Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hey everyone!

How is your week doing? Have you sewn something nice? New hair cut? Very busy with kiddos coming back to school? My son Alex is going to take three classes this semester: Microeconomics, Calculus III and Macroeconomics. Did I tell you that he switched majors? He moved from Statistics to Business... and he's also working for Apple part time. Here is a proud mama talking!! :)

I'm glad to say I'm having super productive days! I've worked on my new collections, came up with new pattern ideas, and created a new facebook page to share with everybody... and still managed to save a little time for a manicure and a nice Italian dinner with the family last weekend!

Speaking of eating with the family, on Saturday my mum had this unbearable craving for a McDonald's apple pie and she wouldn't take NO for and answer! Even as I tried to explain to her that 130 for glucose that morning was no joke... she said to me "Please, just one...!" I look at her, and I said to myself: How can I say no to her 82 years of love and dedication?

Coming back to my projects, I've been working on my collections so hard lately, I don't even have that much time to sew anymore... What would I do without my awesome sewing team, Priscila and Vicky? Today I raided the sewing studio to take some shots:

New pattern in the making. Did you guess? It's a dress!!

Priscila working on the first samples made with Dreaming in French... I'm so excited!

Vicky doing her magic on the machine! 

I wanna thank the girls for making my life a lot easier, haha! And the things they make are just as I imagine them in my head!

I was reading all your comments from last post on "Dreaming in French" and I feel.... so flattered!! Thank you so much, and I promise to share some pics of new products soon!

I'll keep you posted with everything my amazing team is up to... until next time, gotta go back to the office!

Love,

Pat.

You may be thinking... because I have a great company, because I feel fulfilled with my job; or maybe because I have a good standard of living.

No, absolutely not. The best reason to be happy is because:

I LOVE BEING A MOM AND I HAVE THE BEST SON A MOTHER COULD EVER ASK. Period.

Let me tell you that his card made me cry of happiness! He gave me a beautiful blouse and a flower...

He was always the sun who woke me up, the little one that with just coming into this world and without telling me one word, told me to be a better person for him. I loved to teach him everything that I have learned from my parents and more along the way... I nurtured him, feed his soul and brain love, love and more love. And what do I have in return? Lots of love back for me and my husband; I see an honest man, so dedicated and truthful to his ideals of love and peace like he always says. He taught me to be strong when at 9 years old told me "everything is going to OK mom, I'm going to come out of this", when he saw my eyes so red of crying because he had cancer in one kidney... That is exactly what I dreamed of him!

This is so funny because this post looks like a post about my son, and it is! I am swollen with pride for being his mom. He always gave me SO MUCH that I wanted to give him a little back. I am supposed to do a post about my mother... I couldn't celebrate with her because she's in Argentina. But this post is about her too, because I could not have been a good mom without my mom. She is THE BEST MOM A PERSON COULD ASK FOR...

Alex with my mom at her 82nd birthday

I want to share with you (thank you for being always with me) how happy I am for having such a good son and wish all of you the same happiness for Mother's Day. Having children is to be blessed to a level that only moms can imagine. How was your day yesterday? Did you have a good time with them? Let me know how you celebrated!

I feel that my dreams are totally fulfilled... and my mission accomplished.

Love,

Pat

As you all well  know, the countdown til Quilt Market has officially started... and yes, that does mean a whole lot of work... I felt like blogging today to share everything with you.

So, what's been going on in the fabric department?

Well,  for starters UPS came to make my day this morning when they brought one of my new fabric collections, PARADISE! I must tell you, I was almost as surprised as I was pleased (was expecting for it to come this weekend); there is no better motivation to start sewing that having those beautiful rolls of fabric standing at my door... Hope you like them as much as I do!

How would I describe it? Vintage sewing and modern quilting! I hope to make a more detailed presentation soon. Delivery will begin on August.

And speaking of sewing motivation, I must introduce you to my latest lovely assistant: my industrial Pfaff machine.

Did you have had a chance to sew with one of them? Even though I own 4 sewing machines, this one is definitely the New Kid on the Block and is already looking at the others like her bigger sister! It's a totally new and different sewing experience... It's smooth, can sew through rocks, and it's FAST, REALLY FAST!!

Guess who else is a fabric lover around here? Daisy, my sweet little daughter... Her sewing style is definitely different than mine. She LOVES to chew fabric!!

On my home front...

Even tough I love to cook -- I took cooking and pastry lessons 4 years, this seems to be a luxury for me now days; I don't have the time to do it anymore. But today I felt a little nostalgic and I was remembering my Spanish grandma. I remembered that when I was at college studying for a final and was very tired, she used to tell me: "There is nothing better than a good homemade meal to make you feel as good as new again". I now associate that thought... it was because I was feeling the same fatigue... I said to myself: stop working and start cooking, you're gonna feel much better! How many of you have tried octopus? In Spain it's one of the most delicious seafood! It was waiting on the freezer for me. There. "Pulpo a la gallega = Galician octopus". So simple, so natural, so good.

Grandma, even you are not with me anymore... I LOVE YOU!

Love,

Pat

I think that everyone that's been married for 25 years deserves a weekend on a cruise.

Just kidding! I couldn't ask for the ONLY and better company than the two loves of my life: my husband Walter and my lovely son Alex.

The boat "Carnival Liberty" took us to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios, where I was stunned by its blue, blue skies and crystal clear, turquoise waters. 

This was a cute little gift shop in Cozumel, I couldn't resist to take a picture of these amazing colors! 

Other thing I could not resist: hand- painted pottery! I could not come back home without some gorgeous pieces.

There was this irresistible spa that offered full body massages for couples... how could I say no? They gave us this fabulous massage (I can't tell you the exact name because I don't remember, but I do remember it was exquisite!), followed by a seaweed wrap, nothing ever felt so soothing!

Isn't every woman's dream to have his husband get a facial? You had to be there to believe it, the look on his face was priceless! Wish I had a picture!

This is how 25 years of complete and utter happiness look like: 

A heart-warming hug from my dear Alex is always more than welcome!

I know, I know, I was on vacation... but with this gorgeous flowers, inspiration shots are a must! 

A little secret about this picture: it's not "casual"! I actually put my producer skills into action and asked the bartender to make some drinks (virgin, that is) just for the shot! And then I arranged them to look all pretty.  He must have thought I was a bit crazy, but it was worth it, right?

I had the most wonderful time, and I believe this picture says it all: 25 years of Paradise on Earth.

Love,

Pat.
  
 
 

Since my old German Shepherd SCOTT died last January, I could not recover from a feeling of emptiness and sadness. He was 13; an amazing dog, perfect in any sense for his breed. My 12 years old Chocolate Lab SHEEBO still misses him.

Walter and I immediately knew that we needed a new dog, and Sheebo would not feel lonely again. But we were undecided between buying a pure breed or adopting one. Walt told me to wait a little because we have to work all day and the task to train a new puppy is not an easy one.

After many months and everything going on at the new studio, I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to bring a pup home to start raising him. We are also re-arranging the house: rooms, furniture, etc. I said to Walt: "it's now or never"!

So, we went to the North Miami Beach Humane Society, and one sweet and timid puppy among many gained our hearts... here is my new daughter DAISY!

Isn't she the sweetest thing on earth? She is half Chinese Shar-Pei and I don't know what other half, but I couldn't care less. It was love at first sight!

She is so sweet, that we thought the name would fit perfect... my DAISY..

Our house is back to life again --well, HELLLLPP with the pi-pis and poo-poos!--; everything is happiness, new tricks, new pranks... We still miss our beautiful SCOTT, but the pain is a bit less.

One thing, though: because I have to keep an eye on her all day, she has to watch me quilting and sewing at my new studio in her new corner. She seems delighted...

Love,

Patricia