Fresh Figs

Winners, winners chicken dinners!

I just finished reading the comments. Thank you all so much for sharing your daydreams with us. They were so wonderful to read and I feel like I know a lot of you so much better! And I would still really like to be canning with some of you right now!

Given the amount of comments, I decided to have a few winners.  The main winner will get the whole packet and the others will get a Le Fig pincushion kit & some pattern goodies!

 

1st winner:  Jane, commented on August 25 at 8:00 am and said:

i'm rather new to your blog (2 weeks) and am hoping it's all right to enter your giveaway. the cotton pear is lovely and would be happy taking its place on my mantle. :o) as summer comes to a close, i'm still canning and dehydrating. i dream about getting busy on stitching (embroidery), a bit of knitting, a couple mini quilts, finishing a primitive Americana quilt, and sewing a couple dresses. lots to dream about. hope your day is swell. 

Extra winners:

Dawn, commented on August 23, 5:50 pm and said:

While your memories of the first day of school make me miss those days when my children were small and cute, I am now looking forward to something totally opposite - in a way. My baby (I have 4 children) is going off to college about 450 miles away. So my last few days of summer are busily buying and packing to move her away. BUT - I kind of am looking forward to that empty nest! for a few months at a time anyway! It is kind of nice knowing it is only temporary!

Lori, commented on August 25, 6:53 am and said: 

I have only been sewing for a year. I love all your great patterns. I always want ALL the new fabrics. My house cleaning days have been replaced with sewing days. Much more fun!

So send me an email with your address ladies so we can get your goodies out to you!

And after reading through all of your wonderful comments and coming across this next one, I felt like we should send her something extra special just because she might just need it a bit more than all the rest of us put together. So I added her in. I'm sure you will agree.

Donna commented on August 26, 9:32 am:

I wish so much that I had the opportunity to post anything BUT what I have been doing this summer. On March 16th of this year, I suffered the greatest tragedy known to any mother. I lost my precious, beloved son, Brian, after a 2 year struggle with cancer. He passed away just 5 days after his 19th birthday. I don't think I have to say that my life is now, and forever will be, changed. Brian knew how much I loved to quilt and he was always amazed at the things I would accomplish. I had to put aside that part of my life during those 2 years while devoting every minute of everyday to caring for my precious son and trying to keep cancer from snatching him from my arms. I know that he would want me to continue with the things that brought me joy such as working with fabrics and quilting. I have always loved your lines of fabrics and patterns. I just need a little boost and some inspiration to get going again. I'm even trying to think of a way that I could make a quilt in his memory knowing however, that he was such a tremendous young person and so loving, that it will really have to be something special. I love the idea of using your fabrics because the "happy" that they bring looking at them reflects the "happy" that Brian always gave to everyone around him. Nothing drab or dark would do. I hesitated to even write this, but I do need some inspiration to get started back trying to do things that bring me some joy, and like I said before, I know my son would want me to get back to this. It would rekindle the memories of the times he would watch me and praise me even though he was a major athlete and all boy, he still took the time to be interested in what I was doing. Just writing this makes me think back to those happy times. One other thing I would like to say after reading so many of the replies and those of you with small children is that (and I know all mothers know this but I can't help but repeat) they grow up so quickly. Cherish even the smallest of moments. Our children are gifts from God. Thank you for allowing me to post.

Thanks again everyone for playing. For all those of you who have emailed asking about desk organizing info, i will post about that in the next couple of days.

Talk to you soon.

Let the Games Begin

All I can say is Oh My Goodness! That was quite a nice little group of you all who commented on the giveaway. As of this morning I am officially closing it down for comments because, you know, well, enough is enough already don't you think? I guess I will have to do these more often than I normally do!

I will post the winner... or I think winners :-) on Monday morning. Mostly I need until then to finish reading all of the comments. You guys are much faster at writing them than I am at reading them and I really do want to read each and every single one. 

... a shot from the office re org mentioned below 

I have to tell you that reading these so far has made me laugh, chuckle, cry and fall deep into thought. I am SO envious of all of you who wrote that you are canning! I want to be canning right now in the biggest way. My biggest problem... nothing to can since we didn't do much in the garden this year and perhaps more importantly, little to no skill in canning. So for all of you canners out there... if you have any that you are just dieing to get rid of, well I could definitely find a home for them right here in the Fig kitchen. Really, I could... LOL!

I have cried with those of you who have experienced such loss and sadness this year, prayed with those of you who are waiting for loved ones to return from war, jumped for joy with those of you who are expecting, have new ones or are about to get married in the coming weeks and days! I have wanted to see your remodels and re orgs this summer, wanted to visit your overflowing gardens, sew with the grandmas, tickle the toes of the new ones. Oh my goodness, I am feeling sappy now!

I just want to thank you all so much for sharing a little snippet of your lives with me, whether joyful or sad, wistful or full of activity. It helped me to process our own days around here as everyone left for school and fall routines started. 

 

... do you all remember these shots from last year? Look at how much older they look this time around? How did that happen exactly?

You motivated me to finish up my office clean up as the guest bed left and we made room for another desk from downstairs. 

 

 

 
 ... As you can see, my favorite things to organize with are pretty folders, inspiration boards and trays with cubbies. Vintage and functional at the same time. My other favorite tip: Remember to give your desk a little height with something so that you can organize more things and give the whole desk more dimension.

Organizing is one of my absolute favorite things to do, especially while I am thinking and all of your comments, if nothing else, definitely made me think. A lot.  

Thank you for sharing your lives with me just a bit. So grateful to be doing what I am doing and that it brightens some of your lives and brings a little color into all of our days!

Talk to you soon.

The last bits of summer...& a little giveaway

....giveaway is now closed. thank you so much.

Its almost that time. That one day a year that I get so caught up in what they are wearing, what their hair looks like, whether their shoes are tied right, what they eat for breakfast... That day that I think about [yeah perhaps even obsess over just a bit] probably more than they do. I am both so looking forward to it and dreading it. Its tomorrow. 

The school supplies have been acquired with minimum problem. Dare I might say that it was fun. Well, maybe not quite fun but not horrible! Staples and Target with 3 kids and 4 lists of things that need to be gotten... well, it can be just a bit overwhelming!

I registered my oldest in Jr. High last week. He got a locker. And gym clothes. And there were girls flirting with him. God forbid, I think he was flirting back. Even though he doesn't quite know how.

Their clothes have been mostly taken care of. Until next week when someone decides that there is something that we have forgotten that they can't live without. At least none of my 3 know what a brand name even is yet. Or care. They are dressed from head to toe in Old Navy and Target and they couldn't be happier. At least for now. At least the boys. The girl might have a little something else sprinkled in here and there, but not much or just a bit of handmade. Its all good. Until she discovers boys or what's "in". Hoping that day comes later rather than sooner. On both accounts!  For today she is my little office helper...

When I am not answering writing questions for the "helper", I am trying to finish up some projects and work on pattern instructions. The next fabric group has gone to print and I will see advance yardage sometime in October. I know, in October!! Not sure how we are going to make the booth work this year, but we'll do what we can, right? It might be interesting to watch!

Strikeoffs you ask? Cuz you know  you're asking.... well here is a very small peak at some of the strikeoffs that made the cut. 

... more on that later.

Besides all of that, I am a bit distracted. Thinking of the summer, staring out the window, daydreaming... kind of wish we could be back at the river. On a canoe. 

 

Hope you're daydreaming too. And enjoying your last days of summer.

How about a GIVEAWAY in honor of daydreaming? Haven't done one of those in like a... a year!

Tell me what you are doing with your last days of summer or what you are daydreaming about these days and we will enter your name to win a Fresh Cottons honeybun, a pack of ALL the brand new Fig Tree patterns and a Le Fig Kit. Why? 

 

Because Fresh Cottons IS summer, the patterns are fun and the fig, well anyone can knock one of those out in a few hours and feel accomplished!

Talk to you soon.

 

 

Fig Tree Club

   

If you are a club member... we hope you enjoy this year. If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the program please feel free to ask your member store or never hesitate to contact me at joanna@figtreequilts.com

If you are interested in joining, please contact a store of your choice. See the list here. 

A few last minute stores have been added and are not yet included in the list:

Patchworks Plus at www.patchworksplus.com.au [Australia]

Tyjo's Fabrics at www.tyjos.com [Canada]

if you are a store that is interested in joining us, please contact me at the above email. We have a wait list available for winter 2010/2011.

Talk to you soon.

Paris, my friend

Now I have to tell you that Paris, although still completely intoxicating, spellbinding, breathtaking, mysterious, and a whole group of other adjectives, has become somewhat of a friend over these last couple of trips. Mon ami as they say.

I now have a "regular" place I like to stay. On "my little island". A regular place I have my morning tea and croissant. Sometimes they even recognize me there. A regular afternoon crepe with nutella to snack on, couldn't think of anything other I would rather eat when strolling around Paris. A regular corner florist where I buy the flowers for my hotel room. My own metro stop. A favorite place to walk along the Seine. My favorite market and even a cheese shop that i can't resist.

And yet the city is full of idiosyncracies that I love to observe and a million things that I don't understand... like how to use a foreign credit card on one of those cool city rent bikes that you can pick up anywhere and drop off anywhere else for pennies! Anyone?

To me, Paris is still full of contradictions and things that you dont' expect. Its one of the things I love most about it. 

Like this,

 ...the Notre Dame.

right across the street from this...

 ... a popular cafe that stays open all night with French and tourist alike.

Or this,

 A cafe mixed right into our view of Sacre Couer.

Or like color at every turn,

 

...right next to a neutral that is just as beautiful.

 

Like this older French gentleman shopping at the outdoor vegetable market who couldn't feel more "french" to me, with his classic profile, his expression and of course, his cane,

 

... just a few streets down from this little boy we met at the park that, to me, epitomizes what I think a little French boy ought to look like. Right down to his shoes. And his little red truck.

 

And the little courtyards. The old entryways and covered walkways. The quiet spots away from the bustle and the cars. The softer side of Paris. So unexpected when you are walking on a major boulevard. But suddenly there it is.

   
 

And the menus. Don't let me forget about the menus. The little menus in every shape color and style. The little menus that have come to communicate something to me about Paris, its simplicity, its people, its love of food. These little boards have become somewhat of an obsession for me. I think I have probably photographed at least a hundred of them by now. I just can't seem to get them out of my system. I love them. How silly is that?

Or what about the fact that here, this is what the salt aisle at the store looks like.... yes, that's right, the salt aisle. Nothing but salts.

Or the fact that almost every Brasserie you pass has its doors open and feels this inviting. Like you've been there before... but you haven't.

... this has absolutely nothing to do with Paris, but you gotta love a husband who is willing to carry a "merse" [man purse] with embroidery on it all around the city!  

 

... A place that feels like my friend.

Talk to you soon.