Tsunami Saturday

While sitting and watching the local news station for constant updates on the approaching tsunami -- I decided to edit photos. Here are a few I took while whale watching the end of last month.

Whale Day

Last Saturday was Whale Day, kicked off by the Whale Day Parade to raise awareness of Maui's most distinctive winter visitors, the humpback whales. The whales travel from the frigid waters off Alaska and travel south to give birth to their calves and to mate, with the population breaking off into three smaller pods. The largest, approximately 60%, end up in the waters off the shores of Maui (the other two head to Baja or islands east of Japan).

Here are some pics of the parade... the last is a life sized float of a humpback that brings the parade to a close.

A Long Awaited Post

Aloha!

It's been quite a while since I wrapped my head around publishing a post. Not that there hasn't be much to post about -- it's that there has been quite a lot going on.

Welcome to the Mark Maui Resorts!

What an influx of guests! From the end of November to the beginning of February, I have had 5 guests, with the shortest visit lasting 10 days to a marathon visit of 2-1/2 weeks. I love to entertain, so nothing else mattered, and the time has finally come that I have settled down to business...

Blast Off! and Jeepers Creepers

Here's a look at my two newest collections for Blank Quilting: Blast Off! and Jeepers Creepers, and a nice surprise...

This is Blast Off! and is available on quilting cotton and flannel.

Blast Off!

The Final Frontier

Mission Control

Galaxy Quest

Ray Gun Stripe

The Milky Way

Here's a quilt designed by fellow Blank designer Heidi Pridemore using all of the above plus additional fabric from her own collection. The pattern is a free download on the Blank Quilting website!

This is Jeepers Creepers. It is a reprinting of one of my first fabric collection about 8 years ago. Aside from being a fun and whimsical group, the motifs Glow-in-the-dark!

Skeletoons

Eye of Newt

Candy Corn

Here's the quilt for this collection, once again designed by Heidi Pridemore. I think she's an incredibly talented lady! Thanks, Heidi!

Another great thing regarding Jeepers Creepers is that I recently signed a licensing contract with The Needlework Factory and the motifs -- skeletons, eyes, webs, and candy corn are being digitized for machine embroideries, so these images will be available to coincide with the arrival of the fabric. Here's a sneak peak at one of them (NOTE: these are only for reference and do not represent the quality of the actual embroidery.)

Sue, from The Needlework Factory, and I are working on many more of my designs to be interpreted into embroideries. Stay tuned to see how things progress!!

Mark

A Bit of Christmas Cheer

I dragged most of what I owned with me to Hawaii. The Christmas decorations were no exception. Bought some incredible realistic pine garland for 75% off at the end of the season, and now I am Hawaiianizing it. This is just the start as I was conservative in my purchase of faux flora to make it a contemporary island trimming.

"Design Your FLOR" Finalists -- I am one of them!

Well, my rug design was chosen as one of the 10 finalists. Go to FLOR.com and click on the VOTE NOW link to review all the entries. They all are, I must admit, quite interesting!

The "Design Your FLOR" Design Contest

As you already know, I dabble in a lot of different stuff. Today I am trying my hand at designing a floor covering using FLOR tiles.

I called it DEM BONZ and is made of 49 FLOR tiles and measures approximately 11' x 11'.

The judging panel will choose ten (10) finalists and post those designs at FLOR.com/contest for public voting on or about December 10, 2009. The top three (3) winners identified, based on the results of the public polling, will be announced December 17, 2009.

Let's see if I'll be a contender!