Proverbs 31:25

"She is clothed in strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future."

Piecing things together.

Hi.

Sorry I've been so mean.

Every person that does great things is often faced with interference or obstacles in their path. In order to reach satisfaction and enlightenment, one must overcome all obstacles in the path that limit oneself.

I have learned that I don't always handle stressful situations well. This week was insane. The internet was down. There was the great cricket-apocalypse. My bobbin winder broke. I forgot to pay one of my bills. Tegan was fussy the entire week cooped up in the kids room here. Life. Is. Insane.

So in order to reach my own level of enlightenment, I took the past few days to evaluate things and decided that humor is the best medicine for duress. Life is funny. We must learn to laugh at ourselves. 

So, party plans have been underway. I've been busy collaging, scrapbooking, hanging, quilting, piecing, binding, pricing, and raffle-prize-rabblerousing! This is an exciting time for me- to be able to bring Quilt Market to the masses and let them all see how much fun we've been having. To be able to show the fabric buying process, the fellowship and the shenanigans.

Grandma Pam, if you're reading this, I really, really wish you could be here tonite. Everyone loves the flower basket quilts I've hung up in the quilting studio and you get a lot of oohs and ahhhs! : )

Here's a little tease as to what you may possibly win tonite if you attend the party:

10 lucky gals will receive one of the newest Amy Butler patterns! Thanks, Amy!!!

5 lucky guests will make out with a Michael Miller Clubhouse charm pack, and 10 colorful quilters will be blessed with a Michael Miller Cotton Couture charm pack!!! Thanks Michael Miller- you rock!!

Happy Saturday! Hope to see you tonite if you are in the Austin, Texas area. Our party is from 7-10 pm tonite, and it is at my quilt shop located at 10435 Burnet Road, Suite 106, Austin, Texas 78758. 888-TO-QUILT is the number to call if you get lost.


YAHOO! LET'S PARTY!!!!!!

xoxo
Jess

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

So. We wrapped up Quilt Market with tear-down, last-minute gifts and pics, and a 6 hour trip to Seminole, Oklahoma. Why in the world did we stop in Seminole? For a few reasons. One reason is that it is almost a halfway point between Kansas City and Austin. And secondly because my good friend Beth just moved there from California and this is our first time seeing each other in four years. In fact, the last time we saw each other was at our friend Mark's funeral, and the day we rolled in just so happened to be his birthday. Bittersweet reunion, but a great day to do it. 

I naturally slept most of the way to Seminole, taking cat naps in between gas station stops (shot glasses for my friend Amanda along the way, to Mike's disgruntled sighs of discontent). We rolled into Seminole around 2am. Beth is awesome and stayed up until we got there, and so did her new husband Josh. I was so happy to see her!! This was my first time meeting Josh and I was really happy he stayed up to say hi, considering he had to work early in the morning. 

So Gina, Mike and I crashed out in the living room and caught up on our beauty sleep. Beth had promised to tattoo Mike in the morning, and I was hoping I could convince her to blast me too. I knew exactly what I wanted to get- a butterfly from Valori Wells newest collection of fabric. It took little convincing for Beth to concede to do the job. (This is what I love about having talented friends. Awesome hookups!)

Beth and Gina just so happened to have the same exact shade of pink hair. 

While Beth prepped her tattoo area, Gina and I got out all of our market pamphlets, fliers and memorabilia  and separated them into piles. 

This is what we do after every Quilt Market. That way we stay organized, recycle all of the papers that have no relevant use to us, and gather our ideas from this past event for future use. 

And then we got tattoos. 

And it was awesome.

I'm glad I got to reward Mike and myself for our hard work. Butterflies are a symbol that float in and out of my life, and it felt like the right time. Many thanks to my gal Valori Wells for this beautiful fabric line. It's already one of my favorite collections of ALL TIME!! So beautiful!

And as fast as it was here, it was over. 

We were having so much fun, and then back to work. But still a great week to go back- we received Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy (legacy reprint!!), I received my awesome Miss KK doll in the mail from Budapest, Hungary, and Tegan graduated from preschool.

I almost cried when I got it. 

And I missed out on this because I had to work, but little Tegan is finally going to be in kindergarten this fall and he was really excited to pass preschool.

Next blog I'll tell you all about the new collections we've received and the upcoming blog tour I've been asked to participate in! Yippee!

Happy travels this summer,

xoxo

Jess