Back Home Again

Hello Hello! I’m back from my whirlwind trip to Quilt Market in Portland. I came back last night on the red-eye and got home mid-morning today. It’s been a busy day, so I haven’t had time to go through all my pictures. I do have a few pictures to show you, although it was such a quick and busy trip that I missed a ton of details. I had the same problem with my instagram pictures and I finally gave up on them.   Sorry.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in here and tell you about a fun little visit we had with Heather Ross. She’s Back! and she has a sweet new line called Briar Rose. Look at her cute booth.

Here’s a look at all the prints in her new line. (You can see individual shots of each print  Here).

This is my favorite print. Heather told us all about the little bees. She said she is the mama bee on the left and the bee on the right is her nanny with her little girl. Then, she laughed and said “I don’t even have a nanny!”.  I love bees anyway and knowing the story makes it even cuter.  Check out that stinger on Mama Bee — I forgot to ask Heather what THAT means LOL.

While we were at market, I grabbed several fat quarter bundles of Briar Rose to put in my little shop.  This line isn’t due to ship until July, so you can have these prints early!  There are 20 prints in the bundle and they retail for $70.00.  I’ve put them in the shop on sale for $60.00.  They’ll ship in a flat rate envelope for $5.90 postage in the continental U.S.  If you’re outside of the US and you’d like a bundle, shoot me an e-mail, I’ll figure out postage and then send you an invoice.

You can find the bundles Here.
SOLD OUT. Thank You!

I’ll be back soon with pictures from market!

XOXO,
Anna

This Little Piggy Went to Market

There they are….the mad dash into Sample Spree!!!

(Photo from Integrated Fitness)

I’m a little Piggy off to market in the morning. I’ll try to post a few pictures to Instagram along the way.

Thanks for all the graduation love — you guys are fabulous. Market reports when I return.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend, especially if you’re in the US or Australia or other places where it’s Mother’s Day weekend.  We’ve had the very best Mother’s Day Weekend, courtesy of this:

TheFirstChild is now Dr.FirstChild and it’s been a fun and emotional weekend.  We all gathered for the looong graduation ceremony and then SweetiePie treated us to a wonderful lunch back at their apartment.  She did such a great job preparing all the food and cute Dr./Graduation decorations.

She served Ham and Turkey Croissants, veggies and dip, ugly bean dip, a hot chicken dip, mini cinnamon rolls, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a decorated cake.

She thought of everything — right down to a champagne toast to celebrate the new graduate.  It was all delicious and hit the spot.

At the beginning of Med School, just after the white coat ceremony, I posted the picture below of SweetiePie and TheFirstChild.  It was the beginning of their journey and I love that picture because I’d inadvertently caught the construction sign in the photo.  It hardly seems possible that the construction phase is now over.  SweetiePie and TheFirstChild probably don’t share our disbelief — it was long and grueling and I’m sure they’re glad it’s over.  They’ve taught our little family a lot about hard work and perseverance and it’s been amazing (if not painful at times) to watch.  A few days ago, TheFirstChild posted on his facebook page and said “As of this very second, I AM DONE WITH MEDICAL SCHOOL! The first thing that comes to mind is that it was slightly more difficult than I first anticipated.”  He’s a funny guy.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how proud we are of our little chicks.  And, after last fall, how lucky we felt that all of our local family was together to celebrate the reward for all of their hard work. I sure do Love these boys.

I am One. Lucky. Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day!
XOXO,
Anna

{Almost} Friday Five

Hello Hello.  I’m popping in with five quickies — it’s shaping up to be a busy month around here.

1.  I’ve started working on a new quilt.  Blues, grays and red.  It should be fun if I can get a little more sewing time in.  (Oh, and can we please have a moment of silence for that DS gray fabric?  It was so hard for me to cut into it.  I might have to sacrifice and go find more of it.)

2.  I’m sure there must be a quicker way to make this block.  (I’ll bet Sherri knows — she makes it a lot!)  I couldn’t stand the thought of all the wasted fabric from the corner pieces, so I’m making half-square triangles at the same time.  Maybe I’ll use them on the back.  Maybe not.  I’m enjoying the process though.  And I sure do Love that sewline pencil!

3.  All the crabapple trees around here are in bloom this week.  It’s one of the prettiest weeks of the year (I love intense fall colors too.)  Here’s our pretty tree in the back.  The heavenly smell almost knocks you over when you step outside.  I love it!

4.  Here’s a picture of the same tree in 2010.  Can you tell me why there was so much more pink in 2010???  I felt like a pink tree then.  This year it feels like a white tree.  (And boy, look at the difference the light makes in a photo.  It was sprinkling and cloudy when I took this year’s picture.  The 2010 picture was taken on a sunny, early evening.  Such pretty light!)

5. I’m betting you’ve seen THIS commercial. I Loooove it. It’s easily in my top five commercials ever. I wonder if those guys who invented the camera phone even came close to imagining the impact it would have on our lives.

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Ugly Bean Dip

Happy Spring! It finally warmed up here and our weather has beeeeyouteeeeful! It’s all about the yardwork here in the spring. Can you believe I held out until May 1st before I had to mow the lawn? Brownie Points for Mother Nature! Last year, spring was so early I think I mowed during the first week of April.

All this yardwork means not much sewing. I’ve pre-washed a few fat quarter packs, but that’s about it. And the kids were briefly home to go to a wedding, so I made one of our favorite dips to have with tortilla chips.

I got this recipe years ago from one of the women who was in our now defunct quilt group.  It’s called Ugly Bean Dip and I didn’t know it, but SweetiePie said they love it and she makes it when they have friends over. So, you know it must be good! ;-D

Ugly Bean Dip

1/2 c. ranch dressing
1/4 c. Italian dressing
1 t. chili powder
1/2 to 3/4 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic salt
2 t. finely chopped cilantro
1 15-oz. can black beans (drained)
1 15-oz. can white peg corn (drained)
1/2 c. finely chopped green pepper
1 med.-large tomato, chopped
1/2 c. chopped purple onion

Mix all ingredients together. Cover tightly (or your fridge will smell awful!) Refrigerate.

(I like to sprinkle some extra cilantro over the top before serving.)

Enjoy!
XOXO,
Anna