The Start of a Brand New Year or If the Mayan Prophesy is True, Then I Only Have 355 Days Left

Christmas Dinner: Paella

Looking in

Looking in (closer)

Sewing area

Seated at my desk, looking left

Seated at my desk, looking out

(jelly bean on screen being cleaned up for the Halloween Candy Quilt Panel)

Exhausted from yet another day (day #5) of reorganizing and restructuring my office/studio but the work is well worth it. And I'm running into town to SPEND MONEY!!! New storage for files and CDs (I have over 300 titles), supplies, etc. and visiting Home Depot to buy wood and screws and glue to make shelving and structural thingies for supports to use as my desk and work surfaces. So I'm taking a break and thought I'd write to catch everyone up as best I can.

A little back story:

So, I thought I'd branch out and start some manufacturing for the local shops here on the island, to add to the shop I am already established in on the Big Island: Trudy's Island Arts.

The beginning of December saw to the end of almost 3 weeks of mass producing pillow cases, hats and baby blankets, with a few extra thrown in for inventory and presents for the holidays.

Two weeks before Christmas things started winding down. Preparations for my holiday party began (as Keri insisted I had to celebrate my birthday) so cleaning the house and food prep began. Pulled a muscle in my back which added an inconvenience not a deterrent, and my turning 48 (the Year of the Rabbit) turned out to be a lovely one. Food was fantastic and dessert was Dark Chocolate-Hawaiian Chili Pepper Ice Cream. Apparently, according to those who have had my frozen treats before, this was my best, but requests were not to make the Kim Chee-Chocolate Stout Banana Bread Ice Cream ever again... although the accompanying Miso-Butterscotch Sauce was awesome!

I made paella for the first time for Christmas dinner for my friend Keri and her husband Lloyd. It came out great. I was impressed myself for not having done it before but knowing what to do, and nothing was overcooked or anything. Only negative was I didn't get the toast crust on the bottom of the pan that is a requirement for perfect paella.

NYE was spent blissfully alone. Made pizzas, watched DVDs and drank three bottles of champagne. The next day, the 1st, I wished I was dead. Even my hair hurt.

Then, the 2nd started the office "move". And now it's the 7th... spending the weekend finishing up as much as possible before Monday. Then the coming week is work... start taxes, reread Shag and submit corrections for review, follow up on contacts made at Quilt Market, contact a few more retailers to get product out there, start working on the Gingerbread House Quilt pattern for release at the end of the month, start designing the Haunted Halloween Candy House quilt based on the gingerbread concept, start new designs, and (hopefully) approve the designs on fabric which are on their way to me for release end-February.

I'll spend one more day on organizing stuff but then I MUST get back to work and see if the new office configuration works as good in reality as it did on paper....

Return from Market

Aloha!

I have returned from Minneapolis after two days of pounding the cheap carpet-covered pavement. Over the next week I'll compile my notes and gather photos from other attendees to post here. In addition, the JEEBER HEAD has started a post of his own on Blogger, and soon he'll be blogging about his life as Leader of the Jeeber People and his experiences amongst a world of humans.

Light at the End of the Tunnel / Leaving on a Jet Plane

WHEW! A little over 24 hours before I board a plane for Newark Airport. Still haven't packed; still doing laundry, dishes, watering the plants and getting it all together for Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis on Friday!!

Here's a sneak peak at some of the item's I'll be promoting at market... weeks of work that I hope will pay off! I'll keep you posted... no pun intended!

JEEPERS CREEPERS Collection or HEEBIE JEEBIES

The bag is made from all four prints in the JEEPERS CREEPERS Collection. The "white" fabric, the eyes, and the skeletons all glow-in-the-dark. The inside is lined in the new BLACK color of my Rock Candy, and the inside pocket has one of the Skeletoons characters embroidered on it. The pattern is the MESSENGER BAG from Hoodie's Collection, available online.

MARK'S SATCHEL

I have had the two fabrics -- the lining which is a vintage barkcloth and the iridescent home-dec outer fabric for years -- and finally I realized my vision. The addition of the toffee colored suede was a last minute inspiration when I was considering the third fabric to compliment the first two. This piece truly met my expectations and went way beyond my vision -- I just DIG when that happens! Pattern is Hoodie's Collection Messenger Bag.

A TRIO OF BUCKET HATS

The hats, an infant/toddlers size, are an original pattern that I drafted. The top hat is a piece to coordinate with the Blast Off! vest that was posted earlier on my blog. The sea turtles -- or HONU -- are from my Surf's Up! collection by Michael Miller Fabrics. I can't wait to show these to some of the boutiques on the island as an exclusive product that will be available only here on Maui!

This hat is lined in pinwale corduroy, and all have been washed to distress the garment and to fray the edges for a pre-worn look.

Trick-or-Treat Bag (or Jeepers Creepers! Where'd Ya Get Those Peepers?)

Here's another little sample "I threw together" the other day. Sue of The Needlework Factory, is the digitizer who is taking my designs and translating them into embroideries. She sewed out a number of the Jeepers Creepers on 6"x6" blocks. I am trying to make the most out of these samples, so I created the reusable Trick-or-Treat bag. Although you cannot see the lining, it is my Candy Corn print, so the bag is always full of candy!, and the eyes and white fabrics Glow-in-the-Dark!

Blast Off! Boy's Insulated Vest

Here is the cotton flannel vest I made from my Blast Off! group. I used a commercial sewing pattern found on the internet, and with a few tweeks, of course... I think it is quite impressive.

I am fascinated by things that shine -- like stained glass and mirrors, by metals, oxidation and metallic finishes, neon, glow-in-the-dark, and by reflective objects. When I haphazardly stumbled upon Pearl Trim on the last day of the Quilt show in Pittsburgh last year, I was giddy with all the safety trims, reflective tapes and piping, and neon webbing they were showing. I am thrilled that I finally found an excuse to utilize them!

Fabrics: outer shell - Blast Off! (flannel), inner collar - Ray Gun Strip (flannel) and lining - Galaxy Quest (sheeting). Neon orange taped armholes and reflective stripe on back.

A Preview for Spring Quilt Market

Here's a picture of the quilt I finished for promotional purposes at Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis next month. The 8 blocks of skeletons and the center block are all embroidered. These designs are from the Jeepers Creepers machine embroidery disc being sold by theneedleworkfactory.com. Sue, the digitizer and owner, stitched out the blocks and eyes and webs in the corners, and pieced the blocks together. I added the candy corn, eyes and webs in fabric, and quilted the piece. I think both collections, the fabric and embroidery, will be a big hit at the show. In another post I'll show all the embroideries available on the disc!

A Side Trip to Sonoma

I recently made a whirl-wind trip to New York/New Jersey (I just returned this past Tuesday). I spent a week in New Jersey with my parents. There I rummaged through the remnants of my possessions in the storage unit, sorting through stuff one last time, making the decision what I would keep, what would ship to Hawai'i, and what would become garage sale items. Then it was a week commuting back and forth to New York, visiting with people I work with, doing a bit of shopping, and the highlight and main reason for scheduling the trip when I did, was to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA. If you can find images online, I highly suggest checking it out because the exhibit was incredible, and the man is a genius!!!

To end the trip back to Hawai'i I made a side trip to Sonoma to visit my friend Kathy Miller, accompanied by our mutual friend Marinda Stewart. It was then three days of wine and olive oil tastings, chocolate, strawberries, artisan cheeses and wonderful, creative conversation. My camera didn't come out until Sonoma, and here are some pics that I took.

This is a tree in a very eclectic garden, antique and artist center. It is covered with blue plastic christmas balls. I love how the sky has such a lavender hue compared to the balls.

These were taken on Kathy's property. This is a shot of the studio... studio??? I could live there!!

Wisteria outside the main house.

If you enlarge this photo you can really see the wonderful texture in the fence post and the rusty barbed wire (rust is one of my favorite finishes -- real or faux).

These are 100+ year old grape vines. These twisted shapes -- very Tim Burton -- remind me of the invasion of man-eating plants in the original "The Day of the Triffids".