Welcome to my first blog. Pete, my hubby, has been working hard (with the constant nagging of Karen Martin from Mrs Martin's Quilt shop - yes Karen, he told me to say that!) setting this up for me so I can chat to my hearts content, so here goes.
Obviously we haven't got too far with the side bars yet but keep checking back for more news and further development. Have fun.
Pete and I are just back from a tumulous month, flying to Houston in the US to exhibit my patterns and books and have a look around. We had an incredible time and found lots of interesting products I'm going to try, plus lots of gorgeous old quilts. I had a hard time choosing, as the antique quilts there are aplenty. (Photo above is one of the numerous antique quilt stalls) I finally settled on a 1920's dresden plate quilt which I just love, simply for the softness and the totally worn look - someone spent their whole life under that quilt! We hooked up with some American stall holders who took us to many weird and wonderful restaurants and treated us like family. We can't wait to go back and see them (plus everything else) again. Pete and I didn't know what to expect, as it was our first time there. We were very surprised at the warm reception we received, and Deb was very upset with the orders we had. Deb looks after the mail-order and has been working OVERTIME trying to get orders out. We'll have to shout her out to a great massage when she's allowed to have a break, hee hee. (The photo to the right is just 4 rows out of 20 of the Houston Show).
Last week we went down to Melbourne for the Australian Quilt Market (wholesale), just to make Deb even happier. There were more stallholders than usual which made it a very exciting show. I spent much time looking at gorgeous fabrics, as well as talking to EVERYONE there.
I'm now finally home and am trying to sort out everything I found, plus trying to have a bit of a rest, but hey, Christmas is just around the corner. If you didn't know, I also own a shop The Home Patch, and so I brought back lots of patterns, books, threads and gifty things to sell. My work room is aflow with EVERYTHING, and I'm sure Margaret and Michelle (who live in the shop ho ho), have itchy fingers wanting to sort it out themselves. I'm not letting them, but I think it will take until the Chistmas after next to get back in order
- Pete tried to convert Gus into an Australian (he nows says ute instead of pickup) as the boys were pretty much on their own while the girls went a-shopping (what do you expect?!). WE also spent time with Debbie and John from Little Stitches (photo 2) 
who took us all over the place and to some brilliant restaurants (Pete is now a connoisseur of Fried Catfish) - they have great patterns using woven wool which I just had to have and am hoping to make up soon, maybe Christmas? I'll keep you posted.
