California Here I Am

I arrived in California last night. So today it is up and at it trying to finish last minute details for the Pacific International Quilt Show. Right now it is still dark out - I'm on East Coast time, not West Coast time yet - so I'm going to hand sew on some of the bindings on the sample quilts I brought along. I finished one last night so hopefully before the sun rises I'll get one or two more done. Everyone else is still sleeping so it is nice quiet work. Enjoy your day. Mary Jane

Time Flew By Again

Hello Friends - I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post! I wonder where the time has gone, but then I think back. Let's see: In the beginning of August I was vending at the New England Quilt Guild Show in Lowell, MA, then the middle of the month I was at the World Tour of Quilts Show in Manchester, NH. So in between I was cutting and bundling fabrics to get ready. Then I took a week's "vacation" to go to our camp in Northern Vermont. But vacation at the camp means mowing the grass, cleaning, trying to get a little more painting done on the outside, etc. Even though we are on one of the most beautiful lakes around there is so much work to be done to maintain another home. Sometimes we just have to be happy with looking at the lake and thinking about our retirement some day in the future. September - what went on then? Let's see: The beginning of Sept. my sister, Judy, came to visit. She hasn't been here for over 5 years (but I've been to CA 2 or 3 or 4 times a year to see her during that time) so we did a little 3 day fun time. We went to Cape Cod and stayed at my daughter, Marta's, house. We did the tourist thing and went to Provincetown for the day and just strolled around. It was incredible weather and so much fun. Then it was back home and we spent 16 hour days bundling fabrics for the show in Oaks, PA. Oaks turned out to be a really incredible show! We were so busy each day that we didn't even get a bite of our lunch until 4 pm! Now I'm not complaining - that's the sign of a really good show (and not that bad for the extra pounds either). Since returning from PA I've been even more crazy than ever. I am leaving on Sat. for the Pacific International Quilt Festival Show in Santa Clara, CA. This is one of my busiest shows of the year so I've been cutting and bundling and packing box after box and then going to UPS to ship. I'm now down to the wire so I have 5 large suitcases left to fill with merchandise (it's still cheaper to pay for the extra suitcases with 50# of merchandise then to ship). I probably won't bring many clothes so if you come to the show and see me in the same clothes each day you'll know why. The other thing that's keeping me busy of course is making samples for the booth. I have 10 quilts that need binding before Santa Clara and I'm picking up 2 more from my quilter tomorrow. So the sewing machine has been getting it's fair share of abuse too. And if that isn't enough, I also have to finish writing the patterns for my two newest quilts - "Hoppy's Spring Wagon" and "Teddy Stevens Comes To America" - before I leave and get them copied and collated. Once I return from CA then the big news happens - I finally got into A Quilter's Gathering quilt show in Nashua, NH. Even though it's a small booth, I'm really happy to have finally gotten in after years of waiting. If you are attending the show, please stop by and see me. Well, I better get back to work. I find it is easier to write patterns in the morning because at night I'm just too brain dead. I hope you all have enjoyed your summer and after reading this post you'll know why you haven't heard from me for awhile. ( I think it's time to take my Geritol since I don't drink coffee) Mary Jane