Merry Christmas

Gifts

I was away for a few weeks while my son had surgery. He's recouperating, and I consider that to be one of the best gifts ever.

While I was down home for his surgery, my daughter gave me a charming gift to celebrate the new venture that is ThreadWest. Isn't this the perfect little treasure? It came in the handbag-shaped box you see pictured. Now, to dig out my charm bracelet....

Happy gifting!

The fun of it all...

I love sewing, but have been dealing with my own perfectionist tendencies while developing patterns+prototypes for handbags, cosmetic cases, and so on. Sunday was different, as I quickly tackled a Christmas project for my granddaughter: a fabric ABC book. What therapy! What freedom! It's made all the sewing more fun.

Testing Ground

The Rattlesnake Season recently published. It's the first novel in friend Larry Sweazy's western series about Texas Ranger Josiah Wolfe. So, when I saw this ranger star in one of my catalogs, I knew I had to come up with something to commemorate Larry's series. Here are a couple of teaser shots of my first attempt at a business card case:

Boo!

Me, myself, and I (the one who wears all the hats at Thread West) wish you a safe and happy Halloween.

Couture? Perhaps not, but I have a label.

Sure, if you want to get technical, I don't have a shop in Paris. Or, the title couturier. But, I plan to approach this new venture in the same way folks did when they went out West in the 1800s: dewy-eyed, nervous yet excited, expecting the best, preparing for the worst. They headed West for a fresh start. They set out to do what they wanted to do. To be what they wanted to be.

I'm designing. I'm having fun. I'm blazing a new trail, one hand-set Swarovski crystal at a time. I have a label.

No snakes were harmed

Snakeskin? No, actually, it's fabric. Ideas popping.... {A note of reassurance for my son and daughter-in-law: No snakes were harmed in the making of this fabric.}

So, she had this idea...

"Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them."
--Alfred North Whitehead

It's strung over three rooms in the house, this idea. Peeks are around the corner. I can't see around that corner yet, but, yes, eventually....

Blazing trails.

New territory.