Fresh Figs

Fences, Amish & other delights

My life turned a sharp [well perhaps I'm being just a bit dramatic] turn a few days ago when our trusted contractor of old called us to say that his guys had some time to do all those little projects we had wanted him to do but he never had time [this includes everything from serious garage work, to building furniture, to altering a porch, to fixing concrete, and on and on...]. Well that is all well and good and we are very glad he can fit us into his schedule, but WE'RE NOT READY! The garage has become a depository of every imagineable piece of flea market furniture, random boxes, old kid's toys, scattered tools, dog beds, garden trash,... remember that photo I showed you of my studio floor right after Market? Well imagine that x10, garage size! Its an ugly thought... pictures would be a bad idea.
The same day he called, I came down with some nasty bug that left me going back and forth from the bathroom to my bed and not much else for the next 2 days- its not been a good year for my stomach I tell you- TMI I know, but just thought I'd share.
Needless to say, the last few days have been a bit sketchy around here but the end result so far is that I am feeling better, we have installed our hot tub and we have a completed new country fence! I love it. It still needs to be painted & then I'll take some pics. I'm having visions of the boys doing Tom Sawyer impressions with the whitewash... or was that Huckleberry Finn?
Wish I had taken before photos of the ivy nightmare that was our fence before, but as you all must know by now, my photo chronicaling skills leave something to be desired!

On a totally different topic, this weekend I was able to take a quick jump over to an Amish Quilt Faire. Apparently there is an organization
that helps to sponsor these fairs around the country in order to help the Amish support themselves, hand making & selling the crafts and quilts that they are so famous for. The show was full of traditional amish quilts, dolls, bonnets, jams, and numerous other crafts. Who knew that the Amish were known for their handmade broom making skills! I did take a few pictures before they told me I couldn't. I just love looking at the hand quilting and applique. I like to think about the fact that communities of these ladies have been quilting for hundreds of years. They have come before us...

But most importantly, I acquired the item for which I went... an old-fashioned wood laundry hanger. I had seen an almost identical one at the Flea Market last month and I was having visions of using it as a quilt hanger...laundry, ha, ha, who has time to do and hang laundry!! It's all about how to display the quilt at our house :-).

My friend Diana had told me about this Amish Fair and that they make ones almost identical to the one I had seen at the Flea Market. Well, here it is. I love it even with just one quilt on it. For those of you going to Market in Houston, you will see it there as I will be using it as a part of my display set up. Part of that whole dandelion thing I was talking about earlier... more on that later.

P.S. Several of you have emailed me and asked about the Pine Trees Quilt you saw hanging in the pictures of our Market booth... that will be the featured quilt in the next issue of Fresh Vintage, due out in August.

cheerio.

Books and Babies

Happy Belated Father's Day to All-
Hope everyone got a chance to enjoy the day with a dad of any kind!

Our day was filled with adorable handmade presents, boy errands, good food, the park, baseball and some good tv... I don't think the daddy is complaining.

It must be book time around here and I wanted to congratulate Elizabeth on her new accomplishment! As someone who loves any kind of words on a quilt, I have been waiting for her book ever since I found out that she had written it. I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on it. I'm sure she is very proud!!

And speaking of not being able to wait, I have been wanting to share a little picture with you and now I finally have a good image...

Our first major book is coming out with That Patchwork Place in Septmember. The theme & title of the book is "Houses" and so it contains 14 different house quilts and quilted projects. I am so pleased with the amazing results of the editing and illustration staff at That Patchwork Place that I'm just skipping around waiting for an advance copy to arrive on my doorstep sometime this summer...

A few years ago we did a series of book [or rather booklets, because they were those more soft type books with the stapled covers] with Leisure Arts and that was both fun and a good experience for us in the industry.


But somehow that felt different.

This process with That Patchwork Place has felt like the real deal. From the proposal, to making the quilts, to the long and sometimes grueling process of writing the manuscript and detailing the illustrations to be included... The whole thing has felt very much like what I would imagine a "Real" author has to go through to get a book into print. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed each of the processes I went through, but somehow this one has felt more complete and I am really, really happy with the final result.

I have loved all of it and can't wait to do it again! Although, I'm sure some of you close to me would remind me that I didn't necessarily feel that way all the way through and that I am now experiencing that mom-to-be euphoria that allows those of us who have gone through natural childbirth to be willing and lo, excited, to do it all again... what are we thinking?? Hello... who thinks its going to be a good idea to shove a watermelon sized object through an opening the size of an orange? HELLO???
Anyway, sorry for that little side track... sometimes I get just the littlest bit cranky thinking about going through labor on 3 different occasions... but that's a story for another day...another day way, way far away :-)

As soon as they send me some good pics of the inside pages of the book, I will share some of those too.

toodles.

At Cicero's

This is just one of my vintage images that I love. I think I might start each post with one of these.

I had the pleasure of driving around the sweet little town of Napa

yesterday. And when I say around, I really mean around since the google instructions that the quilt guild I was speaking to sent me, sent me on a roundabout path that ended up at a U-Haul facility instead of the auditorium where I was supposed to speak :-)!! It was all good in the end...

Anyway, I finally did arrive, gave my presentation and trunk show, chatted a bit with the ladies and then took myself on a little date around town.
I have to tell you that as a mom of 3 small kids, I don't often get the chance to have any kind of a meal by myself much less at a restaurant. When I was much younger, I used to look at the individuals who were eating in a restaurant alone with great pity and compassion. I would imagine how sad and lonely their lives must be to have to go out by themselves.
Well, my perspective has changed..... alot. Now, I cherish and savor the moments of quiet when I have the rare opportunity to go out byself with a good book or my sketchbook, have a nice glass of wine and enjoy a wonderful meal... all by myself. I know that people are probably looking at me and feeling sorry for me. But that's okay. If they look closely, they will see me laughing at my book or smiling about whatever I happen to be sketching at the time. Its one of secret little pleasures. And this was just such an occasion in Napa. I went to a little cafe called Ciceros, sat outdoors, felt the breeze, ate salad and mushrooms stuffed with bacon in a wine sauce, while I read and sketched. The book I'm reading, A Year in Japan, is a feast for the eyes and fun to read. It is written by Kate Williamson and chronicles her time in Japan with small watercolor sketches and charming written vignettes about totally random experiences of food, friendship, and culture.

Its just the kind of book you would want to read with a glass of wine while sitting on a porch swing or at your favorite neighborhood bistro.
Walking around Napa, I stopped at the Vintage Sweet Shoppe for a little chocolate nibble, after I strolled through Silverado Antiques and bought some fun antique potato mashers [don't even ask me why or what I plan on doing them.] When I got home I told the kids I bought them to use in case they were a problem this summer... they took one look at those huge wooden potato mashers and ran screaming from the room in laughter. I'm telling you, I get no respest around here!
While at the downtown quilt shop, Quiltmaker Quilt Shoppe, I found a wonderful Australian Magazine, called Australian Quilters Companion. Somehow I have never seen it.

Well, that's it for my Napa travels.

I'll leave you with a few swatches of our newest line to be in stores. It is called "Yuletide Blessing" and it is a small Christmas line with a wonderful vintage red, a classic green and a soft tan. Look for it at your local quilt store now. Our pattern that goes with it is "A Yuletide Snowflake", using 1 Jelly Roll and some yardage.



I'll show you the pattern in the next post.

toodles.

Figs on the Floor

I know I haven't posted any pictures of Market since I've been back...and some of you have been waiting patiently for something, a little decoration, a little fig, a little something...

Well, I have to make a confession... for the 3rd Market in a row I have brought my camera with me and yet failed to take a single picture! The camera just doesn't even make it out of the hotel room. And every year, as I am in the middle of taking my booth down at a break neck speed [I don't know what it is about Market break down but you can ask any Market vendor that it is almost like a contest to see how fast one can break down the entire booth- the booth by the way that sometimes took you days to set up-, pack it up and shove everything into the car, the UPS store or wherever else its going...] I realize that I haven't had time or presence of mind to take any pictures, again!! I say a few choice words, look around me at the chaos and the boxes and hope that maybe next year I'll do better. I'm getting way more into this whole photography thing so maybe we stand a chance in Houston.

So if you haven't already, you might want to take a glance and live thru Market vicariously like I've doing [since I barely made it out of my booth at Market] here, or here or here or here to see some great Market finds and booths.

As for the Fig Tree booth, we'll have to settle for a shot or 2 taken by my friend Anne B. The theme was "A Farmer's Market"- I have been so inspired by the fruit stands at Farmer's Markets such as these


, the colors & the scents that I thought it would be fun to make a "quilt" farmer's Market stand. We used dozens of wooden fruit crates filled with straw & fresh green apples covering the bottom parts of the walls of the entire booth. The floor was a faded white faux wood paneling [courtesy of our wonderful MODA mother ship as Gina put it] with huge coated fabric figs scattered afixed to the floor. Lots of people thought they were so darling that they were afraid to walk on them and I had to keep assuring people that it was just fine, that they were coated with plastic [the florals in our line were also offered as a coated fabric that you can use to make tote bags or picnic tablecloths...llots of creative uses]!! We got so many wonderful comments about the booth and especially those figs that we just felt awash with the praise! The floor figs were a bit different from what most people had, since usually no one puts anything on the floor except for carpeting or rugs. Anyway, they were such a huge hit that I think we might do something similiar in coming years. Next time they might have to be dandelions... stay tuned to find out why dandelions... :-)!

Fresh Vintage Adventures

Okay, so I'm still cleaning up my studio. Although I do have to tell you that I'm almost done cleaning, the floor has slowly come into view.. I know you probably doubt me, but its true.... pictures coming soon.

To celebrate my "cleanliness" I treated myself to a little flea marketing before an afternoon of fabric design and painting today We are lucky enough to have a wonderful Flea Market right here in our own backyard, the Alameda Naval Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire, which happens to be about 15 minutes from my house. I dragged 2 of my friends with me, Denise, and Diana, one of my quilters extroirdinaire and off we went.

My goal was to find some new furniture & fun accessories for a photo shoot that will be happening at my house later this summer [that's all hush, hush for now, but I'll share more as soon as I can...] and I did get a little green bench toward that goal.
But instead I found so many wonderful little Fresh Vintage :-) items- a couple antique quilt tops, a wonderful linen tablecloth with a tangerine stripe, 2 vintage floral drapes with the most wonderful faded color scheme, some old wooden hangers that will make a wonderful display, a bunch of $1 scarves, a bunch of $1 silver plated silverware... and that's just the beginning of the list. I'm too tired to post pictures of these little goodies tonite but will do that in my next post.

The Flea Market was fabulous with so many new stylish vendors- could have stayed all day! While we were there we bumped into Elizabeth and Pam! I'm telling you, everytime I go on a little adventure, I find out that those 2 have either just done it, are doing it at the same time I'm doing it, or happen to go the same place a few days or weekends after I go! We were bound to bump into each other sooner or later. Ofcourse they were armed with cameras in order to chronicle their adventures and what did I have? Just a goofy smile when Elizabeth said "cheese". Maybe she'll post it sometime soon. Next time I'll be armed with my own point and click Elizabeth and you'll be having to smile your cute self!!
Here's to seeing each other at future roadtrips gals!

For today, I wanted to tell you about this cute little antiques cooperative in downtown Benicia... Kindred Spirits. On Mother's Day I told my husband and my (3) kids that today it was all about mommy and that they had to go wherever I wanted to go all day long. One of the places we ended up is this cute little collective. I got a few wonderful little goodies that I've been wanting to show you...

1. Vintage Ironing Board with green legs. I already have one of these but I just couldn't resist this one. For those of you who are local and have the same proclivity toward these wonderful old ironing boards, she had at least 2 more at the shop.

2. This wonderful vintage apron. The apron is cute enough by itself, but the color palette is totally inspirational! I would love to design an entire fabric line around this little color scheme. What do you think? The aqua and lime alone just sends me into twirlies!

3. This great little green box and some vintage bird coasters. The green box has a specific name and its a collectible and I just can't remember its official name. Ofcourse, for me its all about the color...if its fresh green, I have to have it! It had a little chip in it, so that made it affordable...

Talk to you soon my friends!

I Don't Know What My Story Is This Time

You know I promised to blog at least once a week when I started this venture! I thought to myself, how hard could it possibly be to add this to my oh so quiet and simple life of 3 small children, fabric design, pattern writing, quilt teaching, husband care, house maintaining, garden weeding and several dozen other small and somewhat menial tasks? What was I thinking?
But every week that goes by and I haven't blogged, I feel you waiting and waiting and checking and checking to see if maybe..... Waiting patiently I know, some of you have emailed me to see if maybe I had dropped off the face of the earth. Thanks for checking in!

So all of the above is by way of an exlanation to hopefully show you that I'm not a total slacker, but in serious need of some HELP! Anyone out there volunteering? LOL

In my last post, I promised to show a few pictures of what my studio looks like after the whirlwind of Market, pattern and fabric design.

I would like you all to know that the floor still looks like this 3 1/2 weeks later, although now it has officially made it to the top of my list of things to do... probably at 2:00 am tonite! Anyone else planning on being up then?
Now, I need to preface these pictures by telling you that I love to be a neat person. I love order. I love to have my stash seperated by color and print. I love to see everything in its alotted place...
Having said that, I work best in total chaos. I like to pull things out... fabrics, books, inspiration pieces, magazine tear sheets, etc. I surround myself with everything I need to create and then the juices start flowing.
The problem doesn't lie there. It lies in the fact that after I am done, I would like for it all to magically put itself away just so that I can do it all again the next week!! Well, the magic didn't happen this time. Did someone borrow my elves?
So as I promised you can see my creative chaos as my husband lovingly refers to it. [My husband Eric by the way was featured on a recent post at Quilters Buzz, wearing one of my little creations- our free apron pattern giveaway from Market. Let's just say that when they took that picture, he never thought it would be broadcast on the web. Way to advertise for Fig Tree!] Thanks for the advertiing Gina, we'll be sure to reciprocate when you least expect it!

Tomorrow's post: a bit more from Market!

toodles.