On The Road Again

I'm sorry I haven't posted too recently but I've been doing some traveling. I spent the day today with Martha Pullen and her incredible gang and taped a couple of upcoming episodes of Martha's Sewing Room to air on PBS Create toward the end of this year and beginning of 2008. I appeared as a representative of one of their sponsors, The Warm Company, whose products I've been using for years. I had a great time and it was a lot of fun to meet and spend time with everyone. The staff made it super easy to tape both shows in a day and they're such a talented group! I just got back from having dinner with them and really enjoyed the entire day. Hopefully, this will become a yearly tradition.

I'm anxiously awaiting word on how Spring Quilt Market went in Portland this past weekend and will let you know as soon as I hear details. I'll try to update the blog from the road. Have a great week!

What a day!

First of all, Lily is here with me today and that always makes for a good day. Then, a gorgeous floral arrangement showed up from my friends at C&T Publishing to congratulate me on our new book and my advance copy arrived almost simultaneously with the flowers. The book looks great and, as I said in my last post, enough time has passed since the final work I did on it that it looked almost brand new to me. I hope you'll consider adding it to your collection. I believe the release date is June 16th.

As if all of that wasn't exciting enough, FedEx showed up again this afternoon with a box from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I was expecting a couple of sample yards of "Satinesque" but I thought this box was too big for that. I was right...it wasn't just a couple of sample yards but a couple of yards of each of the 29 colors we're introducing! Seeing the whole collection when I opened the box was such a rush. And, since I still have a few projects to make for my new book that I'm working on, I'll be able to use some of them in it. I can't wait to start.

One of the things I'm happiest about with this new fabric is this: If you take a look here, you'll see a scan of the artwork from which this fabric was printed. Click here and you'll see a scan of the actual fabric (enlarged) or here for a detail that actually looks hand painted. I think you'll agree that it's a great reproduction, on fabric, of the artwork. That's what we strive for. Not only are the colors rich and vibrant but there is a depth and dimension that was beautifully recreated also. Take a look here for a couple more colors I scanned and a list of the colors we'll introduce.

"A Patrick Lose Christmas"

I got the word from Zinnia at C&T Publishing that the advance copies of my new book are in and I'll get mine tomorrow...YAY! It's been long enough now, since I finished working on it, that I can be excited to see it again. There's always a short period toward the end of the process that I get pretty tired of looking at the same quilts, photos, and words...especially technical words.

But this book is full of fun stuff including a recipe for a "Caramel Christmas Mix" that I always make a boat load of to have around to snack on during the holidays. (I just got a craving for it and that usually doesn't happen until about November.) I'm anxious to get the book into stores so you can start working on your Christmas projects for this year. Believe it or not, it's time to get started on them again. Where does the time go?

Happy 1st Birthday, Lily!

It's hard to believe that today is my granddaughter Lily's first birthday. It seems like only a few months since the day she was born.

I was on my way to the airport that day to go to Salt Lake City for Spring Quilt Market when I got a call from my daughter, Katie, who was at a check-up with her doctor. She told me that they were going to keep her for awhile to do some tests but that everything was fine and that I should go ahead and fly out. After all, Lily wasn't due until June 2nd and Katie and Toby had just gone to their first childbirth class the night before. But I just knew I shouldn't have gotten on that plane.

When it touched down in SLC, I had a message on my phone that I was going to become a grandfather that day. I couldn't get off the plane fast enough to find another flight back home. Nothing was going to keep me from being there! I had to wait for my luggage to arrive and take all of my pattern samples to the convention center for the sales reps first and, even though it was a little over an hour's drive there and back to the airport by taxi (in pouring rain, no less), I was on a plane bound for home within 2½ hours of landing. I made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare and Lily came into the world at 10:15 that night. And my world hasn't been the same since!

It was a great birthday party at her house this afternoon and she got her first taste (and then some) of birthday cake. Take a look at the photos here and you'll see why I won't be volunteering to change any diapers for a few days! What a wonderful day :)