Halloween

Happy Halloween Eve, everyone. I found this picture online. It is a painting by Ray Bradbury to illustrate his book, The Halloween Tree. I had no idea he could paint too. It's lovely, isn't it?

Not a whole lot going on here. No kids costumes to make and very few trick or treaters anymore. How sad. I know if I was a parent of a little one, the trick or treating would have to be chaperoned and probably a party would be more practical. Was our generation the last one who could totally go wild on Halloween when we were kids? It was OUR night. We literally had the run of the whole town. We could trick or treat anywhere and everywhere in our small town as long as we were done by 9:00 sharp when the fire station whistle blew. Good times. It was my favorite holiday and I was trying today to remember my favorite costume. I was thinking of this when I was out running errands today and I drove by a fender-bender. Minor. No one was hurt just a young guy and the Easter Bunny waiting on the side of the road for the police to show up. I wasn't fast enough with my camera. Sorry.

My favorite costume was easy. The nun. It was a great costume. It was so realistic that back in the 60's when I wore it - quite a few people were shocked. So much so that candy was denied me and our mother received a few pithy phone calls the next day. People don't shock like they used to. The costume was "real". I mean that it was made for a stage play. It was handed down to me from a friend of my mother's who let her daughter wear it a few years prior. Before that it came from "I don't know where" but the other girl's uncle did act on Broadway and the movies. Very heady stuff for the 1960's Midwest. Here I am before going out to trick or treat.
What was your favorite costume? Comment before midnight Sunday November 1st (ooooohhh, spooky!) and you could win 3 yards of our now beloved and very hard to find "Scaredy Cat" fabric.

Laurie

Taking The Day Off

Thanks everyone for making our ebay auctions a success. Polly and I posted a couple more things, so make sure to take a look. This is the result. I am on my way to the post office to take about half of them. The ones that I can do on the automatic kiosk.The rest will go tomorrow when I can take them to the counter. There are also 6 LARGE boxes ready for the front porch and my UPS guy will take care of those tomorrow also. So, I am taking the day off. Not so much because I earned it but because of this.
These are 2 of the many black walnut trees in our yard. As you can see one of these holds half of my infamous clothesline. I could only get about the bottom third of these trees in the photo. They are very tall. There are about 5 more of them. Today Bill and the "tree-guy" are going to trim them. This consists of Bill standing on the ground, pointing and yelling and the tree-guy swinging from tree to tree on some sort of evil pulley thing - with a chain saw. I witnessed this horror show about 5 years ago when the trees were trimmed the last time. Never again. I spent the whole afternoon in a panic attack. Instead of spending the day with my finger poised over number "2" on my speed dial - I am leaving. I may even go see a movie. Number "2" on my speed dial you ask? Number 2 is speed dial for 911. You see, in an emergency punching 9 - 1 - 1 takes too much time - I have whittled it down just to one number. I put 911 on speed dial the last time Bill cleaned the roof. Thankfully, I didn't have to use it - but I am prepared. Later.

Laurie

TGIF

I took these pictures 2 days ago while shopping for cider and other fall stuff at the Farmer's Market. It was lovely on Wednesday, but today it is cold, rainy, windy and definitely October. Do you have all sorts of great plans for the weekend? I do. I'm packing up patterns and mailing out our orders. This is what was on the porch this afternoon.
No cooking. No cleaning, just packing patterns. It will be fun actually. I will order out for dinner, stick a dvd in the t.v. and go to work.

Look for our new patterns to go up on our website this weekend. Also, remember our Ebay auctions end tomorrow. Polly and I have been cleaning (making room for these new patterns) and we have a few more auctions to put up tomorrow. More booth decorations and even a stray kit have surfaced in my basement. Happy pumpkin carving and costume making everyone.

Laurie

Mistakes Were Made

1. My sister-in-law came over for dinner yesterday. We had a nice visit. She mentioned that she and her sisters missed reading about Bill on the blog. No, I haven't written about him lately. Busted. It seems Bill thought I was revealing a little too much about him on the blog. She convinced him his concerns were unfounded, so.... I can write about Bill again. The second he does or says something interesting I will let you all know.

2. Thank you for taking a look at our Ebay auctions. There have been some questions about shipping. It seems despite my painstaking attention to detail, something is screwy with the shipping fees. Just know that I will charge only the exact postage it takes to send your parcel to you. Most of these things can be fit inside a priority mail box. I don't expect any shipping charges over $15.00 if you are in the continental U.S. Bid away.

3. Some of you have sent personal notes of consolation regarding the abrupt end of the baseball season (for me, anyway). Thank you. Imagine my dismay this morning when in my inbox was an email from a legit sports ticket company trying to sell me Detroit Tiger play-off tickets. If that wasn't bad enough.... this came a few hours later:

Hi Laurie,

Earlier today, an email promoting Detroit Tigers postseason tickets was sent to you. This, unfortunately, was a mistake. We regret the error and apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused.

Sincerely,

The StubHub Team


Inconvenience or confusion, indeed. If I was litigious, I might be thinking about "pain and suffering". No need. I am trying to get psyched up about new quilt designs and of course, hockey season.

Laurie

Fall Cleaning

Polly, Leigh Ann, and I made it safely home from Houston. Polly took a bad cold home with her and Leigh Ann and I just took lots of stuff. A van full. FYI.... Did you know that almost all of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are under road construction?? Leigh Ann and I think investing in orange barrels is definitely the way to get rich.

I am unpacked; 4 loads of laundry are done; the patterns are getting printed; and I am getting back into the work groove. Unpacking the booth props emphasized a sad fact of life: we are running out of storage room. So this year I am indulging in a bit of "Fall Cleaning". We have put up some of our extra props and samples up for auction on Ebay.
This is the first auction item. It is the half-square triangle quilt I made for the Moda Designer half-square triangle swap and challenge. (We really need a better title for that.) I used all of the designer triangles and added some more. This was a School House lecture for shop owners on half-square triangle swaps. It was Edyta's idea and everyone thinks it is grand. So do I.
Who won the challenge you ask?? There were no winners, and of course no losers, but if you ask the designers - Sandy Klop of American Jane kicked our behinds. Sandy is coming out with a pattern for her masterpiece - it will be called "Aunt Ella's Quilt". Look for it in your local quilt shops soon.

So, anyways..... take some stuff off of our hands. Click on the link above to this auction and then click on "see other auctions" to look at all the other treasures. Thanks.

Laurie

Bundle Winners and Other Stuff

Well, well. This give-away certainly got you all up and typing on your keyboard, didn't it? Most of you were way off the mark. Remember that we had Leigh Ann with us. Leigh Ann is a pint sized dynamo. We couldn't believe how fast we got our booth down ourselves and took a look at the time. The three of us busted and boxed and packed it into the van in 45 minutes. We had two winners who guessed that on the nose - SueBee and Fiesta. Contact me here SueBee and Fiesta and I will get your prizes out to you asap. Ooooh, one more thing about the prizes. We searched high and low (and through the Moda warehouse) and couldn't come up with another fat quarter bundle. SueBee - you were the first to guess correctly so the bundle goes to you. Fiesta - you will get a Jelly Roll of Bar Harbor and lots more stuff in your box to make up for this travesty of justice.
As for the rest of you - thanks so much for commenting and saying nice things about Bar Harbor and the booth. You made our weekend. Keep looking at this here blog thingy for more give-aways in the near future.

Now down to some more serious business. That is for me to post on this blog so that the hideous photo of me in the previous post gets moved down into oblivion. Ouch. It didn't look quite that bad on my Blackberry. (Almost all photos of me improve once they are reduced down to 2" square.) It is now back to unpacking and getting the patterns ready to send to distributors and shops. My weekend is planned. I will leave you with one more photo of Quilt Market - and of us - that actually turned out pretty well. It is taken in Barb and Mary's booth (Me and My Sister) and they have a beachy-boardwalk theme. These cutie cut-outs were a very popular photo taking spot.Laurie

The Inevitable Quilt Market Giveaway

Market is over and we are all winging, or driving back to reality. New friends were made and older friendships were strengthened. We laughed TOO much. Some of us even received gifts. I was given these FABULOUS vintage glasses by Sandy Gervais. I think they were supposed to be funny (and they are!) but I love them. They match my hair.
It is in this gift-giving spirit that Polly and I would like to give you this - a fat quarter bundle of Bar Harbor.

So - here is the blog give-away info....... Guess how long it took us to take down, pack, and put our booth into the rental van. The person who guesses closest without going over will win. In case of a tie - well, we will just have to give away something more. Here is a little help. Guess in minutes. The guess should be anywhere from 1 to 180 minutes. Yes!!!! We did it in less than 3 hours. We were so proud of ourselves. Post your guess in the comments before noon on Friday (that might be the last time I am near a computer). Happy guessing.

Laurie

We ALL Love Moda!

Leigh Ann is expressing all of our feelings about Moda. Once again, they are a superb host/sponsor/patron/friend. Leigh Ann is pretty cool too. She poses for silly photos.

A few have asked about the little bitty things in our booth. They are Miss Rosie's new pattern that she will be sending out soon. They are her new group of pincushions - Tuffets. Thanks Miss Rosie!!!! She sent them to us since she wasn't here in Houston and of course, she packaged them up with goodies too. That is one fine woman, that Miss Rosie.

I got to get out a little bit today and roam around. One of the wonders was the Lecein Booth with these exquisite quilts. I do have a weak spot for Japanese fabrics and the perfect needlework that they displayed. Here is a closer look.

Polly and I did have a lovely surprise after our little walk around - our Bar Harbor booth won the blue ribbon! Thank you Leigh Ann, Sarah, and Hasan for making it work.

Remember to check the other blogs for more pics. More stuff tomorrow.

Laurie

First Day of Show

Oh, so much to show and so few good photos that loaded up on Polly's laptop. We are overwhelmed and exhausted and well sated after the Moda party. Want to see what my favorite new thing was? It is wrapping paper by Moda! It is so nice.
Here are a couple shots of our booth. I will tell you that the Jolly Jabber is the place to see the good pics, but here is what I have.

This is one of our new patterns - Ship Ahoy.

Our friends Sarah and Hasan made this boat for us. It has been the hit of Moda row.

Lastly, (for tonight, anyways) is a hooked rug by Polly.

More tomorrow. Don't forget our blogging friends at KPKM.

Laurie

Sample Spree And Other Forces of Nature

Hey, everyone! Hello from Houston. First of all let me acknowledge that I do know the stadium here is named Minute Maid Stadium and not Tropicana Field. I attribute the mental lapse to baseball induced trauma. Okay, on to the important stuff. Last night was Sample Spree - the quilt shopping extravaganza! It was fun and it was chaotic. We sold lots of show pattern specials, but we do have a few left over.

Would you like to have your own sample spree? Below is what you get - Chippewa Nine Patch, Brrrrr Park, Miss Monroe's Four Patch, School's Girl Glen, and Haberdashery for $20.00 until we run out. The Sample Spree Special will be posted on our website - www.minickandsimpson.com sometime today. Everyone's booth is now photo ready and we will be posting pics tonight. Make sure to click on KPKM on the left for more market blogs.

Laurie

Market - Day One

The long drive ended. And I mean LONG. Places were flying by as far as Arkansas, but the roads between Arkansas and Houston were taxing. I mean, who puts stoplights on a freeway? We would have about 20 miles of freeway and then we would come to a town and then stop signs and stoplights and all the local traffic. 200 miles of that. We were cranky yesterday, but rip roaring to go today. The van is unloaded and basically all the stuff just dumped in our booth area. We are on our way now to set things up pretty-like.

We are staying at Inn At The Ballpark which is right next to Tropicana Field. Which is right across the street from the convention center. If I wasn't in a mood to boycott baseball in general I could really get into this place. (Really, I don't want to talk about it. The Detroit Tigers have broken my heart and stomped on it) Polly booked it specifically because of my baseball mania. It is very cool. This is what greets you in the lobby.

All of the architecture is baseball themed. This is the rug that is all through the place.

These are the newel posts on all the banisters.

Everywhere you look - it is baseball. NOW, on to the convention center where all the excitement is. Our fabric is Bar Harbor and our theme is, well, Bar Harbor.

This is what Polly found as some of our inspiration. It is a paper toy nautical flag banner. It is teeny, tiny, so we made some that were much bigger. I will post pics later today when the booth is done. See you later.

Laurie

On The Road Again

Hey, Isn't that a Willie Nelson song, or is it just too late to be trying this. Laurie and Leigh Ann are on the road and I am trying to do this job, that I never do and depend on Laurie, she is in a hotel in Arkansas and the laptop is with me and she and the laptop do not meet up until tomorrow. So we shall see, my problem is "Can I get the photos from her phone to my post??" That is a scary thought, but I will give it the All American try. They drove from Ann Arbor to Arkansas today - not bad. I leave very early tomorrow and get in very early and will beat them by hours. Hopefully I can get a start on our booth before they pull in. As you can see from the photos - Laurie is taking photos of herself, not really she is binding a quilt. You can also see Leigh Ann busy with the sewing machine they toted along to finish yet another of our quilts. You can soon understand why I am not with them, being the non-sewer - I would not be much help. So I am busy being the travel agent, reservation person and hopefully will have a head start on our booth. Now will the photos materalize?? Soon we will see.

Watch us each day for news and goods from market.

Polly

OK, that took WAAAY too much time, when Laurie is not here to ask questions - I know she can move photos easily - I cannot, so that is my story tonight, those are the photos, not where I want them. But, hey - that is it!

Tomorrow Laurie will be back at her post

Whew

Ready, Set, Go

The van is packed. We have a much newer model from Enterprise than the one I imagined in the post below. Leigh Ann called yesterday and asked "What is all this nonsense about a clunker we are driving to Houston??" It seems Leigh Ann isn't on these interwebs very much. She had people stopping her on her errands and such asking about the jalopy. Oh Leigh Ann... you have to get on the interwebs. All sorts of information is is found here. A shout out to PamKittyMorning who is already on the road and has set up the radio link thingy on the left. All market reports will be easy to find. We are always thinking of you.

This is the latest project finished. It is a quilt I made with all those half-square triangles that I have been going on and on about. Here is just a little peek.There was a question about it on the last post (because the Jolly Jabber just posted a little blurb about us getting ready for market). The designers all used the half-square triangles to make something - most likely a quilt. There were also lots more half-square triangles that all the Moda Designers autographed. I'm really not sure of the procedure - but somehow market attendees will be able to get some. This is all Edyta's baby. Edyta of Laundry Basket Quilts. More will be revealed at the end of the week. I am not usually a fan of stippled quilts, but hey, I'm just grateful that it is quilted. Kari got it a couple days ago and quilted it and sent it to me yesterday. I just got the binding on. No time to spare.

Oy! It seems 162 baseball games were not enough for the Detroit Tigers. They are having a one game playoff today. If I live through it, I will go to bed extra early tonight and be on the road about 5:30.

Laurie

5 Days and Counting

Leigh Ann and I leave for our little road trip in 5 days. The rental vehicle is reserved.

Kidding. Nice quilt, though.

Leigh Ann and I have to think up enough stuff to talk about to cover 10 states. Let's see..... World Affairs? No. Economic Policies? No. String Theory? No. Quilts! Quilt gossip! Yep, that's the ticket.
Moda Lissa, Bunny Hill, PamKittyMorning, and Sandy Gervais have all been blogging about the pre-Quilt Market process. We are pretty good as far as preparations. All the quilts are made and all but 2 have the binding on. Polly has the booth all planned out on paper and I have starting making piles to load into the van. That is just scratching the surface, I'm afraid. I will be making lists, and stacking up piles of stuff for the next 4 days. Polly arrives in Houston before us and will have the booth ready for all the unpacking.

Let's see what else is new? Make sure you check out Carrie's blog. We love the Lincoln quilt, Carrie!

What else?? Remember this that I got in the mail a couple of weeks ago?It's is Hushabye by our friend Tula Pink. I finished the top last night. Bill and I meet our new grand niece Kayce this weekend and I wanted to give her this quilt. Well, it won't be quilted, but I can show her mom the top. It will go off to Kari to quilt asap. Tula's pattern was fab and easy and my seams actually went together almost perfectly ; ) But why, oh why did my top grow almost 10" bigger than what it was supposed to be? It must be a quilting Miracle. That, or I am just too incompetent to be left alone with a sewing machine.

What else.......It seems that today is the birthday of one of the Minick and Simpson designers. No, it isn't me. Happy Birthday Polly.

Laurie