a tale of quilt market and some sewing, too

I went to Houston last week, along with Debbie from Bear Patch, to attend the International Quilt Market.  This is a twice-yearly trade show for quilters and sewists.  The convention center is filled with booths for many vendors of fabric, notions, patterns, machines, etc.  There are a lot of miscellaneous businesses that participate, selling things like lotions, lighting, sewing furniture, baskets and even nail files!  We also can order shopping bags, labels, ribbons, etc., that we have the store name and logo printed on, and we use them for customers and packaging kits.  So it's quite a variety, and takes full attention to get it all done correctly.  I use a little wheelie backpack to carry our findings and paperwork and snacks and lunch!  We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel, I think about 8 blocks from the convention center.  We prefer to walk to and from, to get some more vigorous movement than the standing and ambling that we do the rest of the day.  We also get to see a little more of the local color that way, too.  This year, we didn't get as much walking due to the weather.  Hurricane Patricia sent storms to Houston, and it rained for most of 2 days.  We don't walk when it's raining or dark, so we relied on taxi and shuttle bus service.

One of the stops on our walk is the Phoenicia Market, a grocery store/deli/coffee shop/bar/cafe/bakery with a distinct middle eastern flavor.  Debbie and I like to just look up and down the aisles at all of the unusual foods.  A lot of varieties that we don't find at home!  Here's a picture of one of the aisles of pickled things.  We like to buy one of their large sandwiches to split for lunch, along with some fruit and water.  Sooo much better than the convention food!

Across the street from the Magnolia is a very old Episcopal church.  We walked over to take a look around, and because there was no other activity going on, we went in and I took a few pictures.  A pleasant courtyard, beautiful stained glass and carved altar.

 I have written some reports on our Market experience over on the Bear Patch blog, with more pictures included.  Hop over there if you want to see more.

Back on the homefront, I have been happy to sit down at my sewing machine again.  After those days of being in the midst of so much quilty creativity, I really longed to get back in touch with my machine!  First, I want to show you a great new potholder that my mom gave me---

I had made some sample disappearing 4-patch blocks and gave them to her to make use of.  This is one of them.  And while we were at retreat together, she wanted to learn to do a little free motion quilting, and potholders made for good practice.  Thanks, Mom!

Some things I have been working on:

the Fifties Flare Apron by Atkinson Designs, in Christmas fabrics for the store display.

 the Jelly Roll Jiggle table runner by Tiger Lily Press, a work in progress.

and a small quilt from the Diva 2 pattern by Maple Island, with this fun dragon theme fabric

While in Houston, we attended a reception for Bernina dealership owners.  Beverages and hors d'oeuvres were served, and I liked this idea for serving jumbo shrimp.  With the cocktail sauce in the little shot glass, it was easy and neat to eat.

back in working order

 I have been having some problems with my pictures loading onto the Blogger page so I couldn't get these posted 2 days ago when I tried.  The situation improved after I shut down and restarted my computer, not sure if that was coincidence or the actual solution!  Then I had trouble with my camera, and turns out I had accidentally changed a setting that caused the viewfinder window to go blank, so now I am back on track with that.  In the meantime, I started fantasizing about getting a new and nicer camera, so I will be saving up for that!  Third in the line of malfunctions was my car key.  Twice it refused to work in the ignition, both times I got the spare key and went on about my business.  Yesterday I took a closer look, and was amazed at the difference I saw!  The old key is pictured below the spare key, and it is about half the thickness that it should be!  And the side view shows that a lot of the little lumps and bumps are seriously eroded.  Who would think that I would wear out a key like that!

Well, the odometer reads 276,000 mile now, so that's plenty o' wear on that key!  For Mother's Day I told Bob that all I wanted from him was to clean the interior and get new floor mats, which are wonderful!  Last summer I really needed new floor mats, but was sure that if I bought them that the car would die soon after that.  But the thing just keeps on tickin' and now I am equipped for another 100,000 miles at least!

So with my blog, my camera and my car key all back on track, it's a good day!

Mother's Day also included some fun with family.  Brita and Ian and I went on the Susan G. Komen 5K Walk for the Cure at the Mall of America on a crispy morning, about 35 degrees at the start but warmed up with a good bright sun.  Ian was plenty bundled up in his stroller, but eventually got to do a little reading while cruising along!

He loves to stick out his tongue!

In the afternoon I had time for a little random sewing time up in my room, and I sorted and straightened up stuff that needed to be addressed.  I wanted a little mindless sewing, so worked on some blocks following the directions on the Quiltville website.  Here are 4 blocks arranged in a square---

And 4 similar blocks arranged in a strip---

Two other very important things have happened here in Minnesota this week, not counting the 90 degree day that maybe has ended out winter!

Our state has become the 12th in the nation to allow legal marriages for same sex couples!  This is so controversial and so right!

I honestly didn't know if this would happen during my lifetime, I feel very lucky to have experienced this historical event.  If my brother-in-law, Rick, were alive we would be celebrating and maybe even dancing at his wedding!  He stood up with us at our wedding 38 years ago today, and now I feel that I had a chance to finally stand up for him.

The second great moment for MN was the arrival of our new Shop Hop fabric at the store!  These are 2 of the panel prints:

the rest of the fabric is on display at Bear Patch, and I am scheming up some ideas of what to make with it!  I should be able to get plenty of inspiration in the next few days at International Quilt Market in Portland, OR.  I will be sharing all of the latest and greatest over on the Bear Patch Blog, so visit there!

Portland, here we come!

to market, to market

I'm down in the land of big beef steaks and BBQ and the outskirts of the land of Oz.  Yup, Kansas City!  Last Thursday I loaded up my stuff along with Laurel and Debbie (Bear Patch co-owners) and Patty (Fabric Town owner) and headed south.  So nice to have Laurel's trusty extra-large mini-van for the trip, and we will need that extra space for the drive back tomorrow with the stuff we have accumulated so far!

It was a pleasure to have the chance to just ride along in the back seat, chatting, snacking and knitting!  I have started a fun new scarf--

which carries the scrappy theme from fabric into yarn because it is made of random bits of leftover sock yarn skeins!  This is called the Mini Mania and is available as a free download on Ravelry.  I really like the texture that is developing, it fools the eye and looks a lot like a woven fabric.  And it is a very easy one to take on the road because the stitch pattern is super simple.  So we rolled merrily along, solving all the problems of the world.  We only made one quilt shop stop along the way, that was in Ames at Quilting Connection.  It's always interesting to see what other shops might have on display that we have not known about or could adapt to what the customers in our own area might like.  They were busy and friendly at the store, it's a good stop to put on your maps if you are traveling I-35.

Just a few days before leaving home I had some quick quilting to get done for Stacy of Buttermilk Basin.  She had designed 6 new tablemats that were wool mounted on a background of regular cotton fabric.  She wanted some quilting done in the cotton fabric area, which really is just a background to the  focal point of the project.  So I loaded up the little squares and stitched them up and got them back to Stacy and her stitch assistant, Kristina, to be bound in time for photography and pattern covers.  They are on display now in her booth here in KC, I hope my little bit of stitching makes all the shop owners fall in love with them and buy lots and lots of patterns!

While we are here at Quilt Market, our main focus is on finding items and ideas for the store.  But there's often something that pops up that fits into our personal plans and this is one of them--

Debbie found these little baby ties and bought them for me to take home to Ian.  He will be looking just like his Daddy!  I love them!  They are made by Basic Grey.  Basic Grey is a company that has moved from scrapbook and crafting design into fabric design.

I have been posting several updates with lots of pictures over on the Bear Patch Blog all about our days here looking for great new things for the store, so hop on over there and see the fun new stuff!

leaving Houston

All my bags are packed.
I'm ready to go.
I'm standin' here
Outside your door....no, wait! Wrong millenium! Sorry John! (Denver, that is!)



A couple of quilts on display at the International Quilt Expo in Houston--





Some eye candy for you! I have been posting daily reports with pictures and even video on the Bear Patch blog so hop over there!

away from home

I'm luxuriating in the comfort of a room at the Hilton in downtown Houston, there is just something very fun about staying in a nice hotel. I think it all boils down to the fact that someone else makes my bed and gives me clean towels! My needs are basic!

Debbie and I are here for International Quilt Market, and I will be writing more over on the Bear Patch blog if you are interested. We spent most of yesterday traveling, and had a very bumpy arrival to Houston through storm clouds. We were very glad to get on the ground!

We did a little bit of personal shopping this evening, and I could not resist this bundle of fabric---

destined for a darling grandson!

I've also been playing around with a little jewelry-making lately, after finding an intriguing group of charms and trinkets at a Michael's store. It is called Industrial Chic, and I put together a necklace using some of their components mixed up with my own treasures.

It's really kind of different, but I'm liking it!

Uff Da!

If you don't talk Minnesotan, that means OMG! Four full (very full) days of walking, talking, learning, listening, planning, dreaming about quilts at International Quilt Market are finished! Plus a day leading up to that of 100+ bus people visiting Bear Patch combined with many who brought themselves to the store prior to the start of Market. And a fun day tomorrow at Bear Patch with our guest designer, Bari Sue Gaudet, of Bareroots pattern company. Debbie, Laurel and I spent much of this time together, trying to be discerning shoppers for new store merchandise. Here you see me with Debbie, and our colors might clash but we really do well with picking and choosing.

Debbie has been doing a good job with taking pictures that she is posting up on the Bear Patch blog so you might want to hop over there to take a look.

A treat for me was viewing some of my own quilting on display in Stacy West's Buttermilk Basin booth. She has a terrific sense for design and display, and her whole booth was a Halloween theme this year. Complete with spiderwebs! The pinwheel quilt behind us is her pattern which I had the privilege of quilting. Her embroidery and wool applique designs were very popular, I'm sure you will be seeing them soon in a quilt shop near you!

Also had a very special day yesterday as we celebrated Dan's 27th birthday--another uff da! It's hard not to have him nearby to celebrate, but we will do that next month when he is here for a visit. Instead, he got to ski! Still lots of snow at Mammoth Mountain, and fresh again yesterday.

So now, it's time for a few moments of R&R and then continue with some quilting...

What I'm working on...

I have had several very fun days filled with quilting. Some sewing, too. Here's a shared project.

Shared because I designed the pattern (Chill Pill), Debbie and I picked out the fabric (designed by Linda Hohag), she put all the blocks together, I added the borders, am halfway through the quilting and will teach it on the summer class schedule at Bear Patch. Debbie had intended to do the borders and binding, but ran into a time crunch since it needs to be done by Tuesday for display at the store along with a whole bunch of other class samples. So sharing is a good thing!

OK, all you quilters out there, I am trying out something that I heard about here to help stabilize the rulers that I use when quilting. These are not the same as the rulers used for cutting, but the same thing might work. It is called Grip Tape, and you will find it at your friendly neighborhood skateboard shop. In my neighborhood, that's Pinewski's in Anoka. I got just a little bit nostalgic when I walked in there, since it was the destination of choice for Dan many times when he was younger, and needed a ride. They are very nice people there, and that hasn't changed over the years. The young man gave me a large sheet of Grip Tape, normally used on the bed of a skateboard. It's kind of like black sandpaper with an adhesive back. I put a couple little squares of it on the ruler I was using and it made a noticeable difference in stay-put-edness. I think you know what I mean. Just a little bit about these rulers--they come in many shapes and sizes and are helpful to guide the machine foot as I am sewing along, so one hand has to hold the ruler with some degree of pressure to be stable on the fabric surface but not too much pressure to interfere with the movement of the machine. Kind of touchy, and something I am still learning. They are thicker than the other acrylic rulers that I use for cutting so there is not danger that the machine foot will go on top of the ruler, thus leading to something bad happening between needle and ruler. I have only a few in my collection.

Compared to my regular ruler collection--

Some girls collect shoes. I collect fabric, thread and rulers.

I've finished quilting another project for a new pattern designed by Stacy West for Buttermilk Basin and it is soooo great! If you like Halloween, you will be wanting this pattern! I would like to show you a picture, but will hold off until Stacy gets it published in time for Spring International Quilt Market in May. Lucky us, it is here in Minneapolis this year, so we can have the luxury of staying close to home while still enjoying all the fun that is Market. This is a trade show for the quilting industry, all the fabric manufacturers, pattern designers and notions distributors gather to show their latest and greatest to shop owners and take orders. You will be hearing more about this from me, to be sure.

I'm running into more than one deadline in the next few days, so this will be it for now, gotta focus on completing some tasks!

Haunting quilting

Been working on a couple Halloween quilts just recently--

fun colors to work with, the thread shows up a lot better on the backing--

Close-up of some of the stitching detail--

These will be available as patterns from Buttermilk Basin at Quilt Market next month. I have a couple more to do that are awesome embroidery blocks!