That Next One

I realized recently that there is something about a quilt, that is entirely different from everything else that I sew, and not just how its made. But I regard a quilt as such a different event, it occupies my mind in a completely different way. I never know what I might be about to sew next, whether a skirt, or a bag, or a pillow, or fixing Nicolas's backpack as I did yesterday with seconds to spare for him to catch the bus. But with a quilt, I seem to hover on it mentally for a while before I begin. I compose internally for a good while before setting out to make. I always know which one is next. It is an event- making one- isn't it? Small or large its a save the date taped to the wall in your mental creative space. Flipping back through my iphoto events this morning I came across this little one Eleni started early last summer. I realize only now where my triangular love of late began. With my genius little pumpkin. I have the girls' quilts almost all planned now (imaginatively), and have now decided that Nicolas and Joseph each need one too, as I am about to work on their rooms this weekend. I haven't done that for them yet- make a quilt- not specifically for them anyway. Where the time will come from I am not sure, but in my head the quilts are really beautiful already.

I am chomping at the bit to publish my free pattern for Patchwork Prism (sponsored by Janome), but we are waiting to get the video for it entirely edited, loaded and ready too, which is any moment now, literally. Hopefully for sure by next week. Do I keep saying that? But once that's up, I will also share more about teaching that pattern in Sacramento- such a lovely day.

On the quilting horizon, I do have two for-sures to share with you, near and far, that I am beyond thrilled with:

* I will be in Spokane in two weeks to teach the Patchwork Prism class again. Lovely Carrie of the wonderful TopStitch shop invited me a few months ago, and I've been excited ever since to see that part of the country! Come see me there if you can! I'll be doing a talk on Friday the 9th and then we'll start the workshop that evening, and continue into Saturday. Visit their website for more info! What should I do on Saturday night in Spokane? Any good restaurants to recommend? I was hoping to get to Portland as well, however I need to get my rear back home and work on my book.

* And this is a ways off, but I am so honored to be speaking and teaching at the inaugural conference and show, QuiltCon, about this very time next year which is presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. I think this show is such a necessary and wonderful retreat for all those who make these days, and I can't tell you how excited I am about not just the idea, but everything that it promises to be. Clickety on those links for more info.

Have a great weekend pals, whats your next quilt (dress, bag, pillow, meal, movie)?
xo, Anna

Stills

Happy Birthday to my Mama! If you and Dad are up to your usual tricks, sometime later today he'll ask you what he bought you for your birthday, and then you'll go get it to show him because you purchased it last week. I bought myself a macro lens for your birthday. I hope you like it. I took these pictures for you because I know how much you like flowers and stitching and because I forgot to put your birthday card in the mail on Saturday and because I need to practice with this new lens because I know how you always want me to do my best at everything that I do. Thinking of you this morning and the amount of stillness required to take these compared to my regular zoom lens brought to mind the years you spent trying to keep me still. I hope it was worth it, I remain pretty wiggly. I am thinking I might need to by myself a mini tripod as an early Mother's Day gift to you.

I love you Mama, enjoy your day, you are to be celebrated.
xoxoxo anna & fam

Happy. Jumpy.

He has the happy and the jumpy down pat. I am sure the rest will come in time.

best morning lesson ever.
xoxo, Anna

Needles Down

When I was teaching one of my workshops in Sacramento, we had several giggles over me trying to adopt methods of getting everyone's attention while they were at their machines. So we eventually went with me saying NEEDLES DOWN as if they were taking a final exam. While most everyone thought it was funny, there were definitely some sad faces at that command every now and then (but that was sorta funny too- I say that out of love). Late last night after a very long day when I could barely keep my eyes open, I had to say out loud to myself, needle down, Anna. Once you find yourself in the process of having several works in progress, as I always do-whether book developing or not- you become aware that picking the needle up is no longer the hard part. Learning new stitches, trying different techniques and materials can be challenging. But stopping before I see a certain flower (or some other fancy) fully realized still proves to be the greater challenge.

Okay, needles up. xoAnna

When I buy fabric

I tend to always come home from anywhere with a pile or ten of new fabric. I often get asked whether I buy fabric since I have so much of my own. Funny. Of course. Lots. I also get asked what I like to buy. I enjoy sewing with my fabric, naturally- it really helps me design actually- but anyone wants to sew with more than one designer. I seem to almost exclusively buy Denyse, Heather, Liberty, and several Japanese prints-usually Kokka. They all tend to be so different from anything that I make that I am quite certain that is what draws me in. There is a smaller scale to most all of them, but also a similar color sensibility to my own fabrics. So both of those aspects typically means they pair really well with my own prints. Plus, I can't help but love the work of dear friends who I admire for so many reasons to begin with. (It's extra fun when you can just trade stacks, as Denyse and I did in Palm Springs).

The above curation has been gathered for quilts for the girls' beds. Its alarming how many quilts I have made, yet rarely intended for my own kids. Poor children. Anyway, I am obsessed with triangles of late, and have seen lots more triangles popping up in the quilt world, you? They have been on the brain for months, ever since I first designed my Patchwork Prism quilt for Janome- which reminds me! I should have the pattern pdf and the video uploaded to my Janome page hopefully sometime next week! So excited about it. I taught a class on this quilt in Sacramento, and it was a great experience for all involved. Though I am certain the pattern instruction would be better served if it were a two day class instead of a one day class. (I will try to get better about listing upcoming workshops around the USA this year, but often they are booked through whoever is hosting before I even get a chance.)

Busy, busy week ahead here, final video edits to oversee, new book cover shoot, lots of book writing, sewing, and photography to work on. And my very good friend Donna Wilder is coming to stay with us tonight. She offered me my first fabric designing gig in the Bohemian days, so I owe her a great deal, indeed. Tonight she'll get partial payment with chili and quesadillas.

xoxo, happy Monday! Anna

Letters Home

I've been back since Sunday night. Jeff and all the kids came to the airport, waited in the pull through for me. I walked out and immediately saw our van but at the same time walked right past my Nicolas, who was waiting for me at the door to help with my suitcase (don't get excited, Jeff made him do it). My subconscious mind knew that was my son in my peripheral vision, but I ignored it because my son isn't that tall. Or he wasn't when I left 10 days prior. Sigh. I got all the expected screams and squeals from the rest in the car, a sea of arms reaching out for a hug, and each got theirs, one at a time. Roman was excited but did not want a hug or a kiss, and even pushed me away. Strapped into his carseat, he pointed to the front passenger seat very earnestly "Mommy, sit down! Sit down right there! Bye Daddy! Mommy sit down!" He wanted nothing to do with affection, or hugs, or kisses, there was no time for that, he'd finally found me and wanted me right where I belonged immediately. Having me stand next to the car in the parking lot (even smooching him) was much too tenuous with questionable results of how it might end. I couldn't have guessed this welcome from Roman, but embraced the reminder of where I do indeed belong.

I have so much more to share from my trip, and have been spinning lots of plates since my return. Writing letters home was one of my favorite parts of the trip actually. A different color envelope for each of my loves. And sending you postcards was pretty fun too.

More soon, enjoy your weekend friends,

xoxoAnna

I just wanted a copy!

The new employee stood before the paper shredder looking confused.

“Need some help?” asked the secretary.

“Yes,” he replied, “how does this thing work?”

“Oh it’s simple,” said the secretary as she grabbed the report out of his hand and shoved it into the shredder.

Still looking confused, the man said, “Thanks, but where do the copies come out?

Sexual harassment 

Beauty of the Day

What's for dinner, Mom?

A cannibal son and his father are out looking for food. They are watching people walk down the street. The son suggested a particularly plump woman and the father rejected saying that she is too fatty.

Later on the son asked about a very skinny woman. Again, the father refused saying that she is too skinny.

After a while the son pointed out a very attractive woman.” sure son" the father replied, drooling. “We’ll take her home and eat you mother!"

Beauty of the Day

Practise makes perfect

A woman called a neighbour to extend birthday greetings in a song. After she sang “Happy Birthday,” she realized that she had dialled the wrong number.

“No need to excuse yourself,” said the voice on the other line. “You need all the practice you can get.”

www.dan-the-bookkeeper.co.za

The article vault

Beauty of the Day

The train ride

The feeble man came home from the first day on the job. His wife noticed that he was looking a little peaked and asked, “Honey, are you feeling all right?”

 ”Not really,” he replied. “I’m nauseous from sitting backward on the train.”

 ”Poor dear,” she said. “Why didn’t you ask the guy sitting across from you to switch seats?”

 ”I couldn’t,” the moron replied. “There was no one there.”

Beautiful women

www.dan-the-bookkeeper.co.za

Beauty of the Day

Please Get Fresh With Me!

An 85-year-old widow went on a blind date with a 90-year-old man.

When she returned to her daughter's house later that night, she seemed upset.

"What happened, Mother?" the daughter asked.

"I had to slap his face three times!"

"You mean he got fresh?"

"No," she answered. "I thought he was dead!"

Beautiful Women

Beauty of the Day

What is in a name?

The manager of a large office asked a new employee to come into his office.

 "What is your name?" was the first thing the manager asked.

 "John," the new person replied.

The manager scowled. "Look, I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked at before, but I don't call anyone by their first name! It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority," he said. "I refer to my employees by their last name only - Smith, Jones, and Baker - that's all. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?"

The new person sighed and said, "Darling. My name is John Darling."

The manager said, "Okay, John, the next thing I want to tell you..."  

Beautiful women

Beauty of the Day

Postcards:: day six

(As I wrote this earlier this morning) I am somewhere in the air between Los Angeles and Sacramento right now, and thought I would share my flowery snaps around Beverly Hills. I spent a lot of time in my hotel room watching old movies and working on various embroidery projects. My legs started to go numb so I thought I should walk around. The walk from my hotel to Rodeo Drive seemed a nice distance, and I guess I felt an obligation to see that. Saw it. But I really enjoyed a few stops on the way back - a coffee shop and the Paper Source. I found some sweet Valentine kits to take back for the girls, a stuffed giraffe for Roman, a harmonica for Nicolas, and a mini sound effect machine for Joseph- (the cartoon edition that has like 16 buttons each with a funny cartoony noise, like a bomb exploding, a springy noise + that sound that Bugs Bunny's eyes make as they pop out of his head when he sees a pretty rabbit- those sorta sounds.) I missed the kids so much by the time I got back to the hotel that I got them all on Skype and I showed each of them their gifts so they wouldn't have to wait. Of course Roman tried to reach through the screen to hug his giraffe, so I told him that it was Giraffe's night-night time, and let him watch me tuck him into my hotel bed. He seemed satisfied to let me care for Mr. Giraffe, and kissed my screen face good night.

(As I finish this post) I am unwinding after a talk that I gave at Meissner's Sewing, here and now resting up for two full days of sewing there.... my first official Janome workshop! More about all that tomorrow-

xoAM

Crossing the road jokes

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

A: To get to the other side!

Q: Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

A: Because they did not have chickens in those days!

Q: Why did the one handed man cross the road?

A: To get to the second hand shop!

Q: Why did the Rooster cross the road?

A: To prove he wasn't chicken!

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

A: I do not know - ask the chicken!

Beauty of the Day

Postcards:: day five

I got out a little yesterday morning to poke around and see what this town looks like a bit before I started my class at Sew Modern. Okay, I just walked to Starbucks and back. But I have already decided that my favorite thing about Beverly Hills is the foliage that takes over (in a very specifically manicured way) all the old apartments and beautifully nestled together stucco houses everywhere. So pretty.

My hotel, the Maison140, served as an actor's hostile in the early 20th century I'm told. It is extremely quaint. Every surface in my little room is some shade of warm red, white or marble black. When you walk into the lobby at night, shown above, there is always some old black and white film being projected on one of the walls. I should try to get a grab of that tonight....

And this is the lovely group of women I got to spend my day with yesterday making the Multi-Tasker Tote- otherwise known as Sara, Amy, Jennifer, Julie, Jennifer, (me), Shay, Liberty, Morgan, Lorrie and Nancy. They let me chat away about whatever I wanted to (I think I'm losing my voice) and they just kept sewing and pretending to be interested. I have this funny habit of begging to seam rip for anyone that needs it while they do something else for the pattern so they don't miss a beat with a little mistake. Its my little way of remaining motherly while surrounded by grown-ups.

I spent last night with the LA Modern Quilt Guild. What a group. Wow. Talk about a room full of kindred spirits. I hope to have at least a few shots up here soon. I'll admit that when Jeff headed back home on Monday I sort of didn't know what to do with myself despite my full schedule this week. But yesterday reminded me why I love my work so much. Getting the opportunity to be re-sparked like this -in person- meeting others that appreciate and love so many of the same things, their eyes lighting up when you speak about color or form, even though you feel yourself trailing off into your own subconscious ideas about making- there they are- smiling, nodding, and making me feel at home. Thank you to the Guild for my wonderful evening.

Now to my day of no plans in Beverly Hills. Hmm. Well I do have work to do and we'll see what else. Wish you were here. xo, AM

After many years of marriage, a husband has turned into a couch potato, became completely inattentive to his wife, and sat guzzling beer and watching TV all day. The wife was dismayed because no matter what she did to attract the husband's attention, he would just shrug her off with some bored comment.

This went on for many months and the wife was going crazy with boredom. Then one day at a pet store, the wife saw this big, ugly, snorting bird with a hairy chest, powerful hairy forearms, beady eyes, and dribble running down the side of its mouth.

The shopkeeper, observing her fascination with the bird, told her it was a special imported "Goony bird" and it had a very peculiar trait. To demonstrate, he exclaimed, "Goony bird! The table!"

Immediately, the Goony bird flew off its perch and with single-minded fury attacked the table and smashed it into a hundred little pieces with its powerful forearms and claws! To demonstrate some more, the shopkeeper said, "Goony bird! The shelf!"

Again, the Goony bird turned to the shelf and demolished it in seconds.

"Wow!" said the wife, "If this doesn't attract my husband's attention, nothing will!" So she bought the bird and took it home.

When she entered the house, the husband was, as usual, sprawled on the sofa guzzling beer and watching the game. "Honey!" she exclaimed, "I've got a surprise for you! A Goony bird!"

The husband, in his usual bored tone replied, "Goony Bird, my foot!"

www.dan-the-bookkeeper.co.za

Beauty of the Day