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.

New Fabric!

A new line arrived this week that I had ordered at Spring Market. It is called Olde World Style from Maywood Studios. C talked me into it at Market, and despite myself I am sure glad he did because it is gorgeous! There are a few patterns I purchased specifically because they feature this fabric line, so watch for more to come as I work on getting samples made. For now, you can see the fabric online or in the store!