When I Grow Up

It seems I still haven't decided what to be when I grow up. Yes, believe it or not, I've returned to college for round 2. After the urge to finish an Education degree I dabbled with during my Business degree years hit me last month, I decided "Why not?" and enrolled for the Fall term. Now, I'm a Secondary Ed./Math major, with an even stronger addiction to Starbucks, fed by my 7:30am Calculus class.

Yes, I said 7:30am......4 days a week.

It has been a very long time since my last formal math class. I frequently leave that class with one of two attitudes:

(1) The misconception that I actually understand the day's lecture. This misconception is quickly cured as I attempt to complete the day's homework. (Notice the word "attempt")

(2) No misconception that I understand the day's lecture, just a combination of fear of the homework and the feeling my head might explode if I don't get more espresso soon.

Yes, I am fairly convinced that Calculus was invented by a bunch of expert mathematicians.......while they were drunk.......as a cruel joke to torture the rest of us.

I am still here, I am still quilting, and I promise to post about something quilt related soon. Just as soon as my head stops throbbing.

Origins-Fresh on the Shelf

Origins, the new line by Basic Grey for Moda, arrived today! Myself and my freight crew (Bailey and Kylee) got it unwrapped, tagged, and ready for sale. It is beautiful, and I can't wait to get my hands on it and whip up some samples!

New! Groovy Girls' Club!

Terry Atkinson has come up with a new club centered around quilting, learning, and fun. "The Groovy Girls' Club" will be offered through The Crazy Quilter beginning in September. I don't have all the details lined out yet, but here is what I CAN tell you for sure:

*Club Members will meet once a month for a fun lesson on a new technique. (The first month involves zippers) There will be free patterns and lessons relating to each month's pattern.
*The club day and time is yet to be determined. Membership and all benefits are available in store only. Sorry distance followers, this is a rule of the club and not my rule!
*Members will have exclusive dibs on these projects and lessons. They WILL NOT be offered outside of the meeting!
*Fun, easy, inexpensive kits will be available for members featuring the monthly projects.
*There will be a small monthly fee to cover the costs of copies, snacks, etc. While I haven't crunched any numbers yet, this will be quite affordable. I aim to keep it under $5/meeting.
*As of now, the club will run for 6 months. Should Atkinson Designs choose to extend it before then or run it for another 6 month period, I will let you know!

More details to follow!

Maggie May Bag

Over the weekend, in between the shop hop customers, this bag pattern (The Maggie May Bag)kept tugging at me from the pattern wall. So, I grabbed some fabric and took it home with me on Saturday. A few days later, and only 2 or 3 hours of sewing time, here is what I have! This was possibly the easiest bag I've ever made, and I'm not saying that lightly. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it went together and how easy to cut out the pieces it was. The pattern utilizes 1.5" strips from a honey bun, and 1 honey bun could make 3 bags. Add a fun button, and you've got a great hand bag!

White Flag Waving

I'm waving my white flag for the night. It's the last few days before the Crazy 8 Shop Hop, and I've been putting in some late nights of quilting and piecing in a last ditch effort to finish as many new displays and prepare as many things as possible for the hop this weekend. My last big project? Finishing up the quilt sample for Holly Lane, which shoulda, woulda, coulda been done last month had the fabric arrived on time. As it stands tonight, I am a few borders short, which brings the promise of another late night tomorrow.


So for now, I am waving my white flag and yelling "Uncle" at the top of my lungs.

Well, at least I would be, if I had the energy. I.....need......sleep.

But first, I am going to finish drinking this: (Don't mind the mess in the background. I waved my white flag at housework last week)

Next, I'm going to eat this:



And I'm going to attempt to be somewhat coherant when C gets home from work, around 3am.

However, if he's lucky, I'll fall into a deep sugar coma before I go back for seconds, and there might be a brownie left for him (if the girls don't find them first!)

New Monthly Program Updates

Today I finally made it far enough on my to-do list to add a new monthly program I've been wanting to start. These new patterns were designed by The Wooden Bear, and now that I've added them to my website, you can view them under Monthly Kits.
I debated about waiting until I had some samples made and everything in order, but who am I kidding? If I do that I might as well pencil it in for 2044 or so. Instead, I'm offering it right away with a promise to myself that I'm going to have to get it in gear and make some samples soon.
Here are the basics:

Once monthly for 1 year, you'll get a pattern and buttons to make one quilt. These quilts hang on a scroll stand, so with the monthly program you'll also get a stand. The price of the monthly kits ($13.75/month) includes shipping and one stand as well as patterns and trims/buttons. You can also get each kit separately, if you prefer not to do 12 months, or if you need an extra. The quilts finish to 12x12, so they are a perfect way to use up scraps and stash fabrics, making them very affordable! A very fun addition to a table, desk, shelf, or dresser in any home.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This month it seems like I am really good at starting things and not any good at finishing them! Just ask my husband, who's having a hard time dealing with my home improvement projects and the mess I leave in my wake. (What do you mean you didn't see my official title, "Home Improvement Diva," on the marriage license??) Who knew he liked having a shower in the bathroom, a ceiling in the dining room, or carpet on the floor?? They'll all get finished....eventually.

Our house has revolved around a certain car for the past month or so, which I hope to share about soon here. Suffice it to say I have been officially inducted into the world of muscle cars and 100+mph, and I am slightly addicted.

There has been so much going on between home and the quilt shop I have found it hard to focus on writing even one post. There are just too many things to choose from. Here are a few things happening of late:

Preparations for the 3rd Annual "Crazy 8 Shop Hop" are in their final stages. Well, OK, maybe not exactly in their final stages. Well.....OK......maybe I haven't really started yet. I promise, it will be wonderful, even if I don't get any sleep the week before. The hop happens August 6, 7, and 8th, and involves a figure 8 shaped map full of fun quilt shops to visit in Northern Idaho/Eastern Washington. Want details? I'd promise to post them soon, but I might be lying about the "soon" part, so if you really need the goods than give me a call or email.

The "Origins" pre-cuts arrived today. You might remember this Moda line from an earlier post on this blog. It is Gorgeous!!! The line is due to arrive in August.

Deary Community Days will coincide with the Crazy 8 Hop this year. This might make traffic a little difficult on Saturday morning, with the parade lining up in my back yard. I will be placing red balloons around town to mark alternate routes around the parade for hoppers. The local quilt group, "Country Pine PieceMakers," will have their Annual Quilt Show that day as well, so stop in if you're making the hop. Their quilts have kept me quite busy and admittedly a little stressed out as I attempt to beat the Olympic record for number of quilts quilted (and quilted well) in one month. I already hold this record from March 2010, but I'm nothing if not ambitious!

I have begun to add photos and some info to a Facebook page for the shop. You can find it by searching "The Crazy Quilter". I am also adding custom quilting photos when I get time. Watch for this album to fill up fast!

My dad (who surprisingly never fails to answer his phone, even when he knows it's me), along with my bro-in-law and my oldest sons, helped me move my quilting machine about a month ago. (OK, so maybe they moved it and I "directed.") This was no small feat, as it doesn't come apart in the center and weighs close to a million pounds! It now resides in my living room, which is where it will stay unless it falls through the floor to the basement. As a result, the quilt shop has tons more room (everyone keeps commenting that it looks empty, but I promise I actually have equal or a little more inventory than usual). I also now have a great place upstairs for sewing. You can bring your machine and latest projects in anytime I am open and enjoy sewing with me. I have been getting many projects finished just by sewing for an hour or two here each day.

New items continue to arrive almost daily, and there are sure to be a lot of new projects to see in the shop. Since I won't find time to post them all here, be sure to check out the "New Additions" category at www.crazyforquilting.com, where new items will appear first.