Paris delay Searcy first

Posted on May 7, 2012 by ccblogger

My trip to Paris details have to wait. I have to go to Searcy, Arkansas first. If you are in the area come to my trunk show monday evening. This past week I put the final touches on two new patterns. I had fabulous new fabric from Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc.
The first line is a group of new solids called Soho Solids. I did a new pattern called
“Chain Reaction”. The pattern has a table runner and queen and king bed scarves.

I also did a sample in Falling Leaves fabric.

Falling Leaves was the other new fabric I used to make a sample of a pattern called “Ashleigh”.
It has a lap size and queen bed size quilts.

That is Kitty at the bottom of the picture. The patterns will be ready soon.
I will get back to Paris on Thursday, I promise.

April in Paris day one

Posted on May 6, 2012 by ccblogger

A fabulous opportunity came my way this year and my fabulous husband and dear friend made it come to fruition for me. I knew about a trip to Paris that was in the works for ladies wanting to go to the famous Paris flea markets. My husband and I had discussed the possibility of me going. As it turned out I was traveling when the email came through announcing the trip. Well, my husband David and my good friend Mary went to work and booked the trip. Mary went with me and we had a fabulous time. For the next few days I am going to let you feel like you were with us. We left Dallas on Wednesday and arrived in Paris on a Thursday morning. We were booked into the Hotel Littre.

After settling in we explored the neighborhood and had lunch at a small bistro in the area. And when the rest of our group arrived we had a great walking tour. On the way to the Luxembourg Gardens we passed quaint shops and bakeries.

The architecture on the way was also breathtaking.

The doors around the city were wonderful.

Once we arrived at the gardens the sights were fabulous. We saw wonderful statues, dreamy flowers, old old buildings and there was great people watching.

I fell in love with this tree.

This was a holy water font in an old cathedral.

We returned to our hotel in the early evening and took our guides advice for room service and early to bed to get ready for the next day.

New York day three afternoon

Posted on March 23, 2012 by ccblogger

After leaving Purl soho I walked to Timeless Treasures Soho. I was met there by my friend and marketing director Emily Cohen. She showed me around the office and I got to see what they are working on for spring and fall market.
This a picture of their future fabric board. It shows spring to fall fabrics.

Emily and I went to lunch and talked fabric and patterns and a little bit of fun. She is a delight to work with. After lunch we passed Kate’s Paperie. I went back to go in and take pictures of the fabulous displays.

Who would know that paper could be so beautiful.
I walked around SOHO for a little longer taking pictures of window displays.

After checking my watch I realized I had to hurry to make it to my dinner reservation at LeBernadin.

I had a delicious three course dinner with an amuse added. I had salmon, lobster done three ways and a gorgeous and scrumptious dessert! I hated to leave but the last thing for the night was a broadway play. I chose Jesus Christ Super Star.

New York Day 3

Posted on March 16, 2012 by ccblogger

On Day three in New York I went to one of my favorite areas in the city – SOHO. That stands for South of Houston. Houston is a street and it sounds like ‘house ton’. It is a very trendy and fun part of the city. I saw this great sign as I was strolling down the street. It is like a beautiful painting. It really makes you want to go in and have something to eat or drink…….but I was on a mission.

I was going to a great little yarn/quilt shop called Purl SOHO

From the moment you enter the door you are in the most fabulous fairytale land of color.

There is color and texture everywhere you look. This wall is fabric and more fabric.

On a counter there is a bowl of pearl cotton thread that looks like something to eat.

There is a box holding organized embroidery threads.

Under one counter you will find hand dyed wool that makes your fingers itch to do some appliqué.

Look down the row a little way and you see the most delightful ball fringe.

Another bin holds ribbons just waiting for you to have them measured and cut for your next project, whatever it may be.

Turn around and there is a wall filled with yarn. You want some to take home just to look at even if you don’t know how to knit or crochet.

This bin has my favorite colors – cream, yellow, gold, tangerine and ruby.

You can stand at the end of a counter and see all the colors of the rainbow in wool felt.

Don’t forget to look up. High on the wall are small wall quilts or quilt blocks.

One wall quilt is a Hawaiian appliqué done in wool. It is so simple but so striking.

Beside the Hawaiian appliqué there is a depiction of a vegetable garden .

I was so glad that the store owner Joelle Hoverson was on the shop. She has a delightful book Last-Mintue Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. The book has 30 patchwork and quilted projects arranged according to the amount of time required to complete them, from 2 to 12 hours.

This cute little stuffed penguin is a sample of one project from Molly’s Sketchbook on the Purl bee blog.

This table has embroidered Purl SOHO bags and the fat quarter stack of black & white fabrics that were used to make the penguin.

When you are leaving the shop, look to the left and there is an inspiration wall of tiny shelves filled with wonderful little things……

a table with gorgeous neutral yarns………

To the right is a wall with embroidery hoops of numerous fabrics.

The view from inside out is wonderful also.

I hope you get to go to this inspiring little shop in Manhattan someday, but if not I hope I gave you a small taste of its flavor of color.

Martha Stewart Trip Day 2

Posted on March 15, 2012 by ccblogger

Day two of my trip to New York for the Martha Stewart Dreamers into Doers event began with a lovely breakfast and getting to know Alanna Stang the editor in chief of Whole Living magazine.

We enjoyed her talk very much and then before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We had a great buffet of sandwiches and more tiny desserts as we listened to great inspiration from a representative from SCORE. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. It was very inspiring and helpful.

After lunch we got see the new video programs that Sarah Carey (the new editor of Everyday Food magazine) is putting together. She is trying to show how to cook quick nutritious food for our families so everyone can sit down to eat dinner together.

Then we had a demo by Jodi Levine from the crafts department. Check out her blog post.

We had afternoon snacks that were delicious but the display almost made them too cute to eat.

Before the day was over six of us who have been to the event for the last three years had our picture made together. The ladies are left to right – Annette Frey of Biscuits By Lamb Chops, Eileen Smith Dallabrida of Smith Reports.com, Selma Avdicevic of Wooly Boo, me, Dawn Mohrmann of My Hydrangea Home, and Peggy Gaffney of Kanine Knits. Please take time to click on their website links and get to know them. They are all amazing women and we have all learned a lot and grown by helping each other with our business ventures. Sometimes it just means encouraging someone to go to the next step.

This is a closeup shot of the beautiful flower brooch that Dawn was wearing. It was made by Erica of Meadow Street. Her website is full of great eye candy.

Just as all good things must end our stay at Martha Stewart Studios came to an end. But I was not finished yet.

That night a friend from Graham who now lives in New York state took the train in to the city and we went to dinner. Mary Langley and I had a great time catching up on the last ten years. She found out I was coming to NY on Facebook and contacted me. We went to Eataly. We had a scrumptious dinner of five varieties of charcuterie, three cheeses and a great glass of wine followed by delicious roast chicken. We ate in the roof top restaurant called Birreria.

From where Mary was sitting we could look out the window and see the Empire State building.

It was a glorious night. We had a gelato and walked back to the hotel.

Next on the agenda is my trip to SOHO on day three. Don’t miss it.

Debbie

Martha Stewart Trip Day One

Posted on March 13, 2012 by ccblogger

I have just returned from a remarkable trip to New York City. I was one of 80 women invited to the Martha Stewart Dreamers Into Doers 2012 Event. it was a two day affair that included the television show and numerous seminars and demonstrations. We were treated to lunch on both days with wonderful speakers and interaction with all 80 ladies. These are all ambitious entreprenurial women who are on their way to great things. Some of the women are still at the dreaming stage of their career and some are already doers hoping to add to their knowledge to grow even larger companies. It was quite an adventure. On the first day we went to the studios to attend a live telecast of the show.

We had to be at the studio at 8:15 to get in the line to pass through security. There is security for everything we do now. That is me under the Martha sign. It was a beautiful day in the city.

Once we passed security we were seated in the foyer to fill out questionaires and listen to Joey tell us what would be happening. That is me with Dawn Mohrman of Hydrangea Home and Shana Dreher of Pinwhirls Designs. You must check out their websites. They both do fabulous work.

We were then directed to the studio where they seated everyone individually. They want to make the people in the audience shine so they seat you by the color of your clothes. As you can see I was wearing very bright colors and was placed on the front row! Beside me is Stephanie of Petite Soiree.

We were allowed to take a few pictures of the studio. I just love the greenhouse area. All LIVE plants!

Joey was there to get us all warmed up. He is a very funny guy. He asked me what my business was and immediatly picked up on the fact that I am from the “South“.

After the show began we could not take pictures until the taping was over. I got this great photo of Martha. She is really very pretty and a gracious host to her guests.

The show we attended had Stephanie Izard from The Girl & the Goat restaurant in Chicago. She is the only female winner of Top Chef. She was so comfortable in the segment that you felt like you were in her kitchen learning to make a fab meal.

When the show was over we collected our goodie bags which included a Girl & the Goat cookbook, and were loaded on a bus to go to the Martha Stewart Omnimedia offices. We had a wonderful lunch and listened to great advice from Terri Shapiro of the Deluxe Corp.

She was very encouraging to all the ladies and had some good advice.

Lunch was delicious and the tables were beautiful, just like you would expect from Martha Stewart. These are the centerpieces on the tables. Love the yellow!

Our dessert tray was full of tiny red velvet whoopee pies, mallow-mar bars, cookies and strawberries. Very tasty little bites.

After the seminar we went to studio B for another informal seminar with Doug Quint and Bryan Petroff of the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck fame. They were telling us about the start up of their “truck” and how it has grown into a mini empire with a brick and mortar store front now with absolutely no advertising other than Facebook and Twitter. Just goes to show where there is a will there is a way and social media is the way.

The final thing for day one was a wonderful dinner of pizza, antipasti, salad and desserts hosted by the ‘New York’ Dreamers Into Doers. After dinner we were walking to catch a ride back to our hotel with Lisa Umansky of PolkaDot Poundcake. She was there for reunion time with ladies from the two previous years. I just want you to see how they park the cars in the garage.

I was really really ready for a good night’s sleep to get ready for day two.

Debbie

Pincushions

Posted on March 3, 2012 by ccblogger

Since I have been traveling around this great country lecturing and teaching, I have seen some very cute and interesting pincushions. These are a few my students had while I was teaching on the cruise in the Caribbean in January.

This one is a beautiful velvet strawberry with lace leaves and stem.

This one is handmade from beautiful woods. Deb Luttrell from Sitichin’ Heaven has a special friend who makes these. Contact her to purchase one.

How about this one made from rolled up boiled wool.

Last one for today is the cutest little mouse!

Be sure to stay tuned right here to follow my adventures in New York next week.
Back to work for me. I am studying tutorials to start doing my patterns with InDesign.
Debbie

Oak

Posted on March 2, 2012 by ccblogger

As many of you know, our youngest son Jason is executive chef at a new restaurant in Dallas that is called Oak. It is a truly a beautiful place and the food is to die for. We ate there recently and I thought I would give you an idea of what we had.
Vanilla poached shrimp, Foie Gras Torchon, rack of lamb, roasted duck breast, Mediterrean Bronzino

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I forgot to take a picture before diving into the chocolate dessert.

I am very excited to say the Dallas Morning News gave them a four star review!

Martha Stewart Eventquilting,travel,blogging,

Posted on March 1, 2012 by ccblogger

I am very excited about my upcoming trip to New York to attend the Martha Stewart Dreamers into Doers event. This will be my third year to be lucky enough to join other women entrepreneurs on our journeys to success. Success being achieving happiness in our work. We will attend a live taping of the show and numerous workshops, tutorials and luncheons. I also plan to explore the city again and post along the way. Last year I ate at DBGB. What a great burger! .

I also found a quaint little place for breakfast one day.
I plan on going to the fab quilt shop Purl while I am out and about.
I have tickets for Jesus Christ Super Star.
Hope you will travel along with me.

Join us on a trip to Scotland

Posted on February 16, 2012 by ccblogger

February 16, 2012

We are always updating the itinerary and adding exciting trips and bookings. Be sure to check out the itinerary on the website frequently to see if Debbie will be in your area. Check out the fantastic trip below.

Trip to see the Scottish Quilt Championships

We want to let you in on an exciting opportunity coming up in September 2012.

G&G Travel in Graham, TX and Debbie Maddy with Calico Carriage Quilt Designs have put together an 8 day trip to England and Scotland, culminating in 3 days at the Scottish Quilting Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland.

We start out with 2 nights in London at the 4 star Millennium Gloucester Hotel with a half day tour of London including the Victoria and Albert Museum . We will take the train to York making a stop at the York Quilt Museum and then on by train to Edinburgh where we will have the opportunity to take a bus tour as well as a walking tour of this centuries old city. The trip includes a three day ticket to the Quilting Championships and guides on the planned tours.

We are limited to only 20 people so you need to act soon to reserve your spot.

Non-refundable deposit of 500.00 per person, plus insurance ($635 total), is due March 31 to

G and G Travel, Inc, 455 Elm St., Graham, Texas 76450 if paying by cash or check.

If paying by credit card there will be a 2.7% surcharge added.

(INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL REQUIRES PASSPORT FOR US CITIZENS..IFNOT A CITIZEN, PLEASE CHECK IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GREAT BRITAIN).

Brief itinerary:

15-24 September 2012

Features included:

16 September….2 nights in London at Millennium Gloucester Hotel *4

18 September….1 night in York at Holiday Inn*3

19 September….5 nights in Edinburgh at King James Hotel*4

8 Breakfasts at the hotels

2 Dinners at the hotels (1 in London and 1 in York)

1 Welcome reception

Visits to Victoria and Albert Museum in London, York Quilt Museum and Edinburgh Castle (all including tour)

Half day sightseeing tour of London

Single train journey London to York

Single train journey York to Edinburgh

Panoramic (bus ride with city views) tour of Edinburgh

Walking tour of Edinburgh

3-day ticket to Scottish Quilting Championships

Half day guide on September 17, 19 and 20

Transfers

Taxes

Cost of the trip is $2,507.42, (double occupancy) $3,207.42 (single occupancy) not including airfare.
Travel insurance for the land portion of the trip is mandatory and is $135 per person, payable at time of the first deposit and is included in the first deposit for the trip. It is with Travel Guard and covers trip cancellation because of medical reasons, baggage, pre-existing conditions, medical reasons, emergency evacuation, death and dismemberment and trip interruption. (Flight insurance is separate and handled with your airfare).

Additional details to follow.

G & G Travel

940.549.8900

gysmith@sbcglobal.net

Calico Carriage Quilt Designs

940.549.4058 phone

940.549.3854 fax

ddmaddy@sbcglobal.net