Baby has a home!

My baby long-arm machine Ginny*, finally has a permanent home! She has moved into the basement. Doesn't she look happy? She has been very agreeable having her own space. (If only my 17 year old were as accommodating!)
*When Julie Thorum owned the fabric store she started naming the long-arm machines like hurricanes. The one she brought was Annie; then she bought Baxter, who was a brat, just like his name; then Chloe, that Paul & Stacy took home when they closed the store; Dexter that someone purchased off the dock; Ellie, that was a little purple HobbyQuilter that was so noisy no one could stand her, and Julie sent her back; "F" was sold off the dock; then I got Ginny! (From Harry Potter) Just think, if I'd been one machine later, I could have had Harry himself! Oh, well. Ginny is the next best thing, and she's been a wonderful machine!

End of an Era

The quilt shop where I've worked for 5+ years, Threads of Time, is officially closed. I worked for 3 different owners! Its kind of sad, because I'll miss my friends! These are some of my favorite memories!
Cris: Ordering lunch from Applebee's. When she picked up the food, the order was all wrong. So, sticking up for herself, she called the manager and complained. The manager offered to deliver the right order, and threw in a couple of desserts, too! Only after the manager had left did Cris realize that she had called the Layton Applebee's when ordering, and picked up at the Bountiful Applebee's!
Cris: (again) Sticking her Harry Potter wand up her nose (Ewww!) When we told Paul to be careful because we didn't know which one it was, he licked it and said, "Nope! Not this one!" (Double Ewww!)
Cris: (yet, again!) Anonymously calling on the phone and asking if we had a beige fabric with small beige flowers, and kind of a beige background.
Mary: Doing ballet moves, or figure skating! Also, we would imitate what our children would do if we threatened to spank them (even though we never did!)
Mary: (again) "Why do you ever doubt me?" I don't know why, because she was never wrong!
Late night sewing... About 11:30, Janice would start laughing uncontrollably, for no apparent reason! Then we could go to bed.
Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. (Gee, I wonder why I gained 10 pounds working there?)
Classes, and learning from each other and just sewing for fun.
Tons of regular customers who became friends. Customers who couldn't leave fast enough! Crazy shop hops, open houses and block of the months.
Laughs. Lots and lots and LOTS of laughs!
I'll miss you, my friends! It was fun!

Babies come home!

Yes, some of my babies have come home! (My quilts, in other words.) Martingale still has 4 of my quilts. At least 2 of them are going to quilt market in Houston.
Its funny, because I've sort of forgotten how some of my quilts looked! (They were cute, by the way.) I've missed them, and I'm happy that they've come home. They're happy, too.
As far as I know the release date for my book is December 8. Hopefully I'll get some promotional materials before then to get to some local quilt shops! It still hasn't shown up on Martingale's site, but it does have a section for new releases coming soon, so maybe it will be there soon!

Fame! (I wanna live forever!)

So, my friend Valerie called me (she's my "fame-pointer-outer".) I was mentioned in Annie Smith's podcast! (program 128) She was doing a podcast on Utah quilters, and re-interviewed Jenny Wilding Cardon. (I quilted her quilts for her Little Box of Baby Quilts.) She talked about me at length and about my upcoming book! Jenny's great, and has always been so kind to me when she's been interviewed, etc.
Valerie also had a great interview she had done with Annie at Threads of Time, where I work. She has quite a few patterns out, now, and also told Annie about my book coming out!
"Fame is a fickle thing, Harry."
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets