authors, designers, a fabric rockstar, an editor, ANTHRAX, guadalajara, (and wade, too!)...or, remember that one time at quilt market??!

the full details, coming soon...
oh, and today is the day that my book is released! yay!!
xoxo

pretty in patchwork: doll quilts + lark + sew, mama, sew! = one super sweet contest

what better way to celebrate the release of pretty in patchwork: doll quilts than to have a contest? the lovely ladies over at sew, mama, sew! are hosting the contest for us! click on "the contest" link to get the full details, but why don't i give you a little sneak peek at the prizes, hmmmm?

♥ 1st prize: $100 of fabrics from Sew, Mama, Sew!, a handmade softie (a surprise from me), and a signed copy of Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts

♥ 2nd prize: handmade dolly (a sister to the one featured in the book) and a signed copy of Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts

♥3rd prize: handmade softie (either a bunbun or a dragon) and a signed copy of Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts

of course you can expect that there will also be a little extra special bundle of patchwork happiness (from me) packaged up for each winner!

and, because we know that there are so many fabulous doll quilts out there in existence already, you can enter a previously-made quilt or a brand-new one (actually, each person can enter 2 quilties!). ahhhh, you crazy-busy people out there, that got your attention, yes?!

there's a flickr group set up already...here! the deadline to get those sweet little quilts entered is november 14th...i am so (sew!?! sort of lame, i know.) excited to see the doll quilts that you “piece, stitch, and love!”

be well and do good patchwork! xoxo

countdown to our 3rd annual birthday party trifecta

october has always been hectic for us (rather, me!) for the past 8 years. a birthday, followed by another birthday, followed by another birthday (and wedge an anniversary in there for good measure)all within a span of 10 days, then quickly followed by halloween (and let's not even stress ourselves out about how thanksgiving and christmas come tromping so closely behind. look away...quickly...before they notice us trembling!).

traditionally, october has always involved a lot of planning.

traditionally, not much usually gets done until the last minute.

sigh.

this year is no different...except that i have a book coming out (eeeeee!!!), and there are book-related things to do. and there is market to think about (but honestly there's not much planning for that; i am just going to roam about there, gazing wide-eyed, and trying not to drool overlymuch on fabrics or booths, or become a blathering fool when i actually meet internet friends in the flesh!); and as always, there is sewing just waiting to be done.

{i just have to jump in here to say, "dang! i ♥ french knots and black+white stripey tights!!!"...even on cats!}

oh, and there is that pesky matter of, ahem, last year's birthday party (theoneineverbloggedorflickr-d). what to do (ohmygoshiamrunningoutoftime), what to do?!
so, i'll be back early next week to share last year's birthday party (in glorious pink, red, and aqua) right before i share *this* year's party (roygbiv!). that'll work, right??

and i will sleep a little easier tonight.
even though it is after 2 3 a.m.

and we go with lily on her field trip tomorrow...along with a hundred-ish 2nd graders.

nothing like a route 44 diet coke at 8 o'clock in the morning...good times!!!

p.s. obviously these photos don't mesh too well with my words, but just go with it if you can (pretty please?). i've included a few peeks at 2 of my doll quilts from the book, my hallowe'en trio stitchery from feeling stitchy's september stitch-along(that needs to be turned into a doll quilt or a pillow), birthday invitations (with the original waiting to be made into a doll quilt. hmmm, are we sensing a theme here?), and eme's actual birthday.

p.p.s. before (after??) the birthday post(s) next week, i'll fill you in on what's coming up bookwise and the giveaway that i am going to have (i still haven't gotten my big ole box o' books!!!)...i can't wait! thank you, thank you, so very much for taking the time to share in my (our?!) excitement about the book! xoxo

Pretty in Patchwork Doll Quilts...and me (oh my goodness), the author!

what?!?!?!? a book, you say?

i know!!!!!



oh my gosh...it is still hard for me to believe that this book actually exists.

and will be on a shelf in a real bookstore.

and comes up when i google it...on amazon!

and is beginning to arrive on the doorsteps of the crew who contributed to it (you'll recognize a lot of them, i think)...ack!! i hope that they, and you, will have a little smile when your hands run across the cover...



and when you open the book...

(but i'll leave that last little bit as a surprise for you!)

those 18 lovely ladies and 1 fabulous fellow are listed over there on the right. yes...right there! it may take a while to visit them all, but i promise that you will not be wishing you had that time back. inspiring, funny, talented, amazing people...all of them.

i have so much to share with you about this whole wonderful (and sometimes daunting) experience, but i think that i am suffering from a bit of stage fright. really, i started writing this post earlier today, and it's taken all day to get here! strange and true.



i think i need the quiet hours of late night to pull my thoughts together. after all, that's when i wrote (and re-wrote. and re-wrote...again!), pulled fabrics from my stash, drew, cut + stitched, and emailed (and emailed. and emailed...again!) the very best editor-friend in this whole wide world. amanda carestio, i still thank my lucky stars every day that we are in this together!!!

so, i'll leave you with some details and then come back to tell you more when the girls are in bed for the night:

• lark crafts is the publisher of Pretty in Patchwork Doll Quilts, the first book in the Pretty in Patchwork series (which will explore the sweet spot where sewing and quilting come together...the second book is being authored by a certain someone who appears in my book, and i couldn't be in better company!)
• november 1st is the release date, and the book can be preordered here and here!
• inside you will find 24 little quilts to piece, stitch, and love (made by 19 top designers...and me!), along with instructions, helpful illustrations, and a basics section offering a crash-course on piecing, quilting, binding, and more (like a sweet dolly apron, made by amanda; you'll also be able to stitch up the dolly, dragon, and bunbuns that i made for the book...more on that later!)
• here's a little sampling of the names of some of the quilts (from the back flap...i ♥ the flaps!): A+ Doll Quilt, Arches, Mushroom Hunting for Baba Yaga, Catherine Wheel, I Spy, and Scrappy Asterisks (this mod log cabin with my bunny girls shows up in all kinds of handstitched goodness on that back flap...which i ♥!)

speaking of the back flaps...i can't even begin to tell you all of the little details of this book. i was truly overwhelmed when i held it in my hands for the very first time. the photography of the quilts is just so good; i love that there are close-up shots of bits and pieces of the wonderfully crinkly quilties. the fact that lily, eme, and cate are in the book, too, makes my heart so happy (many thanks to a hometown girl for coming to clotilda for a photoshoot!).

and this...



um, wow!



in which i discover that, yes...my blog does still exist; and, today is the first day of school



lily, the second-grader



the trio, soon to be a duo, and on friday...cate will be solo



new kicks for a new school year...gray chucks with purple laces

  

watching the buses from the car (and lots of begging from the back seat...they so want to be bus riders, but it is so not likely that this will happen. maybe.)



she really is so ready to be back at school, and that makes me a happy momma.



playing the sister's dsi



staring contest



back home for breakfast and a 'deep' metaphysical conversation about how we have so much love and such big hearts that pieces of us can always be with the ones we love, brought on by eme's words (after we dropped off lily), "momma, i think i am now missing a piece of my heart." that girl always seems to have the perfect words for any given situation.

and now we are off to pick up our girl. we cannot wait to hear all about her first day in second grade (twice..we'll get the second, likely abbreviated, version when poppa gets home this evening).

with fresh-baked cookies in hand, we are just about to walk out the door.

gosh, 4 months and 2 days was a long time to be away from this space. i've missed it, but i didn't realize just how much until now. well, summer vacation is over for me, too...yay!

friday musings (and possibly not-so-random photos)

♥ i don't know why i have never made pancakes from scratch before! well, that will not be happening again. i am so happy that cate insisted on pancakes, even though the little red box (a certain lady jemima) in the cabinet didn't have enough mix left to make the teeniest of pancakes. a quick search of allrecipes.com, and we were on our way to good old fashioned pancakes (with blueberries thrown in for the last 3). seriously, so good and so easy...i think i'll mix up a couple of batches of dry mix to keep on hand.



♥ today, driving to school was a much better experience for all involved (i've already blocked yesterday's shout+cry-fest from my mind). most days the backseat discussions keep me totally entertained. this morning, eme launched into her list of "lifelong dreams to make come true":
1.  walk on the sun  moon.
2.  milk a cow. [this is actually the *secret* lifelong dream, so shhhhhhh...don't tell anyone, okay?]
3.  hang something (ANYthing, momma!) from the rearview mirror.



♥ lily *loves* to read, and this makes me one happy momma!



♥ some mornings it is pointless to try and clothe cate. i suppose that you can only "be a naked babyyyyy!" for so long, so why not? and the cuteness factor is through the roof.



♥ i don't visit with friends enough. yesterday was double-the-fun...we spent time with verena and her duo in the afternoon and got to see beki and her little pixie in the evening (with sneak-peeks of the book, of course...beki is in it, after all!)

♥ i have one day left to get my dqs10 quiltie done! it took me a while to get going on it, as i so often second-guess myself in this swap. i think i'm good, though. fingers crossed!

♥ i need to set aside time for my blog...among many, many other things, of course, but i'm thinking you get what i mean, yes?

♥ taking daily photos for my 365 has been a really nice. now if i could just upload them daily, i'd be golden.



♥ as i sit here typing (while lily + eme are at school and cate is drawing right beside me), i wonder if my blog-y/flickr-ing friends feel pulled in a million different directions on a daily basis??? and if you, like me, do feel this...how in the heck do you make it all work? yea, i know. there is no pat answer, but suggestions are always good. and maybe comisseration is better?! but not nearly as productive. meh.

 

♥ we surely do have a busy weekend. ack...so much to do!

♥ be mindful that beauty is where you find it.

random sweetness from september 2009

this just popped up in my new flickr app on the sidebar.
oh my goodness...look at that sweet, chubby, little baby-cate!

eme and cate + one sweet stella are in the playroom with zoobles while i clean up the makings of banana bread. in a little bit, stella's equally sweet mami and little brother will be joining us. hmmm, the quiet playing won't be so quiet then! we may just move this party outside so that we can share some coffee + banana bread and look over the galleys (thank you, theresa, for the correct terminology!) of my up-coming book. well, i did indeed enjoy typing that! i promise a decent tell-mostly-all post soon.

happy, happy, sunny spring day to you! xxx