Golden State Season's Greetings

It seems like ever since Quilt Market, life has been go, go, go.

This is our booth from this last year. Not bad, eh?


In order to make remnants a reality, I had to spend the greater part of the holiday season in Northern California. This was A-OK with me. I got to spend the best quality time with both my families. I even got to see my very best friend in the whole world.

This is PeePee Dog. He's pretty much the sweetest dog that I have ever met in my life. He's not a baby anymore, he's 7 now, but he's still my little Peeps.

I quilted more than I've quilted in the past 3 years. I didn't photograph all the quilts, just some of my favorites.

 This is a little ditty that has haunted me for the past 7 years. It must have been something someone left in the free pile at work, but I somehow rescued it and decided it needed life. So i added the two borders. Everything is vintage. I will probably quilt it up when the machine gets delivered and put it up for sale.

 This came out of Bonus Mom's stash. I added the outer border. Ran out of time to quilt it, but I'm thinking I'll find a cool tapestry style quilting pattern.

 This is a little something that I've had in my stash for about 4 years. I'm saving it for when I have a daughter someday. Incidentally, Bonus Mom pulled out the same panel in a different colorway out of a shelf in the sewing machine. Cracks me up.

 I made this for my sweetheart stepson Tegan. He is just starting to read and Dad bought him some Dr. Seuss books for Christmas. I didn't get a chance to see him in time to give it to him for the holiday, which kind of broke my heart, but it gives me time to bind it at least. Each border has a custom quilted pattern, and the skinny polka dot border says "Merry Christmas Tegan, Love Dad and Jess 2011". A little memento for my Thing One.

There are many, many more, and I cannot wait to show you the photos from my trip home. I can honestly say if I never drive thru New Mexico again, life would still go on for me. More about that soon, definitely worth sticking around for.

Before we talk about the trip home, may I just say that I had the best Christmas dinner ever tonite? I was so restless from 30-plus hours in the car that I knew a couple hours in the kitchen would relax me.

I made sweet potato fries for the first time : )

Merry Christmas to all of you, fiberheads or merely fans, and the yummiest of New Years.

It's here! It's here!!!!

FINALLY! After an almost two-month wait, we finally received Amy's newest collection.

Fun fact about me: Amy Butler has been my hero since I was 16 years old. I used to dream of the day when I would finally meet her. I used to wonder what she looked like, and how she got to be such a talented artist, and if she was as nice as she was amazing at what she does.

In Fall 2007 I attended International Quilt Market for the first time. I was 23 at the time, so many years had passed since falling in love with Amy's fabrics. I remember meekly setting up our booth (conveniently located next to the Soak booth) and feeling like a tiny little minnow in the Pacific Ocean.  All these purposeful ladies clustering around and setting up their poles. I was in wonder.

The second day into Market, I could no longer contain myself. I  had to find her booth! I had to meet my Amy. I was so nervous, wringing my hands like dish towels and wondering what I would say to her.

I couldn't say much, to be honest. (for me, this is pretty much an anomaly.) You would have thought I was winning a Nobel peace prize; once we locked eyes, I felt a single tear run down my cheek, then another, then another. Before I knew it I was sobbing.

Graciously, she wipes a tear off my face and gives me the biggest hug I've ever had. "Don't cry! I'm Amy. It's so lovely to meet you."

And then it began. Once I found my words again, I couldn't stop. I told her all about the shop, and my Bonus Mom, and how much I have loved her fabrics all of these years, and how everything I did was because of her. Without knowing it, Amy had taught me that no matter what, as long as you do what you love, you will never go wrong. 

Years  have passed since this photo was taken, and I can honestly say that as time goes on I feel fonder and fonder for her and more inspired than ever. Seeing is believing. (It's as if you were a young mc trying to make a name for yourself, and you meet Nas, or Snoop Dogg. Could you imagine what kind of lyrics you'd spit after that?! And yes, I did JUST compare Amy Butler to Nas.) Seeing her in action, doing what she does, made me realize that despite everything, I can be anything.

I hope that this inspires you to either meet your hero, or become somebody else's. I know now the type of woman I aspire to be is one that leads other young women in the right direction. Having a hero keeps you accountable for making your dreams come true. Even though I only see her once a year, I know that when I do see her, I want to have LOTS to talk about.

So what are you doing still reading this?! I gotta get back to listing her new fabric, and YOU have to sew something. If you get a chance, please take a look at the website and peep Amy's new line.

So much peace, love and inspiration your way.

xoxo-jess

End of the year, beginning of the future.

The engine groans as I proceed to drive uphill, following the finely painted white line thru the Placerville hillside. It's so cold outside that I can see my breath; something I haven't seen since my move to Texas. Highway 49 is a long and windy reminder of my past life, and as long as the highway extends, so is the story that unfurls.

I grew up a California girl, and as the Katy Perry song so cheerfully describes, fun and sun dictate the culture. Northern California can have a harsh winter if one isn't acclamated to the seasonal changes. After twenty two years of living within the same 200 mile radius, and a particularly rough year full of life changes, I decided to go to the Lone Star State. I packed up my then-car, a pitifully pale blue '95 Chevy Cavalier, and prayed that I wouldn't break down in Tuscon. Three years later and an automobile upgrade, Texas had changed me from an emotionally exhausted waif to a promising, prosperous woman.

It is only natural though, as I drive thru the same hillside the made me and broke me, that I felt a twinge of some of those same feelings of aimlessness that I had had before I left. This time around, I know these wandering feelings will come to an end and at the end of the season I will be back in Austin.

Austin. Sigh. My little Oasis, my Fiji. Local businesses. Grassroots. Do. It. Yourself. I couldn't think of another place in the world I'd rather be.

Fun fact about me: I grew up in a long-arm quilting shop that my best friend Leann's mom owned. I call her mom my bonus mom, because in the years I worked for her she became my best friend and loyal confidante. After Bonus Mom retired, I stopped quilting for a number of reasons. One, I didn't have a permanent space to leave my projects, and Two, I really felt oppressed by the entire industry.

You see, the modern movement hadn't really gotten underway just yet, and I was getting tired of visiting quilt shops and being painstakingly followed around. (Not everyone with tattoos is a thief, ladies!) So after careful consideration, market research, a fork in the road, and the demand of our people, we are setting up shop in Austin. remnants:fiber[culture] will be debuting in the spring of 2012 and I can hardly contain myself.

I look forward to this journey together, and your continued support.

This is for our people.