Anna Maria Horner in Colorado!

I guess I have to dust off my blog, whew.  I had such a great weekend meeting Anna Maria Horner that I had to share.  I've been sewing a long time so I find it hard to take classes, there aren't a lot of major skills I need to learn, it's more that I need to practice the ones I know but when I heard Ms. AMH would be in Denver, I signed up for the Multi-Tasker Tote bag class she was teaching at Fancy Tiger.

First, I attended the meet and greet Friday night which was a laid back event where Anna Maria was available to chat.  When I walked into Fancy Tiger, I saw the two owners in the back of the store and went back to say hello, kind of ignored the tall woman next them and then OMG, it was Anna Maria!  I pretty much acted like she was Brad Pitt or something, embarrassing.  Anyway, she has such a great personality I'm sure it went right over her head how silly I was.

 

 Fancy Tiger had her new fabric line Field Study for sale, as well as lots of cute things they had already made from it.

(I bought the pattern for the dress Jaime is wearing on the right, it's the Painted Portrait pattern and the fabric on the shirt that Amber is wearing on the left (which happens to be the Wiksten tank pattern but she added sleeves) is the one I used to line by bag.)

The class was Sunday afternoon from 2 - 6 PM and I tried to cut out my fabric before the class so I'd have the full 4 hours to sew.  I didn't get it all cut out and I was sewing like a race horse to get it all done in 4 hours!  I stayed a little over and got it done.

I have to say, having the person who created the pattern in the room while you're sewing is awesome.  She taught me something new about turning a corner seam, not to mention I didn't have to read the pattern, I could just yell "HEY ANNA".  OK, I didn't really do that but I could have!

 

Also, the pattern itself is amazing.  She explained how she came up with different aspects of the design as well as the instructions.  I would have had to do a lot more "reverse sewing" if I hadn't had her right there in the class to explain things, sometimes seeing is easier than reading the instructions.

I had her sign the pocket before I sewed it in.

And my favorite anecdote of the day was when I gave her a little gift, I made a Denver postcard fabric picture for her and when I gave it to her, she thanked me and then immediately announced to the class "OK it's time to give me gifts, you can just pile them here on the table."  he he he

So there, now it's time to leave my little fantasy world where I live in a world surrounded by fabric and craftiness and go back to REALITY.  

 

What up?

Juvenile squirrel watching me one day.  Obviously her or she is young because he/she didn't run away.

I just discovered the new Blogger look, yikers!  I thought I was web savvy but sadly, nooooooo.  Anyway, bear with my design here while I get used to it.  It looks amazing, just need to figure out how it works!

So I've decided to dust off the blog, oil the gears and try to do some more regular posting, yay me!

Here's a recap of things since my last post in 2011:

• October - December 2012:  After three years consulting on a government contract, I left that job and took another government contract.  Um, really?  Big surprise that it didn't work out but lucky me, I had an offer come up in December that was amazing so off I went.  
• January 2012:  New job, yay!  I'm working for a utility supplier on a new energy trading market which is SO cool.  Yes I am a geek.  All jobs have their ups and downs but compared to the government job, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one.
• February through today 2012:  Acclimating to the new job, preparing for a trip to Barcelona, Spain, working on my quilt bee (Mod Mosaic Bee), doing the Spring garden thing, and house remodeling.

 

Here are Mod Mosaic squares I've made for other bee members

This is my WIP quilt from the Bee-Stitched Bee.  These are the blocks made for me by the bee, now I have to make another 24 blocks, woohoo.

This is a photo taken in the reflection of my fish pond.  I saw the tulips and the same color in the fish and thought it was so beautiful.

Looking into a mirror on a hike with my father.  I am totally always taking photos of wildflowers! 

I love photos of laundry drying outside.  My husband's shirts.