Over At Moda-Lissa….

I just love keeping up with what my friends are doing out in Blogland…so much inspiration, so much GOODNESS for a cause, so much living and loving!

I had a great time meeting Lissa when I was in Texas in February ((Was that only 6 weeks ago?! It seems like forever already!!)) The funny part is, the first time we met face to face it was like looking in a mirror! First off, we are about the same build, same height, same age. Finding someone I can stand eye to eye with doesn’t happen very often, I’m a tall girl at 5’9” so I’ve always towered just a bit!

But that isn’t where the similarities stop --- We have the same hair! Color and style!Our complexions are the same..If you sat us next to each other and viewed us from behind, you wouldn’t know who’s shoulder to tap first! In fact, at one of the Lectures, Lissa was asked if SHE was ME! Isn’t this fun?

I don’t know about you, but I loved the thought of being a twin and pulling off such shenanigans as I watched “The Parent Trap” when I was a kid.

So what is Lissa up to?

She’s been posting about the JUST ONE STAR project. She had the privilege of sewing some of the stars together. You need to check out her BLOG for pics!

((Yeah, Lissa, I lifted this one just to entice readers to click through!))

And on the blog post about the Just One Star project….you’ll find Lissa talking about re-learning, and a very sweet shout out about learning to incorporate the theory of Leaders & Enders in your quilt making. Yes! Even well experienced old dogs QUILTERS Can learn new tricks! She is using Dresden Plate pieces as her leaders & enders and her plates will be sewn in no time and ready to be appliqued down on the go!

AND! If you hurry over to Moda-Lissa and leave a comment on this post, SHE is giving away two signed copies of my books! One Adventures With Leaders & Enders, and One Scraps & Shirttails II! The winners will be drawn for April 7th, So you have until Thursday to get your comments in---She simply wants to know a sewing TIP or something you have RE-LEARNED that you would like to share!

SO! It’s Monday! What is up for your week? I didn’t get any bindings hand sewn after all yesterday, the day got away from me! However, after one last “blue screen of death” or “Crash Dump” or “checking drive for errors” that happens EVERY TIME I TURN MY LAPTOP ON, it was decided that a trip to Best Buy was in order. This is of course after DH had spent hours on taxes on his laptop that is years and years old and isn’t doing what it should either. And then when it gets to figuring my business expenses….we both came to the conclusion that with business and taxes we NEED to spend the money on things we CAN write off…or it just all goes away in a check to the government anyway.

Do I need to explain this to you? Well, evidently it needs to be explained to ME again and again and again….because I am frugal to a fault and try to get by on as little as possible. Getting by on as little as possible means I don’t have ENOUGH legit expenses and the tax due is too big. Two new laptops are now living at my house, one for my personal-accountant-DH and one for me--and I’m busy transferring everything over from the old laptop before it crash dumps one last time.

I’m thinking this is the year that we re-do the quilting studio too so I can write that off. Do I need it? No….but if the money is going to GO anyway, I’d rather it be on something I enjoy that inspires me to spend my time designing and quilting than just a big check to the IRS when I could be writing things off legitimately. How do you find balance with that? I don’t want a gold plated toilet in my executive wash room….some things are ridiculous…but I need a lesson in what is legit and what is worth it. It is NOT EASY for me to LEARN THIS!

Tonight is a lecture/trunkshow in Kernersville, NC! It’s my last local gig before I head out to CT and NY! I’ll be arriving in CT on Thursday night. I’m planning on driving it in 2 days, a 12 hour car drive is just not something I want to do.

AND!! Exciting dates are being added to the Calendar! I know it’s not until 2014, but I’ve been asked to teach at the Grande Hotel on Mackinac Island Michigan in May, And I just booked a return trip to Germany for October 2014, visiting Dortmund, Essen and Köln ((Cologne)) Germany!

Better get a move on!