Quilt Market - Day Four

Oh my gosh - what a crazy 24 hours it's been.

We were up early so we could get our free breakfast at the hotel. I have to say that Shirley really picked a winning hotel (Springhill Suites by Marriott). We had a fabulous room and a free breakfast so that helped to keep the cost of the trip down. Thanks again Shirley for being an awesome roommate!

I had another class in the morning. This time it was on sewing double gauze. It's fabulous taking a class at Quilt Market because the instructors are usually the educators from the company that makes the products so you get all kinds of information and that's what this Market trip was all about - education. I'm thoroughly educated at the moment and need to get some of this stuff down on paper.

I wore my beautiful double gauze scarf for the rest of the day.

We were finished early so I popped down to the Exhibit floor to see more of the quilts. Even though I went as an Industry Professional, I was able to get an Exhibitor badge so that allowed me to get in a bit early. Big kudos to Jen for making that happen.

I took some more pictures, got a chance to see Jackie White's "Meet Maude" piece. That link is to her Facebook page where I'm sure there's a picture of Maude. I don't have time to upload a picture this morning. That entire display was a lot of fun and so neat to see how each person interpreted a special woman in their life. Some were self-portraits, some were family members and some were public figures. All were totally different techniques. It was awesome.

Big bummer - I was certain that I had read that the Cherrywood Challenge (Prince was the theme, purple was the color) was going to be on display as were the last two challenges. But NOPE - that challenge was not present. I was a bit disappointed because I had nixed going to Seaforth to see the entire show because I was certain I would have a chance in Houston. I guess I'll just have to wait for Quilts at the Creek now. That's next July! Just checked the website - OH - the display that will be in Houston is during Quilt Festival and only in their booth so it won't be a complete grouping.

Then I had prepared a list of places/people that I still wanted to get some information from. I ran around the floor getting all the last minute networking done. I played matchmaker with an artist and a fabric company. I hope it works out because I think it could be HUGE!!! 

Had the last bits of lunch that were in my bag from the Food Market which is called Phoenicia in case you ever make it to Houston. I would go there to eat in a heartbeat rather than going to a restaurant where you tend to overeat. And the employees were the sweetest.

I trucked it back to the hotel to get my suitcase. I was going to try and stuff the last minute stuff that I had in my tote bag but thought - why would I want to do that? It was already heavy enough so I decided to check my bag and have my backpack and my tote bag as my carryon.

I got the Super Shuttle to the airport and you'll never guess what happened!!!  There was already someone on the shuttle when it arrived at my hotel. And then we had one more stop and a woman got in and sat beside me - I was sandwiched in the middle. Then she asked me if I had been here for Market. Yep. Turns out that I was sitting beside Wendy Sheppard. When I really looked at her - I recognized her from the magazine pictures I've seen and her picture in her book. She has published three books and has published quite a bit of stuff in magazines over the last 10 years. She has another book coming out, but I'm not going to tell you what that is. You'll have to wait. The link for her books shows a different cover than the one that I'm familiar with, but the book on quilting on a domestic machine is very good!!!

That was super exciting and as we were about halfway to the airport, it started to rain. Not just rain, but it was raining so hard that I was thinking that the road wasn't very visible. Just what you need on the way to the airport. But by the time we hit the airport, it had cleared up or at least stopped raining.

I was in the TSA pre-check line which makes things a whole lot easier. Nothing needs to be taken out of the bags, no removal of shoes and all that. I don't think they even asked to see my boarding pass.

I was getting a sandwich for the flight home when I ran into Gail and Angie from The Hobby Horse. We were on the same flight so when I got back to the gate area, we had a great time comparing notes and even better, we got the entire schedule of classes that I'm going to teach (from January to June) all figured out. Now to find dates to teach them. There is something for everyone and I'm super excited about it.

At some point, an alarm went off in our area of the airport and it was annoying. Everyone was very annoyed at the noise and it took quite some time before it was shut off. Then we boarded the plane and we had an excellent flight all the way home, despite the fact that Shirley tried to scare the bejeezus out of me by watching Flight Mayday (or something like that) the evening before in our room. I survived and I have to say that that sandwich was the best ever. You can build custom sandwiches at this place - forgotten the name and it was very reasonably priced and very good.

I watched Mission Impossible on the way home and just managed to see the last bit before we arrived at the gate. That was a FAST flight home or so it seemed. Our plane landed and I sailed through customs - you have to love that NEXUS card. And by the time I had walked to the luggage carousel, my checked bag was already circulating on the carousel. Now, how the heck did that happen?

Bear came to the airport to greet me and he freaked out when he saw me. Then he quieted down and slept on my lap all the way home. He was supposed to go home this morning, however, when we arrived at the airport at an ungodly hour, they don't open until 5 AM so we had to wait and then they wouldn't take him because I didn't have a valid health certificate. His previous one had expired. Good grief - I know someone who is going to be very unhappy about that, but it wasn't my fault. We came home and went back to bed. Now he's sleeping quite happily on my lap. He'll fly out tomorrow.

On that note, I've got a ton of things to do today and I had better get started. I've got a late start this morning because when we came back from the airport, I confess that I went back to bed. Like I said - we were at the airport at a ridiculous time and I had to be up early to get in a walk for all the girls and boys.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Quilt Market - Day Three

Oh my - is it day three or day four? My brain has gone into over drive and it's full. Just plain full of ideas, contacts and excitement!

I have to say thanks to my roommate. I don't normally room with someone when I'm on these trips, but as a freelance person, you want to room  - it's way cheaper. Margaret was a good roommate when we were at the SVP event. Shirley has also been a great roommate this time. I'm actually liking having a roommate because it gives you a chance to decompress with someone who has seen the same stuff. It's been great to get back to the room and compare notes, get contacts and all kinds of other stuff.

Had breakfast with some friends which was a lot of fun. Thank goodness we did arranged that. As we were sitting eating, it started to pour rain. I'm not talking pouring rain - I'm talking pouring buckets. If we had of followed our normal routine, we would likely have gotten soaked. But we were near the convention center and were able to walk to it via a walkway so we stayed nice and dry. It was awesome.

I was late for my morning class because of that, but no matter. I went to the class, talked to the instructor, took pictures of the sample, chatted with Laura who was also in that class and talked to my colleague from SVP who was there to help with the PFAFF machines that were in the room. I took the sample and I left the class. It was a cool technique, but I'll do it at home.

Then I headed off to look at some of the quilts. Oh my - that hall is HUGE and there are so many different shows. I did see the main juried show. The winners won't be announced for a day or so. I saw so much inspiration that my head was swimming. I barely made it half way through and then I needed to be on the complete opposite side of the convention center so I booted it all the way down there.

I got the location of Jeannie's book signing and she had a couple of books left. Phew - I was certain that I would have missed the event, but I walk fast! So I had a really good chat with Jeannie. That was great and I'm so excited for her new book. It's called Contemporary Paper Piecing. I think that's the name.

Since I was now on the trade floor, I wasn't going back to the quilts and it was about noon anyway. So I took up where I had left off the day before and I was good to go. I saw so much cool stuff. New patterns, new designers, new fabrics and so MANY ideas. It was a crazy day, but so exciting that - well it was exciting and let's leave it at that.

I started to run out of steam around 5 PM. Hey - I have to carry my silly tote bag with me and it gets heavy with your water, snacks and all the stuff I picked up. I tried very hard to only pick up what I truly wanted. And when I got back to the hotel last night and started to go through the stuff, there was very little that I put in the garbage. It's all good stuff.

The question was - could I put it into my suitcase? We had stopped at the food market on our way to the hotel and we picked up dinner. That little market is just the best and it's very close to the convention center. They must make a killing when there's a convention in town.

Anyway after dinner which we ate in our room (it's really nice to have a suite so we're not eating on the bed!) and I had gone through all the stuff I collected in the day, it was time to see if it fit in the suitcase. I come very light (as usual) and YES - it all fit. I didn't even have to sit on the cover in order to close it, but I still need to put my pjs in there and the sweater I wear on the trade floor. I don't think I'll have any problems. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a tad heavy - not that heavy, but a wee bit heavier than when I came down. I'm hoping that we're on the same plane and that Air Canada will gate check that suitcase. I'm good with that because then I don't have to pay for it. I'm all checked in, but didn't check luggage.

The shuttle is coming to pick me up from the hotel around 2 PM today so I have to make sure that I get back here and swap sweaters and be down at the front desk. I think this plane ride home is going to be filled with Canadians who came to Market. We should arrange a party in the lounge, but I would bet that we're all going home totally drained. Excited, but drained if that makes sense.

I have another class this morning which I'll get to on-time today since we're back to our regular routine. I made a list of stuff that I want to recheck out today and I have one more meeting. It's going to be a jam packed day and then it'll be over. The show closes at 3 PM today which allows two extra hours for the tear down. And I'll be gone!! I'm so super excited about part.

And that's that!

I've got to run and get ready for the day.

Have a super day!

Ciao!!

Quilt Market - Day Two

What an amazing day yesterday!!!!  After having our free breakfast, we headed down to the convention center. It's a great walk to get the day started. I'm really loving this hotel - Springhill Suites by Marriott. 

I started the day off with a 1 1/2 hour class on batting from Hobbs. Oh boy - while I may have known about battings before, I'm super knowledgeable now. I'm super excited. I hope to be able to share that knowledge with everyone when I get back by having a demo. And we can get some samples done - can't wait to get home.

Then I hit the trade floor.  Oh my - it was an amazing experience. I went through a couple of aisles and there was so much to see. I spoke to several people and everyone seems to be jazzed about this Market. There are some great things and I've learned a lot. My head is swimming with ideas.

I managed to get in to chat briefly with the girls (a couple of them) from Ruby Star Society. They are so sweet and so excited about their new venture. This Market is a brand launch for them. Their new collections will be releasing in early next year. I've forgotten the date that Melody mentioned. Star struck!!!

I ran into Angela from APQS. She's the lady I took a class from for my long arm software. So I sponged off her for over an hour and got AMAZING information about a couple of issues I was having. Not issues, but the learning curve. Now I can't wait to get back and put that into play. She also is a very sweet and giving person. She's my new best friend!

I chatted to the ladies from Kimberbell and I got some tips on using those new Orange Pop rulers that I bought. Now I can't wait to get the rectangular rulers and get started on their embroideries. I saw Laura Heine doing her collage applique - I haven't made it to her booth yet, but she has new stuff releasing. Small collage quilts.  Can't wait to see those in person.

Chatted with one of my favorite magazine editors and got up to speed on things with that editor so that was all good. I managed to get a brand new book from Joyce Hughes on thread painting. She signed it for me and I was happy as a clam. That could be a good class as well.

Oh my - what else? I've run into many people from back home and it would appear that we're all leaving on the same plane to go home. It's fun to check out and see what the others got excited about.

I've met up with my friends at SVP (sewing machine company - Husqvarna and PFAFF) and had a good chat. It never hurts to keep in touch with the big guys at the top!

I'm not really looking at new fabric collections but I'm looking at a little bit of the new stuff. I WANT to do the new Lori Holt Vintage Farm Girl applique quilt. It's a sew along starting in January. Who wants to sew along???  You have to buy the templates. They're not out yet. No idea what the cost is.

The biggest problem is that if I see something exciting (in fabric - let's say), I'm not in a position to order it. Same thing with patterns. Some of the vendors have restrictions - buy 6 patterns minimum even if they are six different ones. I don't want SIX patterns from that designer - I only want one. Thank goodness for my good friend Gail at the Hobby Horse. We seem to have the same taste and she's picked up some of the stuff that I was interested in. This was after the show ended for the day and we compared notes. Some stuff, I can buy off the internet when I get home.

Oh yes - it was a super exciting day. I went to the food market and picked up some stuff for dinner and then headed home where I ate dinner and then went through most of the stuff I had picked up (or had been forced to pick up) and I sorted through it. Better to do that now than carry it all home and then sort it.

Then I was off to dream land. I was tired. Now the time has changed (thank god for smart phones who keep you on track!).

Today is another day and I hope to get in to look at some quilt exhibits. Then I'd better hustle my butt through the rest of the show. I've only seen about 40% of the show. I MUST go faster today.

On that note, we're off for breakfast this morning and I'd better get myself organized.

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

Quilt Market - Day One - Schoolhouse

What a day!!  And I'm an idiot.

First, I have to say that we have a pretty decent hotel. There is a huge spread for breakfast - oatmeal (not steel cut, but still - it's oatmeal), cold cereals, eggs, cold cuts, waffles, etc.  And it's complementary. That's the best part. I was chatting to someone else yesterday and they had a $15 breakfast voucher which they thought was pretty decent until they saw the prices. A muffin for $11. Doesn't leave much left on the voucher!  And the other hotel where I used to stay - their breakfast was about $25.  No - I think we're doing just fine here. And I timed it yesterday - it took me 10 minutes to walk to the convention center.

The first thing I did was to get to the FedEx office to mail my package to the magazine. When I saw the price come up, I was happy. It was about $17 and two day service. But when I went to pay, the total bill was $35. Why the difference???  Handling!!!!   The guy charged me $10 to pack my quilt and I had to buy the box. Now what was I thinking when there was an entire convention floor full of cardboard boxes and packing tape. If the thought had of occurred to me, I could have been down there finding a box, but it didn't. Oh well - the quilt is gone and that's all I care about - but the fact that I "threw" away that $15 - well, I'm a dolt!!!!

I picked up the Schoolhouse brochure so I could browse the lectures to attend. There was the big premier Schoolhouse which everyone goes to and then there are 14 other time slots in the day. Each one is 30 minutes (although 2 of them are 15 minutes).  It was hard to choose as there were some time slots where I wanted to see more than one thing. ACK!!!!   How to choose?  I ended up picking sessions that were educational rather than just showcasing a new fabric collection. If I really want to see the new fabrics, I can go to the booths. So I don't get a freebie sample - so what? It's not like I'm desperate for more fabric.

I learned a lot and now I have even more booths to chat with today as I have questions/suggestions from what I learned yesterday.  Oh boy - it was crazy in the hallways when the time came to move to another room. And I swear that I picked sessions that were at opposite ends of the floor each time. Needless to say, I managed to get over 10,000 steps in again.

I can't wait to get into the quilt show area today as well. There is the main show and then there are many, many smaller shows. I can't wait to get in to see them. And I have at least one appointment today.

There are some demos as well today that I want to see so I need to get everything marked down on a piece of paper so it's easy to follow.

I have a mini class each morning so I'm excited about that. 

The booths look great - I had a quick run around the floor last night and saw some amazing stuff that I'll be posting later today. Some amazing quilts and I found a new one by Lori Holt (Bee in my Bonnet) that I'm going to have to make. It's a sew along.  Anyone want to join me???  Especially those girls from Farm Girl Vintage.

And there's so much embroidery and I'm getting so hyped about machine embroidery applique. There are so many cool things to make. Too much eye candy! I need to be home sewing, but when I get home, I'll be sewing the next magazine quilt.

Then it was off to Sample Spree last night which is a totally insane event where thousands of people line up for hours so they can get to buy samples and fabric and other goodies at a discount. As an independent attendee, I had to wait until 7:30 to get in whereas the shops could get in at 7 PM. There was a LOT of unhappy people in our line and when we did finally get into the room, the MODA tables were empty.

I did pick up some stuff - a laser cut kit, some thread and a couple of patterns. It was still super crazy and I was getting tired. I would have liked to have one more pass around the tables, but we left and did our ten minute walk back to the hotel.

Good thing I didn't buy too much as I'll just have to lug it all home. But it's an experience - there's no denying that!

I've run into people that I know from back home. And people that I know from Market. It's kind of exciting when other industry people remember who you are. I just like the excitement of it all. I'm such a sucker for that!

Well - I'd better go and get my schedule of events organized for the day.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Travel Day

Here I am sitting in my shared hotel room in Houston. I'm here for Quilt Market. I'm super excited because I'm here to learn and to look and I don't have to lift a finger to do any work. Now how exciting is that?

Yesterday, I was up early so I could finish the binding on my magazine quilt. Then to pack my bag so I could get off to the airport. The magazine quilt came with me in the suitcase. I'll ship it from the convention center today. That allowed me time to sew on the hanging sleeve last night. I put it on my bed last night and the darn thing fits nicely on a double bed. It's huge, but it looks great. I'm very happy with the results. Twister on a treadmill for sure! 

Now that that quilt is out of my suitcase, I have room to spare so if I buy something here - there's room to take it home. But we have to remember that this is Quilt Market - NOT Quilt Festival. It's mostly a marketing/networking kind of place rather than a buying place, but there are things to buy. However I'm already wheeling and dealing with people and I've two places to visit over the next couple of days.

Our plane was delayed by about an hour. Something to do with restarting some on-board system. I dozed on and off during the entire flight. I read a wee bit and I finished my audiobook. I'd better get those darn things logged in before I forget. It's easy to remember when it's a physical book.

I had to check my small suitcase as the plane was small and they weren't letting any of the rolling bags on the plane as the plane was small and it was full. So as I'm waiting by the luggage carousel, I met up with a lot of people that I knew. There was the gang from my old work, an owner of a quilt store, and someone else that I knew.

I was able to share the cab ride to the hotel which was perfect. And then I didn't have to pay anything as it was a business expense for the other person. Could have been for me as well, but this was perfect. Then I had to walk two blocks to get my hotel. The room was ready and I dropped my bags. Then I popped out for a late lunch.

I got my show badge so I could get onto the floor. I ran into the group that I used to work for as they were working on the booth. Oh - this is so much fun to visit with them but not have to do the work. Because I'm a nice person, I did offer to help out. I went upstairs to a room where there was a bee going on and they were in the process of stuffing 1,000 bags with goodies for a presentation this morning. That was a lot of fun and it was good to be back with the gang. But when the stuffing was over, I was out of there!  That was ever more fun!

Then I went back to the floor and I walked around and got to check out the cool stuff that was being set up by the fabric companies and the other vendors. Oh my - some very exciting stuff. I'm trying to share lots of pictures on Facebook and Instagram so you can get the pictures there.

On my way to the convention center, I ran into Kim from Kimberbell Designs. She is such a sweet person. And she remembered me from the SVP convention in New Orleans last month. I can't wait to see what new stuff they have. I saw Alex Anderson last night. I took a picture of the side of Tula Pink's booth. She was sitting on a sofa in the booth doing some handwork but I didn't want to take a picture of her sitting there. I've seen the two ladies from Me and My Sister and well - tons of other people. 

There's a fabulous little market/grocery store between our hotel and the convention center. After I got all my registration done and got the show guide, I was ready to get back to the hotel. I stopped at the market on my way and picked up some goodies for dinner. A piece of quiche and some soup. I picked up some stuff for lunch so I can attempt to eat healthy here and no need to get in a line to eat or sit down in a restaurant. I love that!

It's about a fifteen minute walk to the convention center from the hotel which is great. The weather is nice. It took me a bit to get myself orientated, but once that happened, then I was good.

We've got a nice room to share and my roommate did NOT freeze me out like she threatened although I won't have the quilt on my bed tonight but I'm sure I can manage.

I sat on the sofa last night to hand stitch that sleeve and the light was BRIGHT that I didn't go blind to get that sleeve sewn on. That was fabulous.

I guess I had better get myself organized so I can get myself to the convention center for 8 AM. Got to go through the list of presentations so I can see the ones that I want to go to. It's going to be a jam packed.

Have a great day!!!

Hello!!