Quilt Market and Festival 2013 - Thoughts from a Quilt Market Virgin

Hi everyone:

I bet you thought I'd gotten lost at an estate sale, didn't you?! Actually I've been at International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston for the first time and although I'm back, I'm still recovering. All that fabric, all that walking, all those celebrities! 

The entrance at the George R. Brown Convention Centre

Lee of Lala's Lovelys Quilting and I had a great time with hardly a second to spare. When I wasn't oohing and ahhing over the fabric and notions, I was starstruck from meeting the quilting celebrities, who seemed to be everywhere. I'm sure they are used to total strangers rushing up to them, camera or iPhone in hand, begging to have a photo taken with them, but I'm not sure if I would be as gracious if I were in their position. 

Here are a few of the quilting royalty who were kind enough to allow me to photograph them - with me in the picture, of course. Thanks, ladies and gentleman!

Pat Sloan, whose husband was kind enough to take our photo.

Pat Sloan was one of the first people I ran into when I entered the Market floor. She and her husband were on their way somewhere and they were kind enough to stop for photos. I continued to see Pat at various booths throughout Market and Festival. I'm sure she has clones: it's really not humanly possible to be so many places in one week, is it?

Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios
The Queen of Die Cutting

One of the quilters I hoped to see at Market or Festival was Ebony Love. We've been Facebook friends for some time and email back and forth, but had never met in person. I ran into Ebony on the Market floor, while looking for her booth. Ebony was at both Market and Festival and I caught up with her again at the Friday Sampler at Festival where she was demonstrating sashiko techniques. She has just published a new book, Cut it, Sew it, Stow It: Organizers for Your Home, which I picked up while I was in Houston. Look for her upcoming mystery quilt using the Downton Abbey fabric line by Andover Fabrics. Yup, she's one busy lady!

The Downton Abbey line of fabrics by Andover Fabrics

Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs

I've always admired Bunny Hill Designs' patterns, as I love hand embroidery, and was pleased to get the chance to see some of the actual quilts. I managed to get a photo of some of the designs with Anne Sutton, who was sharing a booth with Barb and Mary of Me and My Sister Designs. I'm not in this photo, but that's okay!

Stuart Hillard of The Great British Sewing Bee

You may not know the gentleman in the above photo, but I recognized him right away. It could've been the British accent or perhaps the natty bow tie and pocket square (in American colours, no less), but I instantly recognized Stuart Hillard. If you're an anglophile, you have probably already watched The Great British Sewing Bee and know that Stuart was a contestant in Season 1 on BBC Two. If you haven't watched this reality series yet, you must check it out. The creativity, the craftsmanship, the tension - it has it all. And if you're wondering, Stuart does his quilting on a HQ 18 Avante.

As you can see, I was busy snapping celebrity photos, but I also did check out the new fabrics and the quilt exhibit. I'll be sharing my experiences in future posts, so check back with me in a few days for more Market and Festival photos.

Scraps, stitcheries and what I've been doing

Hi everyone:

I'm writing this post today as a break from pattern designing and to catch you up on what I have been doing this past week. 

I've finally finished two stitchery patterns, which you'll soon see for sale as downloadable e-patterns on my new website soon - hopefully by next week-end or sooner if my IT guy (hubby) is able to upload them. These are perfect for Christmas gifts or ornaments, and can easily be stitched up in a couple of hours. 

Christmas Stitchery Set by Chatterbox Quilts

Winter Stitchery Set by Chatterbox Quilts

Speaking of my new website, thanks to one of my quilty friends for pointing out that I may have neglected to advise my readers how to find my new website. I guess it was obvious to me, but I forgot that not everyone can read my mind (I have a hard time doing this most days!), so I didn't really give you the website address. It's the same as my existing one - www.chatterboxquilts.com. The address is the same; only the contents have been changed (are you old enough to remember Dragnet?). 

I can't believe you forgot to give them the website address!

Now that you know where to find Chatterbox Quilts, let me tell you about my week.

Last week was busy, but productive. Lee of Lala's Lovelys was over on Monday to help me organize my fabric scraps - at least one bin of them! Lee loves to make scrap quilts and I've never made one, so I appreciated her help in getting me set up and pointing me towards some on-line resources with free scrap quilt patterns and helpful tips.

If you aren't familiar with Bonnie K. Hunter of Quiltville, you'll find lots of advice  on her website about cutting up and organizing your scraps to create magnificent quilts. Bonnie has many free patterns on her site and does a mystery quilt each year. She just started her 2012 mystery quilt, Easy Street, on November 23 (I'm sure Lee will be doing this one). 

Another website to help you use up your scraps is Heartstrings Quilt Project. This website represents a group of quilters who make string quilts for local charitable organizations. If you are interested in joining them, they have a yahoo group and welcome donations of quilt tops and backings. They have lots of free pattern instructions for string quilts and wonderful photos to inspire you.

On Wednesday, I met Diane McGregor of Castilleja Cotton for lunch. Diane and I usually get together every month or so to catch up and talk quilt business. As usual I came away with lots of new ideas and will be doing a video with Diane later this year, so keep your eyes pealed for this one. Diane is a prolific pattern designer and art quilter, whose advice and suggestions I appreciate. I'm sure you've seen Diane's designs in your local quilt shop or in some of your favourite magazines (Catching Hearts is on the front cover of McCall's Quick Quilts this month), but if not, you'll want to browse through some of her over 400 patterns (or is that 500 now?!). Yes, I did say prolific :)

Catching Hearts from Castilleja Cotton in
McCall's Quick Quilts December/January 2013
Photo courtesy of mccallsquilting.com

Well, that was last week. Check back with me tomorrow to see what I've got up my sleeve for this week. Some really exciting things happening and I can't wait to share them with you!

Have a great Sunday evening and go Stamps go!