the september issue of quiltposium will be our one-year anniversary issue!  it will be out the second week of september, so be sure you are registered to see it!

www.quiltposium.com  i will be providing all kinds of interesting information about the international quilt festival of ireland, which is of course, something that i am heavily involved in!

also, we have some terrific articles by many of my friends in the industry who were kind enough to write in this special edition!

have a great day, and don’t forget to send me your comments and suggestions on how we can make things better.  we are always open to what is working and we needs to improve.

jim

it is with a lot of excitement that i tell you before it is publically announced, that i will be the chairman of the very first INTERNATIONAL QUILT FESTIVAL OF IRELAND in 2012!  i met with my core team for the festival this past saturday, and we are working on some very exciting things!

be watching for the details in quiltposium magazine and also on this blog.  (i promise i won’t be so relaxed about writing on here)

let the countdown begin!!

jim

Now who would have thought, right!? It must be the luck of the Irish, because we have just received word from our branch office in Ireland, that the cost of our quilting tour this fall has been lowered by $540 per person!  The hotel prices and bus company prices have all come down, and we are passing these savings onto you! This means, the tour that was originally costing $3274 is now only costing $2734!

 We have 12 spaces left on this enchanting tour of the Emerald Isle, then it is sold out. So if you have ever thought of going to Ireland in grand style, and are interested in traveling with a group of quilters and our very special guest celebrity teacher, Rita Fishel, here is your opportunity.

You can read about our exciting itinerary on this website, and then call our office and take advantage of this unbelievable offer.  I will be your personal escort on this tour, and I can assure you, you will have the time of your life!

 If you have ever thought of dancing the jig, now is the time.  Grab our shillelagh and eat your Lucky Charms, because today is a day to celebrate!

 Call our office at 877.887.1188 and ask for Denise, or email her direct at Denise@SewManyPlaces.com

 I hope you can join us!  I am so excited I could kiss a leprechaun!

 Jim West

TRAVELING GNOME

there is a traveling gnome following me to ireland, and i am laughing, along  with my staff, because we know who it is, and they think we don’t know.  omg, too funny!!! 

sometimes you just have to laugh at how silly  people really are! 

too funny!! 

what we have planned is off the charts exciting, and i have a team of travel and cruise experts working with me.  i think we will be turning ireland upside down with excitment, and i can’t wait!

can someone say “moving forward and progressing nicely?” 

this is so insane, but i have recently had a couple people write nasty comments on my blog, and when tracing their emails, i found out they were owners of travel companies who take quilters on trips!  can you believe it?  i think that is absolutely insane.

and then i find out, i have had a couple people, who i became friends with on my facebook, who i didn’t know were involved in travel, actually send emails to people in my facebook community, offering them trips from their travel agency.  i think that is really sneaky and totally underhanded, don’t you?

well, the great thing is, i can track everyone who writes a comment on here, and delete their comments immediately if they are nasty or abusive in any way.

is it jealousy, envy or just plain rude?  i don’t know, but i am glad i don’t spend my time trying to rain on someone else’s parade.  i am too focused on being progressive, innovative and honest!  the funny thing is, my friends and i are printing her comments and collecting them, and it has now become somewhat of a joke.  especially because she doesn’t think we know who she is. 

ahhhh, another business lesson to be learned.  i have your number hackers, so beware. 

jim

i am very excited to announce, we are opening a travel office in galway, ireland on june 1st!

we have been thinking about this for a few years now, and seriously planning it for the past year, and now the time has arrived.  we will be marketing not only our quilting tours, but all the niche travel markets that we represent.

it is a very exciting marketing plan that we have set up, and if even half of what we are lining up pans out, it will be successful.

for those of you who read my blog and live in europe, we will be offering to you some really great tour packages, cruises discounts and exciting travel options, so be sure you tell your friends who travel.

finally, if any of you who live in europe would like to become a referral travel agent for us and make some money with a great job, please contact me via email.  jim@sewmanyplaces.com

thanks everyone for your support and kind words about this new venture.  it is greatly appreciated!

jim

www.Quiltposium.com

ENJOY IT MY DEAR FRIENDS!

look up all the quilt shops withing a 50 mile radius, grab your quilting friends, make a caravan, call the shops and tell them what you are doing, and have fun.  plan a fun place to have lunch, as each shop if they will give you a little discount if you stop there and take a lot of photos.

doesn’t that sound like fun?  you may even get your quilt guild involved and all your guild members can do this together.

enjoy your weekend, what ever it is you are doing.

jim

there might be some beef, left from sunday’s pot roast, some noodles, a couple carrots, onions, celery, even some tomatoes, that if not used soon will transform itself into some kind of science project.  now if we take this same concept, and look around our sewing room, we will find all kinds of scraps, items to applique, etc. that we can combine into a fantatic quilt.

and maybe it’s not even a quilt that you make, but rather, quilted pillow cases, blankets, napkins, table runner, the list is endless.

remember, there is no wrong way to do it, and it does not have to look a certain way.  the main thing is that you think completely outside the box, and see what you can come up wtih to make that soup special!

enjoy your day quiting chefs!

jim