Everything's in place - I hope.  (I'm still very new at this but I had great help.)

We also hope you enjoy this tutorial on Natalie's Quilt.  To see it click here

AHAAA!!!! Email problem figured out at long last! - We Hope!

Before I go to the pictures, lets talk about email.  

Over  the last couple of years we have had lots and lots of people tell us that they had emailed us with no response.  We were completely mystified.  We check the email every day - usually twice a day and always answer any emails.

The other day Tori had to call Yahoo about something.  While talking to them she mentioned our problem.  When the gentleman investigated it seems that we had 9800 emails in our folder - going way back to when Tara was working here.  When it gets that full it just won't accept any more until some are deleted.  Tori had been in the habit of keeping most of the emails so she could refer back to them if needed.

Not any more.

All 9800 were deleted.

You should be able to get us on Yahoo if you have a question.  

Good heavens!  And that's just the first part.

Before I go to the 2nd part, we'll stop at Market.  

Here I am in my booth with Michelle and her friend Carrie.  Michelle was a real lifesaver.  She picked me up at the airport and ran me around Portland, leant me her umbrella and is taller than I am.  (See how tall you need to be to hang the quilt behind us.)

Many, many thanks to her.  I tried to talk her into moving to Pittsburg before the next Spring Market but couldn't do it.  :)

Since everyone had gotten me flying already (and I still really, really don't like it) I flew down to San Francisco to see my Uncle Fred and Aunt Grace who live in Los Gatos, Ca.  My sister Nancy flew out and met us.

And of course, we had to go see the Golden Gate Bridge.  It really is awesome!

The next day we piled into the car and went up to Pacific Grove and Carmel to stay at a Bed and Breakfast and go to the beach.  And plain old generally sightsee.

Uncle Fred and Aunt Grace are in their 80s and pretty well ran Nancy and I ragged.  

Wow!  We shopped, sightsaw (is that a word?) and ate our way across Northern California.  

Well really, Aunt Grace and Nancy shopped.  Uncle Fred waited in the car and did crosswords and I mostly took catnaps after Market.  

We all helped with the eating though.  

After 4 days we got on another plane and came home.

Before I left for Portland I broke down and got a smartphone. My friend Cherie Ralston went with me. Unlike me, Cherie has an excellent left brain so she helped me pick out my phone.  

While waiting in the airport at Denver I started playing with my new phone. 

Guess what I found?

  

Gmail!  

I didn't even know I still had a Gmail account.  Neither did Tori.  And I still am not sure how to get to it other than on my phone.  

So --- people were emailing us on Yahoo and a lot weren't coming through and people were emailing us on Gmail and I had no idea they were.

I'm rather surprised I still have any customers.  Hopefully we have both problems solved.  Until I can figure out how to get to gmail on the computer, I do have my phone.  I tried forwarding one to Tori though and it didn't get through.  Have I mentioned more that lots of times that I am really a very right brain person.  

At least I can design quilts.

Back at home Spike was supposed to be confined to a room or his kennel for 6 weeks.  And no stairs.  Just before I left we found him on the couch when our back was turned.  And a large bump at the top of his leg.  Pep and I were both sure that he had torn everything loose but there wasn't time to take him to the vet in KC again.

As soon as I got home I took him for an x-ray and everything was fine - still pinned, still plated - just a little swollen and sore.

 Here he is on the deck contemplating getting over the baricade to the steps.

He's a bulldog - so what if it hurts a little.    But Mom ..... it's not a step!

We took out the baricade and set up a fence so he could sit on the deck in the sun.  He loves to sit in the sun.

Back to Quilts - yes, I like doing quilts better than computers and stuff.  This is Natalie's Quilt.  Be watching for a new tutorial on Natalie's Quilt - baskets and flowers - coming soon to this very blog.  :)

We're really excited!

Market & More........

Well, here we are in sunny Portland.  Well ......... we're in Portland.  And luckily my hotel is very close to the convention center and my new very best friend Michelle leant me her umbrella.

Portland is a 3 day drive from home, then 5 days for set up and Market - then 3 days back home.  Pep couldn't take that much time off and I decided not to do the drive by myself again so he could fly in to meet me. And I can't set up a booth by myself.  

Moda - being the awesome company that they are had already come up with a solution to my problem. The is part of Designer's row.  My section - Deb Strain - Kathy Schmidt.

But I need to back up a little......... 

A few days before I needed to leave, Spike - who never goes down to the road by himself (we live about 300 feet back from the road) - decided to go bite a car.  He lost.

Our local vet looked at the break in his short, stout leg and said it was beyond him.  We made an emergency trip to Kansas City where Spike had a 4 hour surgery.  They had to come in from both sides of his leg to pin and plate it back together.  He was in intensive care all night and we picked him up the next day.

He is supposed to walk on it as little as possible for six weeks.  This is his convalescent center in the living room.  I set up a place to feed him there too because standing on the linoleum in the kitchen his leg would slide out and put pressure on it.  If I'm sitting in my chair sewing he comes out and is at my feet.  Otherwise he has to stay in his kennel so he doesn't follow me everywhere like he usually does.

The main problem is that he's a bulldog and they generally just ignore pain so we have to keep him from using it.  I took my sewing out on the deck so he could lay in the sun.

So it turned out to be good that Pep couldn't come.  He's at home taking very good care of our bulldog.  Spike was really upset when he saw the suitcases come out.  So it's good that Pep is at home with him.

Now - back to Market - where , by the way, I was a basket case the first 2 days - cried if you looked at me sideways.  My special thanks to Michelle who picked me up at the airport (yes, the damn airport) and driven me around everywhere and helped me set things up (I am not tall-she is), Camille, Jamie C. Holly and Josh Dunn and my cohort Deb Strain for all of their patience and hugs.

Anyway, here's my booth - or my section of Designer's Row.

We each have a section - with half a table, half a bulletin board and two shelves.

Then I got an herb rack and Deb got a ladder to hang quilts on

as well as a hook to hang things from.  All in all, it worked out quite well.  It was great to share a space with Deb Strain.  Deb and Sandy Gervais and I are the "vintage" Moda designers - Deb's word - isn't it great!

And I can't stop this post without thanking Tori and Falisha back home who got things packed and out of there for me while I was dealing with Spike.  Did I mention that the same week our plumbing stopped up and  someone sideswiped the van while it was parked and took out the drivers side mirror.  

What a week!  But it's over, Spike's going to be ok and I get to spend my day talking to quilters!  Oh, and the fabric line is Crossroads and will ship in August.  :)

Busy, busy, busy ..........

It's May 8th already and I leave for Portland on the 15th - I'm flying - yuck!

Anyway, back at home I've been sewing on bindings and sewing on bindings and sewing on bindings.

I've had a little help from Spike who is always there for me.  Of course, the minute I get up to get a drink of water or use the restroom, he somehow gets part of the quilt off of the chair and under him.

He does love quilts.

And we've started filming our new applique tutorials.  Jake Doan, Jenny Doan's son, who films the Missouri Star tutorials is working with me and he is a gem.

We filmed the first tutorial on basket blocks and some of the aspects thereof.  This is a block from Natalie's Quilt and was our prime example.  He said that the editing should be done soon, so be watching for it on You Tube and the blog.  I'm pretty excited about it.

And then today I figured out how to include the video's when you see the item in our store.  This is Audra's Iris Garden and when you click on the item in the store you can see the  video from Moda's Schoolhouse where I talked about it.  I may actually come into the 21st century here.  I got a new Smartphone too.  I still need to have Jake (Kelly's Jake - not Jenny's Jake) show me how to do Facebook though.  It is still a mystery to me.

And this is Country Quilts for your Soul.  If you click on it you can see all the quilts hung on the wall in France.  All the quilts on the wall are in the book.  The one on the bed is Jubilee and you can get the pattern for it here.  I just looked at the video again and I take that back.  The Bible Quilt is on the wall too and it's not in the book.  You can get it by clicking here.  All the rest of the ones on the wall are in the book.  This video thing is really fun.

Meanwhile, Old Man Winter had to have one last word.  Snow in May in Missouri for the 1st time since 1907.

And we had a pair of tiny bluebirds visit the feeders for a day or two.  I've known we had bluebirds around but have never seen them before.  That color is just awesome.

And speaking of color - back to work.  Have to get the brochures ready for the printer.  But I get to stitch on this year's BOM blocks each night.  And I have one last quilt to bind.

Oh - and my heavens I almost forgot to tell you what I forgot.  In the March block for Sleigh Bells - the Mystery Quilt, I forgot to include the Mini Charms to make the patchwork blocks out of.  And I didn't give you instructions either.  We'll send out both with the May Block.  You'll get 2 Mini Charms of Audra's Iris Garden.  You'll need most of them in the rest of the quilt.

Keep stitching ladies.