The show must go on!

The living room is as such.



And the kitchen counter is a whole lotta this.



Because the studio looks like this. But, oh, it is the middle stages of my dreams. Enough about me, I know why you're here! Lets get on with the giveaway!

Too bad no one wants to win fabric these days. But we'll just draw from the 1500+ of you who entered through commenting and through email. That should do it.

N'kay, here goes the 5 winners:

*2:47 PM Bowlby said...

Beautiful fabrics! Thanks for sharing.
Good to me is laying on the couch, reading books with my son.

*5:40 AM Shannon said...

Good is how I feel when I think about how much my sweet, departed Italian grandmother taught me about creativity and the satisfaction of sewing things on my own!

*6:28 PM Sadie Metter said...

Good....Good morning, good coffee, good weather, good kids, good behavior, good bread, good friends, good job, good mama, good God, good night.

I LOVE your stuff. It is GOOD!

*10:30 AM cee + kell said...

"good" is that quiet time at the end of the day when the family is settled in bed. the dryer is softly humming a lullaby in the background. bellies are full and food is put away and you settle in beside your good-smelling best friend of a husband, pull up the many "mismatched sheets" and flick the light goodnight. peace.

adore the new collection, anna. your creativity & passion for life inspires.

* 8:23 AM Joyce Dorny said...

Good is hot chocolate on a cooooooold day :)

Love your fabrics!!

Send me your address so we can get out your stacks! I so loved all the wonderful goodness (and I read ALL of it) that you shared here in the comments. You people know what to do with yourselves. Such a loving bunch, you are.

We should be all put back together after this weekend, and able to share more projects, patterns, fabric surprises and studio redo shots starting next week. Sorry for my absence here, can't wait to catch up. If you didn't win, I know tons of fabric shops online and on land who'll be more than happy to help you get your Good Folks fix. We're all stocked up in the shop as well, with stacks, bundles, scraps and more.

be back here soon ~
(she writes just a bit farther from the keyboard than normal due to her blossoming belly) xo,Anna

January Tuesday ~ home visit

(So I know its Wednesday, but Tuesday was extremely full, so here it is today.)



~ at my window~ My littlest out of utero turned 5. She watched and waited for snow and it came as she drew the 20th or so heart in her breath canvas on the window. "Wow, it's snowing!" I said. "I know, I wished for it," she answered with no irony.



~in my kitchen~ Eleni's cake ingredients which she hand-picked from the grocery as we sauntered up and down the aisles eating donuts and chatting as a shiny pink balloon on a ribbon followed us around lightly.



~at my feet as I bake~ Of course. You knew this, though.



~in my dining room~ All the contents of our bedroom closets and some things from the walls and the studio too. Why?



~in our bedroom~ Because this is where the closets used to be. My husband has developed a healthy fear of me + graph paper. For good reason. But this is going to be great. My, erhh, our bedroom will get about 3.4 feet bigger along one wall (annexing the closets & a small hallway) and the studio will get lots of built in shelving, and both rooms will get new hardwood floors. More on all this soon, oh, and that charming border will be going. (Haven't managed to get that down in five years of living here. Sigh.)



~in my studio~ Still chirping away on the other side of the plastic wall, Allie manages her same cheery self getting orders processed and shipped in about 1/2 the studio space-and with everything generally upside down. We have had some gianormous belly laughs as we have to get our faces about 2.5" apart and scream conversation so that we can hear each other over the saws, drills, stud prying, hammering, etc.



~on my afternoon couch~ Back to Eleni. Spending the day at home following her whims instead of preschool activities proved a good way to get some lazy movie watching in cuddled with her favorite stuffed puppy who looks just like Leo. I can't believe those feet are five.



~on Eleni's cake~ Hello Kitty with sparkly frosting hand-rendered by her mom (in a major rush, so more of a thick and goopy gestural Kitty, I might add) surrounded by lots and lots of chocolate frosting. Juliana adds candles to the cake because Eleni wanted 5 for her and one for each of her brothers and sisters. 10 candles for the 5 year old. Naturally.



~out like a candlelight~ Five years. And all of us. A wonderful, full, chaotic and perfect day to be five.

xo, AM

Good Gracious!

Where have I been!? And why do I make promises? Anyway, whatever I rambled about showing Good Folks last week, lets pretend that I said this week. All set then.



Good Folks was inspired by various sets of things, but all of the notions in my mind had kindness involved. Odd? Perhaps. But can't think of how else to say it. Old European linens. Family. Hand-loomed wool bedspreads. Meals. Fields. Embroidery. Needlepoint kits that I spent summers in Greece as a child occupied with. The icons of the village churches. Layer upon layer of mismatched bed linens piled on top of my floor palette in the upper room of my Yiayia's house to keep me warm even though it was the middle of the summer. Tablecloths drying in the sun. Memories of what my cousin's dowry of linens looked like. All the details. All the work. All the warmth. All the good wishes. Weddings. Wine. Love. Goodness.

Shall we get on with the slideshows?



Above we have the "byzantine" palette. Sun. Berries. Azaleas. Brick paths.



And here is the "adriatic" palette. Sea. Meadows. Evenings. Plums.

And speaking of Good Folks, I want to share this 5th collection of mine with 5 of you in the best way possible! How about a stack? Leave me a comment and share what you think of when you think of "good". Whether that means pizza or salary bonuses. Up to you. I can't help, of course, but think of YOU when I think of GOOD. Because you are. Thank you for your continued interest and encouragement, and also your patience!

I'll leave the post open for comments until the fabrics get here, which could be in a week or two. If blogger starts blipping out, and not taking your comments, just send them to comments@annamariahorner.com and I'll be sure to get them in the drawing. I do have one more extra special surprise for this collection which I will share soon!

best, xoxo, Anna

Happy New Year!

Just jumping in here to say hello and wish all of you, my kind and generous readers, all the best in 2009! Mean it! I am so thankful for your visits here, and for all you do and say to continue to inspire me as creator and as a mother. And on both of those fronts, I have a great deal to look forward to in 2009 and am so happy that I have this place to share it with you.

We've all been playing, and cooking, and resting, and outing a whole lot around here, and I'm gonna get back to that now, I believe. I can hear giggling and smell good things in the kitchen happening without me.

xoxox, Anna

(pic above is a favorite of Juliana from the Good Folks shoot for some mag ads. Looking through them this morning, the blur of her jump reminded me of how quickly one year can go before you're already jumping into the next. More images here and here. And detail shots of the new collection next week!)