Friday, November 12, 2010

Homeless??? Really now!!!


 I was asked I don't know how many times at Houston Quilt Festival....."Where do you live?"
Throughout this post I'm going to put up pictures of quilts I liked from Festival.
Usually not a difficult question eh???So this was my answer...
"I'm homeless...
wherever my car is parked....
that is my address for the day."

Awww...you should of seen people's faces.
I felt it was a better answer than Guitar Man
was giving.
He was telling people we lived out under the East bridge behind the convention center.

Kinda humbling ya know...
but when we told people of what
we have been through this last month...
doing shows almost every weekend...
having two weeks to get out of our house...
because the new owners wanted to take
possession immediately...
that we didn't even have time to fly
back here to Nashville..
to look for a place...
they understood...
and laughed.
Whew!!
On Saturday night though...
as we were walking to our car....
out by the bridge Ken was telling people about...
their in an alcove...
was a whole family on sleeping bags...
little kids and all...

It broke my heart.
And not a laughing matter at all.
This 'is' some people's reality in this day and age.
And really...
any of us could truly be in this same situation.

So I am sending a prayer out for 
all of those unfortunate precious people...


 And now I will  have to tell you about this show!


Every morning
first thing when Office Depot opened...
we were there with my laptop
and flash drive...
printing up patterns....
signs....

And then in the evening...
we were there late...
long after they closed....
still working on things.


And every day...
during the day...
we were at Kinkos...
upstairs at the convention center
doing more printing...
(We weren't the only ones!)
Because every day...
we ran out of some sort of pattern.

Then we were up til all hours of the night...
putting patterns together...
cutting down more fabric....
assembling Block of the Month's
that also had to go out.

This all on top of a 10-7 workday at the show.

I know...
I can feel it...
self-pity...
dripping down my cheeks!


But as usual it was the people who kept me going...
when the Starbucks wasn't doing its job.


For instance...
one darling little lady...
came up and watched me go through my demo
more than once.
I said to her...
"You look familiar to me..."
She said,
"Oh I know...I've bought all your patterns...
I just love you.
One night I stayed up and read your blog...
and couldn't stop...
until I got through the whole thing.
I'm always looking to see if you've
posted another one.
You really should write a book!"

Now she came along just at the right time.
I was feeling like nothing was as good as I wanted 
it to be.
I have no patience for running out of patterns...
etc
and was feeling pretty inadequate.

I told her that she didn't have any idea of how
she just made my day...
no wait a minute...
she made my show!!!

I know you are reading you sweet thing.
A big hug and thank you for taking the time....
to stop and talk to me.
You'll never know what your sweet words did for me that day.


Right before we started breaking down the show...
another adorable quilter walked into our booth
for the first time...
and started oohing and aahhhing...
all after Tory gave her a demo...
wondering why she hadn't heard of us before.

She then brought her sister back....
who both are having me design custom kits for them...
off of the Whimsy Lane.

Now ladies this is pretty humbling...
when someone trusts me...
to pick out all their colors...
sight unseen.

These are the things that keep me going...
when the goin' gets tough.


So this post is dedicated to all of my customers out there.
Thank you from the itty bitty teensy weensy
tips of my tippy toes.
I love you all!
Ciao....
John'aLee

11 comments:

  1. Your customers make your days special but can you imagine how your designs make their days special. :-)

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  2. What a lovely, sweet post! You tugged at my heart today. We have friends living with us right now that are almost to the homeless point, long story, but the economy bites in many ways. I'm glad for the Lord making a way, and for Him guiding the encourager your way in the shape of the customer that read through your blog history. God is good, all the time!

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  3. You make everyone feel special. I'm very glad our paths have crossed. =)

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  4. What a trial Houston probably was for you; and also humbling when you stumbled upon the homeless family.

    It is nice your family works so hard together to keep things going. Hang in there!

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  5. I think the Lord must have sent that woman to you at just the right time, sweetie. Oh my heart breaks for the homeless family....I will pray for them too.
    It sounds like you had a good show, I'm so glad, I wish wonderful things for you dear one!

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  6. What a wonderful post! I have friends in Oregon who went to the show and found your booth. They thought it was beautiful! My cousin and her friend who both live in Houston didn't find it, but they only went one day!

    I am glad it was a great show for you!!! Happy house hunting. You will find something that will work! In the meantime...

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  7. Hey, running out of patterns is a sign of success. No reason to feel inadequate. It would be way worse if you DIDN'T run out of patterns. ;-)

    Good luck with your house hunt in Nashville. We are here in Newton now. More about that later.

    Thanks for the quilty eye-candy.

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  8. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful lovely quilts from the Festival. Much appreciated. I hope you will find your dream home in Nashville soon soooooooooooooooooooo you will have a lovely nest again. VBG Hugs Judy

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  9. What a fabulous picture show.
    It sounds as though the show was a success. Love the look of your booth.
    I hope you will soon have a place of your own again.
    Margaret

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  10. I'm gradually realising through your posts how successful and well-known you must be in quilting circles and feel quite priviliged that you find time during your EXTREMELY busy life to leave comments on my (or anyone else's) little blog.
    Love the quilt pics especially the blue one with the ship on and the last orangey one!
    Teresa x

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  11. John'aLee, what a life! I thought of you during Houston, and I cannot believe all you were going through... wow. I hope one day to make it and what a treat it would be to finally meet you and admire your work up close. Thank you so much for the gorgeous pictures!

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