Quilt Market- Day 1

Day #1 at Quilt Market was such a whirlwind.  Let me start with the fact that I didn't wear the most comfortable shoes, which makes for a long day, that and I had to say goodbye to my sweet friend Brooke.  I hate goodbyes (I usually cry like a baby, but I kept myself together today!).

Today was full of eye-candy, inspiration, and fun conversations.  Although I don't use too much ribbon, I have a weird want/obsession with ribbon and trims in general.  With that, the May Arts booth so much fun to explore!

Abbey Lane Quilts has a new quilt book out with five different applique quilts and five different quilt blocks.  I love the idea of mixing and matching to create a unique and personal style.  I may have to think about this idea the next time I sit down to write another pattern!  :)

I absolutely fell in love with the purples, greens, and oranges displayed in Sandi Henderson's booth.   Not to mention the sweet rosette pillows and the re-covered vintage umbrella!

Amy Butler's booth was spectacular, just as I expected!  I was excited to see her new fabric line, Lark, in person as I love the mix of the bright colors, along side more traditional colors.  As always, Amy never disappoints!  :)

I also stopped by the Adornit booth to visit with my sweet friends that I met at The Sewing Summit!  I may have mentioned it a time or two, as gray is my new FAVORITE color, thus I loved everything about Adornit's booth!  I also got a sneak peek at their fabric lines that will be coming out next, and can't wait to get my hands on their new fabric.  :)

I just about fell head over heels for Woodland by Natalie Lymer for Lecien!  I love the sweet girls, the gnome-like houses, and the scattered mushroom.  I also love the pajama pants (gray, yellow, and pink)...I think I might NEED a pair of my own!

Kellie Wulfsohn of Don't Look Now is an amazing applique artist!  Her booth was full of beautiful and bright quilts, pillows, and wall hangings, all of which are applique designs.  I have her Peak Hour pattern and hope to whip up a pillow for a friend's son.  If I get the pillow done, I'll be sure to blog about it!  :)

My sweet friend, and fellow Creative Consultant, Brooke!

Amanda trying to give me another inappropriate hug!  Instead of trying to make me dance (like last week's quest), I think this week's quest is at least one inappropriate hug per day!  Bring it on, Amanda!! :)

PS- I TOTALLY felt like a star all day, walking the red carpet at Quilt Market!  :)

PPS- I also spotted Ty Pennington (and his bodyguard!) at Quilt Market.  He's quite cute in person...Saturday's mission is to track him down for a photo op!  :)

Quilt Market- Sample Spree

Hi Friends!  I'm in Houston for Quilt Market and wanted to share a couple highlights of Friday, which included Sample Spree!

The day started with a nice stroll through Hobby Lobby, and I have to say that I am SO happy that they opened semi-local stores in California!!!  I can't wait to do some serious craft shopping when I get home!  :)

Here's a look at our drive in to Houston...nice, eh?

Sample Spree is a two hour frenzy, that starts at 8pm.  Our goal was to get in line at 5pm, however our planned errands didn't take as long as expected, and traffic was very cooperative, so we (my momma and I) actually got in line at 4pm (crazy, I know!).  See the yellow arrow?  That's us, about 8 people or so from the front of the line! 

 

I have to say that the highlight of Friday was meeting sweet Brooke in person!  I've only known Brooke for a short time (via emails and her blog), but I am absolutely smitten with her!  She is so genuine, gracious, and kind...I am truly blessed to have her in my life!

Back to the craziness of Sample Spree!  There were three lines to get in the door.  Here is a view of one of the lines (it might be hard to decipher, but there were A LOT of ladies in line!!!).

I didn't get any photos of Sample Spree, once the doors were open, as frankly I forgot.  Its quite an intense experience, and I needed to focus.  :)  I picked up fat quarters from Anthology, yard cuts from Art Gallery, three spools of large ric rac, and fat quarters from Adornit + Bernatex + Henry Glass + Andover (Meet the Gang and Outfoxed).

 

My Momma also picked up some fun stuff!  An Adornit table runner kit, Mod Tod fat quarter bundle, 10" stackers of Sunny Happy Skies, fat quarters from Anthology, fat quarters from Bernatex + + Moda (Good Fortune by Kate Spain) + Henry Glass + Andornit.

Here's a photo of all of the loot in our small carry-on suitcase- HA!  I can't wait to get home and play with my sewing machine!  :)  What fabrics are you excited to get your hands on?

The Sewing Summit Recap- Part 2!

I'm so glad you returned for Part 2!  :)  Saturday was a busy day!  My first session, Documenting Your Creativity: Blogging and Social Media, was with Dana Bolyard of Old Red Barn Co.   Dana started the session with this video on the Social Media Revolution.  If you have time I would suggest watching it, as its definitely an eye opener. 

I had no idea that there were over 200,000,000 blogs.  With that being said, I am absolutely humbled and grateful for each one of you that visit my little blog!  

Dana and I

Dana highlighted on what great blogs consist of, which include but are not limited to:

• Clear focus. (Crafts/Tutorials/Business/Stuart)
• Interesting and engaging content.  (I may achieve this on a good day)
• Post new content regularly.  (Before I get any emails...I'm working on this one!!!)
• Photos.  (I try)
• Substance/personal stories.

My second session, Photographing Your Creations: Simple Changes for Maximum Impact, was with Vanessa Christenson of Vand Co.  I have to say that Vanessa is so sweet in person, in fact exactly what I had imagined her to be.  I saw her in May at Quilt Market, but was too nervous to go up to say hello!

Vanessa and I (Not quite sure why I still look asleep!)

Vanessa's session included helpful tips on discovering your style, lighting dos and don'ts, getting to know your camera, and setting up the shot.  Oh, and I should probably mention that I hauled my big ol' DSLR camera to Utah and never used it!  I really need to find myself a Photography 101 class- ASAP!  

I was very much looking forward to Vanessa's class, as photos are everything on Etsy!  I was lucky enough to have talented help with my sewing pattern covers, but when it comes to Etsy I'm flying solo (which is scary!).  Here's to hoping that I can implement Vanessa's ideas and come out on top!  PS- I also LOVE this graphic that Vanessa shared with the class.  I'll ever pass up a cheat sheet!  :)

Source: pierscunliffe.wordpress.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

My third session, Creative Fabric Selection: Moving Beyond Fabric Collections, was with Jeni Baker of In Color Order.  I was particularly looking forward to this class, as although I think I'm competent when it comes to selecting fabrics, I also know that I rarely take chances.  I'm always too afraid of wasting fabric (sad, I know!).  Here are a couple examples of Jeni's work.

The class focused on the color wheel (warm & cool colors, analogous color scheme, harmonizing color scheme, complementary color scheme, split complementary color scheme, triadic color scheme), fabric (color, accents, scale, pattern, value/saturation, basics), inspiration (photographs, surroundings, fabric).

Oooh, and have I mentioned that at the end of class, Jeni announced that Robert Kaufman donated Kona color cards for everyone in the class!?!  I think I about peed my pants!  I've always admired the Kona solids, but my local quilt shops never carried a large variety, and ordering a solid online is a bit scary, as colors tend to be distorted on a computer screen.  Now I can reference the Kona color card, and order my fabric online with confidence!  :)

The last session of the day, Modern Machine Applique: Skills You Need for a Variety of Projects, was with Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt.  In a nutshell, Natalia's applique technique (using easily accessible supplies) is as follows:

• Heavily starch the back of the fabric (background fabric and applique fabric).
• Cut applique shape.
• Glue applique shape to background fabric with glue stick.
• Applique.

The starching process helps to prevent the fabric from fraying, and gluing the applique fabric to the background fabric, means that there is no need for pesty pins!  Natalia brought along some samples of her work, and I have to say that I absolutely fell in love with these flowers.  Looks at the pleated petals!

Out of curiosity, what do you enjoy sewing most- quilts, crafts, or garments.  (The Sewing Summit proved to have a nice mix of quilters, crafters, and seamstresses!)

 

PS- I'll meet you back here on Thursday for a recap of Sunday!

The Sewing Summit Recap- Part 1!

I spent four days in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, and am now home snuggling with Stuart (I missed him SO much!).   
My weekend extravaganza started early Friday morning.  My sweet Momma dropped me off at the airport at 5:20 am (which means I was up at 4 am- oy vey!). I flew into Las Vegas, had an hour or so layover, and then was on my way to my final destination.

 

The Nevada desert from my window seat. 

  

I was tempted to play during my layover, but decided not to waste any of my fabric money!  :) 

Just outside Salt Lake City, again from my window seat.

On the ground in Salt Lake City.  Hmmm...do you see ALL of that snow on the mountains!?!  Let's just say that this CA girl froze most of the weekend!

Before arriving at the airport I had plans to meet up with Darci and Becky, as we were all flying in about the same time.  Once I landed I received a text message from Becky, and we were shortly thereafter all united.  I was so happy to share a cab with these sweet girls, as I had horrible anxiety about going to The Sewing Summit solo.  We arrived at the airport and were lucky enough to check-in early.

Check out my home away from home, at The Little America hotel!!!

After I settled into my room, Becky and I headed into the heart of downtown for some lunch.  We then continued on our journey and spent some time walking around The Gateway.  Speaking of grabbing lunch, I went to pay for my sandwich only to realize that I had left my wallet in my carry on, which was in my hotel room.  Thankfully my new sweet friend was more than willing to lend me money for lunch (oy- I'm still embarrassed about my forgetfulness!).

Friday night The Sewing Summit held a welcome reception at the hotel, with drinks and appetizers.  I'm not very good and mingling, but I did the best that I could.  Friday night Becky and I were invited to dinner with eight other sweet ladies.

Come back tomorrow for a Recap of Saturday's classes, and then I'll finish up on Thursday covering Sunday and Monday- deal!?!

'HO HO HO' Holiday Bunting Tutorial

I'm so excited that the cat is finally out of the bag (I have a hard time keeping tutorials under wraps!!).  Are you ready to do some Christmas sewing and/or interested in a Bunting tutorial?  Either way, make sure to hop on over to Notes From The Patch, as I'm guest posting on Suzanne's blog today- woo hoo!

If that's not convincing enough...here's a little sneak peek!

Out of My League?

I'm leaving for The Sewing Summit on Friday morning, and I am SO nervous.  It doesn't help that I've been looking through all of the beautiful projects that The Sewing Summit attendees have made for the conference.  Its hard to believe, but after years of sewing, I still have not made anything for myself.  Well, technically I still have this brown and green quilt in my possession, but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or gift it.

Here's to hoping that I can whip up a laptop sleeve, camera strap, a Coffee Burlap Tote Bag for myself, and perhaps a name tag (this is when I desperately wish that I could hand stitch...anyone want to teach me!?!), all before Thursday night.  I also need to learn how to work my new DSLR camera, as I don't want to lug it to SLC and not use it (again, anyone willing to tutor me!?!).

What prized possessions have you made for yourself?