Men Quilters!

As most of you know, women dominate the quilting world, however, there are men out there, quietly quilting away, making and finishing quilts!
And guess what.....lots of them aren't gay! I know....right away everyone assumes that these men are GAY! Some are, some aren't. Kinda like women quilters. And besides....sexual orientation has nothing to do with whether or not you can make a fabulous quilt! (ok, now I'm going to get off my soap box!)

So in our shop we do have a handful....ok...maybe less then that, of men who frequent our shop looking for supplies to makes a quilt. Some have been military, so we see them for a bit and then they move on. Others come in not too often, but being a man in a woman's domain, it's easy to remember them!
One day we had TWO of our men quilters in the store at the very same time, and we introduced them to one another...and do you know what the one guy said to the other? I just want you to know that Im not gay!! And the other said - oh goodness, me neither, and I'm scared I'm going to get beat up walking outta here one day!! (he was joking of course!)
Both of these men make quilts for their children and grandchildren. And do an amazing job I might add!

So today when I saw Desi (our token man quilter!) arrive at the shop, complete with his biker gear....I had to take his picture for all of you too....see what a MAN QUILTER looks like!!!

Didn't expect that did you? Desi is a leather wearing, Harley riding, full fledged quilter dude.
And that quilt is his most current project! It's a hand stitched Block of the Month quilt that he's absolutely loving! Desi started quilting when he decided to make a memory quilt for his granddaughter from his son's tshirts. He thought he would make that one quilt and be finished. (Hahahah! Surprise Desi!) Now he's a regular face at our Friday, Sew with Flo classes. The ladies love having him up there, and he's loving the help as he delves a little further into the world of quilt making!
Desi won't be giving up quilting anytime soon,  he has two sisters who quilt themselves and encourage and support his newfound hobby!

The Shelley adventures!

Ok, so let me just start this blog by recapping the adventures of Shelley from the last day or two!
First, just so anyone who has done anything remotely weird, this is going to make you feel really good about yourself.....I flushed my glasses down the toilet. Yes. I. Did. My prescription, wear everyday glasses.

So, here's the story. I was in the bathroom, the one in our shop behind the quilt that is only for staff (cause it's so small, and well...behind a quilt!) I was in a hurry and trying to multitask, so as I flushed I took my glasses off so I could use hairspray (didn't want to get any on my glasses!) I set them on the little stand we have on the back of the toilet and as I reached for the can of hairspray, I could see the glasses slip down and as I screamed they hit the flushing toilet and disappeared out of sight!! Literally, gone! (remember this all happened very fast!) I plunged my hand into that swirling flushing toilet so fast it would've made your head spin! Down and around the corner, where most hands don't reach, not even to clean...and OH MY GOODNESS, I could feel them!! I grabbed those suckers out almost as fast as they went in! Yes I scrubbed them with soap.

Adventure number 2. In my office down here in the basement of this shop, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye...shit. A wee baby mouse. Just sort of hobbling along. Not moving too fast. I screamed. I know, silliness. I wasn't screaming because it was a mouse. I was screaming because damn, it was so small and kinda cute and helpless, and I knew I had to deal with it, and I really didn't want to have to. I grabbed a fabric cardboard and smacked it a few times. Did the job. I marched straight upstairs to inform Jeanne that we had mice. Or we did have! Well, Yvonne being the farmgirl on our staff, offered to pick up the remains. So off we go downstairs armed with a brown and a bag. And there was the wee mouse, picking itself up and dusting itself off! Apparently I had only stunned it. Yvonne didn't have a problem, picked that little thing up squealing and squirming and plopped it in the bag and took it straight outside. Bleck!

So for those of you who don't know.......we just wrapped up yet another manuscript!!! I feel like doing a little happy dance! Like only working 40 hours a week is going to be a cake walk! Ya hoo!!
We worked on Tis the Autumn Season and this next book back to back, and I gotta tell you.....it was hard!! If writing books was the only thing Jeanne and I did....not a problem! But when you factor in the store, shows, pattern designing, fabric, Quilt Market....it's a lot on our plates!

So what will this next book be about and when does it release? Well, while I can't tell you or show what's in the book just yet, I can give you a few hints.....did you like Tis the Season, our first book? Then you will LOVE this next book! Do you enjoy winter? Snowmen, snowflakes, and maybe a mitten or two? You will love this book! It will release in the spring of 2014!

Until next time....close the lid (learned that important lesson) and keep the trap line set!

More Market stuff!

Ok the answer to the last blog post was........12!!! Thats right! I brought home 12 new pairs of shoes!
I know, it's ridiculous, but I can't help myself!

So Market is always fun, exhilarating, exhausting, energizing....all at the same time!

We set up our booth on the Wednesday. We decided to go bare bones this Market! Not a whole lot of extras as we didn't ship our stuff this time, we mailed it!! It was't terrible - we did manage to scrounge some extra carpet from the Clothworks booth!

We did two schoolhouses on Thursday. Schoolhouses are opportunities for us to teach other shop owners ways in which they can promote our book or fabric. Both went very well, and we have lots of fresh ideas for next year! The show starts on Friday, and there is SO MUCH to see!!
The show is very large....it's hard to explain to someone exactly how large it is unless you've actually seen it!! It's not just a bunch of little old grannies setting up their wares on a table, it's an industry! and it's large!

This picture of a teensy portion of the market floor can't even truly give you the scope of the show.
There are two statistics that I once heard about Market that really stuck with me:

1. Quilt Market/Festival is the largest convention that Houston, TX hosts every single year.

2. If you walk up and down every single market aisle from beginning to end, you will have covered 3 miles!

(And you ask why I needed new shoes???!)