Moda Mail

One of my favorite things to see on my doorstep is a brown cardboard box with a return address that says United Notions & Fabrics. Today I got 3 sets of charm packs.

Attitude Girls by Mary Engelbreit


Eden by Lila Tueller


and Spring Fever by Me and My Sister.

I am getting spring fever just looking at these fabrics. I need to get all my Christmas quilts done so I can start playing. I have to tell myself the same thing I tell my kids, "You need to get your work done so you can play." Ick! I like hearing it from myself probably about as much as my kids like hearing it from me.

Fortunately, most days my work feels like play. I feel very blessed to be able to have a job doing something that I LOVE -- especially when it means I get a brown box from Moda!

HMQS Update

After sleeping in on Sunday, I think I am recovered from HMQS. It was so much fun! Quilters are just great people. I love talking to all of you. I shared a booth with some other pattern designers, Crazy Old Ladies, who are friends of mine. What a riot. I want to say that it was their fault that I became as crazy as they are, but I don't think it was their fault. That kind of just happens after spending three days in a 10' x 10' space.

I spent half of my earnings across the aisle at the Rusty Crow Quilt Shop, a vendor from California. Good thing we weren't there another day or two. I might have just handed her everything just for the pleasure of taking home some of her fabric treasures that I just couldn't live without. She just had tubs and tubs of fat quarters and precut yards that asked if they could come home with me.

The quilts, of course, were to die for. I cannot even imagine all the hours that go into making them. I don't make show quilts at this stage of my life. I do love making quilts that aren't going to give me a heart attack if one of my kids curls up with on the couch.

One of my favorites was David Taylor. His award winning goat was there as well as other amazing quilts. But the best part was that on Saturday, David Taylor was there quilting his latest creation, an amazing owl. Very cool!

I collected four quilts for Quilts of Valor. That was more than I expected. I find people don't usually bring quilts to a quilt show. But many were interested and over 500 flyers were handed out. And the "Pajama Quilter's" sister won the drawing of one of my books, Simply Charming Seasons, two 1 1/2 yards of fabric and two coordinating charm packs. Yeah!

As fun as HMQS was, there was one downside. I did not get a single picture. Sigh. No excuse. Sorry.

My Cupcakes from . . . Antarctica

Wow. So I dropped off the face of the earth for a while. I am back now, itching and sneezing thanks to the good weather we have been having. I think maybe I went to Antarctica, but I am really not sure where I was. Where ever I was, I came back with a book! My printer is so fast that I hadn't even recovered from getting the files to him before a stack of boxes was on my doorstep. The new book is called Simply Charming Circles, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow because . . . I am determined to be finished forever with these cupcakes!

Here is the picture of my progress:

Now for the story:

Short story -- my book.

Longer story -- You know how there are some projects that you just get really tired of? This is one of those. I only finished it this far because I knew I had to write this post. I never really liked cupcakes, but I started this quilt because of a design challenge. Now, I am sick of cupcakes. The cupcake fad isn't over yet. I keep seeing cupcakes everywhere. They are haunting me.

Okay, so the burning question, who gets the charm pack, after all, I didn't use anyone's ideas? So no one gets the charm pack -- just kidding. That wouldn't be fair after all the fun ideas I got. My first thought would be to use all of them. There are six cupcakes after all. It would be fun to decorate all of them differently. Then reality hit. Before I went to Antarctica, I was going to put the yo-yo on with a button. Then reality hit again, and (now that the quilt is pressed and taken a picture of) I am going to throw it into the UFO pile, gladly.

So, The Wheeler 5, a friend of mine, you get the charm pack! Thanks for all the fun ideas. Maybe you could make your own cupcake quilt and have fun decorating your own cupcakes!

One last thought, I know that whenever I say that I don't like a quilt, someone always says they love it. I am sure that this quilt isn't as horrid as I think it is. What happens to quilts like this is that one day I will get around to quilting it and donate it to a wonderful charity.