Quilting Rock Star!

I met Alix Anderson THE rock star of quilting this week. Alix hosted Simply Quilts, a PBS television show, for eleven years. She has authored many quilting books and patterns. A favorite quilt shop of mine in Ann Arbor Michigan, Viking Sewing Center, hosted the event where Alix was the keynote speaker. Meeting Alix was on my list of things to do before I kick the bucket.

Here is a picture of me, Alix and my mom...

Meet John and Archie. John (on the left) made their shirts using quilting fabrics of course! Thanks guys for being a good sport and letting me take your picture. Quilt on dudes!

Crafty Update...

I finished the first of two baby hats I'm knitting for my friend Kristin who just had beautiful twins. I can't post a picture here because she reads my blog and I want it to be a surprise. I'll post it once they've been sent to her. While in Michigan, I'm working on a few quilting squares for my mom who is making a beautiful quilt for my sister. I'll post the pictures once I get them done.

I have two major projects that I'm about to embark upon for upcoming weddings. The first is for my nephew and his bride. They designed a family crest representing their new family. I will be making a wall hanging of the crest to hang behind the bridal party table. They are having a Renaissance wedding in October. It is going to be a lot of fun! I am going to use a combination of quilting, embroidery and embellishment to recreate their vision. My mom and I are off to the fabric store tomorrow to buy the fabric.

The second project is for dear Miss Katy, Lauren's former nanny and current family friend. Miss Katy and Mr. Joe are having a December wedding. I will be making muffs and capes for the bridal party of eight. They plan to take some of the pictures outside which is why they need outerwear. Their colors are red, black and white. Lauren learned yesterday that she is going to be a junior bridesmaid which she is very excited about.

Business Update...

I made progress on the business. I submitted the required forms to operate the business to Massachusetts and established a business banking account as well. I have two 'stores' operational--Esty and eBay. I have sold several designs on eBay but am far from actually making a profit. I need to digitize, digitize and digitize so I have more products to offer for sale. Baby steps.

Personal Update...

Lauren and I are in Michigan to kick off our summer vacation. We are spending time with family and friends while we're here. Grandpa took us to Cedar Point which was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of Lauren and her friend Holly at CP.

We have a few more days of fun then its back to home sweet home. We need a week to sleep off our vacation. We are looking forward to July (horseback riding camp, the T family is coming for a visit, grandpa is coming for a visit).

Over and out!

Gloria

The Horse Show!

Lauren was in her first horse show today. I was so proud of her today! She did a great job helping take care of the horses. She was in four lead line classes placing first in two and third in two. She also received the best in show ribbon for the lead line group.

Check out the 'movie' I made about her day. Don't laugh Jim when you watch this--video editing runs in your family, not mine :-)

Here are more pictures...

Sewing news...

Since this is technically a blog about my sewing/crafting business, I did a bit of sewing (in vain) last night. I got paranoid thinking that Lauren was missing a piece of her show attire, a stock tie, so I whipped one up last night finishing about midnight. Turns out we didn't need it after all. Did I mention that we got up at 4:15am today? I'm too pooped to take a picture of the tie which turned out nicely.

Take care until next time!

Sewing For Charity

Hello! Here is an update as to what I've been up to. Love to hear from you!

Sewing for charity...

I made contact with the Wellesley quilt guild--Quinobequin Quilters Guild. They are on hiatus for the summer but I did get an 'assignment' to sew pillowcases for Hospice. I've made seven to date. These are fun and quick to sew. I also get to use my stash which means I have more room for new fabric.

The first five

My favorite so far

My next sewing project is to make a reusable grocery bag. I'd like to figure out a quick method to produce these. If I can do it economically, I might consider selling custom embroidered bags on Etsy.com. They'd also make great thank you gifts.

My embroidery business...

I have created design packs and posted them to ebay. Ebay no longer allows sellers to sell digital items on ebay. I had to create a physical product in order to be able to sell my designs. I created discs labeled with my company info and custom CD cases.

See my ebay listings: Bear pack Giraffe pack

Personal stuff...

We had a wonderful weekend on the cap compliments of Chad's employer. The weather was chilly but we still went to the pool and the beach party. We stayed at the Chatham Bars Inn which was lovely. I truly enjoy being by the water. Lauren had a good time and did well with the 'fancy' dinners.

Lauren has been under the weather this week and has missed three days of school so far. She was up most of the night last night so us girls are having a pj day. She has five more days of school then our vacation begins! We're heading to MI to visit with family and friends.

I had lunch with my former boss on Friday. It was fabulous seeing him and catching up. He is the very best of people.

The class I was scheduled to teach in June was cancelled. I am signed up to teach a class starting in August and am taking a few instructor workshops this month. These workshops will allow me to teach the online entry courses every student is required to take. That will give me more teaching opportunities.

Signing off until next time...