We're coming home!

Oh boy - I'm totally out to lunch.  Last evening as we were getting ready to tear the booth down, I mentioned that the clocks were supposed to turn back.  My colleagues very politely told me that it was the previous night that the clocks were turned back!  With all the technology today and everything automatically turning back, I was totally oblivious to the change!    I thought it was pretty funny. Everyone makes a big deal of it and I never even noticed.

Although the last day of any show is always slow, yesterday seemed to be slower than usual.  But we still had people come through the booth. It did allow us to get out a wee bit more and well I shouldn't have because I spent some money and I'm going to blame this one all on Marilyn!  She told me to visit a particular booth because of Shelley and well, Shelly and I had a great conversation and I found a few cool things in the booth. Now to find time to make these things!

The other thing I noticed and this was probably a good thing was that a number of items that I wanted were sold out by the time I got there!!!!  One of the things that I wanted was sold out and I have to say that I did find it in the booth that Marilyn and Audrey had pointed out to me!   And now I'm the proud owner of three yards of a cool print that is 54 inches wide.

I did manage to get to see all?  of the quilts.  But a fast look through. There were some amazing quilts and I was very impressed.  I was standing in front of Marilyn's quilt, the name of which I cannot remember and this is what I heard.  A couple of people came by and said "that is so creative. I would never think of doing that with that fabric."  They were VERY impressed and so they should as Marilyn is a very creative and talented lady and I would aspire to be more like her!  She also has a heck of a lot more free time than I do!

By Marilyn Farquar

It's very cool with those tiny touches of red.  This is the one that was chosen for Judges Choice by David Taylor.  A pretty cool honor!

So I have to do some name dropping - sorry. But Jenny walked by our booth yesterday and waved to me!  Yep - I didn't have my glasses on at the show so I wasn't 100% percent it was her and thought - if I wave, I'll look like an idiot, but she waved to me and I waved back!!!  I've got stuff to do for her so that is exciting and I guess I made a good impression.  I went over to see Victoria Findlay Wolfe - well I was just wandering past her booth and she said HI.  We had a great conversation.  I did see Angela Walters wandering the floor on several occasions, but I didn't stop and chat with her. Hmmm - who else?  Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr - I spoke to Weeks and was going to have a further conversation, but that didn't happen.

Anyway, that added some excitement to my day so that was great.

I installed EQ8 yesterday on my laptop so I'm good to go. I'll have something to entertain me today as it's a travel day! Can't wait to try out some of the stuff that I learned from Barb Vlack. 

It was a long haul to be away that long, but all in all, it was a very successful show. Well, two shows.  I made or advanced some very important contacts, got loads of work to do to follow up.  Oh yes - forgot to mention that I had a great conversation with Patience Griffith who writes a book series about quilts (romance). And I also had a brief chat with Arlene Sachitano who also writes novels about quilts (mystery).  I saw a ton of books that I would love to own. Most of them were historical books or picture books of quilts. But I didn't buy any because I already have a ton (or two) of books and I really need to start reading my books and messing with my books so I can appreciate them more and then I won't feel so bad if I buy a few more.

The show closed at 4 PM and we made quick work of getting that booth down. There were six of us in total and we were finished, the crate doors closed and final paperwork done by 7:30 PM.  There are a lot of things to pack up and store and it all takes time.  And I got to shrink wrap the pallets! Along with Patti.  You learn something new every day!

I'm all packed and going home probably a wee bit lighter than when I came down as I had a big quilt top in my suitcase. All of my purchases went on the crate.  I think I ended up with three small boxes of stuff. How did that happen?  I'm not sure what was in those boxes but I'll sort it out when we get back to Toronto. It's going to be fun to unpack those crates as instead of having all the same thing in one spot - I think it's in several spots!  That's what happens when you do two shows back to back.

On that note, I'm' out of here.  I have 2 1/2 hours to kill before the shuttle comes to pick us up to take us to the airport. Hmmm - I guess I could do some e-mail.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!!

PS -- while it may have rained at some point, we never had to deal with a rainy day. But the humidity is a bit crazy.

Quilt Festival - Day Three

The weather here is very bizarre. Well, the weather all over the world is very bizarre. The first couple of days were very cool compared to what you would expect from Texas. After all, Texas is very far south. But that was OK and it was good for set-up day when there was a lot of physical work to be done and therefore you wanted it cool so you didn't overheat.

But now the temperature outside is quite high and it's humid. As a result, they have cranked up the air conditioning in these buildings so it's absolutely freezing.  And I mean COLD.  The people who are selling shawls and scarves are making a killing. Note to self:  pack a nice big SWEATER for the next show!  As it's often cold in the convention centers, but yesterday was really bad.  I had gone over with only a T-shirt as the previous day I had on a long-sleeved shirt and thought there wasn't much difference and I could be OK. NOPE - I had to walk over to the hotel to get a long sleeved shirt to put on and I was good for most of the day with that but towards the end of the day, I was COLD. Plus it was probably shorter to come and use the washroom in my room and get a hot chocolate from the Star Bucks here than it was to wait in the convention center.

It took the girl here a mere minute to make a hot chocolate. At the convention center - it's at least five and there's a huge line up there and not here.  Doesn't make sense. There are people walking around in shorts and T-shirts and little dresses with no stockings. Not sure how they are managing.  But the worst is that even when you go outside, you can't get warm. The air is so humid and clammy.  It's very uncomfortable from that perspective.  By the time we get to the hotel, I'm starting to feel OK and then back to cranked up A/C.  YUCK.   The first thing I did when I got in my room last week was to shut the A/C off and shut off the ceiling fan.  Last night, I cranked the temperature up a degree or two (turned on the heat) and wore my sweatshirt to bed.  This is why I hate A/C.  I don't mind it to get comfortable, but the extreme temperature change is what I hate.

We have one last day today and the show closes at 4 PM. Then we have the fun task of taking the booth down and packing up everything. We leave tomorrow.  Yeah - as much fun as it's been, I'll be glad to get home. This is a long haul to be here for the two shows. I'm OK with that as the opportunity is one not to be missed. 

I was over early yesterday morning and got to see some of the quilt displays.  There are some amazing quilts over there and I spent as much time as I could in the area before coming back to the booth to get it ready for the day. While it doesn't take long, it's still a matter of getting the fabric bundles out of the boxes to make it easier to hand out. Make sure the garbage is emptied and the tables look presentable. 

We had a steady stream of people in the booth all day and it was really only in the last hour that things slowed down. So that made the day go by relatively fast and I managed to get out and do a wee bit of shopping. I'm not really needing anything, but there are still about 15 places that I want to go back and revisit. What I'm finding is that the things that I want (other than license plates) are sold out.  ALL the fabric kits and books for the Cherrywood challenge are gone. Hopefully Shelly is going to come to the rescue for that one. I wanted a new Teflon ironing sheet - gone!  But no worries, I will be able to find these things elsewhere - at least I was able to see them here.  I sure hope I can get my bias maker!  The bundle of fabric that I had my eye on was still waiting for me so I guess that was meant to be. 

We got back to the hotel shortly after 7 PM.  The others wanted to hit some fancy restaurant, but no reservations could be made so they were going to have to wait.  Not happening for me.  I had HOT soup in our hotel and a sandwich. Made tons of notes about the show and I was in bed and asleep by 8:30.  I had a fabulous sleep and I feel great this morning.  It takes too long to recover from lack of sleep and too much to drink.   I do NOT have time to get sick.

I'll be heading over to the convention center for 8 AM this morning so I can check out some more of the quilts. There are two more exhibits that I want to see for sure and I should take a peek at the winning quilts. I really really hate to say this, but after a while, I become so conditioned, that I have no problem to breeze by these magnificent works of art with a mere glance!  Isn't that awful. 

And HI to Marlene, from back home, whom I ran into several times now.  I had to laugh yesterday as I had seen her at a booth as someone was giving a demo. (I need to buy Inktense blocks now - thanks to Swan!)  Marlene said I'm going back to the hotel and look - I haven't bought any fabric.  Not even five minutes later, she was in our booth with a handful of fabric that she found that matched something she had at home.  We had a good laugh about that!

The networking never stops here.  I've made another couple of good contacts and advanced some existing relationships.  I ran into Jenny and her husband from MSQC yesterday and some interesting things were discussed so that was my big excitement for the day.

On that note, I'm out of here to find a great combination of clothes to wear that I don't have to change for tear down and that will keep me warm during the 6 hours of being on the floor.

Oh - I should mention that it's so cold in the convention center that when you walk past the doors and someone opens it - there's this HUGE blast of cold air and we were about 10-15 feet away from the door.  It was like walking past the refrigerated section in the grocery store. 

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!!

I did see the Van Gogh display by Cherrywood.  WOW is all I can say.  There are some amazing quilts and this is the display that will be at Seaforth, Ontario at the end of November.  Make sure you get out to see it.  I noticed that some used the same quote that I did!  There were a couple that I thought mine was equally as nice, but what the heck - I'm a winner just getting it done!

Quilt Festival - Day Two

We've survived another day at Quilt Festival!  I don't mean that in a bad way - it's just that the days are long. One of my knees, the non-surgery knee isn't all that happy with all of the standing around and it gets stiff real quick when I sit down.  But I'll survive and it's all part of the process.

I was over to the Convention Center at 8 AM and I was able to see the rest of the floor with my camera and my notebook.  I did find a few more treasures and I wrote them down in my notebook. Silly but I found, even more, license plates and well - I'm going to buy them.  Good grief - one day this has to stop. Maybe I'll cap it at 10 or I'll only buy the interesting ones?

Not a whole lot of fabric is on my list - a couple of patterns and a few odds and ends.  It won't take up much room.

Back to the booth where I got it set up for the day - sorting out the fabric for the giveaways and getting our handouts ready.  We've gone through a fair amount, but there is no danger that we'll run out.

While what we hand out is a very small little package of fabric with a link to a free pattern, it's amazing how many people want MORE than one.  Quilters are desperate to increase their stash.   Some of them signed up with us last year and we're OK with that. It's nice to see people come back and I'm totally OK if everyone signs up at each new show (once!).  But when asked if they did the project from last year?  NOPE -- so what is the big deal about getting a few more squares?  Giving it to charity?  You need a whole lot of these squares to make a quilt.  It would appear that quilters have a natural hoarding tendency.  It's pretty crazy!

So if you are one of the ones who want extra fabric here's a tip.  DO NOT wear clothing that is easily recognizable.  Like coming in with your friends in matching bright pink T-shirts for instance. It's pretty funny what people try and I'm not sure if they think they can fool us? trick us?  Anyway - that's part of the game for us!  And then to see how people react when we politely say, thank you, but didn't you already sign-up like an hour ago?

I did manage to get out and walk the floor a wee bit in the day - just taking breaks as we are not all needed in the booth at one given time. And we need to take breaks.  The day did seem to go by fast so that was great as the days are very long.  I'm not sure why the show is open until 7 PM, but that seems a bit long.

There was a parade for the Houston Astros (World Series champs) yesterday at 2 PM.  The downtown was a zoo and traffic was gridlocked for a long time.  I do hope that Audrey and Marilyn got out as they were planning to leave in the middle of the parade.  I think they may have changed their plans. It was great to see the two of them and they should be safely out of town by now and halfway back home. Well not quite, but on their way home.

We've got another couple of days before we head home. Today is the last long day of the show as it closes at 7 again and then tomorrow is 4 PM when we get the fun task of closing down the booth and packing up.

We all went out to dinner last night to an area not far from the hotel.  It was a zoo.  I think the parade had occurred on this street and there was ticker tape all over the street, the bars were full of wasted people and garbage was piled in bags on the street. We were able to find a quiet place just outside the crazy zone and had the best sweet potato fries that I've had in a long time.

No pictures today - I didn't sleep very well. I've no idea why but I had tons of design ideas for quilts that were tossed around in my head and I need to get them on paper!

Have a super day!

Ciao!

Quilt Festival - Day One

And so the show has officially begun - well there was preview night!  But this was the first of THREE days where the show opens at 10AM and closes at 7 PM   (and unofficially the show opens at 8 AM for vendors so that makes an 11 hour day on the floor).

I was at the convention center at 8 AM and the moment we could get onto the floor, I was there. I dropped my bag at our booth and then walked to the far end of the floor and started my walk.  I had camera, notebook, and pen.

I think there are 26 aisles and I was able to make it to 10 (starting at 26) in one hour and a half. It's amazing how fast you can walk that floor when there are no people on it!   I made notes - lots of notes of things that I want to go back and get. Nothing too exciting but I did see a couple of license plates - I know - an addiction that won't go away!  I see that some of them have plates from previous years and I don't know if I have them so I did stop myself from buying those.

Technically, I'm window shopping and then I'll re-evaluate the list and go from there.

I did find one very interesting tool and the owner was in the booth to demonstrate to me and I'm going back later today or tomorrow to buy the tool.  It was amazing and something that I have been looking for forever.  Wait until you see what it does!

In my second walk, there does seem to be a lot of jewelry places and things for finished goods but probably no more than previous years.  For those that think the CreativFestival has some "non-quilt" places, ALL shows - even this big one does.  It's just the nature of the beast and of course at the end of the day, the massage places are making a killing!

I did pop out during the day to the Cherrywood booth to see the challenge fabric only to find that ALL the half yard kits for the new challenge (the theme is Prince - the singer)  were SOLD OUT!!   Yes - they had brought well over 50 and all were gone! At a mere cost of $64 US!!!!!   It's totally insane and why this particular challenge is so popular, I've no idea.  But wow!!!!  The purples (like all their other colors are to die for - they are rich and very saturated and well, I know that Ronda would love to pet them!  Looks like we better put in an order with the shop in Seaforth and Shelly is going to be our fabric mule!

For some reason, I can't upload the pictures that I want! 
Ok - now properly connected to the internet.   Nope still can't upload a picture.





If they do get some more in, I'll try to fill my requests but I'm not holding my breath!

I'll be back early this morning so I can walk the rest of the floor and then it'll be easy to pop out for a few minutes here and there to pick up what I want or at least to investigate it a bit further. One of the problems is that I get excited about the same booths every year and so I'm reluctant to buy something from them unless I know it's brand new because chances are, I bought it last year!

The lesson here is to get things done that you buy!

We had very steady traffic flow in our booth all day.  There are five of us staffing the booth (oh shoot -  just realized I forgot to charge the iPad last night!)  It's now plugged in!  We have three iPads to capture e-mails and people get to spin the wheel and get a prize.  Not only do we had out a small fabric pack, but they get a pattern to make a project as well which is fun. Have I ever posted those projects online?   I don't think so - well I'll try to remember and try to get them on our Northcott website so that even if you didn't get the pack, the patterns are there.  People are very receptive to the idea of the patterns so that's a good thing. 

The show closed at 7 PM last night and by the time we got to our hotel and getting ready for dinner, it was 7:30.  Then the discussion of where to eat.  That drives me absolutely crazy.  I ended up going to the local sports bar and had a great dinner by myself.  No offense to my colleagues but after spending the entire day being "on" with our customers, I like a wee bit of quiet time for myself.  I had a few words with the people in the bar and the bartender and that was as much conversation that I wanted. I was back at the hotel and in bed by 9:30.  I woke up this morning feeling awesome so that is a good thing.  I'm too old to spend all this time without sleep - it just isn't good for me anymore.

People are loving the wolf quilt.  Ooohing and aahing and hopefully, we're directing traffic to Yanicka's web site.  It's a pretty stunning piece of art and of course, Marilyn quilted it for her.  I love it and I want it!

We've had a great response to our other quilts as well so all in all, it's been great and that was only the first day.

Shoot, I'm not sure that I have any pictures that I want to post on the blog.  I'll try to snap one or two today for you. sorry about that!

I've got to run as I have to write out a few notes as to how to change things for next year!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!

The town goes wild!

Oh yes - last night was a crazy night as - well - the Houston Astros won the World Series! Now they were not playing in Houston, but there were 40,000 fans at the Minute Maid Stadium watching the game on the big screen.

We happened to be at the Convention Center doing Preview Night which started at 5 PM. There were people walking around watching the game on their phone!  And we did get announcements from time to time to update the score. There was a HUGE roar through the center each time they did that and there was an even bigger roar when they scored three runs (or whatever it was).  It was great fun to be part of that and hopefully today things will go back to normal?

I went over to the convention center in the morning and got everything all tidied up in the booth. So that meant we didn't have to worry about it later in the day.  Then off to meet with someone and then it was time for a couple of lectures.

While I enjoyed the first lecture, I was a teeny bit disappointed. The lady was chatting about how many UFOs she had and how to get them under control. I really think I could have done a better job and provided way more information to the audience. It was entertaining, but not enough meat. I met up with Anne from back home so we had a good chat. But with all the going that we have been doing, the moment I sat down, well I wanted to go to sleep. I was tired and I think I drifted off for a moment or two.

I'm not bragging or anything, but honestly sometimes these BIG names speakers - they get a draw because of who they are, not because of the content of their presentations.  In many cases, I could do way better!  But no one would come because they don't know who I am.

And I hate the fact that when I'm tired or bored, I'm restless.  I just can't sit still and it's bad! Sometimes one of my legs gets extremely annoyed and is restless.  It's totally crazy!

Then I popped over to the line for the banquet. It was the winner's circle banquet and while I didn't get to sit with Marilyn and Audrey, I had a chat with them and found a spot at a table where I chatted with ladies from various parts of the US. A very entertaining story about publishing a book which I had heard before, but it was still good.

I forgot to mention that one of the big prizes went to a lady from Nelson, BC.  I want to say her name was Donna James?  Machine quilting - very amazing!  Anyway, we got to listen to the stories of the top 8 winners.  Three from Japan, one from Spain, one from Canada and the rest from the US. These are the kind of quilts that take YEARS.  I think the longest was 6 years.  Seriously?   I couldn't do it.
And Donna?  Her quilt was on her long arm frame for 4 months!  And it's about 60 inches square.

Then to another lecture about making bags and using various constructions methods for dressing them up.  The lecture was good, but I was not.  I actually fell asleep in this lecture. I just couldn't help myself.  The least amount of downtime and I'm out!  But I did learn some things so it wasn't a complete wash.

I had one hour before I was to meet the rest of our crew in the booth so we could get ourselves organized for the evening. I walked the floor - very quickly.  I had pen and paper and I had my camera to record certain things. The set up seemed a wee bit rushed as it seemed that people were still way behind in the setup and the show opened in an hour.  It all gone done, but for some it was close.

There are some interesting things, but it sure seems like the jewelry category is large and it seemed to me there were a lot of finished goods?  I'm going to check with my colleagues on that one. Or I'll see again today as I'm going to be there at 8 AM so that I have two good hours to walk the floor. 

The evening was fun but ended at 10 PM at which time we came back to our hotel and watched the last of the game. I really wanted to go to bed, but I stayed up and it was midnight before I got to bed. I'm a tad tired this morning so you're not getting pictures.  It just isn't going to happen.

And last night they announced the new theme for the Cherrywood challenge.  The color is purple, the theme is Prince - as in the singer Prince.  I'm picking up a kit (with half yard cuts!) and I might buy a few more purples to go with it.  I have months so need to get myself in gear. It's a great learning experience even if my piece doesn't get into the show. I know not much about Prince so a bit of research is going to be in order.

I have to run as I have one e-mail that I have to send this morning before I go down for breakfast. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

A learning curve

So sorry about forgetting to publish that post yesterday.  I had done a lot of research in the morning about what class I could take.  I saw that I could get into EQ7 so I had breakfast and zipped off to the convention center. I was thinking that the class started at 8 AM so I was in a bit of a rush. I arrived at the classroom only to find it completely empty. After looking at the schedule I realized that it started at 9 AM and ended at 5, not 4.  Oh well.  Not a problem. I also thought we had one hour for lunch and so after rushing at lunch only to find that I had one more hour.  It appears that I'm not good with times or something!

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to the others from our office as I was gone. But that's OK.  It's a bit of a bittersweet moment.  They get to go home and I get to stay. Which is the better of those two worlds?  Afterall, it's now Quilt Festival and there are literally hundreds of people with stuff to sell to me and I haven't seen the quilts yet.  I'm OK with staying. BUT one week from today, I'll be in the car on my way to a sewing retreat. A very well deserved sewing retreat and I can't wait.  I think I'll have to rejig what I threw in that laundry basket or just take it and wing it.  As long as I'm sewing and advancing projects, it doesn't really matter what I sew.

The class I ended up taking was EQ7.  For those in the industry, you'll be wondering why I took this class when EQ8 is on the Market. And how did I get into such a class at the last minute?  Because it was EQ7 and NOT EQ8.  If it had of been EQ8, I wouldn't have gotten near it.  However what people don't realize is that many of the functions are the same - it's just the look that has changed (I know there are improvements, but the underlying functions are the same).  And as compensation, we all got a FREE copy of the EQ8 upgrade.

Barb Vlack was the teacher and honestly, she was amazing.  This was the BEST class that I've taken in a long time. It was for confident beginners and I was a bit worried as I've been using the product for a long time. But I knew that there were things that I just don't touch and I would say that within the first hour, I had more than recouped my money.  What was nice is that while Barb had an outline that she was following, she did allow us some questions outside of that outline and things that I had really wanted to know how to do better.  I could have asked more questions, but my head was already swimming with information and best to get really comfortable with what I now know.  Get used to all that and then go back!  What I really must do when I get home is to download the manual to the tablet and go through the darn thing.  I keep saying that everytime a new version comes out and I never do. But after doing that with the sewing machines, I know that a lot can be gleaned from the manual!   AHA - writing the word tablet made me remember that I had to charge up the iPad so it'll be ready for this evening. All plugged in and ready to go.

I even tried to use my phone as a hotspot when I realized that I hadn't posted the blog, but I couldn't get it to work.  My computer couldn't find the phone.  I must ask Ronda about that next week.

 Then after the class, I made it back to the hotel to dump off the laptop and then hustle into the line back at the convention center to be part of the awards ceremony (the audience part!).  I knew that Audrey and Marilyn would be there as we had been messaging all day.  Those girls are like Thelma and Louise. I'm not sure I would trust them!  But it sounds like they have a good time. When your quilt wins something at these major shows, you don't know know what.  You just know you have won. Marilyn won a Judge's Choice. The judge was David Taylor which was funny because they know each other.  But when the judges are judging, they have no idea whose quilt is whose. They might guess from the style, but they don't know.   I'm absolutely thrilled for Marilyn.

And it sounds like it was a huge ordeal to judge the quilts which happened around the time of the hurricane.  The quilts had to be moved down five flights of stairs because the elevator shaft was full of water.  Anyway, there was much thanking last night because of the huge efforts of people to make this show happen and all the while some of them were dealing with the hurricane on a personal level.  HUGE KUDOS to the staff at Quilts, Inc to make that happen.

For those of you who don't know Marilyn, you should!  She is an award-winning quilter, not just at this show, but she's won at Paducah and QuiltCon and probably a few others that I can't remember. Her machine quilting is to die for and well, we just love her!!!!   I'm not sure that I should say this, but Marilyn's quilt almost didn't make it to the judging process because of a couple of SNAFUs which is a very entertaining story.  But the bottom line is that when you send anything via courier or even the mail, make sure that EVERY piece of information from the previous shipping is completely obliterated or use a new box!!!!  Gosh - I remember when we wrapped boxes in brown paper before sending them.  Does anyone else remember doing that?

Marilyn and David Taylor

I'll try to get a better picture on the floor.  It was hard to get this picture because there were so many people milling about and wanting pictures but we shooed them away so we could get this.  We need to get Marilyn some web presence.  I know she has a blog and Instagram - I just can't find the link this morning.

We had a number of winners from Canada and Kathie Wylie won first place in the Traditional Applique category.

Kathie Wylie and her winning quilt

Oh - that picture is even fuzzier.  It's very hard to take pictures in that ballroom because of the lighting. I'll try again for a better picture.  There was another first place for Canada in an art category and I can't remember the category. It was Ana Buzzalino from Calgary.  I also can't find the list of winners on the website. Perhaps it will go up the website today!

The workmanship in those quilts is amazing.  I will never get to that level because I NEVER EVER want to spend that much time on one quilt.  I would die of total boredom. And there would never be an excuse to buy new fabric!   A lot of winners from Japan and a lot of them were in attendance last night.

Back to the hotel where I had dinner with a couple of the others that had already finished up but the baseball game was on.  The stadium was packed with people and so there was a heavy security presence again. Police on bikes, police on horse, helicopters hovering. I'm sure the snipers were in place again. However it was a subdued crowd that left that stadium.  While I'm not a baseball fan, it's hard to not get wrapped up in the excitement of being here.

I booked a couple of lectures and the winner's circle luncheon today as I have nothing else to do. The preview night opens at 5 PM until 10 PM and my experience in previous years is that the place will be packed!  Tomorrow will also be a long busy day and then the remaining three days will be significantly calmer so that means we get to get out of the booth for a bit.  I plan to get to the convention center two hours before the show starts and you can do and see a LOT in those two hours. It makes for an extra long day, but that's just the way it goes.

I think I've blathered on for long enough!   I'm out of here to have a leisurely breakfast and get ready for my first appointment of the day at 10.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Quilt Market - Day Three

I have failed you all in my quest to keep you in touch with what's happening at Quilt Market.  I've been in the booth having some amazing conversations with editors and quilt designers and people in the industry that I just didn't have time to make it on the floor. I literally did NOT walk this floor at all.  I did manage to get into a few booths - people I wanted to thank for supporting me in some of my endeavors which I managed to do.

I got to show Elizabeth Hartman my version of her Florence Flamingo. She was thrilled to see it done in another colorway from her original pattern. Shoot, I should have taken a picture of her and me with the quilt.  I'm realizing something - if I rely solely on my phone to take pictures - it isn't going to happen.  I checked my phone this morning and found that I hadn't taken any pictures yesterday.  Well, just one!  And it was a bicycle in the booth next to us.

The booth belonged to Kimberbell and she has some amazing new stuff out.  I must go shopping when I get home!

Anyone for a ride?

 I was going to borrow it to go to the washroom, but then I never did!  But I asked and they said yes but of course, they were kidding and so was I!!

The color of the year for bicycles appears to be teal. I found one more on set-up day!

Another teal bicycle

I did have about two free hours at the end of the day but I was busy trying to get some business done for one of our customers.  So that didn't allow a whole lot of time, but I was OK with that.

I did manage to purchase one thing at the show so that really didn't do too much damage to the pocketbook or did it?  You'll have to wait for that one. And there were a number of people who influenced that purchase and I don't know whether to love them or hate them.  Thanks to Marilyn and to Jean!

Tear down was the usual chaos!  Thankfully we had lots of people to help which really helps out.  We tore down one booth and reconfigured the second booth and thanks to everyone who stayed a wee bit later than they planned, but we are basically set up for the preview night which is tomorrow starting at 5 PM.

That means that I now have one day and a half with no firm plans.  I'm contemplating taking a class. Found one or two that are still available and I could get away with not having any fabric or tools. The other option was to go to the Quilt Museum, but it's 100 miles away and without a car, that's a little difficult to manage.  I think someone is going to several local shops so that might be an option?  I'm not sure what the day will bring.

Oh - I ran out of the hotel yesterday and it was only hours later that I realized I forgot to edit the post and hit PUBLISH!   DUH!!!

Have a great day!

Ciao!