For real… I know I promised you podcast #154 on the 29th, and here it is, the 31st.

I promise it will be up and available tonight. Sorry!!

Running time: 01:16:04 Size: 34.9 MB

Here are the great shops that I found on the next leg of my trip:

Las Cruces, NM – Organ Mountain Quilt Shop

Mark Lipinski’s Califon fabric — great quilt, huh?

Seventh Heaven Quilt Shop, San Antonio, TX

Wonderful Dixie, in front of a wonderful quilt

The hallway, which takes you to additional rooms, and the classroom. This shop is Texas-style huge!

the baby room

the “country commandments” quilt

The Moda Texas Hankie quilt hangs over the fireplace in the foyer of the store.

with Tracy, outside of the Alamo

San Antonio architecture — inspiration for applique!

Hard Rock Cafe rail at the RiverWalk

Riverwalk mosaic

The river at Riverwalk, where you can take a boat ride… reminds me of the French Quarter area at Disneyland ; )

Gorgeous San Antonio architecture!

Tracy’s mom’s bed, where I stayed.. look familiar? It’s Amy Butler bedding! Tracy says that she wouldn’t make a quilt for her mom because her mom asked her to make her a quilt that she can take on a picnic — I’m with you, Tracy!

Tracy Ward’s website and blog
For Tracy’s pattern giveaway – visit Tracy’s blog, leave a comment, and Tracy will do a drawing for one of each of her 4 fabulous patterns!  Winners to be drawn on Feb. 4th.

Creative Sewing Center of San Antonio, just down the street from Tracy’s home.

San Antonio quilt

Terri Soll, Creative Sewing Center owner, models her own creative outfit. Her pants are embroidered and her Kimono-style jacket is embroidered on top of the seams — beautiful!

the Sewing Machine area

the Texas Round-up fabrics

Quilt n Sew Studio – Katy, TX
Quilt-n-Sew staff — Owner, Terry is on the right

the batik nook at the shop

The Smocking area — if you need supplies, this is where you can get them.

The Paper Doll quilt — just one of the beautiful samples at Quilt-n-Sew. Isn’t this precious?

Jill and Logan’s Sunflower Quilt Shop –  Houston, TX

Sunflower Quilt Shop, displaying the blocks made for Ovarian Cancer quilt auction that they collect during the year. All of the money made goes to Ovarian Cancer research at M.D. Anderson Health center.

Another view of the blocks — mind-blowing.

Here is my sweet friend, Pat, with a fresh stack of blocks that haven’t been hung yet.

Pat’s mom, Jean — showing off her crocheted table mats. Jean makes these for the shop from the strip remnants. Isn’t that a great use of leftovers?

Sunflower’s entryway, with a turquoise quilt and fabric for Ovarian Cancer quilts.

That’s it for now — but stay tuned til tomorrow!

©2009  Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

Running time: 01:10:51 Size: 32.5 MB

From the Gold Coast Quilt Guild of Morro Bay, CA:

The Gold Coast Quilt Guild of Morro Bay, CA

And here is the much-awaited video for the start of the seemingly endless road trip ; )

Thanks to my pal and hostess, Ruth Bull for holding the video camera while I stepped in the freezing water.

Me with my friend, Ruth Bull — what a great way to start out my trip!

cute sandpipers at the beach

The view from Ruth’s living room of the Pacific Ocean is breathtaking… er, uh, at least it was yesterday when there were blue skies and it was 70 degrees outside. Today, it was overcast and cold.

My first stop along the way: Solvang, a Danish town in California.

Ebleskivers  — little warm pancake balls of yummy goodness

Nodding Place — the shop where I saw the Matelaisse quilt that lead to $700 later…

Creation Station quilt shop in Buellton, CA – right on the edge of Solvang

Dawn and Patrick Farrier – owners  and here is a picture of Dawn (center) with two happy customers.

the floor is painted throughout the shop, to appear as a stoned walkway, complete with dandelions and ants!

The apron and kitchen area of the shop where they have a stove and a mangle!

The Kaufman Kona collection. What a great substitute for expensive hand-dyes. Perfect for applique.

The best notions wall I have ever seen! Antique ironing boards, that Dawn said took a while to collect!

flowery pin cushions!

the Christmas nook

Then, I met Gina Halladay at her shop in Yorba Linda, CA  Cranberry Quiltworks – a Gammill Distributor, where her Threaded Pear Studio resides and she is expanding to add a quilt shop in the space.

Gina, our beloved QuiltersBuzz blog-queen, with a new fabric collection, Michael Miller’s Andalucia by Patty Young

Gina’s new sample quilt — do ya LOVE this fabric?!

Welcome to Cranberry Quiltworks!

Gammill longarms — oooh, I want one of those!

Threads, oh yeah!

Threaded Pear pattern wall

Stay tuned for more pictures, interviews and links from my trip — coming up tomorrow!

©2009  Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

Running time: 00:16:10 Size: 7.4 MB

It seems like it’s been a week since I arrived home but it’s only really been a day and some change.

Here are some pictures from my last day in North Carolina.

Here I am at Carolina Beach dipping my toes in the water. I made it!

It was so much fun seeing the snow. Here's the little machine that got me to North Carolina.

Me and Ryan and Karen (Behind the Camera) -- In the Snow

You know that I have been jonesing for snow ever since we had the cold snap in California prior to Christmas. Every year of my life, I wish for a snowy Christmas morning — thank you Hollywood and all of those wonderful movies depicting snow. It’s not Christmas in 75 degree sun.

We heard that it would snow today, but that it would be gone by early afternoon. Now I’m not so sure. It IS beautiful and we have been having loads of fun taking pictures and standing outside to watch it.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Inspiring, isn’t it?! I would love to be home in this, with the blinds wide open, and quilting.

Let’s see if I really get home today ; )

Running time: 00:32:15 Size: 14.8 MB

I’m still resting from my marathon drive and having a good time with my son Ryan and his wife, Karen.

But that didn’t stop me from visiting a quilt shop. I found this cute little place, on Highway 64 in Apex, North Carolina. It’s called Plain and Simple Quilt Shop, in an old house re-purposed into this store.

Here’s an outside shot of the store:

I hadn’t made any arrangements to speak with the store owner or to take any pictures. I will be going back there tomorrow to do both, so you will see and hear more in a future podcast!

In this episode, I speak with my kids about moving across country and ask them what they would recommend if anyone else were planning the same thing in their lives soon. They both offer some sage wisdom.

I also update you on the stash-busters drawing that is coming-up soon.

Running time: 00:15:50 Size: 7.4 MB
This program was created on Friday evening, January 16, 2009 and is first aired Saturday, January 17, 2009

I got to visit long-time listener, Sandi Cain in Alpharetta, Georgia and visited a cute quilt shop called, Georgia Sewing and Quilting in Beuford, Georgia and Denise Eubanks in Greenville, South Carolina.

More to come!

Running time: 00:23:30 Size: 10.9 MB

Gumbo for breakfast, YUM!

King cake with a baby inside – pre-Mardi Gras

I was talking with my friends and we seem to have had a disagreement where the strawberry capital of the world is. They claim it’s in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. I think it’s in Watsonville, California – a town I lived in when I was a little girls. Click this LINK to see what others think about it.

A basket full of quilt-y goodness.

Driving across the swamp lands, I saw these skinny trees with moss growing off of them. WebGuy thinks they are bald cypress trees. Click HERE to see what I am talking about.

I’m In Mississippi, Really!

Mardi Gras dress at the Mississippi Visitor’s Center

You know, the king cakes at Walmart come with your own set of Mardi Gras beads. Woo woo!

I’m in Alabama now, really I am.

In this program, I speak about cotton and how some of our world’s cotton supply is still coming from the US of A. I’m surprised that cotton is still being grown in America, but it is. Look at the map below and see where most domestic cotton comes.

Amazing, huh?

Running time: 00:7:00 Size: 3.3 MB
Now that my body has calmed down, I can relate to you a little about my stay yesterday in Houston.

I was able to vist TWO absolutely fabulous quilt shops in the area. First we went to Quilt ‘N Sew. It’s a lovely oasis of quilt-y goodness! Be sure to visit their web site for directions to their store which features a very handy online store!

The second shop we visited is SunFlower Quilts.

Store owner, Jill Rimes, is as charming as her store. The store is just brimming with over 1500 bolts of fabric in stock.

Now that my health is returning, I’ll be traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana tomorrow. I expect I’ll be in for some more treats as I get nearer to my final destination!

Thanks to everyone for all of your well-wishes, prayers, and comments. They have all contributed to my speedy recovery and are helping me return to the task at hand. This is becoming YOUR trip almost as much as it is MY trip! You are the greatest!

Love,
Annie

Well Quilters,
It was bound to happen. I arrived in Houston yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful time hanging out with Texas pals Pat and Jean. We went to our favorite place to eat in Houston, Black Eyed Pea, and later that evening… IT HIT ME.

I’ve had all of the typical flu symptoms combined with, ummm… how do I say this gently… the typical food poisoning symptoms.
I am so upset that this is happening in the middle of my roadtrip. But on the positive side, I’m so glad I have these two angels, Pat and Jean to take such good care of me.

I’m thinking that I will need to sit-out today and (hopefully) start to feel better. The plan is to continue my trip tomorrow. That will bring me to North Carolina on Friday instead of Thursday.

If I’m feeling a little better today, I’ll check-in with Webguy and see if I can get a podcast out to you.