Getting Ready for Phoenix

When we get ready for a quilt show the whole studio gets in a turmoil.  Every table surface is piled high plus tubs all around on the floor.   Everyone has to watch where they step! Mackenzie and Campbell move from bed to bed under the computer table.  Each has their own “tricks” too.  Campbell is the  Princess and likes to be where the action is.  Today she enjoyed keeping an eye on the wild life in the back yard from her bed on the work table.   A large flock of robin’s were zooming around in the trees until a very fat ginger colored kitty decided to prance around back there too.  Four mom deer with a yearling and baby travel along the back fence every afternoon too just to round out the menagerie.  Campbell enjoyed the day!
Mackenzie is totally all  about food!  She spent most of the day (actually several days) primly sitting and watching the 2 bags of yummy cookies on the table.  Very quiet and very diligent.   She frequently gets a bite as her waistline will attest too! 
All of us will be ready to hit the road in the late afternoon Sunday.  See all of you good friends in Phoenix next Thursday.

Happy New Year!

It hardly seems possible that we have zipped through 2009 and are entering 2010 already.  The entire year was very busy and we were so happy to have met so many of you at the (too many!) shows we went to last year.  This year we are going to fewer shows so we can to pay attention to designing new goodies for you. 

However, we are now scurrying around the studio sending out TONS of orders from our Retiring Patterns Sale and trying to get ready for Road to California in Ontario, California in just 10 days.  The whole studio is a wreck but clearing out the older designs will give us much needed space to bring in new goodies…..Yay!

Here is Campbell helping out as we work around her getting ready.  She is a great supervisor!  We will be ready to go to our shows this year with help from Campbell and Mackenzie.

Have a wonderful, healthful and successful new year! 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We all at Bird Brain Designs wish you a very Merry Christmas all day and all week!

Robin, Tina, Gail, Kendall and the furry workers, Mackenzie and Campbell!

Today is the First Day of Winter

We are very pleased that we are getting lots of rain here at Clear Lake.  We NEED it!  The snow really fell in the east this weekend and it was exciting as they broke some snow records.

Winter is going to be around until next March.  To celebrate all the snow in the east and just winter in general – applique our bright and cheerful Frosty & Feathered Friends.  I promise, the 14” square pillow doesn’t take forever to complete.  Have him to appliqué in lovely felted wool.  We have the 2009 Holiday Crafts magazine and a complete kit for Frosty….all at a First Day of Winter price.  Check it out on our web site www.BirdBrainDesigns.net.  Brighten all the winter days ahead with this Fun-to-Stitch project.

Happy winter, happy holiday and everything else to you!  Robin

NEW Freebie Tea Towel Design for Holidays

The NEW December Freebie Tea Towel design is now ready for you to print and get stitching!  This cheerful little Holiday Dove will be a terrific hostess gift to whip up and be ready to P-A-R-T-Y!

We have put together our handy little “kit” for you to order containing the nice Red Striped Tea Towel from Dunroven House PLUS all the #8 Perle cotton needed to embroider you little dove.

Print out your Freebie soon and send in your order so you can be ready to decorate your home or one of your friends or family.

Happiest of getting ready for the holidays to you from Bird Brain Designs!

New Harvest Tables for the Studio

More of our adventures finishing up our fun year of shows along the west coast.  Of course we stopped in Kalama, Washington again on our way home.  We had NOT been able to check out all the stores heading north.  Had another lovely lunch at the Antique Deli and found some treasures in several shops.

In September we found a fabulous harvest table to replace one of the funky Costco folding tables up on PVC pipes to raise them in the studio.  Because we couldn’t fit it in Lucy’s garage then the nice shop owner kept it and 4 chairs for us.   By luck there was a really great young couple at the store bringing more treasures to sell.  They helped load the table with us. Here is Tina and Don.  I found a “matching” harvest table in the shop and now we have two…so much classier than the plastic folding tables!!

This all happened in Oakland, Oregon, another little town with lots of great attributes – Tolly’s Resaurant, coffee shop, cute houses, gift shops,  Antique shops!  Our finds were from Olde Town Antiques right on the Main Street.  We like our travels a lot and finding such treasures.Diane, the shop owner on the left and Pam, our new friendly helper watch the progress of loading and stacking table #1.  All got home safely and into the studio.  More photos in the studio and we fix it up during December and through the spring.

Robin

Washington Was Wet and Wonderful

As most of you know, it is wet and green in Washington!  Luckily it was nice and sunny for our move in to the show and set up day.  We lucked out again when we broke down to leave.  In between there were torrential rains and a day all of the water on the ground froze solid.  Something we California gals don’t often see! There was an extra day driving up to the show so we stopped at our favorite little town, Kalama, Washington, for some lunch and antiquing at a few of the many cute stores in town.  These are the fun chefs at the tiny Antique Deli in an old building with the Country Gentlemen Antique Shop.  Yummy chicken salad on home baked wheat bread topped off with something homemade for dessert….our great find! The little Mercantile Shop on Wheels looked festive with all our Christmas,  Autumn and a couple of witches displayed.  Our friends in Washington hadn’t see us for 2 years and we were very happy to see them again.

Hope you all have a terrific weekend.

Robin