The Best Laid Plans

I'd been trying to get into my sewing room for days now. But errands, appointments, oil changes, groceries, cleaning projects--the list is endless, as you know--had all conspired against me. So it was with great determination that I called my friend Anne on Tuesday night and asked her to come over and sew with me the next day. I knew that if Anne was here, I would be committed to sewing the entire day! We would do an all-day sew-a-thon! I wouldn't answer the phone or clean anything--I would sit down with Anne and sew for eight hours straight. It was gonna be great. Anne would be over by 9 a.m. Wednesday morning and we would sew straight through until 5:00 p.m. Whoo hoo! I would finish quilting the border on my Kisses quilt! I would finish quilting my UFO Friday flower wallhangings! Perhaps I could start on one of those skirts in my new skirt book!

On the set of Simply Quilts, with Alex and producers

Alas. It was not meant to be. Unbeknownst to me, while I was sleeping, my Simply Quilts episode re-ran. I didn't know it was going to re-run (no, no one lets you know) and it aired across the U.S.A. during my middle-of-the-night. This morning, right before my sew-a-thon was to commence--I opened my inbox to an avalanche of pattern orders!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE pattern orders. Well, except for the bow part, as you know. But I LOVE pattern orders! It's so exciting that someone is actually reproducing something I designed in Australia or Germany or Tilden, Nebraska! Thank you all so much for your orders--I'll tie bows for you any day! And thanks for all the pictures you send of your completed quilts. They make my day.

Unfortunately, though, instead of working on my quilts or a skirt during my sew-a-thon day, I worked on this:

These were just the orders that came in before noon! Afternoon brought a whole new batch of orders. And as quilters across the USA finally manage to watch the Simply Quilts episodes they taped during the week, more orders will be rolling in, especially this weekend.

The Simply Quilts show is phenomenal. Even though they stopped producing it, the reruns are still being watched and loved by quilters everywhere. We filmed that episode five long years ago, even before I wrote my second book! And yet every time it airs, I get a walloping batch of orders from all over the U.S.

If you haven't seen my slideshow of the filming, you really should click here or on the Flickr link on my sidebar and see some of the behind-the-scenes stuff. All the pictures were taken by my sister, Jane Ann Munroe.

The experience itself? I'm still recovering. When I left the studio that day, I felt like I had been run over by a train. It was all very intense and I felt entirely out of my league, quilt-wise. But I survived, and I'm glad I did it, even though I can't watch it without cringing! Alex Anderson was such a sweetheart--I think the world of that woman.

So my sewing day with Anne didn't exactly turn out like I had envisioned it, but that's okay. Anne got some sewing done while I tied bows and stuffed envelopes. Remember this picture from last week of Anne trying to figure out her Japanese Puzzle quilt?

I'm happy to say that she got it together and added a border:
and she'll be quilting it any day. I, on the other hand, might be tying bows all week. But that's okay. You're totally worth it. But TOMORROW, I am DEFINITELY going to SEW. And tie some bows. But mostly sew. I hope.