Quilt Fabric

Oopsie. Almost forgot to add another reject. This goes with the Carousel group.

Quilters Head 2 California, I-20, I-10, L.A.

HAHAHAHA, I had plans to leave by 5:30 this morning. It is now 10:30 and I am so far behind I don't know if I can catch me. This wreck of a house has taken its toll on my accomplishments, at least as far as quilting stuff is concerned. I spent five years looking for stuff for my home when we remodeled a few years ago and now I am supposed to pick paint, tile, flooring, wallpaper, carpet, rugs, etc in a matter of days. Now, how am I supposed to buy all the great "finds" and "surprises" in that time---the breath-taking-Oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-have-that-even-though-it-is-soooo-not-in-my-budget" thingies? I am gonna have to do some power shopping, that is for sure. Hey, I am going to California. That has got to be a great place for major goodies. Time is a-wastin'. They are buying my stuff!!!!

Frustrated Quilter Heads Out, Again

O.k., here is yet another, "too similar" design. whatcha think?

My intentions are in the right place--I am planning to write on my blog while I am gone to the Long Beach show, but, we all know how that goes. So, do not give up on me....I will be back.

Rejected Quilter

O.K., folks, here I go, again. I have had all of my new designs rejected to date. I am going to start posting some of them here. Please comment. Please be honest. Well, not to the point of keeping me in tears....gulp. Anyway, here we go.

This is part of a group called Loopy Lillies. I already posted a couple of the designs earlier but I am going to show the "main" design, again, so you can see where I am going with this. I was told that these were too similar to my earlier line.

Quilter Meets Susan Komen Goal

YIPPPPEEEEE. Thanks to the generosity of folks like you, I have just met my $2,300 fund-raising goal. Thanks to you, I now have zero excuses for not walking. Yeah, thanks for that....my butt thanks you, too. Thanks for the new, slimmer, trimmer, healthier me, I hope, I hope, I hope (did I mention that I usually gain weight doing this gig?)

Seriously, thank you. All of the folks for whom we walk thank you.

Back to Quilting?

Whew, it seems like I am doing everything but quilting these days. Supposedly, the last parts of "the" quilting book are ready to be sent to the publisher. We will see.... I am not good at keeping secrets, as I have mentioned once or twice before, so, do not be surprised if I sneak in a few images of things to come, heh heh. As a matter of fact, how about some fabric designs....

As for the house, I can see where this damage control from the water could lead to trouble, big time. I mean, newly painted walls need new curtains, don't they? And then I could see where the seat cushions would be much prettier if they matched the new curtains better....hmmmm. Was that a look of fear on my husband's face as he left ??? Nah. Me thinks it was a look of approval, heh heh.

Quilter Walks for Susan G Komen

Just thought I would mention -- 10 miles today. My butt is screamin', "You Bit...h.. !!!, What drugs are you taking? What were you thinking???? "Thinking?" Oh, that....hey, if I were an advocate of thinking I most likely would not be signed up for this 60 Mile Walk in the first place, DUH.

I Shoud Have Been Quilting

Breathe, breathe...breathe, Dianne. It has to be better than not breathing, right? I am referring to my actions these days, particularly with respect to the credit card issue. I now know that I had several options. However, I just panicked. Always a dumb idea. Even the great guy who is helping us repair the water damage asked why I did not call him. Like I even thought that would be an option? Anyway, hopefully, there will not be a next time, but, just in case, I am going to practice "not to panic!, not to panic, not to,um, wait, doesn't that mean I have to get in more panic situations to see if it is working? I do not like this plan at all.

Breathe...take a very deep breathe. Then think. That is my new plan....thinking. Novel idea.

Pooped Quilter

Whew. It takes a lot out of me to walk in this heat. I did nine miles today and stupidly got started later than I like. Wanna take a snooze? Read on. Things are pretty much same ol', same ol' these days. House is in shambles, book is progressing, and I am getting ready for the next show, in Long Beach.

I will tell you a little story. I believe I mentioned that I drove up to Paducah last week and about the fiasco with the photographer scheduling. By the way, it turned out he was really nice. Anyway, my daughter and I decided to take a day and piddle around town, have a nice lunch, shop, go to the museum, etc. An actual day of relaxation. I looked that word up in the dictionary because I had forgotten what it meant...anyway, the town is lovely. Wonderful shops are everywhere, tempting even the most prudent shoppers. I, of course, do not fall into that category so it was Temptation City for me. We found the most delightful dress shop right off the bat. We tried on tons of clothes and I found one terrific shirt--had to have it. Well, when I went to purchase the item, my credit card was rejected. I only use one credit card. My head was spinning. I decided, go eat some lunch and call 911 (HUSBAND). He was in meetings all day and not able to answer his cell. Panicky, I decided I would check out of our hotel and go home, immediately. I mean, I only had about $200 bucks in cash on me. I paid $80 of that for the room. It was now around 5 pm and we had about 12 hours of driving in front of us. Remember, we were pulling a trailer that, full, meant we got about 10 miles to the gallon. Do the math, I now had about $120 bucks. That purchases about 40 gallons of gas. That gets us about 400 miles.....we had nearly 700 to go...... As we are driving, our conversation went like, "O.k, check all over my purse for any more money."... "call your Dad."..."count the change"...."look in the glove box"".."call your Dad."...".think we will be arrested as vagrants if we sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot like the 18 wheeler guys?"..."should we eat anything and use up gas money?" "call your Dad"........

Finally, we got in touch with Tom. He pleaded with us to stop at a hotel and he would call in his credit card number. Of course, I did not listen. I rarely listen. Why start now???? I just did not think I could sleep under the circumstances, anyway. We arrived home around five in the morning with less than $10 in our pockets, exhausted, and teary eyed. The next day I called the bank. They had no idea why the card was rejected. NO answers at all. What was that word??? Relaxation? Serves me right. Any word I have to research, I probably should not incorporate into my life...bad karma,very bad karma.

Red-faced Quilter

Well, I just found out why my workers did not show up. The head man's wife died over the weekend. I feel like such a jerk for even thinking bad thoughts. Please bear with me.......

Exhausted, Frustrated Quilter

Wow, it has been a week of an exploded house. Now, we are waiting for more of the "de-contructing" process. Where are they? Why-o-why do these worker guys not show up when they say they will? Now I am starting to remember one of the big reasons that Tom and I did all of the remodeling ourselves -- we did not have to depend on anyone else's schedule.

As for the book, I have only one more set of directions to write and I will be as done as I know how to be at this point. YIIPPPPEEE. Start preparing the margarita, boys and girls. Almost time to do some celebratin'

Quilting Book in the Works

O.k., I actually mentioned that I was in the process of writing a book earlier, not sure whether I was going to be a very bad girl by doing that. Well, I found out when we drove to Kentucky that I can announce it to the world. So, consider this my "world announcement." I am writing a book for American Quilter's Society (AQS) and the "expected" birthing date is March. The name of the book is, "The Scrap-O-Lator," and it will be all about quilts that use your scraps and stash. There is also a whole section on using your scraps in non-sewing projects. Now, the labor pains...just trying to get this baby done by August first is a major challenge. Tuesday morning Brandy and I drove to Paducah to take all of the projects to the photographer's. There was a mix-up, what's new?, and the photographer was not ready for us. So, we left everything in Kentucky and we will have to drive back in a few weeks. Such is life. I hope to show an image of the cover of the book in the next few weeks. Pardon me if I squeal and jump up and down and mention the book one or two --- MILION times!

Quilters Bogged Down

Yep, not much has changed on the homefront except more of the same water issues. Now, the house is just more torn up...sheetrock cut from the walls, more fans, more floor gone, etc etc etc. Jeez, my head just cannot seem to get focused on this project stuff. I am soooo ADD. sooo easily distracted. Hopefully, things will calm down here soon. Yeah, right. Running away from home is sounding like a good suggestion. Ever read, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?" It is such a cute "children's" book. I am unofficially changing the name to "Dianne and the Terrible, No Good......." That is my story and I am stickin' to it.

Quilters Re-decorate

More decorator photo ops. Anyone need some flooring, cheap? Yours for the taking. Oh, and you are also welcome to the bags hanging from the fridge door, and the bedroom doors, and, wherever else we can find to dry them out. The third and fourth photos are more evidence of our new decorating techniques. Uh, wait. That last one is the front of our fridge. Nothing new about that. That is what it always looks like. Whatever... We are definitely for hire. Just call. We do not have a long waiting list....