Summer Doings
Hi Everyone! No, I didn’t fall over the edge thought I came very close a time or two since the last entry. It is finally summer here in the Northwest and I am loving it! We had a long winter and the sun and heat feels great. A friend once said the sun heals the spirit. I totally agree.
The last posting was from Paducah and the amazing AQS quilt show held there every year. We had a letter from a concerned reader voicing the opinion that I was being disrespectful of the quilt makers by not listing names, etc. for each quilt. I sincerely apologize if anyone felt slighted by my not listing names. There simply is not room or time to do that for all the quilts I had to share. I am not going to post the remainder of the quilt pictures taken at Paducah as I do not want to hurt anyones feelings.
As a quilter that enjoys the traditional methods of hand pieceing the traditional patterns and hand quilting i fully understand and appreciate the time and effort that goes into a finished quilt. No slight was intended.
A 45 minute drive north of us is the Skaget Valley where the tulips grow. Swans and Snow Geese winter there. the white you see on the ground are Swans and the mountain in the background is MT Baker. it is a beautiful area and one we love to drive to on a sunny day. This picture is taken from a wildlife refuge where Eagles nest. We were fortunate this day to see a nesting pair of Eagles…what an amazing sight.
We have been busy at Clover getting ready to present our new products. Quilt market, in Pittsburg, PA, was really fun. The convention center is right on the river and each day as we walked the 4 blocks to and from the center we could see the activities on the river and the many bridges. It was fun to walk around our hotel and see the breathtaking old buildings. Being from Washington State it is always a jolt to go to realize the history of the eastern part of the US. I would have loved knowing the history of some of those buildings.
At Quilt Market we introduced the Sweetheart Rose Maker and Bow Maker…
…demonstrated our new quilting notions along with the Dimensional template with a new project sheet for a Christmas tree shaped advent calendar using the dimensional squares. It demonstrates how to use the dimensional squares in quilt piecing. Check out the Clover Website…… www.clover-usa.com ….. for the pattern.
We are preparing for the TNNA (The National Needlework Association) in Columbus, OH the weekend of the 14th. This show features all things knitting, crocheting and needlepoint. One of my loves, cross stitch, is also a big part of this show. It kicks my creative energies into high gear and i want to come home with every new yarn and pattern I see. Unfortunately there is little time to sit and just knit these days but every so often I sneak off to my work room and lovingly touch all my yarn and leaf through the patterns. ahhhhh!! one day i will retire and then watch out grandchildren, you will EACH be wearing a grann original!
Following quickly on the shirt tail of TNNA comes CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) where we see a lot of crafting items, scrapbooking and any an all that is somehow connected with that….walk into a Michaels, or Joann’s and anything in those stores will be at this market trade show. It is another time of wanting to take most everything home and play with it experience. I will be sending picture back and tales of the fun and excitement. In February Paris Hilton was at the show promoting her line of scrapbook papers….yes, America, Paris has entered the world of scrapbooking…right along with Marie Osmond.
It is a good time of life and spending time with my grandchildren is a blessing. I was with our youngest grandchild, Garret, age 5, when he shared that he was sad because his pet catipillar died. I showed the appropriate emotion until he told me that he had been giving the catipillar swimming lessons when it died. At age 5 I guess he doesn’t get the humor in that statement because he was a little miffed at “granny” when I started laughing hysterically. Oh! the wonder of a 5-year olds mind. He also announced that now that he was 5 he should be allowed to make more important decisions for the family. His 15 yr old brother told him he had to wait a while until he could do that and after a moment of pondering this new information he ask if that would be “10”. No, Shayd replied, 18! Garret got a shocked look on his face and put his hands on his hips and said, OH MY GOSH!! I Will never make it that old. Just wait little one!
I hope your summer is shaping up to be a wonderful, craft filled time. Teach someone to knit, crochet, sew or whatever it is that is near and dear to your heart.
I recently saw the following and hold it to be true: BE YOURSELF, EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN.
Till next time!
