Well Hello June- I'll be in Indiana soon!

 HELLOOOOOOOO! So I unintentionally took May off of blogging. A lot of things have come due and I had to use every single moment to get things done in-between soccer, baseball, volunteering at the kids' schools, and running around like a mad woman AKA: being a MOM. Whoever said I was going to miss my kids being little, WAS RIGHT! Holy hannah, if anything having little kids made it that we stayed home and did more things around the house. Now it seems like we have about 2 milliseconds from the time the kids start walking in through the door from school and all the great programs they are in. No, please don't tell me I over schedule my child if I'm running around nuts…REMEMBER I HAVE FOUR OF THEM. So each one being involved in 1 maybe 2 things…is what I'm talking about. It makes me happy though, I actually enjoy looking at our schedule and trying to figure out how to get who where and then listen to what they did and learned. The school system we are a part of includes music into their program so each of my kids when they reach 5th grade get to pick an instrument they will learn (if they so choose to) so far we have a trumpet player (who is playing for the High School Marching Band next year!!!), a cello player, and we have just picked up a viola player with our 3rd son. Our daughter is the only one that hasn't picked an instrument…but she's already eyeing a few…So yes, I miss my days of little kids running around my ankles giving me an excuse to complain of no time to myself…but I'm loving the teen, preteen ages we have going on and watching them turn into little adults. Each one with their own personality and own talents. Very great and fun…but busy. :)

 This last month while I have been working a lot my peonies I planted three years ago finally bloomed.

The blooms got so large they drooped down to the ground, so I cut them and placed them in a mason jar and put them in the daughter's room. She got off the bus and screamed as she walked into the house that someone had taken our pink flowers, to which I told her to go to her room and check out where the pretty flowers went. She was very impressed with how pretty they made her room, and how pretty they smelled. It was a picture perfect kind of moment…and it needed to be documented because normally we are a hot mess of a story. :) 

NOW lets talk about some of the stuff coming up! This last month I got to help teach 8th graders in Family Consumer Science at my kid's schools, and then I got to teach 4th and 5th graders how to do "Quilt Math" and create a small quilt at my other kids' schools, I also got to speak to my local quilt guild, here in Cedar Rapids, about building a bridge between modern and traditional quilters…WHAT A FANTASTIC CRAZY MONTH OF TEACHING and TALKING. So lets keep the momentum going and lets announce that yours truly will be hanging out with some big guns in the quilting world first at the Shipshewana Quilt festival:

I will be doing a Workshop on how to make this lovely lucky stars table runner. Based off my quilt pattern.

Aside from teaching the table runner class, I'll also be demo-ing twisted flowers and this double edge dresden plate.
 I'll will also be on a panel with some other fantabulous women. Ami Simms, Mary Fons, Karen Eckmeier, Penny Haren, and Kathy Brown. All these women will be teaching and doing lectures as well. I'm Very excited! Please check out how to pre-register and all the other wonderful classes.

And then second I'm also teaching at:

 And I can't even list off all the talent that will be there! Too many!

 I have two workshops at QuiltCon One of them focusing on triangles. HST, Flying Geese, 60 Degree Ruler Triangles, Paper Pieced Triangles, and Wonky Triangles.

The second work shop will be all focused on Ombre fabrics, how to work with them and how to make them work in your quilts and projects. Fun will be had by all. 

Open Enrollment for the Feb 2015 schedule is here. 

Now if you don't mind me…I have to get back to a few lose ends and then we'll be able to talk some more. :) 

Where I've been

Truth be told the blog is still very quiet.
Truth be told...I've been very busy. I've gone places, to teach, to volunteer, and to talk.

On a side note: A lot of you know that I'm Mormon, and go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A lot of you are too...so you totally get that not only am I mom, pattern creator, fabric designer...I'm also a Primary President. :) It's a wonderful calling. Time consuming? Yes. Almost like a job? YES. Some of you who don't know what that means...it means that I volunteer my time to church service without pay and my "calling" is my job. A Primary President is over all of the little children ages 18 months to 11 years of age, and their sunday school programs, and our Boy Scouts and our version of Girl Scouts (Faith In God) programs. It's a lot of work...but if I were to pick a job (which I don't but if I did) I would pick Primary. The children are my people. They get me, they like my silly faces, and they are just plain awesome. Kids are cool.
So when I'm not doing all the other things I do...I'm doing that as well. Which adds more to my load but I happily do it.

These last few weeks I've had the opportunity to travel within my now home state of Iowa to hang out on set of the PBS show Fon's and Porters Love of Quilting.

 There I got to show Mary Fons how to make my kaleidoscope block large sized, all ran smoothly...but there is something I realized right there and then in-between episodes while someone took pictures of me and Mary:

We have an AMAZING talent of making awesome faces.

I cannot lie...I have NO IDEA what I was doing or saying. I know what it looks like I'm doing...

It looks like I am trying not to blow chunks. But I can honestly say that I had a blast, it went smoothly, and Mary makes being on camera EASY.

I did manage to keep my arms more by my sides than say in this picture:

HEY I'm wearing the same shirt...

MAYBE THE SHIRT IS THE PROBLEM!

whatever the case...

 Mary's a wonderful individual and "working" with her didn't feel like working, it was great to get to know her a little better, and I'm SUPER excited to get to be at the Shipshewana Quilt Festival in June together as well. Stay tuned fore more fabulous faces from both of us...I'm sure.

 During my time at Love of Quilting I got to watch one of the QUEENS of quilting Liz Porter of Fons and Porters, while she taped a future episode for the show.
I totally played my cool and didn't like geek out on her or anything...till Lunch when she personally asked me a question...and my mind went blank. Was it a hard question? Nope, just "So what are you going to do today?" I couldn't even remember the project I had brought to do with Mary for the website. I stared at her like a deer in headlights. I finally came to, and told her...

 Afterwards a couple of the other of the show's guests asked to take a picture with her...I jumped in and got one too. :)

Also these last few weeks I've taught classes:

A couple of classes at my local quilt store Pineneedles Sewing Center. What a fun time that was! The ladies were so fun, and we laughed a little too much...but we were productive! We had two full days of sewing, creating quilt blocks and playing with texture. I am super lucky to personally know Jill, who is the owner and a fantastic individual (and so FULL of knowledge) and to have a great quilt store close by. Super lucky indeed.

 Another close-ish store to me is the WONDERFUL cute little fabric/yarn store in Iowa City called Home Ec. Hands down Cody (owner) is one of the kindest, sweetest, friends I have gotten to know here in Iowa. She's so genuine and I Love LOVE teaching classes there. Not only do I have a wonderful really close to me local quilt store...I have a second one just a hope skip and jump away (on the highway) :)
I'm feeling very blessed to have these two stores, and my time with Mary.

Of course I feel bad that it takes me so long to talk about these things here on the blog...but if you come check me out on instagram:

 You get to see a little more behind the every day scenes...and whereabouts.

Now if you don't mind me...I need a cookie. Because I am still need to finish things for places I will be, and for other things I've said I would do. :) One must keep ones strength up and Chocolate Chip cookies are the best way to do so.
We'll talk soon.
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