Upcoming for Spring

Spring will hopefully start here in North Idaho soon, and with it comes a load of events and fun! Here is a quick run down of some of the spring quilting events at The Crazy Quilter:

April brings 2 quilt shows, Clarkston, WA and Moscow, ID. I will have a booth at both this year. The Clarkston show is over Easter weekend, the Moscow show is the weekend before. More details for times and dates is available at the store. Considering they are barely a month away, I'm starting to get that panic feeling of not being able to get everything done for them I would like. A surprisingly large amount of work goes into creating a booth and attending the shows, so it's high time I get myself in gear!

May brings the I SEW shop hop. Over Mother's Day Weekend, May 6, 7, and 8, visit nine quilt shops around the Palouse and Eastern Washington for fun and prizes! A large amount of work goes into this project as well! Food treats, give-aways, free patterns, prizes, advertising, phew! Even spread over 9 store owners it is a hefty task.

The weekend after the shop hop is Quilt Market! International Market is being held in Salt Lake City this year, which is fantastic for me for a few reasons. First, it's close enough to home to be a fairly easy trip, a short plane ride, and inexpensive. Plus, my sister lived in SLC for awhile, and we are familiar with getting around there. Last, I'm super excited that Bailey gets to come with me this year. I told her when she was old enough I would bring her, and this is the year! It will be great for her to see what Market is all about.

Considering that the week between the Hop and Market is my finals week, I have some work to do! But won't Market be sweet knowing that I don't have to worry about school work for a few months. I'm hoping that means I'll find extra time to make some of the great new projects we always find.

Oh, So, TIRED!

Let me start by saying that working a 40 hour/week regular job AND running a business STINKS. Would someone tell me why I didn't request tomorrow off, because I will be lucky to crawl out of bed and drag myself anywhere in the morning. I am so tired, in fact, that I didn't even have the energy to be in this picture of my quilt show booth:


I did, however, actually finish a few things this week in the way of quilt projects. They are the Ellie Bag, and my Spring Needle Punch. Why yes, this is the same needle punch I started over a year ago. Thanks for rubbing it in!

Here are some pics:





Now, off to bed with me!

Seaport Quilter's Show & Stuff

This weekend, April 25 & 26, I will be vending at the annual Seaport Quilter's Guild Quilt Show, in Clarkston, WA. We didn't even unpack the entire trailer from last weekend's show at Moscow, ID, and we'll be repacking and packing some new stuff up today an heading down this afternoon to set up.

I've quilted the Boot Scootin' and Stampede shop samples, and hope to have pictures up later today. The feather borders, when quilted to accent the feathers, look awesome!

After that, I hope to begin posting here more often. It has been a super crazy month. Here's a partial list of things I've been doing that I may write about soon:

Arguing with a rude and pretentious insurance adjuster about my sewage soaked basement.
Scheduling carpet installation, and trying to paint the basement in between quilts.
Finding new kitchen cabinetry for the quilt shop.
Quilting like mad, that list just keeps getting longer!
Classwork, classwork, classwork. 3 weeks left!
Quilt shows, upcoming shop hop, and crazy online orders.
3 kids who are very tired of school and ready for a break.
My husband's unexpected job loss, followed by crazy new job with long hours.
A new puppy, then 2 new puppies, then 1 puppy again.

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten, it's turning out to be a very busy Spring! Today's goals are:

1. Finish painting the basement.
2. Finish quilting Stampede, possibly quilt 1 more for someone else.
3. Pack and set up for the Clarkston Quilt Show
4. Make a Home Depot run to find paint, return extra carpet, and get some decking.
5. Come home dead tired and dragging, and try to do some housework and/or classwork.
6. Drink a glass of wine, I'm gonna need it!

Annual Palouse Patchers Quilt Show This Weekend

This weekend, you'll find me at the Palouse Patchers' Quilt Show in Moscow, ID at the Latah County Fair Grounds.

The show hours are Sat. 10-6 and Sun. 11-5

I'm wearing my fanciest apron, loaned to me by a friend since I haven't had time to make my own! It's got these great pockets on the front that hold all kinds of stuff: change, my blackberry, fiber one bars, a hair tye, and room for more! Here's the pattern: Lilly Apron.

And no, that's not me wearing it. My hair is much........puffier than that!

Pictures, Pictures!

Here are some pictures I was finally able to upload from my camera. It seems my computer is in a good mood tonight!

These are pics from the Clarkston Quilt Show last weekend:
This was my booth at the quilt show. My mom (you know, the senile one) and I worked long and hard last weekend and had a rewarding show. I am still recovering, but I have managed to get some quilting done the past couple of days, so maybe there's hope for me yet!
Have you prepared for the I Sew So I Hop Shop Hop, coming May 9 & 10? Yeah, neither have I, yet.

One Show Down, One to Go!

This past weekend was the annual Palouse Patcher's Quilt Show in Moscow, ID. Being a vendor at quilt shows is a lot more work than it appears, but I find it is usually worth it. This weekend's show had great attendence, despite near 80 degree temperatures that might have kept people outside instead of quilt gazing. The show went well for me, and now I am looking forward to the Seaport Quilt Show in Clarkston, WA the last weekend in April.
Here is a pic of my booth, as promised. Now I get to rearrange and rethink the booth for Clarkston, since some things sold out, some were not as popular as I'd hoped, and some new things will be done before then. So much to do, so little time, as usual!

Wow, I think I wrote a novel!

Wow was that post on flying to Jamaica long! Hopefully you made it through it, or maybe you got bored and quit reading half way through. I hope not, since I've only just begun telling you everything about our trip!

I am having a really hard time coming back to reality, or maybe it's just the completely draining jet-lag I feel like I'm still suffering from. Here's a hint: The trip home wasn't any smoother than the trip there! Either way, it is not helping me prepare for the quilt show this weekend! I went home yesterday afternoon and could hardly keep my eyes open, let alone fire up the quilting machine. At this rate, I should be caught up quilting, well........never.

If that isn't bad enough, my sun burn waited until yesterday, 2 days after coming home, to turn a nice golden color. Now, it will for sure be long gone and I'll have to start the process all over again if Summer ever arrives in Idaho. Doing the laundry has been totally depressing, since it involves putting away swimsuits and shorts and tanks that won't reappear for another 2 months at least!

Thank goodness for my parents, who have helped me prepare items for my super awesome booth at the quilt show! I will be posting pictures, of course. I am so excited to see it all come together, exhausted or not! We set up for the show tomorrow afternoon, so wish me luck!

On top of everything else, my Cookie Lee jewelery arrived the day before I left for Jamaica. I love it all, but I'm so overwhelmed with everything I can't even begin to start really selling it. I'll settle for wearing it for now, I guess!