Yes, quilters, one of my wishes came true — our family tradition of visiting Fenton’s creamery and the Oakland Temple. Here are some of the highlights for my blog. There were five cameras at the table, which overwhelmed our new guest, Shannon. But when you have bloggers, you have cameras.

Our first stop was Fenton’s, with proof that we were here in time for holiday revelry.
Some happy faces at Fentons look like this:

Sisters-in-law who are more like Sisters…

It’s never enough to order just ice cream because they have a great grill, from which we ordered Ryan’s Heart-attack-on-a-plate, chili cheese fries to go along with his burger…

Kirsten’s club sandwich with curly fries,

and Guy’s Reuben sandwich.

Oh, by the way, Fenton’s is not a place for a diet or watching calories. This is our one time of the year to splurge. So, we order ice cream too… ; ) Which looks like this:

Robin and his (girl)friend, Shannon – too cute, huh?

So we share and then it looks like this:

So we have to walk off all of the lovely excess at one of the most beautiful spots on Earth, the Oakland Temple at sunset:

We walk around the upper level of the Temple (which is usually FREEZING cold) to see a beautiful view of “The City” (affectionately called by locals, aka San Francisco):

We’re not this close, this was just taken through telephoto lens. I was shooting for the Giants Ballpark (I don’t know what its’ name will be this year) but got a great shot of the skyline so you can see the TransAmerica and BofA buildings).

The flowers in the gardens are amazing. Do you have Rhododendrons like this where you live? During the winter?

How often do you see a cluster of roses like this? Just perfect!

We take pictures of each other, like these:
My kiddoes

Our newlyweds, even after two years.

Silly guy(s), or like father, like son ; )

You can get the most amazing pictures there, like this one:

and this really good (in my opinion) picture of me that Guy took:

Happy New Year, and happy quilting!!

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:54:51 Size: 12.59MB

We didn’t REALLY have a problem, it’s just fun to say, since that phrase put Houston and the space program into public concern once upon a time. I’ve been to Johnson Space center and it’s totally cool – everyone should visit there when visiting Houston.

I couldn’t end the year without giving you this fun wrap-up show from our experience at Quilt Market and Festival. I know that it’s late, but good things take time ; ) So here we go, with Kirsten and Holly -we are… partners in crime, uh, quilting!

Kirsten’s new blog is FunkyCharming.
Holly’s website is EatCakeGraphics. Holly just put her new blog up, so go here to visit Sprinkles of Thought blog.

Here are some pictures of the booth:

Holly’s booth and our friend, Kevin, who saved our bacon by hanging all of our drapes and quilts for us.

Kirsten with Michele D’Amore of Marcus Brothers in front of “Green Flower Street”, which was made with Michele’s Bleeker Street fabric.

I finally found the link for Hobby+Land, the Japanese purse handle people. Then, as I was arranging my new dayplanner for 2008, I came across the business card for the second part of their booth with is QuiltPlus! If you visit their website, you can see some beautiful examples of purses that you can make.

Kirsten and Holly’s favorite star encounter: Amy Butler.
And mine would have been: meeting Mary Engelbreit. But my good pal, Susan Branch finally had a chance to meet her for the first time at Market. Here is a picture of the two, the Queen of Everything and the Heart of the Home, courtesy of Susan.

Our so cre8ive friends, Beth and Liz Hawkins of LizzieBcre8ive. I’m talking with Liz at their booth — isn’t it fun?! These gals ARE cre8ive!

Here I am with Frank Bielec – what a kick it was to meet him! We all know how talented he is from his regular gig (show), but who knew that he does needlepoint, or has a company called Mosey n Me?

Mothers and daughters — me, Kirsten, Lizzy and Cherri House. It was so fun to meet them! We have our eye on Lizzie to see what rocket she will be on soon. Lizzy’s blog is LizzyHouse.

Holly’s and my favorite place at Festival to drop a big wad of cash was Pinwheels Trading. We just couldn’t resist all of that Japanese Taupe goodness.

Our favorite group experience was the Color Guard ceremony for Quilts of Valor was breathtaking and emotional for everyone in the convention center.

I have to say the very best part of the shows was meeting listeners, who took a moment to drop by the booth and say HI. Here’s the Gallery of Quilting Stash listeners:

Becky Rebalais – Atlanta, GA

Gretchen Brock – Atlanta, GA Becky and Gretchen were working at Market for the Silver Thimble booth and made a point to stop by and say hi. Gretchen is also the one who stopped by to let Kirsten know that Amy Butler was doing a book signing — Gretchen will always be Kirsten’s Hero for that ; )

Cindy Lammon — what a thrill it was to meet Cindy, quilt designer extraordinnaire!

To see Cindy’s beautiful quilts, visit Raspberry Patch Quilt Shop.

I think the picture explains it all, but just in case you can’t figure it out, I am all agape with Beth Ferrier, who stopped by to say hi. Beth and I belong to the Yahoo Quilt Designers group, so I kind-of knew her from there.

Beth wrote the definitive sidebar to Nancy Restuccia’s book, “Publish Your Patterns! How to Write, Print, and Market Your Designs” about how to have a booth at Quilt Market – which my #1 help when deciding to go last Spring. I knew that there was more about Beth that wasn’t connecting… and then I saw her book, “Hand Applique by Machine”


that it all clicked in to place — she was BETH FERRIER!! LOL! It’s so fun to be a part of a mutual admiration society ; ) You can view Beth’s work at her website Applewood Farm.

Dianne Jones and Bonnie Hernandez

Chelley Smith — who is from the Pickle Posse. I want one of those shirts!

Shelly Grappe, Linda Harmon, and Mary Mauldin

Julie Pieri, who is also a designer.

Lynn Kelly, who introduced me to our Quilt Angel, Pat Steapp:

Lynn

…and Pat

I also met up with one of the most influencial teachers that I ever took a class from, Nadine Thompson:

It was such a pleasure to see her, and catch up – it’s been several years and she has relocated from California to Missouri. I took a twelve-week class with Nadine in 1989 that taught me every technique that I still use today – especially her special way of doing Hand Applique, which I immediately fell in love with. Two years after that class, Nadine won Best of Show honors at Pacific International Quilt Festival for her Baltimore Album quilt, totally created by hand.

I also met my quilter, Melodee Wade’s neighbor at Festival, who came by to see the Pickle Road Garden Quilt that Melodee so masterfully quilted for me.

Now for your future reference, a listing of the places we enjoyed eating while in Houston:

Ninfa’s on Navigation – home of the Fajita. It was so good, we ate here twice!

Kirsten from Prints Charming, Gina Halladay of Quilters Buzz, Holly Mabutas and Jan Lutz’s sister.

Kath, Kirsten, and Kirsten (Prints Charming gals) outside of Ninfa’s the last night of Market.

MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm — The Strip House. We will have fond memories of that marvelous meal for a long time – especially while in the company of our blogger friends. Here is a picture of the dessert that Holly describes the demolition of, the before:

and after:

…which took all of about ten seconds!

Real Texas BBQ and a drive-through! Pappa’s BBQ

Round puffy goodness: Shipley’s donuts You have to have at least one!

Our funnest dinner out was with Mark Lipinski and Jeff Turner – and a great restaurant. We LOVE Mexican food, so we are always jonesing for it. Pappasitos is SO good – it will be on our list of must-visit’s for next year.

Jason’s Deli was our favoritest meal, because it came with so much love from our friends, Pat Steapp and her mom, Jean Lauderdale.

Lots of info, on the podcast and above — twelve glorious days ( and days of hard work!). I hope you’ve enjoyed this little slice of our Market and Festival experience.

Happy Quilting — and Happy New Year!

copyright 2007 Annie Smith All Rights Reserved

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:12:34 Size: 6.9MB

My top Five wishes for Christmas, just in case Santa has a little more room in his bag for me.

I don’t want to spoil the podcast surprise, but here are some links and pictures of what you will find there:

“Let Joy and Innocence Prevail” written by Pat Metheny, and it’s his instrumental version that I love the most. Oops! Written by Hans Zimmer and Trevor Horn, but performed by Pat’s incredible guitar-work for the movie.
“My Grown-up Christmas List” was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson Jenner (Bruce Jenner – the athlete’s ex).
Here are the words to this beautiful song:

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
my childhood fantasies

Well, I’m all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I’m not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here’s my lifelong wish,
My grown up Christmas list
Not for myself,
But for a world in need:

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts,
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end:
This is my grown up Christmas list.

What is this illusion called “the innocence of youth”?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth –
(there’d be)
No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts,
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end, oh
This is my grown up Christmas list.

This is my only lifelong wish:
This is My grown up Christmas list.

Ok, so I’m feeling compelled to add my favorite song list – just so you know where my head, ears and heart are at this special time of year.
1. Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses (This song gets me in the mood within the first 8 bars of the song!)
2. O Holy Night
3. Sleighride (ok, corny but a keeper!)
4. Mary, Did You Know? (I love this by just about anybody, but I heard it the very first time done on tv by Wynonna and Kenny Rogers – it just decked me)
5. Breath of Heaven (Amy Grant)
6. I’ll be Home for Christmas (only by the eternal Bing Crosby — makes me cry everytime I hear it)
7. Wonderful Christmastime (McCartney, of course!)
8. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reggae (our kids favorite song to sing along with when they were little)
9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (sung only by Judy Garland, in “Meet Me in St. Louis” – my mother’s favorite Christmas movie)
10. I Wonder As I Wander (my favorite one was done by Kurt Bestor)
11. Christmas Time is Here (A Charlie Brown Christmas)
12. Silent Night, sung in Gaelic, by Enya
13. Little Saint Nick, the Beach Boys
14. Any Christmas song done by Mannheim Steamroller
15. Almost any Christmas song done by the Trans Siberian Orchestra
16. The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky
17. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
18. Dominic, the Italian Christmas Donkey, Lou Monte

and that’s just the short list. If I had one, I would put these on my… — you listening, Santa?:

ok, so I’ll take on iPod touch — it will let me see my favorite quilt shows, too ; )

It’s all about time with family and our traditions – one of which is:

Temple Hill, Oakland, CA
The lights on Temple Hill in Oakland, CA, and the music extravaganza that happens there every evening.Then a trip to our favorite eatery:

Fenton’s Creamery — yum yum!!

Next, Some Feedback From My Fans:
“I just want to write this email to let you know I love your show! I work during the day doing mundane typing. I enjoy listing to your podcast to take my mind off of what I am doing. I sit a piece of paper beside me during your podcast and write down inspirational ideas throughout the show.” Tracy Ward

“I love your podcasts and these newsletters. I don’t get to many events out here in the Boston area, but if I do I will send them along.
Can’t wait to see you on The Quilt Show!!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” Mary Hamilton

“I just want to say thanks for the podcasts you do . I know they take a lot of time to put together but I enjoy hearing them and have been inspired and have learned so much. I have also been introduced to many quilters I would not have known about through your interviews. Please keep up the wonderful work you are doing.” Nancy Z. in CT

My #1 wish is to keep Quilting Stash podcast going – for a long time. The details are in the podcast, and the Tip Jar is in the column on this page to the right…

I’m looking forward to many more shows, vidcasts in the future, and hearing from you, my listeners. My wish for you is a safe and happy Christmas season, tucked under quilts with the ones you love.

Here’s a picture of my very first quilt design, made for my son, Ryan – who is actually, finally, going to get his quilt. (The pattern is being retired, and a new one will emerge). He totally inspired this quilt from half way around the world, in Vercelli, Italy.

“All Hearts Come Home for Christmas”, just where they should be!

I should not be surprised at all to see two of the most clever hot new items that I’ve seen in a long time.

The first one comes from our very hip-and-happenin’ quilter, Heather Bailey.

Along with being an incredible designer, wife and mom of two, Heather has been busy working on a secret project that is going to turn the hair fashion world upside down! She has invented TrashTies

Just in time for those of you who have run out of time before you’ve run out of projects. I am selling several of my quilts from my personal collection just in time for Christmas gift-giving.

Each of these quilts are completely ready to show — they even have a hanging sleeve attached and are signed by… Me.

Visit my online store by clicking HERE and see the quilts close-up. Be sure to check out the patterns and journals available too!

Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to send me email and I’ll be happy to respond.

Optimized For BOTH Broadband and Dial Up Users

Running time: 00:49:30 Size: 11.73MB

What an incredible treat it was for me to visit the Great American Quilt Factory in Denver, CO!

The window displays greet and inspire you — I love the color scheme.

This is only one small area of the store – I could do some serious damage to my wallet here!

I’ve always wanted to go to the store, but I never thought that I would have the chance to interview the shop’s owners, Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan.

These quilty ladies are also the authors of the well-known “Possibilities” quilt books – you know, “P. S. I Love You”?
These two women are creative, intelligent and savvy business women who have influenced the way we quilt. I love each of their books and have been inspired by Nancy and Lynda for almost 20 years.

This beautiful block of the month is featured in the American Quilter magazine.

I hope you enjoy the interview with these incredible gals, and that you stop by their shop when you’re in the area. In the meantime, you can visit their website at Possibilitiesquilt. com .