Market pics - and How Many Years

We made it home through the driving rain - not at all a fun trip. At one time heading north just before Dallas it was raining so hard that the water couldn't drain off the road. We were suddenly (in a loaded van) floating sideways as were the cars in front of us. Pep did what he calls "white knuckle driving" the rest of the way through Texas, it slacked off in Oklahoma and then set in again in Kansas. But he got us home safe and sound. Rather exhausted but here again on top of our hill.



This is Sandy Gervais' booth. I'd tell you all about Market but she did it so well I thought I'd refer you to her blog on it. I sat and laughed out loud and read it to Pep. Her pics are great too of everyone. Anyway go to Sandy's blog if you haven't already.




Edie McGinnis and I in front of our "Across the Wide Missouri" quilts. These will be the KC Star Bom for 2010.



The display in the KC Star Booth at Market for my new book "Flags of the American Revolution".



Another view of my booth with my "triangle square" quilt - Oak Leaves and Berries (due to ship with the Looking Back fabric). The triangle square exchange was great fun. Edyta Sitar's batiks (Laundry Basket) are awesome and her marketing ideas are great. If you're a shop I'd really refer you to her book Friendship Triangles.



Picture taken by Sandy Gervais at Market - what I really look like. That's Kathy Schmidt behind me.



Now a contest (within a contest - the Mystery Quilt contest won't end until Halloween - keep thinking up those names for me.) Anyway - October 18th is Pep and my anniversary. And the contest is of course, how many years.

I was thinking about it this morning. There was no Walmart. I spent about $25.00 a week on groceries but there were only 2 of us. And my math back then was as bad as it is now. We got some checks for wedding presents and I added them all up and put them in our checking account to buy things for the house we were renting. I wasn't at work so I didn't have an adding machine. I overdrew us $150.00. We had to ask Pep's parents for a loan the 1st week we were married. They were pretty neat about it. :)

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Here we are leaving the reception. Pep's father had brought the champagne and liquor by the case into the hotel. Then he paid the bartender a corkage fee. So he got paid for every bottle that was opened. It was a very fun reception as most of the people from out of town were staying there and didn't have to worry about driving home. We did - so we just took a couple of bottles of champage with us.
Memories. - Good ones.
And 3 kids and 8 grandkids later, we're still building the good memories.
Anyway, I'll end this contest Saturday afternoon, the 24th. If there's more than 1 correct answer I'll have Zoie draw a name. The winner will get a Blessing Jelly Roll.

Woo-Hoo......TEXAS!!!!

This is going to be short because it's taken us last night and half of this morning just to find the picture files after we loaded them onto the computer.



Computers are NOT my thing. Luckily Pep is along. The booth is in the convention center which is not airconditioned (in the set up area only). It is warm (hot,muggy) in Houston at this time of year - I think mostly all year and it rained most of yesterday. Sandy and Bruce ran around in the rain all morning looking for a bench to put pillows on and didn't find one. I lent Sandy a stand and a couple of wire baskets and it looks great.



Here at the end of the day, Bruce and Mark Dunn (pres. of United Notions) discuss weighty matters.

While we're away.......

We'll be gone almost a week and we'll be pretty busy. So I thought I'd have you all do some work for me while we're gone.



I need a name for this year's Mystery Quilt. I've been calling it the Star Medallion but that's pretty lame.



Here's a jpg of the drawing of the whole quilt and a couple of the blocks that are sewn - can't give away the Mystery quite yet.




I thought I'd have a contest. Just give it your best shot at what I should call the quilt. This is a purely subjective contest. Enter your name in the comments section. I'll give it until the end of October - Halloween Day I'll pick a name.



And since I always miss my garden at this time of year, the winner will get a Cottage Garden kit. If I like 3 or 4 names, I'll keep them for future kits and the runner ups will get a Blessings Jelly Roll.



We're taking Pep's laptop to Market. If I can figure out his photo program and get the camera to work on it (big "ifs" for this not computer person) I'll blog from Market. But I will at least be able to read your entrys. This will be fun.
Better get back to sleep for awhile.
Keep quilting.

Almost ready

The stitching is ongoing - will probably finish the last binding tonight or at the motel on the way -



The last 2 labels are ready to sew on the last two quilts -



The binding is on this one and it's ready for the label



The quilts are mostly packed - one more set to go -




And we've been to the storage unit for the necessaries -

Now - Pep will pack it all together this afternoon (except the quilt I'm still binding - that and my sewing basket go with us up front) - we pack our clothes and at O-Dark-thirty tomorrow we head for Houston.
What fun!

I really haven't disappeared off the face of the earth -

I've just been sewing and proofing and sewing and proofing and sewing and.......well, you get the idea. It's about all of these deadlines for Fall Market.
This is the KC Star BOM by Edie McGinnis and myself that will show to the shops at Fall Market. Now that I have 9/10ths of my work done on it, I kind of like it again. In the middle of a big quilt or book, when all the pressure is on to get things done on time, sometimes I don't like them very much. I think that's why so many of my quilts are BOMs or BOM types. That way I really get to like each block as I finish it. Both versions of the quilt are made from Linda and my Blessings line - by Moda, of course. To see Edie's version (mine is more intense - go figure - and Edie's is softer and more subtle, go to pickledish.kcstar.com/)



And speaking of Edie - You all just have to see - and read - all of the awesome work she did on my Flags book. When I originally made this "Flags of the American Revolution" quilt, I had a small paragraph about the history of most of the blocks (or flags) in the quilt. She edited the book and took the idea and ran with it. There is a full page of history on the center eagle block and on each of the Flag blocks. It adds so much to the book that I tried to get her to have her name on the cover too, etc. She said no, that she was content to have her name on the history pages. And I have learned not to argue with Edie McGinnis. It just does no good at all. It turned the book into a great read with all sorts of information as well as, I think, full of great quilts to look at.



"Flags" was truly a collaborative quilt. One day my husband was "dinking" around on the net, looking for a Gadsden flag - the one with a coiled snake and the words "Don't tread on me". And he said, Jan, come here. I think these are your kind of colors and your kind of thing." So I did a little research on that site. I had already been scheduled to take a rare day off and go see my birthday sister Cherie Ralston in Lawrence. I jumped in my car the next day and as usual, instead of taking the day off, we played and she drew out the quilt for me. I can draw on the computer myself, now but she still does a lot of my left brain stuff whenever I yell "help". She's a very neat lady and I like her a lot.



Anyway, this is a great book - first to look out and secondarily, thanks to Edie McGinnis, great to read. I don't think it's up on my website quite yet - I just sent it to Shannon - but if you want one you can email Tara at info@janpatekquilts.com you can order one from her.
Cost is $24.95 + S&H.

Then there's this year's Girl Gang Quilt - Sunny Days that we're finishing up as well as 2 quilts using my our new Looking Back fabric line - one using lots and lots of Moda designer triangle squares. But I can't show them yet. We do have lots of things to look forward to.



Of course, I do have a life outside of quilting. Two of my grandchildren have birthdays this week. Aidan will be 7 and Cullen will be 3. Birthdays do have to be celebrated.

For now, back to proofing and sewing - ond proofing and sewing --------

God Bless

That's better.....

I really didn't like the way the flash faded the fabrics out



so I carried them out to the bench on the deck



and took their pictures in the real light.



Much better!
Back to designing. I get to play with these some more shortly.