It's quite an adjustment -- leaving your siblings, and moving in to a new home! Especially when you're only 5-6 weeks old! Hanna is - as of this morning - really acting like a kitten. She had about a 15 minute 'tear' around my sewing room, discovered the ball with a bell in it, and also the scratching post. I think she wore herself out! Has been resting peacefully ever since. She has an enormous purr, and is quite cuddly.

Here's . . . . . Hanna! She has often looked a bit 'sweeter' than in this photo I finally snagged. Tiger striped, black and tan. Tiny. Has a nice purr when she allows it. Can be caught, though wants to escape quickly. She's small enough that she can get totally under the rolling storage units! Probably not for long -- they are low.

GOSH! It's been a month since I posted. In this past month, I've been to PIQF to teach, to Quilt Market and Quilt Festival to teach, and now home for a week. Actually, I'd hoped to post with a picture of a kitten, but ALAS! not yet!

We lost our wonderful Huey about 3 months ago when he managed to get in harm's way. He was special. A sweetheart. Gentle. Loving. Terrific hunter. He'll never be forgotten. In all my life I've had several cats, three of which have been outstanding. Huey was one of those.

I had decided to try to adopt a kitten as soon as I returned from Houston, and have looked and looked this past week. I'd really like a baby - barely weaned - and not feral. Therefore, the hunt continues. I even ran an ad in this week's paper (yes, it's a weekly paper!)

PIQF is the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA. It was wonderful, as always, and I truly enjoyed my workshops with those lovely quilters. Home briefly after that then off to Houston for Quilt Market. I just didn't know what to expect at market this year -- with all the economy blues, etc. What a surprise! We had one of our best shows - EVER. All the new patterns were designed to use 'existing' fabrics (ours were in batiks) and it was incredible. I followed that with teaching at Quilt Festival (always a great experience) , and we wrapped up the final evening in Houston at a Willie Nelson concert! Great way to end a long trip!

Back at home, I'm preparing all the 'step outs' for an upcoming filming of four DVD's. More on that as we get a bit closer.

So --- I hope the next time I post to have a photo of a furry baby to share.

They're DONE ! We have a line up of 8 new patterns that will be Stunningly Simple to make -- in whatever fabrics you like. We happened to love them in Batiks. Curious ?? The page just went up: http://www.animas.com/AQPpatternsF08.html

Now I'm concentrating on packing for two teaching trips and getting the trunks for Market packed. My sewing room is full of luggage AND piles of things for each venue. I'll be teaching at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) in Santa Clara, CA next week. Then off to Quilt Market and teaching at Quilt Festival in Houston.

In the meantime, the weather man is forecasting snow for us on Friday evening . . . . geez! it's early October. Glad I'm heading South!

When it gets close to Quilt Market (our wholesale show), my days are all consumed with the new designs. We'll have 8 new Batik patterns, 2 with Cowboys & Indians, and one Rooster. I thought maybe you'd like a preview today of the two new Cowboys & Indians .. . . . the top left is my new Boot Scootin'. And the one to the right is Stampede by Kay Handy.

The feather stripe we've both used is absolutely drop-dead outstanding! These are new fabrics from Maywood Studio . . .

The new page on the web is in the works, but until we get a few more photos for it, it looks a bit too bare to publish . I'll keep you posted!

When I begin receiving emails from friends asking why they can't find something in particular on this Blog -- I KNOW I'm behind! While I haven't any good excuses, the truth is it's been a bit of a treadmill lately, and will continue today.

So -- in a nutchell . . . . I went to StLouis for Labor Day to visit my son, Serge, and to meet his lovely new lady, Misty. We found a couple of festivals to enjoy -- and a lovely afternoon in Augusta tasting some devine wine from a pretty blue bottle.

Since I'm playing catch up on posting, the next photo is from Valdez, Ak. This is the Columbia Glacier --- well, sort of. It was too overcast to actually see the glacier. This iceberg is from those which have calved and floated out toward Prince William Sound. The first day in Valdez was spent on a boat -- seeing the glacier and some wildlife. The classes began on Thursday -- and were terrific. I do thoroughly enjoy the Alaskan quilters!

And to get to this past weekend, Jery & I had a brief and delightful 4-day vacation in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. It's really quite close to us -- just north of Glacier National Park. We hiked, enjoyed the company of friends who joined us from Iowa, ate extremely well, and saw TONS of wildlife. The Elk are starting to Rut, and have gathered in a valley near the village where they can easily be seen at dusk and early morning each day. The bears were out and foraging as well, and quite easy to spot. Moose stayed hidden. The weather was the best we'd seen all summer! A lovely brief get-away!

And today, Sept 22, we begin stitching on the new quilts for market. Help arrives soon, and I need to return to the cutting so I'm ready for them!

Jery had a terrific opportunity to offer Fishing lessons this weekend. We went to a lovely lake, blew up the float stuff, and they spent some time getting the 'hang' of casting from the bank before going afloat.

It's not often that I manage to capture one of Toby's spectacular shakes in motion! In fact, I believe this was a first. Note the flying water! Toby decided that swimming was A-OK and ventured beyond his previous comfort zone into full-fledged swimming. Toby is the King of Shaking -- it must absolutely feel devine !

Jer & I were enjoying our morning cuppa when the power went out, followed by a muffled' boom'. After checking for puffs of smoke, we called the power company. With amazing speed they located the problem . . . . an Osprey had dropped a stick on the transformer, creating the short.

We have several Osprey neighbors. They are grand and elegant with a huge wing span. The game dept. has placed poles with platforms every couple of miles near the river. Our favorite is about 1/4 mile from here, along the road we take to town. We enjoy watching them return each spring and build their nest. Then, we see little heads -- and after a while the flight lessons.

So? What are the odds that a random stick, in the mouth of an Osprey, will fall exactly on the tranformer pole across from us and create a short?? Obviously, pretty good today!

The MOUNTAIN is OUT ! ! ! What a fabulous 2 days we've had getting to and enjoying Denali NP. We stopped at Mary's Roadhouse and shot some photos, but they aren't as good as this one taken today from Eileson Visitor Center -- many miles into the park. Ree Nancarro has a fabulous quilt hanging there. I can't share it until I get her permission.

On the way back we met this FABULOUS FELLOW. It was a terrific day for wildlife - - - Moose, Grizzly, Caribou, Golden Eagles.

Kay is a great travel companion. Tomorrow we head back to Anchorage, and I suspect we'll stop in a quilt shop or three. Heading home on the Red Eye Friday am.

Petersburg, AK absolutely sparkles!! It's a darling town, nestled in the Inside Passage, and boasts its Norweigian heritage. Downtown buildings are often decorated with Rosemaling. It's SO pretty.

Our flight here was beautiful. We were on the Alaska Air 'milk run' which stopped first in Ketchikan, then in Wrangell, and after a low and fast 13 minutes, landed in Petersburg. When we head on - on Monday, we'll stop in Juneau before going on to Anchorage. From Wrangell to Petersburg -- I'm not certain what altitude the 737 reached, though I can assure you it was intentionally NOT much. We could see the individual trees the entire way!

We enjoyed downtown Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon, including their quilt shop, bead shop, and galleries. Then Thursday we went with Captain Ron on a Whale Watching trip -- all day -- and roughly 50 whales were seen, including one who came over to our boat to 'check us out!'.

Today my workshops begin. I met some of the quilters at the lecture last night, and know this is going to be a terrific experience!