2014 Designer Mystery BOM with Fat Quarter Shop

Welcome to the third week of Fat Quarter Shop's new 2014 Designer Mystery Block-of-the-Month.  Edyta's delightful Snowbird collection is featured in a dozen stars created by designers Bonnie and Camille, Bunny Hill Designs, Fig Tree Quilts, Kate Spain, Laundry Basket Quilts, Minick and Simpson, Kansas Troubles Quilters, Me and My Sister Designs, Pieces From My Heart, Primitive Gatherings, Sweetwater and V & Co.  Blog posts began on March 7th, continuing on March 14th & 21st (that's me!) with prize winners announced March 28th. Don't miss the fun! 

We were each asked to name our block after a special star in our lives. The first person who came to mind was my best friend and partner in business and life - my husband, Robert. So, my block is titled Dear Robert...  Being self-employed in a business such as ours with no guarantees from one line to the next, no paid vacations or health benefits, can be a scary proposition some years. His support and encouragement has never waned. In fact, he gave up a "real" job to join me full time in this crazy world of quilting. With no prior experience with sewing machines, he's taken on a Bernina dealership to sell and repair sewing machines. He's gone to numerous classes, worked many late hours and virtually taught himself how to fix most issues with Berninas from "vintage" to the latest computerized models. In addition to that, we opened a small quilt shop, KT Bernina, featuring KT fabrics and host quilter's retreats on the weekends. He works 10 or more hours a day, 6 days a week and still loves hearing about my day each evening. Although he's partially colorblind, his black/white vision is valuable when it comes to layout, form and contrast when I'm stuck on a design. He totally gets what I do and how my brain seldom shuts off, even when we're on vacation and I need to stop to sketch or make notes for a future project. 

Robert ready to check out a happy shopper.

Enjoying a corn dog at the State Fair for a previous Moda blog post.

My best friend and sweetheart.

Robert is also a great Grampa. We have 8 grankids that love to fish, ride the 4-wheeler and watch sports with Grampa. He loves to tease and make them think he's tough, but they've got him figured out and know he's a softy underneath. In fact, one of the older grankids, Cooper, 13, explained after a really good zinger that he'd learned sarcasm from the best. 

A good example of my dear Robert's thinking is when a tornado last summer came within a mile or two of our store and just sat there for over an hour.The storm trackers were actually parked behind our building for the best view. Robert called to let me know there was a tornado close by and wondered if I was coming into town. I was 2 miles further away from the storm at the cabin, but he insisted I come to where he was so if he died, we'd die together. Is that true love or what?!

After 27 years, we're still learning to communicate more effectively, work together more smoothly and tolerate each others quirks, but there's no one I'd rather laugh and cry with that always has my back. 

Here's to you, Dear Robert....