reasons why, the last few days were particularly rough. Then it hit me. It is the one year anniversary of me breaking my arm and shoulder while in NY. Once it clicked, the memories came flooding back. It took me awhile to even post about it at the time. I eventually was able to tell a bit about some of the humor, but truth be told, it was a tough time. Something happened right before the accident that was emotionally painful for me, and somehow the two became one as a memory.
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While I was in NY to participate in the New York International Gift Show, I had one particular vendor that, how do I put this gently?...is evil. A bully whose favorite things are intimidation, the F word and having an entourage to help her feel bigger than life. During a previous show she gathered her posse, got up in another gals face and tore into her like one of those Housewives episodes. I started requesting to not be near her booth, but sure enough, it never failed. She considered me a competitor, didn't like me one bit and tried to make my time a living hell. That last NY show was the worst. It was on the heals of that experience that I fell. I think she had a voodoo doll with my name on it. Anyway, one year later, even though my arm is near perfect, the ominous feelings returned.
.Here's the outside of my swollen and bruised arm. Looked much better than the xrays (I'll spare you). I am so glad it's been a year, my arm and shoulder are doing great, and I only do Quilt Shows now. If you know of any fabric vendors that make voodoo dolls on the side, will you let me know?

Now I'm the kind of person that "counteracts" something bad with something good. I like to eat some fruit to counteract any junk food. I know, it's weird. Anyway, I am counteracting that junk story I just told you with some perfectly wonderful eye candy! Thanks for letting me get that out of my system. Now enjoy these while I go eat lots of fruit!!

Another delicious pair of shoes made out of some Summer Soiree by the amazing Mia Joie designer, Jessica. Go see her other latest creations.

Luscious pillow by Nestables.

Scrumptious tote by Daisy Hill Studios

And wrap your eyes around this "comfort food". Made by Julie over at Tattered Threads and Willing Hands for her lucky college bound daughter. What love and a wonderful story behind this quilt. Go say hello.

DON'T STEP ON MY BLUE FLORAL SHOES

You know, every once in awhile I stumble across a website that is beyond incredible. A few weeks ago, while randomly surfing in the middle of the night, I stopped dead in my surfing tracks when I came across Mia Joie. This website is authored by a young mom with three lively children. Jessica handle's her everyday mom struggles with a camera in one hand (proving she didn't make it all up) and enough sanity to get it down in writing. Then her photography is amazing. Now both of those ingredients would have kept me coming back, but the gal also makes these baby shoes that are drop dead gorgeous. So when she posted these photos using my Summer Soiree fabrics, I just had to do a SHOW + TELL.

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Jessica is promising to have a whole collection of shoes and accessories (I think in various Summer Soiree fabrics) once she fills an order from a company in London for 100 pair of shoes!

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Come back by and let me know what you think. xoxo

OOPSY DAISY is NO MISTAKE

PAULA PRASS and mimi's collection joins

Finally, here's that "announcement" I was mentioning ages ago. It takes a great deal of time for everyone to cross their t's and dot their i's, you know.

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In June 2009, I closed the wholesale divisions of both Paula Prass and mimi's collection. After six years of offering hand-painted art for children and home decor. I, Paula Prass, aka mimi's collection, have joined forces with Oopsy daisy, a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality artwork for children and the home. We still offer my artwork on my retail websites, but Oopsy daisy will handle our wholesale orders for our most popular pieces. Yeah! That frees me up to do what I do best-design!

And yes, I have been doing some designing. Unfortunately, nothing I can show you yet. I just finished a project with a reveal coming in the fall. I am also trying, and I do mean TRYING, to find time to work on patterns. I know, I know. I'll get on that right now. Well, after I add a few pics of Summer Soiree. You didn't think I'd leave a post without pics did you?

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Here are a few from the photo shoot. Did I tell you our dear neighbor friends took off on vacation and while they were gone I decided to use their yard for the photo shoot? Our yard had too much of a slope. Besides, what are friends for? Thanks Nancy with the better yard!