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Of course I agree with them. Eastern Orthodox Easter is one week later than Western Easter this year, so in addition to getting all your Easter candy on sale (thanks for leaving some), I also have an extra week to absorb some really good egg dying ideas.  In addition to our traditional solid red eggs, as soon as I saw my friend Alicia's botanical eggs, I was dying to do it (pardon the pun).  Falling in line with their typical kid selves, the children did not trust me when I explained the process.  There were smirks, huhs, quizzical brows, rolled eyes, and every manner of mom-yer-dumb looks on their faces.  Then I pulled up Alicia's post on my laptop and a chorus of aaaahhhoooOOOHhh came over the room.  Why do I always have to prove myself to this bunch.  Hmpf.  This is one rare occurrence where I am totally happy to give someone else the credit (even if those stinkers shouldn't need proof).  (Anyway, Alicia, and then they kept reading your blog w...

Hi Folks! Anna here. And by Anna, I mean Anna Michelle, not Anna Maria. That's right, today while Anna Maria Horner is in crazy-person-writing-a-book-on-a-deadline mode you get to sit through the ramblings of her intern Anna Michelle Johnson. Some of you may have read our interview from this past summer, and know that I started habitually reading this very blog several years ago - which means that I was completely, totally and absolutely over the moon when I had the opportunity to become an intern. I had a general idea of what a day in the life at designer's studio would look like, and the thought of working alongside someone as known and recognized as Anna Maria was literally a dream come true for me. So naturally I felt every initial fear and insecurity that would expectedly come from a young girl meeting and working with her role model. Luckily for me, those feelings were all completely unnecessary, and quickly overcome. Unlike my expectations, AMH has made it evident from ...

Whether or not I had the time to make these bags myself, I knew they needed to be made. I love having pals that will take on some sewing for me when I am struck by such a bug. I did take the great personal pleasure however in picking out the materials for her. Then poof. Done. They are a ribbon -y version of the Art Student Tote , and I daresay lurvely. Here's another had-to-happen-happiness in spite of my current workload. Thank you to Pierrette, my little gif fairy for that one. Happy Spring friends, xo, Anna

I tend to always come home from anywhere with a pile or ten of new fabric. I often get asked whether I buy fabric since I have so much of my own. Funny. Of course. Lots. I also get asked what I like to buy. I enjoy sewing with my fabric, naturally- it really helps me design actually- but anyone wants to sew with more than one designer. I seem to almost exclusively buy Denyse , Heather , Liberty , and several Japanese prints-usually Kokka . They all tend to be so different from anything that I make that I am quite certain that is what draws me in. There is a smaller scale to most all of them, but also a similar color sensibility to my own fabrics. So both of those aspects typically means they pair really well with my own prints. Plus, I can't help but love the work of dear friends who I admire for so many reasons to begin with. (It's extra fun when you can just trade stacks, as Denyse and I did in Palm Springs). The above curation has been gathered for quilts for th...

(As I wrote this earlier this morning) I am somewhere in the air between Los Angeles and Sacramento right now, and thought I would share my flowery snaps around Beverly Hills. I spent a lot of time in my hotel room watching old movies and working on various embroidery projects. My legs started to go numb so I thought I should walk around. The walk from my hotel to Rodeo Drive seemed a nice distance, and I guess I felt an obligation to see that. Saw it. But I really enjoyed a few stops on the way back - a coffee shop and the Paper Source . I found some sweet Valentine kits to take back for the girls, a stuffed giraffe for Roman, a harmonica for Nicolas, and a mini sound effect machine for Joseph- (the cartoon edition that has like 16 buttons each with a funny cartoony noise, like a bomb exploding, a springy noise + that sound that Bugs Bunny's eyes make as they pop out of his head when he sees a pretty rabbit- those sorta sounds.) I missed the kids so much by the time I got b...

I got out a little yesterday morning to poke around and see what this town looks like a bit before I started my class at Sew Modern. Okay, I just walked to Starbucks and back. But I have already decided that my favorite thing about Beverly Hills is the foliage that takes over (in a very specifically manicured way) all the old apartments and beautifully nestled together stucco houses everywhere. So pretty. My hotel, the Maison140 , served as an actor's hostile in the early 20th century I'm told. It is extremely quaint. Every surface in my little room is some shade of warm red, white or marble black. When you walk into the lobby at night, shown above, there is always some old black and white film being projected on one of the walls. I should try to get a grab of that tonight.... And this is the lovely group of women I got to spend my day with yesterday making the Multi-Tasker Tote- otherwise known as Sara, Amy, Jennifer, Julie, Jennifer, (me), Shay, Liberty, Morgan, Lorrie ...

This is just one of many gorgeous views Jeff snapped from the highest peak of the San Jacinto mountains. It was a dream for him to be able to plan, look forward and climb that summit. The way he talked about it almost had me convinced to overcome my height squeamishness and tram up for a look myself....but in my generosity, I decided to let him keep that joy all to himself. Yesterday my crafty friends made mustaches out of my braids. So clever those two. This is Annabel on the left and Heather on the right. Jeff just took this one with my phone, but Alessandra was also snapping away, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of those. Such sweet girls. Today is the first day on my own, now that Jeff is back home with the kids. Alissa picked me up in Palm Springs this morning and brought me to L.A.- Beverly Hills to be exact- what? I know- so weird. Not a place I ever thought that quilt talks and sewing would ever bring me (our kind are everywhere!), but so far it has been...

Today I am proud to share my support of Action Kivu with you. If you read me here often, you know that I try not to bug you about causes too much, unless I really feel strongly about them. We- you and I- are so blessed to be a small part of the huge supportive, nurturing, and educational world of creative blogging, belonging to very many caring people. The work that Action Kivu does seeks to offer victims of violence in Eastern Congo a chance at just the tiniest bit of what you and I enjoy every day- learning a trade and getting an education. I won't go on about their work, their website does a better job explaining the intricacies of their struggle, and the urgency of their efforts. But I will go on about my friend Alissa a bit. Alissa has done all of us a beautiful service, by bringing us a simple, and painless way to help Action Kivu. It isn't often that you have the chance to support a cause that is both vitally necessary and also transparent in its efforts. ...

Thank you so much for all the kind birthday wishes, and also for the bit of commiserating regarding age and the disbelief of such. But I gotta say, looking back over so much in my life, its a wonder I'm not 79. My age shock doesn't lie in wishing it were different, its just that I am amazed how life goes by, its so surreal and almost intangible.... no other words. I wouldn't trade places with any twenty year old, though, that I can say for sure. But speaking of, I am so glad you enjoyed my chat with Anna. She was blushing through the whole thing, it was kind of fun to torture the intern (that's the whole point right?). Well I've corralled Crista, my other intern, to answer some of the same and some different questions. This is sweet Crista above wearing my new almost printed pattern, the Painted Portrait Blouse & Dress- wuuhhhl obviously she's just wearing the blouse version not the dress too. I like explaining obvious things like that, b...

The above are recent portraits that Eleni and Isabela did of me and for me. I am entirely flattered by both. I turned 39 on Sunday. I did not turn 40. But still. I haven't blinked since then. I am stunned at how life goes by. I should still be about 12, in my book. I am in no state to write today about me or anything related to me, really. I am befuddled. Flabbergasted. Confused. Floored. Not only that, I'm even 39. Please someone older than 63 tell me shut up and enjoy it. Lets concentrate on someone else. Today I am interviewing one of my humble interns, Anna Johnson. That's her above slaving away. She is cute and spunky and smart and wonderful to be around. She pronounces her name like most Annas and not like me (Aw-na) so I thought that would avoid confusion. Or I thought we could call her by her first two initials but her name is Anna Michelle so that doesn't work. Sometimes I just call her Bob. I have a real way with people. I asked her st...

OH. Summer. Here: Days look mostly like this, plus some night swims at the local pool. There: I so enjoyed my interview with Sew4Home , maybe you will too (great site!) *Way over There: I'm joining my pal Heather Ross again in Palm Springs '12 ! Coming? Everywhere: I'm wishing you giant, giggley piles of what you love. good weekend, xoAM *edited to add!

I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely Alissa Haight Carlton at Quilt Market only weeks ago, and the feeling you get from her is just the feeling that I get from her new book, Block Party , which was written together with Kristen Lejnieks . And that feeling is one of approachability and warmth. After talking to her for a only a bit, I wanted to sit next to her and sew. The book, after reading a few pages, makes you feel just the same way. You just feel invited. Not in the fancy invitation that comes in the mail and requires a new dress kind of invitation, but a hey, come over here and join us kind of invitation. The best kind. The book covers 12 women who formed a modern quilting bee so that each would contribute a block to one person's quilt concept each month. All the blocks would be sent to that one person, and she would get to assemble the quilt and keep it. By the end of the year all twelve of them had done the same, each keeping a piece of history and the work o...

Sneaking back in after a weekend in Palm Springs helping my friend Heather teach a sewing workshop. It was so so so so hard. Jeff stop reading here. It was so so so so fun. I had no idea when I scheduled it with her in December that I would be coming out of one million seventeen snowdays and in dire need of mental repair. (And believe me, had I planned it before the class was booked, I would have told you about it.) The format was great, everyone brought their own projects and Heather and I each just flitted around helping where we could, offering advice, deciphering patterns, building muslins, and sometimes scribbling less that appropriate things on those muslins but all in the name of the perfect fit. (But I certainly did not pay a woman with a free pattern to march around the crowded pool wearing said muslin. No sir.) We were at the Ace the whole weekend, which was an experience in itself. I can't believe I didn't take my camera. Actually yes I can. To leave ho...

I talked a lot. I had so much to say. I simply could not manage to wait until the appropriate time to say it. Poor Mrs. Taylor. This week was not what I expected. I traveled home to mourn the loss of a dear man, the father of a very special family, whom I've adored since early childhood. But it was one of those perfect funerals, if there is such a thing, where there was as much sadness for the loss as there was celebration for the life. With that celebration came the reminiscing, the stories, laughter and memories of a life that could not have been improved and one that I am thankful to share some history with. Sitting at a luncheon after the funeral, talking to my mom and some of the family members, she brought up something that I had no recollection of from second grade. The conversation had led to the size of my family (as it often does) and she told me that my second grade teacher predicted that I would either be a teacher or have a huge family. After a little back and ...

For the third time I asked " Are you sure I can't get you anything?... I'm Greek, I have to keep asking.". Natalie smiled and said "I'm Southern, and I do the same!" The way that she called herself Southern made me think of the South as a nation more than a region. She had accepted the invitation to come to my home as easily as I had offered. Florence, Alabama is less that 2 hours away from Nashville and she was clearly looking as forward to the journey as she was the visit. I daresay without insulting myself that she may have been looking even more forward to the drive than she was the visit. Which speaks volumes about this beautiful designer. The journey is everything. The process as important as where you arrive to in the end. And the end? One of the most enchanting places I've been. The end product that I refer to is the amazing collection of clothing, homegoods , accessories of which Natalie is chief designer. Its not everyone wh...

I love an excuse to buy fresh flowers.... not that I need one. An excuse to buy a few bowls of treats to brighten conversation and sweeten the day.... lovely. And tidying up the studio so that even my bolts are on their best behavior? This is a rare and wonderful occasion. I even plumped up my stock of straight pins that seem to disappear like socks in the laundry. Why such ado? Ms. Alabama herself came to spend the day with me. We sewed. We talked. We laughed. We ate. And we also took pictures. More about our very wonderful time together on March 3rd as I share more about her fascinating design process and beautiful new book . hooray. AM