The Summer of Insanity, the FVMQG, and Seattle

(Warning: Reading this blog post requires a beverage and treats, because it’s unbelievably long and chock full of less than stellar iphone photos. Cause seriously, my big camera is too heavy and  expensive to lug around my neck all summer)

*crickets*    *crickets*

Helloo??     Is anyone out there??

Holy cats has it really been over a month since I last posted?! What the heck?

But that’s how it goes right? You unwittingly delude yourself into thinking you’ll have all this free time in the summer to blog away, and then July hits you like a hot dusty tornado!

And it brings a niece and a road trip to Disneyland,

Don’t let my son’s terrified look convince you that he didn’t go on space mountain 2 more times!

We LOVED Disneyland! Much to our complete surprise 🙂

We hit San Francisco on the way back, and even though it was dark and raining by the time we got there, I made Vince drive us down Lombard street anyway!

Driving through the Redwood Forest!

…then a trip to Mom’s farm on the island,

my view from the ferry

and then more family visits, and meetings, and important emails, and last minute label making

with a road trip to Tacoma squeezed in, because your Halloween Quilt of Awesomeness was accepted to hang in the Pacific West Quilt show on August 24-26, and you decided to deliver it in person cause you’re scared to trust Canada post with such a package. (nope, I’m not paranoid at all!)

And just as you’re scrambling to finish a project for Quiltmaker, (and packing for three, for two trips back to back an hour before you need to catch the ferry), you commit to an extra pit stop in four days,

which means ditching the kids at Mom’s for the last 3 days of their Eco-village homesteading day camp,

where they apparently run around barefoot while digging up dirt,

and spend their days dancing, playing marimbas, making apple crumble from the apples they picked that morning from the turkey pen, and building mini cob houses.

While you coerce your ever loving hubby over the phone to run out and buy toner, then stay up half the night printing out copies of all your patterns (when he’d much rather be playing video games you’re sure), and then you frantically prepare 2 slideshows cause your mom insists that you prepare for both a Mac and a PC (Thanks Mom! it was a PC!),

and design covers for all 18 of your patterns,

and finish them up as you ride the ferry back home,

then arrive home with exactly 2 hours to print 60 covers and package 60 patterns

then drive for 2 and a half hours to Maple Ridge to meet…

the most welcoming and fun ladies of the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild!

Who are insanely talented, and really love to laugh,

Cynthia Frenette and her art quilt

Lysa’s fun quilt

who didn’t fall asleep during your slide show, and actually bought a bunch of your patterns, and even signed up for your Paper Piecing for Workshop in October, yay!

Still on the FVMQG meeting high, you make it home really late to find the hubby ready for a late date night in an empty house, after he happily cleaned out the Disneyland remnants from your van for..

your trip, the very next morning to the Vancouver MQG – Seattle MQG – Portland MQG meetup in Seattle!

Which is probably the most relaxed you’ve felt all summer, (and maybe all year), where you have a really great road trip with Karen,

and meet some really amazing and fun friends

The amazing Monica of Happy Zombie, and Violet of Violet Craft

Who you chat, joke, and ride the ferry with,

VMQG friends Felicity, Berene, Holly and Krista!

Who you sew all day with,

50 quilters from the three guilds descended upon Island Quilter on Vashon Island in Seattle.

Me with the wonderful Violet Craft holding her Madrona Road fabric line for Michael Miller!

who you spend the evenings laughing with,

This is me and the insanely talented long arm quilter Krista Withers

and find yourself smooching cause they’re just that fun,

Jen Carlton Bailly is such a hoot to hang out with, and gave me permission to use her photo!

and then swapping pouches with,

Berene and the pouch she received.

and receiving an amazing pouch from the talented Monica-Solorio-Snow and a charm pack of her new line Winterkist! OMG Thank-you Monica!!

And then you shop around some amazing fabric stores with your new friends and come away like bandits..

Susan Beal and I shopping in Drygoods Design.

My delicious spoils of the weekend!

and then you miss your new friends terribly as you arrive home!

Suddenly it’s a week later and you realize that somehow it’s the middle of August, and decide that maybe you should skip the Dr. Who marathon and blog about something before your followers figure you’ve fallen off the face of the planet.

The end.

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