Beautiful morning

The honeysuckle is in full bloom, and the aroma is heavenly! Lou loves to draw the pistils out of the flowers for the sweet little drops of nectar.




Both the guys are wearing their new Sis Boom Boxers (I'm in mine too, but no pics of the disheveled photographer). When I was working on the patterns, I made lots of shorts for the whole family and we are loving them. They are especially great on mornings like this when one just wants to get up and go right outside.



Check out Del in his Tommy Boxers (I'm a lucky woman, I know)! I used Claire Blocks from the Bellbottoms line - it is discontinued, but there is still yardage to be found on the internet. I can't wait to get my hands on Jennifer's new Poodle line - there are some geometrics in there that will be perfect for the menfolk.




Lou is still in Cover Boy mode after his modeling session with Tim Geaney. Today he insisted on wearing some "bling" and made himself a necklace out of paperclips.




The garden is doing great this year! We've had a good mix of heat and rain, and the crops (and the weeds) are going crazy.




We've already harvested lots of radishes and greens, and the sugar snap peas are just starting to fill out.




For the first time ever, we have a bumper crop of cilantro. Last year I had a few scrawny plants that ended up going to seed, and this year we are enjoying the progeny. We have some younger ones coming along from seed that I planted after frost. Hopefully they will be nice and full when the tomatoes are ripe so we can make salsa. Anyone have any suggestions for freezing/saving the stuff that is ready now?




The raised beds that looked like burial mounds a few weeks ago are covered with lettuce, bok choy, kale, and squash. The backyard is a sea of green...



...with a touch of pink!

Out and about...

I'm normally a total homebody, but this month I took not one but TWO big trips. They were both dream excursions for me, too! I've been so wrapped up in planning/packing/sewing for these trips, that I haven't taken the time to blog. Therefore, you are getting a brief (but photo-packed) summary of my May adventures.

My first trip was to the enchanted island of Sis Boom over Mother's day weekend.




I didn't get many pictures inside the house because I was just overwhelmed by all the sparkling pretties and effervescent people. I managed to do a little better outside. Here I am donning my Marlo Top and manning the fabric cutting station. Yeah, I'm blissful.




I was so lucky to have my sweet mama with me. She added to the fun and also helped keep track of Louie. She and Jennifer hit it right off (I knew they would)! Check at those two gorgeous ladies in their Patricia Tunics!




Another big treat was that my friends Nicole and Stacey came with their darling little girls. The babies were so cute together!




Louie LOVED hanging out with the babies' big sisters!






Louie also had an on-location modeling session with the incredible Tim Geaney. Lou is going to be the cover boy on our soon-to-be-released child-sized boxer shorts pattern! He is usually totally uncooperative when I am behind the camera, but he had a ball showing off for Tim. I'm over the moon, of course!!!




After the fun in CT, I came home and immediately started preparing for my trip to the big, beautiful city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I attended my first-ever Quilt Market, and it was a star-studded dream come true!!! Just like the Sis Boom trip, however, I got all swept up in the fabricy fun and neglected my picture taking duties (excuses, excuses)! I did get some shots of sewing celebrities, however. Here I am on day one with fabulously cool fabric designers Melissa Averinos (yummygoods) and Bari J. Ackerman (BariJ). They are both extremely talented and so very nice!




And here I am on day two with quilter/designer/comedian Mark Lipinksi!!! I was SO thrilled to get to hug up on him...he is just the sweetest! I am SO framing this picture!




At the Schmetz needle booth, I had the pleasure of meeting Rhonda Pierce and Rita Farro. These great ladies are so knowledgeable, and they gave me an awesome needle selection guide! Check out the giant needle I'm holding - YIKES! Rita's "Hey Rita" bag is famous! Check out her blog for a slideshow!




I really enjoyed getting to know Michelle and Gina from Cloud 9 Fabrics. Their prints are dreamy and the organic fabric feels so nice to the touch! Cherri House of Cherry House Quilts and Michelle show off a wonderful quilt made by Cherri using Cloud 9 Fabrics - heavenly!!!




Here is another fantastic designer working with organic fabrics - Nancy Mims. Her Free to Grow line debuted at the show, and I was beyond excited to see she was displaying a beautiful tunic made from our Sis Boom Shana Pattern!!!




My Facebook friends were VERY excited to find out that Robert Kaufman Fabrics is coming out with Dr. Seuss prints!!!



I got to see sneak peeks on paper, but didn't get any pics because the rep told me they weren't quite ready for release. However, the gals from CityCraft managed to get some shots, and you can see the footage on this podcast!!! In fact, you should check out all of the information-packed QM podcasts on their blog. And if you are in Dallas, visit their awesome shop to meet them in person!

Some other great folks I spent time with (but don't have the pictures to show for it) are Kim Kight, Betz White, Scott Hansen, Michele Merin, Cara Bonner, and Patty Young. Special thanks to Caroline Devoy and Violet Craft for taking me under your wings and making my first market productive, memorable, and crazy FUN!!!

Wah-hooooo!

So many happy things to post about!



The plants are in the ground! I put them in last weekend, in fact. It was kind of chilly and predicted to be very rainy early in the week, but I figured that the plants would prefer that over the scorching heat that was forcasted for this weekend (and actually happened). So far so good - everything is green and growing!



The paper patterns arrived (all 2700+ pounds of them)! They are BEAUTIFUL, and only occupy 1/3 of our unused formal living room. Of course, I want them to find new homes, so I will be getting wholesale/retail ordering information together very soon!




My awesome husband built us the coolest patio set! We fixed up the wrought iron curbside-find chairs I mentioned here last month. I say "we," but the only thing I had to do was staple marine vinyl and batting to the seats. He cleaned and spray painted the chairs, poured the concrete tabletop (using scrap wood we had on hand to make the form, and old wire shelves as reinforcement), and built the base out of inexpensive deck supports from Home Depot. We love it! All the set needs now is a classy tablecloth, and I'm holding out for Jennifer's laminates!




And just to add some "fluff" to this post...we picked up a 5 lb bucket of Marshmallow Fluff at Restaurant Depot last weekend. At just over a buck a pound, who could resist? We used about 3 tablespoons last week, so at this rate it should last us 14.3 years (no, I didn't really do that math...I thought about it, but that would mean figuring out the density of fluff, etc.). Anyway, hopefully the bucket will be empty in time for our grandchildren to take it to the beach.




Most importantly, Mother's day is coming up!!! Even if you aren't a mom in the traditional sense, you certainly have provided nurturing, and have been the recipient of nurturing along the way. I really feel like that is what the day is about...just appreciating those who care for others, no matter what!

We are celebrating in grand fashion this year! My sweet mama Elizabeth is coming to town on Tuesday, and we are heading up to Wilton, CT (with Louie in tow) for the awesome Sis Boom Big Sale! Jennifer's stylish mama Patricia will be there too, so it will truly be a celebration of women who inspire creativity and spunk! If you are in a 2,000 mile radius of Wilton, please come and see us! I'll be there all day Thursday and Friday, cutting yards and yards of gorgeous Sis Boom fabric!!! My paper patterns will also be making their debut there, so you'll have all the makings for beautiful, custom, one-of-a-kind clothing creations!



OK, I know this post has been very mama-centric, but you might have gotten the hint from the pics above...Jennifer and I working on a pair of patterns that the boys in you life will LOVE! They are with the testers right now, and passing with flying colors. We promise that they will be here in plenty of time for Father's Day! In the meantime, sew up those tunics and peasants for the great women in your life!!!