Finish Line

I can see it. The finish line. But here is a highlight from the race to Quilt Market which is in full swing. My living room is kinda starting to look like a what my booth will look like. I found an old brass lamp, spray painted it red and covered a shade with the Nouveau Bouquet/Eccentric Cool. I trimmed the edges of the lamp with bias cut from Shadow/Eccentric Warm. If you want to know how to cover a lampshade first get to know a product called Steam-A-Seam. It will be your best friend. Then one of these days I hope to show you how to do all the particulars, cause its really fun and easy. And yes that crocheted pillow started here. Which doesn't have anything to do with the booth preparations but finishing it has been a nice distraction (as though there aren't enough of those). And yes, the living room wall color is now glass blue even though there is proof that I recently painted it sun yellow. Don't ask. If you have to know I will send you Jeff's email address and you guys can make fun of me behind my back. I am a chronic wall painter and I acknowledge it. That's half the battle as they say.



I also thought you would be glad to know that Nicolas hand-delivered all the members of the wren family to the safety of the front yard if they hadn't already found their way out of the porch. It was quite moving to see how gentle and in awe he was. And that little baby bird was as happy as could be on his hand for the longest time. Aaaag, it puts a lump in my throat. So most of the little creatures around here seem to be on their way to health and happiness.



The spring weather has even produced a few monkey sightings.

I hope to have some Drawing Room stacks of fabric up for sale in the shop next week and if you're on my mailing list you'll be the first to know when they are there. I hear the yardage should be rolling out to stores any day now, so thanks for being patient! (No one has been more impatient than me!) I will post some full view pics of the prints to give you a good look at everything as I put the goods up on the site.

Back to it, hoping you are well and sorry for the scarce posts over the past few weeks. Looking eagerly for life to return to its normal chaotic pace.

xoxox, Anna

Sideways Bird

So I should set something straight. While the recently shared bunny rescue may convey a sort of gentle nobility where all things small, helpless and creature-like are concerned, I am personally subject to being easily grossed out by anything in nature. You name it. No, I'll name it. We once again have a family of wrens in one of the flower baskets on the patio. My parents were visiting over the weekend (house-hunting even!) and we'd regularly bring up how darling it was that we could hear the exchange of twitters and cheeps between mama wren and her babes as she tirelessly delivered fresh worms around the clock. Well, the first day of flight finally arrived today announced by the more than usual chirps in the patio. Just like last year I made sure Jaws was outside, and went to get my camera. I opened one of the kitchen-to-patio windows and was greeted by two little sweetie-tweeties sitting in my potted peace lily. I zoomed in on the little one who was looking right at me. As I turned the camera's lens from blurry to focused, I just as slowly noticed what at first looked like a little worm sticking out the side of baby bird's mouth (how sweet, I thought). Yet as soon as I used my special live view zoom so that the bird's entire little face filled my LCD I immediately realized that little thing going directly sideways was it's beak! I almost dropped the camera at the sight of the mutant baby bird, and had to cover mouth to keep from tossing a toffee Cliff bar. Oh, and then the flood of guilt! The poor bird, I wondered if perhaps it already had its first big flight right into a window! Oh poor thing! But still, eeuuwwwuhh. I couldn't handle it. Closed the window. Went back to the studio. And have resorted to sharing the above bird. Eleni ordered this little birdie to adorn a new dress. Specifically that it be red and fuzzy and walking. That I can do. I have no doubt that if the kids were here they would have already performed plastic surgery on the baby bird and all would be well. Alas, the nature gene, I do not possess.

Anna, who is still feeling guilty

Rescuing Spring from the Jaws of Death

Spring


Rescue Squad


Jaws of Death

Moral of the story: If your dog learns no other command, learning "DROP IT!!" should be the one he does learn.

This has been a Spring-in-Tennessee Public Service Announcement.

Q & A

who? me and my book photography

what? spools of thread, silly

when? ongoing

where? in my studio

why? cause Juliana's not here and there's no one else to whom I can point out how silky and luminous these 50 year old spools of thread are, yet it needed to be done just the same.

They are beautiful, aren't they? Oh, why yes, they are! How nice of you to notice.

:: I will never grow tired of ::

:: Early morning storms in April and the glowing light they cast.



:: This clever stitcher keeping me company.



:: Her hushed whisper of counting stitches under her breath, tracking her progress which is every now and then followed by a proud and not so hushed announcement of "17!" or "32!!!" It almost knocked me outta my chair the first time.



She's even smart enough to take a break every now and then. I have so much to learn.

good weekend, xo,AM

When chairs go to sleep.....

.....I think they dream of being this. I know the thought of it is keeping me awake.

Just a mock-up of what I'll likely be lounging on at Quilt Market.

okay, back to it. xo,AM

Patchy

This morning's first light on the swept brick. Every muscle in my body protested getting out of bed after a weekend full of weeding, pruning, hauling, digging, tilling, sweeping, lugging, hosing, dusting, wiping....and lots of other -ings. But Jeff and I enjoyed coffee on the patio this morning for the first time in months.



Oh but Saturday was filled with studio -ings, like cutting, sewing, patching, folding, etc. Even a little drilling and mounting for a new shelf. I am in the midst of preparing two new quilt patterns for your downloading pleasure. The detail above is the Drawing Room quilt which is called "birdcage on a chain", and man, its fun to make. Can't wait to finish the top and share it with you. And a note to all who have asked, (though I will send some personal ones before the day is done) I have found my Portland furniture for covering! Thanks to so many of you who sent pictures (and pleadings) with very helpful notes and willing wishes. It is so appreciated. I settled on a pair of antique Queen Anne chairs because its going to work out best for my overall space, etc. I was even presented with a fabulous vintage outdoor iron piece that I'll use to display some Garden Party cushions on!



And speaking of gardens, above is the plan for the "garden wall" quilt which will be made from my upcoming line of quilting fabrics, Garden Party. I have fabric coming outta my ears. Hence all the cleaning in the studio this weekend, so I could make room for making. If you want just the tiniest peek at that upcoming line of fabric, Quilts and More magazine did a feature on me in their Spring 08 issue, on news stands now, where there's a few little pics showing the range. I originally thought that the feature was slated for a Summer issue, which is why I handed over Garden Party pics. Woops. There ya go. OH! Also, many of you have already found this, but in case you haven't, in that same issue, farther back is my pattern and instructions for the flower pin cushion seen here. Have fun making it. I've already seen some gorgeous examples out there in blogland.

Okay, my friends. Many, many patches to piece together in the studio on all fronts. My presence here will likely be patchy over the next week or so, so please forgive me. I may be able to throw in a few pictures with just a very few words of this or that. But two quilts, an upcoming show, and my final book edits are all keeping my head down but my heart glad. Be well.

xo,Anna

Patio-Oh!

I was flipping through some photos of our patio from last summer and discovered the beginnings of a few things that I forgot were ever captured. It's warmed up enough now that its time to clean out this space that has largely gone dormant for a few months. And just like last year, I'll have to wait until the new wren family hatches in one of those wall planters before I plant my lantana! Pesky birds. There's a nest in the garage too. We're quite fertile around here.



During the winter months we clear off and store a lot of the items that are on the patio and leave it pretty bare so that nothing gets more wear than necessary, cause its too cold to enjoy. In fact I think there might still be some cocoa mugs out there from the last snow a few weeks ago.



I do the patio slightly different every year, but always try to make it kid-friendly since they spend the most amount of time out here. I will definitely be redoing our little art supply station made from flower pots of pens, pencils and paints and piles of paper. The picnic table is a great place to send them when I don't want to worry about paint spills. I mean if you can't clean it with a garden hose what use is it really?



I even left my own drawing board out there, and only in looking at these photos did I notice that my first sketches for Drawing Room start on the patio. Fancy that! I had forgotten! (and btw way thanks all you Portland furniture owners for your help...I'll be making that decision this week, and thanks Amy, for spreading the word!)



And when trying to decide how to make cheap, relatively weather resistant art for the patio, I dreamed up the painted silhouettes that went on to achieve Martha fame as we all know now. So funny how innocently some things begin. I can remember sitting at the picnic table with the little ones and making a list of all the different types of animals we see in our yard. This is how we decided which silhouettes to make. When looking online for animal silhouettes to use, we came across a bird identification chart, that I decided had to be on the patio too. So I just printed it out and freehanded the canvas, then painted it.



I also now remember that when I shot the pictures that I had just finished reviewing my first samples of needlepoint pillows that I designed, and the launch of those goods seemed soooo far away. Now its just weeks away!



The other variable on the patio each year is which plants survived through the winter. This year, I think about half of them did. Anyone who knows me well, knows that this is an astonishing accomplishment. Helped in large part by my dear Mom checking on them every time she visits. (Mom, the plants say thank you.)



So that's the job for this weekend, return the patio to its fun and cosy splendor. Its quite encouraging to be able to review last summer, because I was otherwise uninspired to do all the cleaning it'll require. Now, I'm thinking how this space of ours may produce new sketches and ideas that might well blossom into..... who knows what!

xoxox,AM