Market Days

For those of you that are not familiar, Quilt Market is a vendor show where the Quilt Shop Owners attend to learn new techniques and products to bring back and share with their customers. I had a booth to share my new designs with the shops. The spring show travels around the country. The fall show is always in Houston. This spring we were in Pittsburgh, Pa. For me, Pittsburgh is a two hour drive.

We arrived on Thursday to set up our booth. It took us several loops around the convention center to find a place to park. The garage was full. After much grumbling, we realized it had worked out better than being in the garage. We were parked right by the elevator. We unloaded the car and got everything up and looking great in a few short hours. We even met some of our booth neighbors.

Friday morning we arrived at the convention center early. I wasn't sure how long it would take to drive in. The show opened at 9:30, we arrived around 8:30. It gave us a chance to walk around and see some of the other booths and make notes about where I needed to get back to. There are classes offered all weekend and the shop owners will come down tot he convention floor in between. On Friday, they typically walk the floor and decide where to spend their time and who they need to get back to. They shop for all the wonderful things they bring back to you, Fabric, patterns, rulers, templates...everything.

I talked to so many shops in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. There were quite a few Canadians there as well. We talked about quilts and teaching classes and what cool new things we saw. It didn't take long for my head to start spinning. I made many new friends and have many new ideas. While 3 days of standing and talking and walking and standing and talking and walking can wear you out. The excitement and flow of ideas is amazing. I will bring you some of the cool new toys I found as I go through all of the things that followed me home.

Make sure you check out http://www.quiltinggallery.com/ also. Michele has a great site with loads of information to share. I was lucky enough to have a booth across from her.

I picked up this pattern while at Market. It's by Purse-O-Nalities of Palm Harbor. I used Kona Bay fabric and am thrilled with the results. The front of the bag is pleated and it's huge! I did change the handles slightly. The directions were easy to follow. I did make a cutting mistake right off the bat. It was my own fault for not reading the directions thoroughly. The pattern fort he back comes in 3 pieces because it won't fit on one piece of paper. Silly me, I put two of the three pieces together. It was easily fixed. I cut other pieces out of the bad cut. Now I'm looking for something to put in the bottom. I could use cardboard, but I'll look around a little first.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig

Well, I'm back home again safely. I had a great visit with my aunt and uncle and a great time at Quilt Market. As for traveling on United Airlines...let's just say I had not planned to see San Francisco at 2:00am on my way to Portland.

My aunt and I went to Quilt Market on Saturday, almost straight from the airport. (I had been scheduled to arrive Friday night. Instead I arrived Saturday morning with no luggage) On this first day I really just wanted to take it all in. We walked the whole show to see who was there. I stopped to talk to some of the batting companies as I have recently purchased a Gammil longarm machine. (It hasn't arrived yet, so I am planning ahead.) I was putting together a plan for Sunday, when my bags should have caught up with me. We talked with quite a few people on Saturday. I certainly came home with a bag full of literature. I haven't been through all of it yet so I still am not sure what is there.Saturday night we had dinner with my cousin A. We have been trying to figure out how long it has been since we have seen each other. I think since 1984. Way too long, that's for sure.

Sunday was the day to get things done. My aunt had a piano recital so she could not come along. I followed my trusty GPS downtown alone. Geography is not my strong suit so I was very happy to have it along. I had a great day talking with Benartex, Blank Quilting and Fabri-Quilt. I used the Flower Show II collection from Benartex (http://www.benartex.com/) for my Floral Delight quilt and I used Fabri-quilt's Suede for a watermelon design that should be in Quilter's Home (http://www.quiltershomemag.com/) next summer. I also had a chance to talk with the Pattern Peddlers ( http://www.patternpeddlers.com/) and two of the print houses. I bought the Quilters Hangup sleeve to try out and Mary Ellen's Best Press starch alternative, as well as a few other things. I met Nancy from Nana's Pretties. She was so nice and so helpful. (http://www.nanaspretties.com/) She also has the cutest patterns.

I was worried about the trip to Quilt Market being worthwhile at this point in my quilting career. It was so far beyond my expectation. Not anymore, now I am now planning my trip to Houston in the fall.

To Market, To Market...

Well, I've made my plans...I bought my plane ticket, registered and have a place to stay. I'm going to Quilt Market next month. This is my first time. I'm not really sure what to expect, other than being overwhelmed by it all. I know that will happen. I have a list of the booths so I know most of who will be there. I'll have to go through it and make a plan. If I don't, I'll probably wander aimlessly for both days. I won't have a booth for this show. My plan is to scope it out so I know what to expect in the fall. I want to have booth in Houston. I'm not worried about working a booth at the show. I have done enough of those. In another life, I worked the motorcycle show circuit, selling shirts. I'm more concerned about what to bring to a show like this. Since I won't have a booth, I also want to take advantage and make as many connections as I can. That's the hard part. So, alot of planning up front is the only way.

I finished my Floral Delight quilt. I used the Benartex Flower Show II fabric. Boy do those flowers stand out. Here are the focus fabrics I used. I fussy cut the flowers and centered them on a snowball block. Sorry, you will have to wait for a picture of the quilt. I sent it off to Benartex for use at market. (Whoo hoo!)

I'd better get busy planning!