LizzyHouse

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H-Town Peeps!

Come one, come all. If you are in the Houston area, you should come spend three days with me in Humble. I love It's a Stitch, and I love fabric design, so it's bound to be a great weekend. Also, if fabric design has no interest to you, than my author Mom will help you to get your learn on as well with her sweet action quilting class!

I hope we see you there!

woohoo! a winner!!!

We have a winner! Random.org did the honors and it picked 205 which turns into... Megbrothers!!

this was her dream birthday comment...

"my ultimate birthday gift would be to own both a lovely children's book store and an arts and crafts store. happy birthday! i just celebrated mine a few weeks ago, and i like a nice long celebration too! cheers to you!"

Hooray for you! Hooray for everyone! Thanks for entering. I really like doing giveaways these days, because I like giving presents and I really love getting a wide scope of opinions. This one was like birthday market research!

Here are the top things that people want, in no specific order:

• Berninas, or at least a nice NEW sewing machine
• Long arm quilting machines
• A long vaction
• Time to create
• Space to create
• healthy loved ones
• more fabric.

So again, it's amazing that 236 people this time said essentially the same thing. What can we do about this? That's what I've been trying to figure out, since the answers started coming in, what can we do?

I'll keep working it out and let you know when I come up with some answers and ways to get you all a Bernina.

MEG! Send me your info so I can get you your sweet action copy of City Quilts!

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 25, and I guess that's ok with me. I'll be in San Francisco with my little Melysses S. Grant. SF is quickly becoming a birthday tradition!

In the Gloaming

I've been writing this post for over a week now.

I had such an incredible experience at Squam this year. Again, I felt so impressed and so inspired, I was completely blown away by my incredible students, I got to spend time with some of MY FAVORITE PEOPLE ON THE PLANET, I made so many new friends, and I was given a gift that I could not have given myself in any other circumstance, and it has taken all week to really process it and except it. 

I want to share what happened and maybe you might find a little peace, comfort, or help for yourself.

I feel like I was given the gift of falling. I had an opportunity to sing with Jonatha Brooke on Friday night at the "Coffee House". I listened to the song for about 45 minutes, went over the words through dinner, and then sang through it about 4 times with her. 2 hours later, having not heard the song again, I got up to sing, and I bombed it, and I was mortified.

When trying to get to the real root of why I was so torn up about not doing well under really tight crazy circumstances I discovered that I wasn't allowed to fail. For myself. But the crazy thing is I looked back, and I never had. I had never dropped a line or a note, I had never not turned something in. I have never allowed it. The more I looked at it the more I realize I prided myself on being in a sense untouchable in that way.

I was so embarrassed and I was really tired, and the more people came up to me and told me how beautiful it was, or how moving it was, the worst it got. I wanted to explain that I am classically trained, and that I have performed for years, and always picked things up in the past, and that nothing like this had EVER happened, but it didn't matter. That's what I've learned in the past week as I have continued to process this. My reasons for being upset didn't actually matter. But I couldn't see what they saw. All I could see was that I had not done my best, and that in the past, it would have been perfect.

So what if it had been perfect? It would have been a nice song. It would have been very pretty, and it would have perpetuated this self imposed need to always be polished even on the tightest of ropes. See! now we are tapping into the real emotional robot stuff. So I truly feel like it was a gift. That had never happened to me before, and for something like that to happen in such a beautiful caring place, I will be eternally grateful.

I learned that I just can't take myself too seriously. When and where do you learn that lesson?

I also learned that I allow others to fall without judgment, but it wasn't something I would have ever allowed myself. No one loved me less. No one thought I was a failure. Jonatha STILL loves me, AND the world didn't end.

Squam is a beautiful amazing place. It's not just about knitting, or sewing, or printing, or painting. People come and open themselves up. It's like everyone is walking around without their armor on, and it's only then when we can truly allow ourselves to grow and change. And it happens every time.

photos by Kimm Branch!

You can eat ice cream for breakfast. You can stay up until 3. You can make something you never thought possible. You can learn new things. You can come by yourself even if you're afraid. You can allow yourself to fall. Someone is going to catch you. What more could you ask for?

And so my love grows deeper for this time and place. Thank you for picking me back up again.

watch this beautiful squam video by the beautiful Jen Gray.

where I am.

I'm home now, collecting my thoughts and other peoples photos. Squam did it again. I'll be back this week with a full post and a farewell before I go under for a little light surgery...

think of me fondly.

picture from Laura Nelkin

while I am away, a giveaway.

2 posts in 1 day. OUT OF CONTROL

Ok. My birthday is on the 17th. You ALL know how I feel about my birthday. I love it. I celebrate it for a week at least. But I am fair in making just as big of a deal about other people's birthday as I make them make of mine. I am turning 25 this. Which means I can finally rent a car... and I am a quarter of a century old and... who knows what else.

I made some wish lists for my own personal amusement. Feel free to peruse. here & here

The point. As tradition would have it, I always do a give-away for my birthday. You know like The Little Princess. Anyway. This year, I am giving away a signed copy of City Quilts, by my awesome mom, Cherri House. That's right the best quilt book on the market. FACT. 

So leave a comment about your what you would get if you could have any birthday present you want, and I will randomly pick a winner! Contest ends the 16th at noon central time!

Check out these quilts!

 

images from Stash Books

So one last time. What is your dream present? Contest ends June 16th at noon.

Squam

I'm packing up and leaving once again. It's been my life for the past several years to just be on the move. I never thought of myself as on the road, but in a way I am. But not really in a Jack Kerouac sort of way . I'm just looking for the best fit, and I haven't found it yet. And what I know more now than ever, is that I am not willing to settle.

but, Squam is a good fit for me. There is so much love and beauty there

In fact, I am sitting here listening to Jonatha, and she is calling me a little bird. I am just taking a minute to chill out and put the finishing touches on things before it gets really crazy. I have finally let myself take in what's about to happen. I had to push it aside to take care of other tasks and other locations, but now it's tomorrow! and I am so excited it's overwhelming. 

For those of you surrounding New Hampshire, I am implore you to come to the Squam Art Fair! It's sure to be impressive. It certainly was last year! Here are the details:

I will have a table and I have some new little prints, some stationary, some fabric, and some of my faithful old standards. So there will be lots to choose from. Most of which is not actually posted in my shop right now.

Please come! Even if you haven't attended Squam; it's a wonderful way to feel a little bit of the magic.

Ok. Back to packing. See you soon!