In 2010

I feel like I can only remember the last few weeks of this year. The weeks that I've been waiting for in a sense. All of us together in this house playing, cooking, eating, sleeping, teasing, caring. Being together. But just like last year, as I think a little harder, season by season, child by child, I can make out the changes, the growth, the moments and the in-between that made 2010 what is was.

In 2010:

:: I made as much as I could and when it still wasn't enough, I asked for help
:: That's new, but it welcomed new employees to my business and new friends to my flock
:: I've decided on some things that I simply don't want to do with my time, so I hired someone for that too
:: I am now sure that if my work doesn't allow for personal creation time, that I must take it by force, and I did that a few times
:: I killed so many situations with kindness that my cheeks are killing me from smiling
:: I determined that its still the best policy
:: My cheeks will get stronger, along with perhaps deeper laugh lines
:: For the first time I spent a lot of money on a bottle of fancy face cream for the above
:: I am not sure I noticed a difference
:: I painted 3 rooms of my house
:: Four, if you count that one wall in the living room
:: I dreamed on and on about more that I want to do with this house of ours
:: I planted tomatoes for the first time, and learned a bit to do a better job next time
:: I kept meaning to dig more and to plant more
:: I mostly tended to my flowers on fabric
:: We were gripped, heart and soul, as we watched our neighbors' belongings wash away in a flood
:: I was gripped then again, by the kindness and generosity that hundreds of strangers have shown to my neighbors by participating in my little quilting effort
:: I read letters that came with the donated blocks- they were of hope, love, and loss
:: I met and spent two days sewing with some wonderful women to assemble thousands of blocks into (what will be) more than 150 quilts
:: I learned that a sewing circle can be created in your neighborhood and it can also be created across thousands of miles. Its the same.
:: I delivered 37 quilts to families in need (so far)
:: I held out my hands to welcome the first steps of my youngest son, and we crashed to the floor in proud giggles, fixing every problem that I had that day and every day in my life, in the process
:: I've watched this boy affirm his place in our family and blossom a personality that we could have never guessed
:: When that personality hit the dog on the head with hard objects I steered it towards kindness
:: Leo is happy for the above
:: I watched my two younger girls form a team of sorts in almost every thing they do
:: I watched my older two boys wrestle with their friendship, and separate into two rooms
:: I watched all my children care for their little brother without being asked to, as its just now in their nature
:: I paid college tuition
:: Wow (regarding the above)
:: I wondered how I would survive with my first baby at college
:: I cried and I cried and I cried
:: Then we did it
:: And I cried some more
:: I ached as I watched little Roman kiss his sister's Skyped face on the computer screen
:: And then, as evidenced by my writing here today, I survived it
:: I owe every ounce of that survival to my husband, who is so solid, and so loving, and so understanding, that I forget he is a separate person sometimes
:: Our girl survived it too, beautifully
:: As recently as three days ago, I stared right through an orthopedist as he told me that Nicolas's broken ankle from a crumbled skateboarding trick, would require surgery and two screws to avoid arthritis before he is 25 (I had driven away from the skate park feeling wrong)
:: As soon as I heard the phone ring, I knew it was him, hurt
:: I listened to a dozen doctors, nurses, anesthetists, stayed awake, prayed, waited in 3 different waiting rooms, felt guilty, and a little helpless, though these are not new circumstances to us after 6 children
:: Once he was sewn up, casted, home, fine, not in any pain and everything was over, I decided it was time for me to sob and be scared as I went off to a hard, deep sleep
:: That's not a new occurrence either
:: And with that surgery behind us, we are all, without a doubt, intact
:: My dear love decided my motherly efforts for the past few days were worth a bouquet (and I didn't even have to live through this to get it)
:: I was happy to have this beauty to consider, prune, trim, arrange, design and marvel at, allowing it to also be what it is, if not just a little better in my eyes, with my encouragement ~ just like my year

A hard wind is blowing outside today, marking the last day of 2010 with sparkling sun and unnatural warmth. My heart is filled up, ready to release, then fill again with what our next year holds. I thank you for your visits here, I wish you every bit of love and warmth to begin the new year with happiness, hope and inspiration!

Be well, and Happy New Year!! xoxo, Anna Maria

(O) Little Town

Last night I printed out simple melody sheet music for the piano for a bunch of Christmas songs. I never got past learning just the simple chords as a kid, but it was still so satisfying somehow to be able to bang out a little tune and sing along. As a 9-year old I enjoyed the solitude at the old piano downstairs playing to an empty room that absorbed the sound of my tinkering. As a mama, trying to recreate that enjoyment on a kindof broken electric keyboard that shuts itself off every time more than one note is played, along with a living room full of holiday-frenzied children, some practicing with voices right along, one reading, one doing handstands and another (guess which) trying to wedge himself in between me and the thing keeping me from him... well. It wasn't quite the same. Then there was Jeff, who, not being able to even read sheet music, can sleuth the tune out of any song on the piano, whether Coldplay or Bach, in a matter of seconds, helping me peck out O Little Town of Bethlehem. Such a sweetie.

Distractions, memories of former musical aspirations aside, I enjoyed playing for my little town. Just one little note at a time. They enjoyed it too. Little, insignificant moments made better because we have them together. And so many more to come.

Wishing you many little and big moments with those you love, Merry Christmas and see you back here soon, xoxo Anna Maria

Snowday(s)

And just like that, winter arrived. I don't remember the last time we got snow before Christmas, but at least its one wish we can now cross off the list.

Booted, gloved, layered, frosted, hot cocoa-ed, Chexmixed, loud kids were not part of yesterday's studio plan. It is now part of today's plan. Yet the word plan for what the day will likely become, is silly. This one always finds her chair though, right under my nose as I work. This studio, with the garage underneath, gets quite cold (9 degrees outside, last check!). Being in the business of fabric and quilts comes pretty lucky. She's nestled under her new favorite, which is another version of the Love Emblem.

A quick word to say thanks to my friends at Delish Magazine for sharing our little Q&A in their lovely Winter edition online mag. I really enjoyed our chat, which likely means the feature may document me rambling, but if you're putting off anything, this should help you do that for about 10 minutes.

Okay, I might pretend like I'm a good mom for a bit and make a batch of loukoumades to rise while the kids are still konked out on the playroom floor.
Stay warm, xo, Anna

Love Emblem

Free Pattern download: Love Emblem Throw + Pillows

More free love. Other images, here and here for this project. Have fun! I think I forgot to add fabric requirement for the heart fabric, but uhh, I'll leave it up to you. How big is your heart anyway? Huge, I'd say.



As for me, I'll be spending some time on this little pillow version for Roman's big boy bed (he's not in it yet, don't go cardiac on me) because we could use a little softness around Mr.Ruff-n-Tumble (-n-adorable).

enjoy your weekend,
xo, Anna

Love Letters

An early Christmas gift to you. The "Love Letters" quilt free downloadable pattern. Alexia designed this ever so lovely quilt to feature my Innocent Crush quilting cottons. This patchwork shows mostly the "swept away" palette with a stamp (get it, on a letter?) of tourquoise from the "charmed" palette. Pretty. We've listed some kits for both palettes over here.

You can download the free "Love Letters" quilt pattern here.

Other thingermajiggins:

* If you'd love to know where the he** your scarf kit is, its coming, we've been waiting (very impatiently) on more yardage
* People like scarf kits
* Particularly if they are made of velveteen, because they are warm
* It must be cold out there
* I wouldn't know, I haven't been outside in a few days because
* I'm working to finish two more free patterns for you
* I should have the "Love Emblem" one ready for you by Friday which will enable you to make these pillows or this quilt
* Yay
* Then a lovely "Flirting the Issue Skirt" free pattern
* Double yay
* This week I was able to reduce the number of emails in my inbox from 513 to 147
* I feel good about this
* Getting hit in the head by forcefully swung pantry door by your toddler does not feel good
* Neither does getting hit on the other side of the head by a (full) sippy cup when you are laying on the couch because you have a migraine
* Getting pinched and scratched on the cheekbone doesn't feel good either
* All of these afflictions happening within 5 days of each other is something I'm not sure has ever happened
* Being Roman's mommy isn't for sissies
*This post is entitled "Love Letters"

Love Always,
Anna

Figuring the 8

I named this the Figure 8 Scarf (we sell 18x72" pre-cuts here) because it reminded me of what I used to tell myself as a little girl to get the hang of twisting a rubberband around my hair to make a pony tail. Once the band is around once, you twist it, turning the band into a figure 8 before you pull the pony tail through the band a second time. Putting this full loop scarf around your neck is just the same. Plus figure 8 sounds winter-y and fun. Plus I can't do it on skates. So. Yea. While making a two sided sewn loop is a pretty easy thing, I thought I would save some of you from the never ending pull through to the right side that can happen depending on how you've put it together. C'mon. You've done it at least once on your life, right? Its the mystery of the loop. So here's how I do it with out depositing coins into the cuss jar.



* After making sure that each layer, in this case the voile and the velveteen, are trimmed to the exact same size, and also making sure that the width of the two pieces is uniform throughout the length, use a 1/2" seam allowance to sew right sides together along the two long edges
* Start and end each of these seams 1/2" away from the end of the length
* Pull through to the right side and press
* Then press a 1/2" width of voile back against it's right side, as shown above, on both ends



* Now fold the length, making sure its not twisted, with velveteen sides together, aligning their ends and pinning together as shown above- Make sure the voile is folded back and free of this pinned line, going only through the velveteen
* Use a 1/2" seam allowance to sew the velveteen ends together, keeping voile free and out of your stitch line



* Press the velveteen seam open as shown above and be sure to tuck the velveteen seam allowances at the side edges underneath the voile layer



With the voile now, you essentially reverse your previous pressed creases to begin enclosing the scarf seams by doing the following:
* Press one of the voile ends flat, and laying it over the open velveteen seam allowances, and underneath the other voile end
* Press the remaining voile end so that the crease folds in the other direction, against its wrong side, tucking it's raw edges in against the wrong/inner side of the scarf
* You can likely still see the previous crease line on the lower layer of the voile (notice above), lay the folded edge of the upper voile layer along this line



* Blind stitch the two layers of voile together, passing only through their layers, and not passing through the velveteen

Before you cuss me about the hand sewing, I chose to hand sew the finish for three reasons:

1- To do a good job of top stitching here, you would need to top stitch through all the layers, and make sure your stitch line lands right on the velveteen seam line in the appropriate position on the other side to look pretty- if that's a challenge for you, hand sewing is your friend
2- Usually the upper fabric gives a little more as you sew than the under fabric does, possibly more so when working with two substrates, and you would not want to stretch one beyond the other in this scenario especially, because you'd end up with a funky bubble (unlike just trimming off the difference if you were making a quilt block or at a hemline. I hate funky bubbles.)
3- Sewing only the voile to itself, lets the lined scarf loop stay open all the way though, keeping the velveteen layer free of the voile layer, so that subtle twists can happen more easily with the two fabrics, making it prettier to wear

So there.
Have fun.
xo, AM

Thanksgiving in NYC

Daddy and Roman take in Central Park. We sorta forgot his coat, so he is wearing about 32 sweaters. Oh the cuteness. Where are those two.....



Photographic evidence of me not letting go of the girl (except for bathroom breaks and eating).



And now Nicolas can say he skated in Central Park. This should really be a video, but I didn't think that fast. I don't know what you call what he's doing here but he landed it. Some sorta jump twist the board in the air thing then landing on the board. I really need to work on my action shot skills. And my skate term skills. And lots of other skills, but I'm trying to keep this post brief.



My 6 and my brother's 4 (mostly in the front there). Roman is being held up by a hiding Daddy, which may explain that "hhhheeeyyyyy!!!!" look on his face. I can't explain the look on Nicolas's face except pointing out that its Nicolas.



And a quick blur of the gorgeousness that is New York at night during the holidays. We spent all Friday in the city with 10 children. Despite how that sounds it was such a dreamy, fun day. Cocoa in the park, playgrounds, FAO Schwarz, a chance encounter with Elmo, and pizza for dinner.

Forgive the family photo indulgence here, but this is what I have to show for the past 7 days!
hope your weekend was wonderful.

kiss, Anna

A is for Always

Whenever I prepare for the holidays, I always think of my American grandmother, Anna Ruth Coble. Her twinkle, her cleverness, her endless work at the kitchen counter, her pies, her potatoes, her laugh, her smile. Several years ago when I was about to cook my first official Thanksgiving turkey in my own home, I thought of this smock-style apron that she always seems to be wearing in my mind's eye. She made it for herself, a fact alone that I adore. It was given to me after she died because we share the same name, and if I had ever thought to ask for just one thing from her home, it would have been this. I knew I had it tucked somewhere, but I almost never wore it so it wasn't at hand. I think I spent so many years with babies spitting and pooping on me that I never gave much thought to kitchen messes. But cooking a turkey was different, I needed her apron. I couldn't find it. I tore the house apart. I realized that I hadn't seen it, perhaps, since before we moved. The dread set in. A sick feeling in my stomach at the idea of loosing it. To bake pies without Grandma's apron seemed almost impossible, like my arms would freeze up rendering me useless at the kitchen counter. But I did. I made Thanksgiving dinner without the apron. It was fine. I'd almost forgotten over recent years that I was missing it. If ever I thought of it, though, my heart would break again.



Until. Last week I was finally putting this place back together after all the Quilt Market messabout. I had taken along the dining room hutch for my booth display which meant I lugged all my linens, platters, goblets, etc. out of it before we left, and they were waiting for me on the studio floor in piles to put back in place. As I carried a pile of linens to the dining room, I dropped a few. And what fell out from between two rarely used tablecloths but the A.R.C. of the Apron! Found! Joy! Thanksgiving! Turkey! Pie! Potatoes! Smile, twinkle, laugh, cleverness and her apron. All of it, it was mine again. Our apron. Thank you, Grandma. We're all headed to George's (my brother) on Long Island tonight to be with him, his wife, two nieces, two nephews, one Juliana and a Juliana-friend too. And the first item packed into my suitcase today? Take a guess.

Now get back in the kitchen!
Lots of love, Happy Thanksgiving, and see you back here soon.
xo,Anna

Now Then. Velveteen.

figure eight scarf

I (possibly like you) have been counting the moments for all of my velveteen fabrics to arrive. And just like introducing the voiles through a little write-up earlier this year where I professed my love and offered my experiences with them, I thought it would be nice to welcome the velveteens in a similar way. Just like the voiles, I think that once you have the chance to touch these velveteens, that no one would really have to warm you up to the idea of bringing a little bit home. But in case you have questions, I thought I would jump ahead with some answers.

Velveteen
Velveteen has in some instances been thought of as a substitute of sorts for velvet, or even a lower priced imitation of velvet. In their most typical formats, there is an inherent difference between the two fabrics. Velvet, traditionally, was woven as two cloths weaving at the same time, continually connected by threads that would then be cut to separate the two cloths from each other, leaving those cut threads as the high piled, textured surface that we are all familiar with. Velveteen's pile is rather made by floating in filler threads throughout the base weaving process, and typically the pile is shorter. There are additional, more advanced processes to create both of these substrates now, but in general they both have a "pile" which give both velvet and velveteen their luxurious feel. Any fiber can be made into velvet or velveteen, but silk and cotton are the most common fibers used. Silk being found more often in velvet and cotton more often in velveteen.


proper attire skirt, option a

My Velveteen
The 100% cotton velveteen that I settled on, in particular, was chosen because the cloth is just so supple, fluid and the pile is not so high that I thought it would interfere with what I am used to in the printing process. The weight is also one that is perfect for just about everything you might use a home decor cotton for, but with the additional luxury of softness and depth of color. In short, it is fancy and snuggly all at once. So bring on the projects: coats, skirts, jackets, baby pants, soft toys, handbags, quilts, little girl jumpers, pillows, coverlets, scarves....on and on!


my winter coat in the making

Cutting
Once I committed to my first project with the velveteen (my Proper Attire Skirt) obviously the first thing that I encountered was the cutting. I was for some reason more inclined to use my scissors than the rotary cutter. There is no real basis for this, but I felt like I wanted a little more control as I went through a thicker fabric. However cutting through two layers at a time for pieces on a fold, or same pieces right sides together, has been easy with both the scissors or the rotary. I would not recommend cutting more than two layers at once, though, because when right sides of the velveteen are together those little fibers act like caterpillar legs and they tend to want to "walk" across each other. So a little position shift can happen that you likely won't appreciate.


multi-tasker tote

Sewing, Needles, Thread, Pinning
One thing I definitely noticed as I sewed was the "snowing" that these velveteens do as you go. In one way the velveteen substrate is feels tightly woven because those "floating" filler fibers are packed in rather snugly. However, once cut, those fibers at the edge come a bit loose and the more you handle the pieces the more loosely woven the edges begin to feel. This really has not been so extreme that I even think about it anymore, just an impression and therefore warning for you. I love snowing. Snowing is my favorite. Zig-zagging or serging edges can definitely help out with this.

I haven't found that the machine thread or needle requirements are really any different than what I would use for a home decor weight cotton. So either 100% cotton, or dual-duty thread, and a sharp tip needle around size 11 or 14 is perfectly suitable. If you sew several velveteen items, you might find you need to clean the fuzz outta your machine a little more often, but in general the sewing isn't too different. But just as with the "walking" legs of the fibers that can happen with several layers being cut at once, this can occur a little as you sew. The velveteen may have a tendency to creep away leaving your aligned edges a little off if you don't stay ahead of it with your hands, or pin. In fact if you're not a pinner (always depends on the project for me) you might want to become one.



Washing, Drying, Ironing
Another thing that I really appreciate about this fabric is how easy it is to care for. Being 100% cotton, it is machine washable and comes out beautifully with perfect color retention, even after a few washings. For a sampling, (see above photo) I washed a fat quarter (18x27") on a cold wash/cold rinse short/gentle cycle with a mild detergent. There is a little more fraying than the standard quilting cotton (a lot more compared to the voile which has almost none) that is noticeable even after just being pulled out of the wash. I dried in the dryer on a medium heat setting and low spin. The shrinkage on the width of the fabric was zero. The shrinkage on the length of the fat quarter was about 1/2"- but the added depth of additional fraying on the length edges causes about an additional 1/2" loss of usable fabric. Therefore, you can expect the total loss of length to be about 1" per half yard or 2" per yard of length. Good to keep in mind when purchasing yardage. I know that my patterns allow about 4" length extra when calling out yardage, as I believe most other patterns do. Dry cleaning is also probably okay too, but as with all cottons, you would want those dry cleaning treatments to be as few as possible.



Some of you might be familiar with a needle board which looks and feels exactly like you might think. It is a small, hard board with thousands of tiny little packed in needles poking up. Most velvets would require that you place the velvet pile (right) side down onto the needleboard, allowing the pile fibers to settle into and between the needles before pressing it on the wrong side. This prevents the iron and heat from crushing the pile thus distorting the surface of the fabric, which can be hard to undo. Good news. I really, really don't think you need a needleboard to press these velveteens. Pressing them on the wrong side at a medium-high heat for me has produced wonderful results with no change in the look of the right side surface. Pressing them lightly with steam from the right side even works out well. I would mention that if you press really, really firmly at seams on the right side, than you will sorta force the fibers to turn down a bit, exposing the inner white of the base of the cloth just a little. So I would just lay another scrap piece of velveteen right side against the piece to be ironed and use that as a pressing cloth if you need to do some firm ironing. This will allow their fibers to settle into one another, and improve your results.


baby-in-the-hood jacket from handmade beginnings

Quilting, Lining, Durability
When combining the velveteens with other fabrics, I have had great results. Yes, I have included them in quilts and I love it! It is definitely a bit bulkier than what you would be used to with a regular quilting cotton, but what soft luxury. The next item on my personal to-do list is a patchwork throw with a mix of all sorts of fabrics, but mostly velveteens. The weight of the goods provides a lot of warmth (but not suffocation) so that I plan to completely forego the batting layer, and just have a lovely patchwork coverlet. This is a similar concept to the little swaddling blankets that we do with voile and flannel, but I plan to make a full size one with hand tacking. I will let you know how it goes! (We have actually had a store-bought velvet quilt which does have batting on our bed for years that I love, but man, it is warm!)

A tip about garments, particularly skirts that you'll likely be wearing in the winter: line them with something slinky, and not a woven cotton. China-silk or similar is perfect. You will likely be wearing tights very often, and you don't want the woven cotton "grabbing" onto your tights as you walk. Also the wrong side of the velveteen needs to be able to fall away as well, and not get hung up on the lining. So even though I would love to encourage you to use my voile solids, instead save those for floaty lining items, garments made from the voile.

Without the benefit of lots of time to test, I would say that this fabric will be durable, but items that are used repeatedly and get a constant source of wear on one spot or another will show such, by the inner white of the velveteen eventually showing as the cushy fibers wear with use. But that never stopped anyone from loving the Velveteen Rabbit, now did it?

Cost
The suggested retail for these goods is $22.00 per yard, but thankfully they are wider at 55", and I think compared to like fabrics in the market place are a very good value. Not just that, but you can use them in sparing ways to make a big beautiful impact.

So do that, and I hope you love them as much as I do!
xoxo, Anna

A Quilt Market experience that we aren't likely to repeat

The simple fact that it has taken me precisely 2 weeks and 2 days to share my Quilt Market experience speaks volumes about what went into it, what it was, what it wasn't and how much time it takes to recover. I know that I am not really sharing photos that you haven't already seen elsewhere (provided you're into that sorta thing), in fact many of these aren't even my photos, but borrowed from my pal April (thank you!).

This year I was so happy to have my mama join me for the first time. I mention this because I always like starting with the good news. Having her with me was definitely the goods news. It is more typical for her to be at home caring for the kids while we (Jeff and a rotating group of employees) are working the booth trip. Fall market always falls near Joseph's birthday. I can typically be back home just in time to celebrate with him on the actual day, or pretty close. But this time it fell smack dab in the middle. This fact, plus wanting my mom to join me, plus some cockamaimee idea that we can handle a lot inspired us to make this market a whole family trip. Unfortunately not the whole family, as Juliana is tucked safely into college. But all available offspring from birth positions 2 through 6, ages 12yrs to 18 months, boys, girls, cranky, happy, you name it, if they live in this house, they came. As we say around here, the whole fam damily.

The trip out involved some peoples flying, some peoples driving, and on the way back it was mostly the reverse, so that every kid got a plane ride. Also, Jeff and I, who drove both ways, could have a rotating group of whiny kids in the not very big cab of the truck that Jeff's dad let us drive but that he thought maybe should be looked at before we go because there could be some sort of grumble, grumble, issue with it, grumble. But off we went (without having the truck looked at, which wasn't MY plan) pulling a Uhaul trailer full of my booth, and our big boys, 12 and just about to turn 11, nestled into the not very big cab of the truck. (I should interject the word cozy here because it should be included but I haven't found a factual way to use it in the description of the trip or the truck yet, but doing such, albeit synthetically, might help my mental state, and eventually my market memories. Where was I?) I would say the trip was pretty smooth and uneventful the first evening of driving from about 6:30pm until about 1:00am. The next morning we headed out after a brief hotel stay, a good breakfast and all was going great until the Uhaul blew a tire somewhere around Texarkana. In fact, right before that I was thinking how ahead of schedule we were and that we should be at the convention center by about mid day and have all of the booth structure up by the close of set up at 8:00. I was wrong about that. We instead spent about 3 or 4 hours repairing a tire (two tires actually, because they weren't the right kind of tires so we had to put the same wrong tire on the other side of the trailer to balance the first wrong tire, so I think that actually two wrongs might make a right) during which I just sat in the not very big cab of the truck and handquilted one of my quilts. I was glad that it wasn't worse, I guess, that it wasn't dangerous and that Jeff is very manly when it comes to side of the road car situations and all that.

This story is getting more detail-y than I thought. I think this is why I put it off.

We didn't get to set up at all that day but rather arrived around 8 or 9pm, just in time to rent a van, and pickup the rest of the kids, Mom, and Alexia (good worker bee) from the airport. It was so good to see the rest of the brood after traveling for two days. We had a very late meal at the hotel and I got my second night of not-great sleep, knowing that we only had one day to put up the whole show, teach my schoolhouse class in the middle of it and salvage what I thought would be fun evenings spent with the family.

I need to interrupt this prose with a bullet point format:

* Set up went smoothly in some ways, screwy in others
* I felt a day behind because of that tire
* I still feel a day behind because of that tire
* My booth contract was for a standard 10'x20' booth, which has 3 walls
* My booth display was created to have 3 walls, due to previous bullet
* My actual booth space at the convention center was a corner with 2 walls
* I had words to say to people about that
* If I had known they were going to give me a corner space, I would have either designed a two wall booth, or thought of some really gorgeous and inventive and promotion driven way to design the back side of the 3rd wall that faced the aisle so that I would not be baring the constructed guts of my booth to the unsuspecting and kind quilt market attendees, but rather using the 8'x10' wall space in a useful, beautiful way
* I thought to pack a fat quarter of all of the new fabrics in my suitcase before I left
* I also thought to pack a sewing machine
* The above 3 bullets + Alexia produced a large pieced, and I'd have to say, rather swanky fabric drape for the outer side of the 3rd wall
* During schoolhouse I thought that maybe my tongue was tied into a knot because there were words that wouldn't come out all the way
* Everyone smiled anyway, then we got back to the booth
* By late in the evening all the booth needed was flowers
* Flowers shouldn't be such a big deal, but for me they are
* I'm sorry about that
* I have a favorite place in Houston to go get flowers so I thought that we should all go together
* A family trip of sorts
* Maybe we could eat too
* It was late
* Too late, really, for a family trip to get flowers and a bite to eat
* I could not let my vision of work + family seamlessly working out beautifully go
* But there was that tire
* And the wall
* And the lost day
* And then there was the fact that we went the wrong way to my favorite place to get flowers, which may or may not have to do with my ability to use the direction thingy on my new phone, this is up for debate, nevertheless the situation produced a very very long trip to get flowers and arriving there just 5 minutes before my favorite place to get flowers was about to close and also produced Roman running out of sitting-in-a-rented-van-waiting-for-dinner-2-hours-past-his-bedtime patience
* This means he screamed his head off for about 30 minutes in the car
* I cried harder than Roman
* The rest of the night involved me going to bed with Roman, without dinner, and the rest of the family eating another very late night meal at the hotel (and it could have also possibly involved Jeff insisting that I eat, me insisting that I sleep, him getting me a meal anyway, waking me up to eat it, me refusing to eat it cause I'd already fallen asleep and was not happy to be awake, then not being able to sleep only to get up at about 2am to eat the (stupid) cold salmon while sitting on the hotel toilet with the door shut so I wouldn't wake anyone up. Maybe.)
* My husband takes very good care of me
* The flowers were beautiful
* In the days that followed, said husband also had the golden opportunity to take care of the truck at a nearby dealer once it started making some unfriendly noises
* $2000 and several shuttles from the hotel to the dealer with most of the kids in tow later, Jeff also managed to get the repaired truck back that would hopefully make it home
* We made it home

In summary, the 3 actual show days involved me smiling, talking, chatting, sharing and getting to say thank you for the booth, the work, my fabric, my patterns, my ideas, my art. Sharing those days with my mom was memorable. Sharing the evenings with my family was welcome, but the children were always all a little weary from being plucked out of their normalcy, Jeff always worn from trying to keep them all entertained without driving himself mad, and me always feeling a little bad that I couldn't let the vision of mixing this all up go. If we weren't aware of how much is too much to take on before, I think we may have an inkling now. Its hard to quantify all the benefits of appearing at market each season to share what I'm working on with retailers, but I know that it has become an inherent part of my process that I would struggle to let go. Bringing the whole family along, I think I can let go. The fact is that it is the only time I get to put it all together physically, in a setting or a staging of sorts, wherein I relish, absorb and understand a little better all that I have been working at. Its my show and my work. My pleasure and my pain. I love each of my little bozos, and my husband bounds more for humoring my dream of trying to make it all work at once. Whew.

If I could leave a frosted brownie at the end of this little ditty to reward you for making it all the way through it with me, I would.
your pal, Anna

In the 2nd grade my teacher nicknamed me Mouth

I talked a lot. I had so much to say. I simply could not manage to wait until the appropriate time to say it. Poor Mrs. Taylor.

This week was not what I expected. I traveled home to mourn the loss of a dear man, the father of a very special family, whom I've adored since early childhood. But it was one of those perfect funerals, if there is such a thing, where there was as much sadness for the loss as there was celebration for the life. With that celebration came the reminiscing, the stories, laughter and memories of a life that could not have been improved and one that I am thankful to share some history with.

Sitting at a luncheon after the funeral, talking to my mom and some of the family members, she brought up something that I had no recollection of from second grade. The conversation had led to the size of my family (as it often does) and she told me that my second grade teacher predicted that I would either be a teacher or have a huge family. After a little back and forth we started to remember the circumstances. There was a little girl, Kelly, in my class who had Down Syndrome that become a good friend. That part, as well as other details, I remember. But apparently, another detail included a day where I had gotten angry and spoke out at Mrs. Taylor for saying something to Kelly that I felt was unkind, and I made such a stink (surely in my 7-yr-old mouthy way) that a conference was called with my mother. Its that part that I forget somehow, that I had been mad at my teacher. What I most explicitly recall, though, is that at some point, likely after the conference, Mrs. Taylor moved my desk next to Kelly's desk and our friendship was nurtured. In the days and weeks of 2nd grade that followed I mouthed off to anyone who said anything unkind to her. It was like my new occupation. I can still remember what it felt like in my chest, like a wadded fiery knot, when someone called her a name or taunted her. It inflamed me. I called one boy a piece of poop. (I clearly remember the most important parts.) Don't think for a minute that this guardian role that was bestowed upon me got me out of getting in trouble for my mouth. Looking back, I have no idea how that poor woman even taught the 2nd grade she spent so much time telling me to shut up. Sigh. But I think it was an exchange that we had. She figured out how to use my mouth to help her do her job, and help her care for and teach Kelly too. Kelly and I had several play dates and she was a sweet, spirited, selfless friend that I won't forget.

The drive back after the funeral produced a realization of how her friendship formed me. It also reminded me of some discipline at home that I need to follow up on. One of my boys, who shall remain nameless here (but it wasn't Roman or Joseph), used the word retarded to insult his brother. Enter: fiery wadded knot. I have just about memorized the lecture that follows whenever I hear this. I could bare to hear stupid, idiot, dumbbutt, goobersmack, uhhh, poop or almost any other word used as an insult. And as a parent of kids in those middle years, I could spend every waking moment saying stopit, quitit, no, uhuh, heyyou, biteyertongue, gotoyeroom, etc. But this time, I decided it was time for him to put his money where his mouth is. So today we are researching charitable groups who aid in the education and care of mentally disabled children so that nameless can donate his next two months of allowance. He will be a kind boy. And mostly he is already. But he will be a completely kind boy who is aware of what comes out of his mouth. Even if it it kills me.

Dear Mrs. Taylor, I am a teacher and I have a huge family and I am still defending sweet Kelly. (And I still earn my nickname everyday.)
love, Anna

p.s. thanks for the memories Mom (that's us at Quilt Market!)

Home

As much fun as it was arranging these (few of many) pillows into my Quilt Market booth, the idea of settling in enough back at home to decide where they really belong in my real house is just plain luscious. I'll be doing some of that along with cleaning, organizing, cuddling and hopefully some nothing too.

Missed you! back here next week~ xoxox, Anna
(speaking of home, the new decor cottons are in! hooray!)

Today was a wonderful day. Amen.

Thank you to all my new, and old friends who helped.
kiss.kiss, AM
(p.s. if you reading this through a reader, you may need to come to the blog to view the above video.)

Punk Rock Love

Today I'm on my hands and knees (by gosh) finishing up the Love Emblem Throw. This'll be a free downloable pattern available to you soon. I designed it to feature the home dec and velveteen fabrics from Innocent Crush which are due in a few weeks. Oh- I finally have a flickr group posted for IC. Man, you guys are fast, already lots of inspiration there. Anyhoo, the quilt here was inspired by punk rock, my son's skateboarding ways, Frida Kahlo and did I say punk rock? Oh, yes I did. British-y. Union Jack. You get it, right?



And on that punk note (a shrill, anti-social note?), you could pin a few of these through your ears, nose or eyebrows if there are some to spare after basting.

I probably shouldn't have blogged today.

In other news, there are what sounds like 704 squirrels in my attic that are scratching around above my head in the studio. I just cleaned out and organized up there a few weeks ago, looking forward to perhaps finishing some of the space in the next few months. Its as though they were waiting for me to do this, because they didn't like the mess. Now that everything is in its place they find it suitable enough to make a home there. Anyone know how to deter these critters from your nooks and crannies? You know, humanely? I will admit that my definition of humane may broaden after a few more weeks of the mayhem up there.

Nkay, I'm gonna dig up some Smiths. I know, its post-punk, closenuff.
xoxox, Anna

Its the clothes that kill me

Two bros yo.

This is my handsome husband, Jeff (left) with his little, adorable (still) brother Jason, taken I think around spring of '77. Yesterday my mother-in-law, Bette, sent this jewel to us. Many of us have photos that look like this. The pose, the clothes, the vintage coloration, and those bubba faces are priceless. I can hardly stand it actually. Those ties? Uhhh! I want to squeeze both of those faces!

And after birthing six of this man's children (just that man on the left there) I feel like I've seen these same faces over and over again. That expression just seems to run through all of them. I love it so much. Cherish it, actually. Like I have to close my eyes now, I've been looking at the cuteness too long. Coincidentally, before Bette sent these to us, Jeff and I each spent some time yesterday morning searching a few hard drives for a (huge) batch of our own family photos, that so far we haven't been able to turn up. I'm talking years of photos. We are scared that the file may have gotten overwritten somehow but I am so hoping we are wrong about that. I can't even imagine. It gives me such a sinking feeling thinking about it.

Last night though, I had a little glimmer of a thought in regards to this potential heartbreak in the works. Last month marks four years of blogging here. I can't believe it! I don't know quite what I ever expected out of this endeavor, but one thing is certain for me now. I am thankful that I have a record, albeit micro, of the comings and goings of the story of us here. Obviously intermixed with shoptalk, an other aspects of what I do everyday, but it is still a comfort. And on the note of comfort, I wanted to take the time to say thanks for coming along with me on this little journey. I know some of you have been here for 4 years (or longer!) and some just got here today. I thank each of you for the little nook you've carved out for me in your days, leaving me room to share.

Even if sharing means a really old picture of two boys in silly ties holding what look to be personal mini-Bibles. And I think Jeff's pants are pink. Bette? Oh, nevermind.

xoxo, Anna

Who you callin' spoiled?

Some days this is what it takes. One pacifier, one red wagon, one yellow canary.

(No canaries were hurt in the taking of these photographs. The baby did cry, though, every time we tried to return the canary from his "field trip" cage to his "real cage".)

xoxoAnna

Getting Dressed (and Staying That Way)

When you spend most of your days glued to the computer, sewing machine or phone, with cookie crusted fingers slapping your lap, getting dressed for a wedding can be a dayslong process. Putting the actual dress on only minutes, but deciding all the components? Days. Weeks? Maybe weeks. Juliana helped curate this little ensemble both in person and via skype. When in Williamsburg in June, we had the shopping trip of a lifetime at Beacon's Closet. Best. Vintage. Ever. Not just vintage, but a random trove of every era of clothing from 2 weeks ago to 40 years ago. I found this Diab'less dress, $345.00 new tags still attached, but only paid 35 smacks for it. I know! I love it so much, hits about mid thigh, no closure, just a lovely a-line double crepe, with a plunging, rounded back. And oh, the anemone-like pleated panels under the arms, are so so pretty. Anyway. The line is a Parisian one, and I don't think any shops exist in the US anymore, and even though the dress is only maybe 7 or 8 years old, it felt so special. But I wanted to belt it. I was fully prepared to make a belt. I was headed to Textile to get materials to make a zigzag sequined belt (somehow I couldn't get the thought of zigzags outta my head for this) when I decided I should probably take a quick look at TJMaxx even though I seldom have luck there. What did I find but a random beaded zigzag belt from Express for flippin' $4.95! I knowknow!! So I snatched it, went home and tried it on for Skypiana and she gave it her gold star approval. What would I do without her? Now if I hadn't spent $120 on undergarments to make all this work, then I would really start bragging.

Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you about (the above was just a warm up) was what happened at the wedding that still has me giggling. I realize by the title that you might presume I was involved in a clothing mishap. No, in fact, I double-handedly saved a girl's dignity in the bathroom of a fancy country club. I serendipitously walked into the ladies room to remove the 120$ worth of underhutzpah so could use the bathroom at the exact moment that I heard a friend of mine say "its split from the top to the bottom?" In that same instant I knew that I would be sewing someone into a dress. How? I just knew. Maybe it was because I got out of sewing a belt, and the fact that this is the 3rd time I have either walked into a dressing room or just about walked down the aisle in front of a bride when someone needed my sewing fingers. I was oddly excited by it and happy to help. A certain lovely blonde Julie had a new dress whose zipper head was stuck up, would not budge down, but the zipper coils themselves were split completely open. And I don't know about you, but I can never get an invisible zipper to cooperate and get back on track when this happens- so we drummed up a (really crappy) needle and thread that someone found in a little-used bride's room. I whipstitched her into her pretty green frock and she was so calm. I was so impressed. I woulda been mad as heck. How much of our life and happiness depends on a zipper? Too much! And small world, Julie is from Florence, Al. and good friends with my friend Natalie. The chatting we did while I sewed her back together felt like the chatting I did last week at our sewing circle.

It follows me you see. Which is good. I just need to keep (really good) needles and thread in my purse.
It was nice meeting you Miss Julie.
xo, Anna

A Sewing Circle

Has it been two weeks? Wow. Feels like about one long day. Phew. N'kay.



Yesterday was my favorite day. I've been waiting for months. We had the first of two planned (prolly needs to be more like ten) sewing days to begin assembling the Rainbow Around the Block quilts for flood victims. That's Brittney up there working away while I imagine the rest of us were either digging through blocks, pressing, squaring, eating, eating, eating or planning the next top. Thank you Brittney for your talented hands! And for taking on the pink flamingo blocks.

You are not going to believe these stats----here we go...maybe you'll believe it. I didn't believe it, but you're probably smarter than me. Actually now that I've sorted through all of the blocks, tops and quilts and begun the sewing I most DEFinitely believe it. Uoops. I derailed, the stats:
we've received 1,746 blocks (enough for 41 full size quilts), 77 finished quilt tops and 22 completely finished quilts. I was stunned, amazed, floored, bewildered, happy, thankful and now very very busy!!!



My dear friend and often cohort in various crimes, Tracy Smith hosted us at her gorgeous, sunny, country home for our first sewing day. I think all the women that joined me there yesterday would agree that light doesn't just stream through the Smith home, but also emanates from it and we had a joyful time together. Thank you kind and funny Tracy.



It was such a lot of work to move all the materials, machines and supplies there, that once set up I wanted to stay for about a week. Seriously. I thought about starting to fold some of Tracy's laundry so that I could bribe her into it, but the I remembered my own laundry at home. And oh yea the family.



This is Mr. Toby with the quality control department. Sweet Kirsty tugged him along and he was a complete babbling happy bowl of baby. Kiss Kiss Toby! Thank you for sewing with me Kirsty, you are a dear.



These are the two Jennys at our porch cutting and "squaring up" table. I know that they will thank me for this back side shot. Thank you Jenny 1 and Jenny 2. You guys are the bestest.



Pierrette spent the whole time eating!!! Just kidding. I love you, Pierrette, thank you.



Every room downstairs looked sorta like this. A beautiful little curated geometry of color gathered from generous souls all over the world. Strewn across the floor, being thought over with conversation, laughs and pie. Thank you generous souls for letting us finish your good thoughts and your beautiful work.



And thank you Alexia, you are a sparkly little jewel and so wonderful to have near in all situations, most especially in sewing. Even if you do try to steal the best blocks. Just kidding. The above quilt was born on the design wall after I accused her of stealing my favorite block which is at the center there. She (sort of) happily conceded it to me after admitting it was the only one that wasn't working in her top composition. I like to be bossy, but then really, really thankful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

If you want to join us next month for the next sewing day (I will feed you), visit the rainbow page for more info, we can use your help! Or email rainbowATannamariahorner.com

smack! Anna