Pkg to Argentina II

Got these pictures today from my son in Argentina who delivered packages for us. We sent some winter clothes for the children of this family and here they are going through the box. The next is a picture of Susana Paez getting the gift bag I sent her and also a picture of her wearing the apron I made for her. It's so fun to be able to actually see what she looks like. We've just been emailing up to this point. I have to thank my son for enlarging my world and for my new circle of friends.

Making empanadas

I love receiving fun pictures like this from my son who's currently in Argentina on a 2 year mission for our church. He's the one in the center of the group. He's making empanadas with a family he writes about often. He's grown close to so many people there and genuinely loves what he's doing and has a great love for the Argentine people. His letters and pictures he sends to us mean so much. I find myself examining every square inch of the pictures just so I can see everything I can about where he is.

Sneak Peak

Here's a little sneak peak of the quilt I'm working on these days. I have a lot of it pinned up on my design board and I love looking at it already. I have plans for it to be on the wall in my entry. I'm not sure how I'll quilt something like this with so much going on in the fabrics.

Package to Argentina

This apron is called Very Vintage from my sister's apron pattern line at theapronlady.com. It was so easy and fun to make and I'm going to send it to an email friend, Susana, in Argentina. My son, who's on a 2 year mission there, told me that Susana wanted to meet me and start writing me. I've enjoyed getting to know her. So now I'm putting together a little package for her. I hope she likes the apron. It looks even cuter in person. If anyone has a fun idea for something else to send, let me know.

More baptism quilt pix

Hand quilted baptism picture.
I write this scripture on each of the baptism quilts and then hand quilt a temple. This is the Boise temple.
Kristina loves to sing, so I quilted her singing with friends.
For the center I used a method I saw in a book called Fantasy Floral Quilts by Bonnie Lyn McAffrey where you take apart silk flowers, glue them onto the fabric and cover them with tulle. It was kind of an experiment and I'm not sure if I"ll use the method again, but I think it looks cute.
A close up of the silk flowers.

Kristina's baptism quilt

Okay, so it took me 4 years to complete, but at least she's still living at home. I've made each of my kids a baptism quilt. They're baptized when they're 8....Kristina is now 12. She's my 4th child and actually my 5th, Leah, has already been baptized. I am working on her quilt now. Hopefully I'll get it done before she's 12.
Kristina requested that I use my stain glass blocks in the quilt. So I put them in the corners.
This is a close up of my hand quilting. It's our family at the time Kristina was baptized.
She was born in Hilton Head Island, SC, but we now live in Idaho so I quilted Hilton Head and Idaho.

I quilted her getting confirmed.

Instant Bond

After a quick trip to Provo to help my brother and SIL with their son's open house, we stopped on the way out of town to have lunch with my youngest 2 daughter's birth cousin. That sounds confusing...My youngest 2 girls are adopted and just last year we found a family who had adopted a boy who turns out to be their cousin (long story that I'll save for another day). My girls couldn't have been happier to hear that news and they instantly bonded with him. So did the rest of us. Our families are now good friends and will always have a special friendship. I consider them family.

Rubbing Elbows

While at market, we get to meet with many of the designers whose names we see often at our favorite quilt stores. My niece Mary (on the far right) and her roommate Kristine (center) were very anxious to meet Amy Butler. Amy's so personable and takes time with everyone who comes to her booth. Her booth, by the way, was darling as usual. Notice the cute aprons the girls are wearing from our booth.

More Market

Here's a few goodies I picked up at Sample Spree. The bag was full of Sandi Henderson's new line of fabric, Ginger Blossom. Even the inside of the bag was lined with one of her fabrics. I also picked up a new fat quarter pack from Andover and one from Benartex. Now I'm thinking of a pattern I can design to feature these new fabrics.

Market

My sister, Jan the Apron Lady, being interviewed for a podcast which should air later this week on Boutiquecafe.com.

Spring Market

Third time to the International Quilt Market. It hasn't lost its charm yet. I'm still amazed at the sheer vastness of the whole thing. There were 1000 vendors, each booth cuter and more creative than the last. Setting up the booth is definitely the hardest part. We stayed in a 2* hotel right across the street so that we could carry our boxes back and forth. The hotel was a bit scary, but worth the close proximity. There was a heat wave in Portland and several trips of carrying boxes and pushing baggage carts took its toll. The first thing I wanted to do was put up the incredible curtains that Diane Beagley had made for the booth. I was so excited to see them up and my anticipation paid off. They were a hit. Everyone commented on them and told us they had never seen anything like them.
The crowd of women waiting in the picture below is the beginning of the line for Sample Spree which takes place the night before market. Women start lining up around noon and the sale begins at 8pm that night and lasts for 2 hours. It's a wonderful kind of quilting fabric/gadget frenzy. I've included a few pictures from Sample Spree and market. My sister Jan, the Apron Lady, has a wonderful talent for design and fabric choices. Her aprons are different than any others we saw there and are now in the top ten for pattern sales for one of the major distributors. Her aprons are feminine, a little flirty and so easy to make. My daughter Kristina who's 12 made her Flirty Skirty apron and couldn't believe how easy it was.
All in all, it was a great market. I'll post a few more pictures later and tell a few more stories.

Mother's Day

Here's my cute mom! How did she do it-raised 12 adopted children and has remained the most graceful, loving and caring woman I know. She takes care of my dad, he takes care of her. What else could a daughter want. I hope she knows how special she is. Actually, I hope we all never forget to let her know daily how special she is. Happy Mother's Day Mom!!! I love you.

I know it's Spring, but...

So I know it's Spring, and I love Spring with all the colors, new growth, new hope, flowering trees and plants, but Fall is still my favorite. The colors of Fall soothe my soul and the smells take me to another place. Here's my Autumn Hunter's Star quilt. I made this a couple years ago and I hestitate to take it down off my walls but I rotate all my quilts fairly frequently. I rotate to save them from too much sun exposure and also to shake things up around the house-- can't let it get too stagnant.

Box of Batiks

I never seem to tire looking at this quilt whenever I enter the room. It was so easy and fun to make. I'm definitely going to make another one. You basically draw a grid onto the background fabric, fabric glue the squares down and sew over the top of them 1/4" from their edges.

Just getting going....

Kind of a strange way to say something "just getting going" but that's what I'm doing-kind of spinning my wheels right now. At least my engine's running, right?