A Tadd More

Woo Hoo Columbus....!

We had such a fabulous show in Columbus that I wanted to share some pictures with you. We got the call about vending this show about 2 weeks prior to "show time" and we scrambled here at TTD to get ready to go. I have the most fabulous girls that work for me. They were all "on board" and stepped up to the plate immediately! Thanks to all of my girls, you guys are the greatest!

And speaking of "Fabulous Ladies"; those NQA ladies really know what they are doing. This show was, without a doubt, THE most organized, well run show I have ever vended at. From start to finish it went smoothly. Set up times were assigned, and they got you in and unloaded (thanks to all of the local young people volunteers) in about 30 minutes. Tear down went just as smoothly. They gave you numbers for loading and they got us in and out in record time! BRAVO NQA! Great Job! I wish all of my shows were this well run.

We met so many wonderful ladies at this show (like always)! Quilter's are the best, aren't they?  These three beautiful girls (pictured with Flat Sherry and Flat MaryLynn) are my new friends; Bernadette Davis, Nancy Brewster, and Debbie Collins. They promised they were going to make a little "roadtrip" to visit our store. It is kind of a DRIVE for them but I promised them they could stay overnight at Miss Sherry's house, and she wasn't there to argue about it (she was back at the store, holdin' down the fort)! Thanks Ladies, you were so much fun!

"WHO" you may ask, is "Flat MaryLynn" and "Flat Sherry"?  Well, if you know the story of "Flat Stanley", you'll understand.  MaryLynn is our "show girl" who doesn't work here at TTD, but travels to do shows with us. Well when MaryLynn can't do a show with us, we have her "flat" counter part that travels with us.

This time, we had to make a flat Sherry too. This is only the 2nd show in 7 years that Miss Sherry hasn't been able to go with us. Let me tell you, she was sorely missed!  We found ourselves quite often asking the question; "what would Sherry do?" or "what would Sherry say?" We have come to depend on her so much.

In order for me to go to this show at the last minute, Sherry and Deanna had to go do a guild program for me that I couldn't be here for. It sounded like they had a wonderful time with the ladies from the Pride of The Prairie Quilters in Plainfield, Illinois. Thanks so much to those ladies for allowing me to be at this show and welcome our ladies with open arms. I appreciate your willingness to be so flexible.

Well, that's all for now. More pictures of "the adventures of Flat MaryLynn and Flat Sherry", to come. Also, I bought some fabulous new projects at the show that I will have to share with you soon. One is a wool appliqued quilt and the other one is a stitchery project of Victorian Ladies that I have the perfect red toile fabric to go with! I am SO excited!! And I am determined that they are not going to become another UFO!

Speaking of UFO's....thought you might enjoy this;

             ****Thought for the day****
     My therapist insists that the way to achieve true
inner peace is to finish what I start.  So far today,
I have finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake
                .... I feel better already!

Have a blessed day everyone!
Tammy

Market Friends continued....

So while we are in Columbus, I thought it would be a good time to share some more pictures from quilt market in Portland.

Many of you will know these girls. Elizabeth from Late Bloomer Quilts and Pam Kitty Morning. These girls are one of the first booths we look for at every market. Elizabeth is the "applique girl", she does BEAUTIFUL applique, and Pam comes up with the greatest bags. These girls remind me so much, of me and Sherry because they're good friends and they are opposite personalities. Elizabeth and I are similar personalities, and Pam and Sherry are more alike. I guess that's why we all get along so well!

We had dinner one night together and I'm tellin' ya, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I was crying and my mascara was running from laughing. And I learned some new things about these girls. Stories that I will not soon forget! Here are me and Pam, trying to behave ourselves until we get our food! 

Elizabeth and Sherry. Let me tell you that Elizabeth told us this story from when she was a kid and something about someone's underwear getting caught on a fence, she had me crying I was laughing so hard. It's a good thing I didn't wet my pants! That would have made for a good story though....

Sherry, what a goof ball. She's always posing for pictures. This one is pretty mild compared to alot of other shots I have of her. 

We had such a good time in Portland. Even though it was quick, we made the most of it. Thanks to our friends who are always entertaining and fun to be around.

We made a couple of new friends this time too. We met a new friend on the plane trip to Portland who is a shop owner and a "civil-war-fabric-lover". She told us that she wouldn't hold it against us that we are "bright girls". I think she thought we were stalking her 'cause we just kept showing up at the same places. She finally managed to "give us the slip" and we didn't run into her again. Hopefully we'll see her again sometime! I've said it before and I'll say it again, "quilter's are the best people to know"! I think you would be "hard pressed" to find as many great people in any other industry.

                              ****Thought for the day****

                             "Great minds discuss ideas,
                             Average minds discuss events,
                               Small minds discuss people".
                                    -Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a blessed day everyone!
Tammy

Summer Vacation!

Well, we have just completed our first week of summer vacation and the house is still standing, and no one has been permanently injured. It was a good week! And I think I only got a phone call once from the babysitter! It WAS a good week! Last week I took the girls for a ride in the convertable and we went shopping! Haley's friend Mattie spent the night and all day with us. We had a great time! Apparently while I was out of the car, they were playing with my camera and I found this picture among others!  Aren't they glamorous? Especially with the braces.... that's "my princess". 

This morning I put Haley and Garrison on a bus for Kid's Camp. They will be gone for a week. Buddy looked a little sad as the bus was pulling away. He's heard all of the stories of older brother Nick going to camp and crying for the whole week, so I think he'll be ok. Who am I kidding, 5 minutes down the road and he forgot all about me. I packed him juice and a breakfast bar for breakfast on the bus and what did he do as soon as he was on the bus.... he had his mouth full of Laffy Taffy! The breakfast of champions! Oh well! I just don't want to know what he's doing all this week that's all.....!  And our bus driver; "crazy joe" well all I can say is, if anyone EVER deserved a metal, it's him!!

So with the kids gone this week, I was looking forward to a little "quality time" with my hubby for part of the week and then he has to go on a trip too, so I was thinking.... "woo-hoo", home alone for a couple of days! No one but me and the puppies! I had all of my projects planned that I was going to do while the house was empty. Then I got this phone call that would change everything.... the National Quilting Association's show in Columbus Ohio, which I had been trying to get into and given up, called and they had a last minute cancelation!  So, guess where I'll be this week!! I'm not complaining, trust me, but I am just a little sad about not being home alone.

Speaking of projects; I have a bunch of them that I want to finish over the summer. As well as rooms to move around at home and painting and carpet cleaning to do.... I always have "high hopes" of what I'm going to accomplish!  But, here is my first UFO that I can mark off the list. It's all flannel so it is so snuggly warm. Come winter, I will have to fight the kids to cover up with it in front of the tv.  See, I told you that I had "dark stuff" at home. I know some of you didn't believe me.

I will post again when I get back from Columbus. I have more sneak peeks to put up of the new book too. It's almost done!  I've got mother working on the next book for fall, so hopefully we'll be ahead of schedule with that one! Always the optimist! 

                        ****Thought for the day****

   " A small boy in a department store was standing near the
escalator watching the moving handrail. "Something wrong, son?"
         inquired a store clerk. " Nope," replied the boy.
        "Just waiting for my chewing gum to come back".

I'm just hoping my son doesn't find any random chewing gum this week. Who knows what he would do.... I really shouldn't even "go there"! 

Have a great week everyone! I'll see ya when we get back!
Tammy

Market Friends....

So, one of the best things about going to market is definitely seeing friends! Some of you may know these girls; Susan Knapp and Mary Jane Mattingly from The Quilt Branch. We don't live that far apart but because we are all SO busy, we only see each other at market and once in awhile they will make "the trek" to our store. We first met when we started working with Holly from Lakehouse Dry Goods. They were designing patterns with Holly and so were we. We became "fast friends", and have had a lot of fun memories with them. They make us laugh, and in turn we try to make them laugh. And sometimes they laugh at us when we're not even trying to be funny! 

Another "friend" we love to see at market is Cindy Taylor Oates. Go to her blog to see a much better picture of her booth and her new book. Cindy is one of those people in this industry that I have a lot of respect for. She has been pattern designing for a long time, and she is always "fun and fresh" in her design approach. Her designs never look outdated or "ho-hum". They are always fabulous, just like her!  I hope she keeps designing for many years to come!   

One last photo.... we were always kindly greeted by "The Beef Eater" (he's the one in the knickers). I am told the name comes from the English. Beef Eaters were palace gaurds and they were given a ration of beef everyday for being a gaurd. Hence the name.  And so, our hotel, The Heathman Hotel has their own "palace guard". I'm not sure they NEEDED guarding but, just let me just say that our hotel was very nice, however, Portland was having record setting heat, and our air conditioning WASN'T WORKING!! The first night we didn't sleep well and the second night they finally moved us at about 11:00 p.m. to a beautiful room that was nice and cool.

The downside was, it was our last night there. We had to take a flight early the next day. It was a quick trip and we "crammed" a lot of stuff into a couple of days. So we were "tired guppies" for about a week after we got home.

                ****Thought for the day****

"Make no friendships with a man given to anger;
     and with a wrathful man do not associate,
                lest you learn his ways
             and get yourself into a snare."
                   Proverbs 22:24,25

Always good advice don't you think?
Have a blessed day everyone!
Tammy

 

"Bird Brain"

You know with spring comes "new life" and we have plenty of new life around our yard. I don't have a big yard by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a regular city lot and yet we have 6 nests this year all over the yard that are bursting with new baby birds. One in a gutter, one on top of a carriage light, the others in bushes and trees. And this one, is right on top of a wreath by my front door! This mother bird was either brave, stupid, or desperate. Maybe all 3. That could describe any run of the mill mother on most days couldn't it?

There are (no kidding) at least 4 baby birds in this little nest. There could be 5, I'm not sure. I keep warning Haley and Garrison and all of their friends not to get too close to the nest or under no circumstances touch the nest or the birds. Hopefully I have instilled enough fear in them about the mother abandoning them that they will listen to my warnings. They have to get up on a little step ladder to be able to see them. They have given the birds that they can see, names. I think one is named "peck" because he keeps pecking at his siblings, and one is named "brick" because he keeps pecking at the brick! Original right?! Don't remember the other names, but I'm sure they were just as equally creative.   

Speaking of "bird brains".... here are a couple of "bird brains" (in our pink and green of coarse!), with our friends from Boulder Creek Designs; the always sweet and beautiful Diane and Cindee (aka; "supastar"). They were so kind to stop and pose for a picture with us. I think THE best thing about market is seeing friends that we have made and spending some "girl time" with them! This was such a quick trip for Sherry and I that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with all of our friends! We'll have to make up for it in Houston in the fall!

                     ****Thought for the day**** 
"Inside every older person, there's a young person wondering what happened."
         Healing Through Humor by The Happy Hunters

Isn't that the truth! I think about that alot. There are times when I can hardly believe that I'm 48 years old. In my mind I'm MUCH YOUNGER! And I don't even know "how I got here". You know what I mean? AND I have a 25 year old daughter! I mean I don't look a day over 26 myself! I can just hear Sherry saying "whatever!" Well in "Tammy World" I can look whatever age I want right? Something tells me, it's not the only thing that I could be delusional about!   

They say.... you're only as old as you feel! Somedays I FEEL everybit 48, but I THINK like I'm in my 20's! So I say "you're only as old as you THINK you are!"

Have a FABULOUS Memorial Day weekend everyone! Enjoy your holiday with family and friends!
God Bless,
Tammy

OH, the things we saw....!

Hey all you fellow quilt junkies out there! We are back from Quilt Market in Portland and thought I would share some pictures. First some of the sights; this picture, I took for my husband who is a "chess fan". This was taken in Pioneer Square where we saw men playing chess everytime we passed by. At one time there were 3 different games going on.

Portland is a beautiful city. We saw all kinds of people. I don't know about you, but I LOVE to "people watch". I am not really sure why? Maybe because some people are just so interesting looking.... like this guy. I didn't want to get any closer because I didn't want him to know I was taking his picture! But I think you can figure this out.... obviously it was HOT there, but this guy is taking it a bit to the extreme. He has no shirt on, as you can see. Those light green shorts that he is sporting, are HIS BOXERS, and the red pants, are really shorts that he has slung so low that they go down to his ankles!

Now, I've seen plenty of "dudes" walking around with their shorts too low to really make any sense (where they can hardly walk and keep them up) but I ask you, is this not about the most ridiculous thing you have ever seen?  I don't get it? Buy shorts that fit you for heaven's sake and let a little bit of your boxers show if that's the look you're going for, but COME ON!  I'm sorry, this just is too absurd even for words!

You know I go to Chicago to visit every once in a while and I've seen lots of interesting people but, being that I live out in the middle of cornfields as some might describe it, we have far less "intesting people" to look at than the "big city" that's for sure. So, I'm always sort of amazed at some of the "outfits" that you see. In Portland, I saw lots of pretty hair colors, pinks, purples, greens.... and I was surprised at the number of tatoos that I saw. I think Sherry and I were in the minority! There was some massive tatoo action everywhere we looked! It was hard not to stare. You know what I mean?

Now, for some more "delightful" pictures.... if you don't recognize these ladies, they are our friends from Me and My Sister Designs. Barb and Mary with their mommy! Isn't she a cutie? I just love these girls. They are just so stinkin' cute and CREATIVE! 

Their new fabric line with Moda is called Smores and it is adorable! This is a close up of their free pattern that they have on their website. Look at this; they tied marshmallows on a ribbon and made this garland to decorate their booth. See what I mean? Isn't that creative?

Their booth is always one of the best looking booths at market. Great job girls! 

                    ****Thought for the day****
"You were placed on this earth to create, not to compete."
                             Robert Anthony

Hope you enjoyed the first peek at spring quilt market. Stay tuned for more to come. Go out and find something that inspires you to be creative. Whether it is "people watching", magazine browsing, or just taking a walk.

God Bless,
Tammy

Lucky Winner....!

Last weekend (while I was having my gallbladder out), my girls here at TTD were having a big shop hop. Each "hopper" had their names entered into drawings for any number of possible gifts. They could win a new Bernina sewing machine, a basket of twelve $50.00 gift certificates from participating shops, a basket of 100 fat quarters or a gift basket worth $100.00 which each shop contributed. Well this was our gift basket winner, Sue. It was a basket purse with all kinds of goodies in it. Mostly pink and green. Chocolates, relaxing spa music, bath products, candle, quilt magazine, and fabric! Sounds like a great combination right?  Congratulations Sue! By the looks of her purse, I'd say she is familiar with bright fabrics!

                               ****Thought for the day****
"Did you know it is against the law to let a monkey smoke a cigarette in Indiana?"
"It is also against the law in Pennsylvania for a man to put an ice cream cone in his hip pocket."

But, apparently your monkey could smoke a cigarette in Pennsylvania, while a man puts an ice cream cone in his hip pocket in Indiana, and you'd be ok!

Am I the only one who wants to know.... why did they see the need to make these into laws? Is this what our tax dollars are paying for? And, I have to wonder..., are some of our current laws about as ridiculous? Just had to put my 2 cents worth in! 

See you all when we get back from Quilt Market!
God Bless,
Tammy

It was a happy "mom's day"....

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was very nice. Although my two oldest daughter's were both out of town! One was in Vegas, and the other one, New York. HOW RUDE! Where do they get off thinking they can have a life! Anyway, I had 3 out of the 5, so I'm not complaining.

The two most important men in my life were dressed so pink and green I just had to take their picture! I didn't even ask them to wear my favorite colors. They just know what I like! The only thing that would have been better would have been my youngest son in the picture too. Not sure where he was at this moment. Or the next moment for that matter.... we forgot him at church Sunday morning! Can you believe it! There goes my "mother-of-the-year" award. And I was a "shoe-in" for it this year! Seriously, my husband and I always drive separately because he has to be there earlier than the rest of us. And after church, he usually takes the kids with him. Well, he took Haley with him and left Garrison to ride with me, but didn't tell me (imagine that!). Well, I looked around and didn't see either one of the kids so I just assumed they were with daddy. As soon as I pulled into the driveway at home and my husband and daughter got out of the car, I KNEW!!! So, I had to call some friends who were still there and they brought him home! They told me "he didn't seem to be too worried about it". It really does take a village (or at least a whole church) to raise our kids. I know I will take all the help I can get!

Aren't these the prettiest little hydrangeas. My oldest daughter Olivia sent them to me. She knew she would be gone for the weekend so she sent them through the mail. I was impressed that they were in such good condition for being mailed!

My favorite gift was this picture of Nick and Renae. I LOVE it! He was a little tired of seeing pictures of him and old girlfriends from school dances sitting around. He told me I could put those away now. I guess I can see his point! I was informed that he is "the good child" since he was HERE for Mother's Day  and the girls weren't.

Well, we are off to Portland in a couple of days for Quilt Market. So I will try to take some good pictures to show you all. Have a great week everyone!

                           ****Thought for the day****
A little humor from Healing Through Humor by Charles and Frances Hunter
                          Only In America....
* Can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
* Are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
* Do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a Diet Coke.
* Do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters.
* Do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
* Do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call
  from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

God Bless!
Tammy

Happy Mother's Day.....!

                                 "Happy Mother's Day Mommy"!

You are the best mom any girl could ask for. Thanks for being my mom and for always believing in me and supporting me in everything that I wanted to do. I hope you'll always know what a blessing you are to me.

          **** Thought for the day ****
"What do girls do who haven't any mothers
     to help them through their troubles?"
                 Louisa May Alcott

    "A mother is not a person to lean on
but a person to make leaning unnecessary."
             Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, and you get to spend it exactly the way you want.
God Bless,
Tammy

And yet another sneak peek....

So here is another sneak peek! This was truly a long day! For our photographer too. We had him worn out by the time we were done. You know how women are.... we had to have everything placed just right. I think he thought he was going to come in and shoot everything in a couple of hours!

We have 10 projects in the new book, so everything had to be photographed in group settings as well as individual shots. So we were literally at it all day! It was at least 8 hours, probably closer to 9.

Laura Smith is one of the girls who works with me and she is just as much a perfectionist as I am, so when we look through the camera lense and the flowers aren't quite right, or we don't like the position of the bag, those things are important to us, and we have to shoot, and re-shoot sometimes. I know there were times when Don, our photographer wanted to strangle us!  When he was thinking "it looks exactly the same to me ladies, just let me shoot this picture and get out of here!" He will probably never agree to do a job like that again!

      **** Thought for the day ****
"Creativeness often consists of merely
turning up what is already there."
        Bernice Fitz-Gibbon

See you soon everyone. God Bless!
Tammy