Bird Brain Designs

The Sewing & Stitching Expo is great as usual.  The day of shopping begins at a very early 8:30!  There is not much activity in our booth until after 9 o’clock but classes are filled to the brim at that early morning hour.  We over hear lots of ladies loving RedWork (just like I do) and many are getting out their embroidery after LOTS of years of quilting and doing other things.  We are so happy to hear that!   You can relax in the evening stitching gifts or goodies for yourself – your sewing machine can’t always travel from room to room with you.  If you haven’t already given it a try, go to our Freebie design and stitch up a GreenWork design for St. Patty’s day – quick, fun and easy! We are hoping for another sunny and lovely day in Puyallup – yesterday was wonderful – and meet all the ladies who had to work all week and now get to play at the show on Saturday and Sunday.  Enjoy your weekend and get in some stitching time for yourself.

Yesterday we had such a beautiful sunrise that just got prettier each minute.  See the pictures over the lake – really a wonderful site while having your morning coffee! The big sun just coming over the hill across the lake. The sun didn’t last through the day but we are happy to hear we can possibly get another 4-5 inches of rain with this storm.  Keep on raining and filling our Clear Lake and all the reservoirs. We leave tomorrow morning for Washington to set up for the Sew Expo in Puyallup – February 26-March 1.  See you there!

….and we love every drop!  If this keeps up we won’t have anyone threatening drought this summer.  The 2 furry girls around here have left muddy prints on all the floors but we can stand that for a little while longer. We are all busy building kits, cutting fabric and stuffing patterns in bags to pack up and take to Sew Expo in Puyallup, Washington.  We leave next Sunday to leave enough time to get across the pass between California and Oregon on I-5 and up to Puyallup.  Always a guess with winter weather if the road will be open. With the lake in the background the work table is piled with fabrics to make kits for Eggs on Parade …one of our popular Easter Wool Appliqué holiday table runners.  Lots of fun work getting ready for upcoming shows!

Being home has been great….but I have forgotten to add anything to my blog.  For our yummy dessert to celebrate Valentine’s Day (just to be sure we , Robin, Tina and Julie, are remembered – even by only ourselves) I made a killer super chocolate brownie torte covered with chocolate icing.  Delicious! Wishing all of you a romantic and lovely sweetest day.

We loved sleeping in our own beds last night.  Today it rained and poured all day – that also made us happy as we are desperate for lots of rain (and snow in the mountains when we are not there!) in California.   The more the merrier. Gail is enjoying a well deserved vacation after keeping the home fires burning while we were away.  We brought home our friend Julie who has been travelling with us and working in our “store on wheels” at shows.  Julie is the owner of Julie’s School of  Sewing when not working with us.  Give her site a look, fun stuff.  We are happy to have her visit the studio and work with us here and on the road. We are busy with mail and everything else after you have been gone away.  I hope life is more exciting soon so there is something to chat about. 

We were hoping to scoot home without the white stuff but no luck – a nice storm found us on I-80 just below Emigrant Pass in Nevada.  We stopped at a truck parking spot at noon and stayed through the night.  We hit the road again this morning at 5 AM with clear skies and a bright and beautiful full moon shining on all the white mountains and plains….really spectacular! All is well and we are back at the studio with just a sprinkle of rain as we hopped out of Lucy, the motor home.  Tomorrow is time enough to unload and stuff all those clothes in the washing machine. Today is Mackenzie the pooch’s birthday.  She is 10 years old.  I think all she is getting for a present is a bath after 10 days in the motor home.  Guess she won’t miss the lovely chocolate birthday cake we all fantasized about during today’s drive but we will.  Happy Birthday, Mackenzie!!

We saw LOTS of amazing animals in Wyoming – all after not connecting with I-80 in Cheyenne!  We took a 3 hour detour to get back on track. Along the way we saw herds of mule deer playing with antelope on Highway 34.  Later there were buffalo and Elk in a research preserve up in the mountains.  Of course cattle and flocks of sheep throughout the state.  Guess the driver’s big mistake (me) was a nice ride seeing lots of beautiful creatures. The day was sunny with high clouds until the last exit in Wyoming when it began to snow until Salt Lake City.  It is just rain now and we are stopping for the night in a chilly but pretty rest stop just outside of Nevada. Tina is creating Mexican food for a quick dinner and then to bed.  We are happy the weather has been cooperative with ladies and pooches anxious to get home.   Good night!

Travelling has been great but we are really ready for home!  The Rocky Mountain Sew Expo had been terrific and will close this evening.  Break down is always such fun but we look forward to it this morning. It is still unusually warm in Denver but the weather guys continue to threaten storms soon.  Our fingers and toes are crossed that we will make it to about 8 PM when our garage is full of show left overs and get us over the Rockies before it really lets loose!  It will add a day or more for us to drive south to head west and then north again up the long California highway.  Oh well, we will get to see lots more country. Hope all is well in your home town or where ever you are hanging out today and the entire weekend.

The second day of the show is today.  The “heat wave” in Denver is still going strong with sunshine and warm weather.  A storm is threatened just about the time we want to head west – but we will wait and see on Sunday. Tina had lots of people gathered around her table to see all of her needle felted animals.  The most popular design yesterday was Eloise Elephant , that adorable elephant wearing a colorful blanket and hat.  Tina is working on all the animals in the stable in Bethlehem visiting the new born baby Jesus….they will be ready for Christmas this year! Come visit us at the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo if you are near Denver.  We would love to see you.

It feels like my blog has become a travel journal!  We are in the middle of our 4th week on the road to our 4 shows and 3 classes at shops along the way.  We have been having a great time but now look forward to heading west to little Kelseyville and home.  We have LOTS of getting ready to do for the next batch of 4 quilt shows through March. Today is the first day of the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo at the Denver Merchandise Mart.  I hope all of you in the Denver area will be coming to see us.  We are right up front – you can’t miss our little “ shop on wheels ”.  Remember to get your discount coupon at www.RustyBarn.com .  The weather is fabulous and the parking is free.  See you there!

We are finally in Denver – taking 3 days to get here instead of the 12 hours most people do.  Yesterday we discovered Las Vegas, NM while looking for a post office.  After driving up and down the streets of this old town looking for it we saw all kinds of fun places to explore.  We had breakfast at Charlie’s Spick and Span Bakery & Cafe eating great omelets.  When we left we were temped by the home made pastries but opted for an entire apple pie still warm from the oven.  Yummmmmm! We walked up and down the main street and then got back in Lucy, the motor home to drive around more.  Only a couple of blocks away was the renovated train station.  The Santa Fe train from Los Angeles heading to Chicago arrived just as we did and I took photos of the conductor waving from across the street.  I remember taking the train from Oakland, California to Newark, New Jersey and back again a million years ago with my sister, Linda, and our Mom.  A fun and adventurous weeks journey on the train

Another beautiful western state.  The variety of types of scenery is terrific.  Albuquerque is a huge bowl with mountains all around.  The freeway is even decorated with rock walls and giant pots along the road.  We are most happy that we will be back to Albuquerque May 21-23 for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Festival.  We will take several days and see everything in a leisurely way! Santa Fe is north and has a higher elevation – most everywhere in the state is a mile high or higher.  You see green “Christmas” trees covering the mountains with patches of snow still on the ground from the last snow storm.  Last night we “camped” at a rest stop and will get into Denver this afternoon.  Tomorrow is set up day for the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo at the Denver Merchandise Mart.  We have not been vendors here before and expect to have a great crowd – the show always does – and fun as usual.  Remember to print out your discount entry coupon at www.RustyBarn.com .  There is free parking at the Ma

We left Phoenix heading north to Denver.  So far the weather is much chillier but sunny.  We drove up I-17 to Flagstaff past the magnificent red rock mountains of Sedona.  At Flagstaff we headed east on I-40 the old Route 66. Last night we pulled off the road just before Gallup, New Mexico and spent the night in a turn around just off the highway.  The stars were fabulous!  Because we were a  high mountain plateau it was flat and the stars came down right to the land.  Wonderful to see when there are no lights any where around you. Heading into Denver today and hang out and stitch before the show move-in Wednesday.  Remember – Stitch don’t Stress in today’s crazy world!

We are still in Phoenix, Arizona at the Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival. The sunny warm weather is just fabulous. All the shoppers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and places with cold weather have nothing but smiles on their faces. We do too. The next show is the Rocky Mountain Expo in Denver, Colorado so we need to soak up as much warm sunshine as we can while we are here! Our big old motor home had a tire issue discovered while we were at set up in the fairgrounds. It spent 2 days at the RV fix-it place and we spent 2 days at the Crowne Plaza. A lovely hotel – they love our pooches. Campbell wanted to swim in their pool with a waterfall but no luck. The very good furry girls spent the show day in the booth yesterday each under their own table on special quilted beds provided by our friendly fellow vendors. We were so surprised at how perfectly they behaved….something that wouldn’t happen a few years ago. Then the tables would have been dragged all over the place as they had some