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Quilt Market - What a Blast!
Posted: Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Have you ever been on one of those scavenger hunts that has you running all over town like a crazy person? Well, that is what our first day in Houston was like! We rented a Mazda 5 hatchback - should have gotten a van... We made 3 trips to Home Depot, 1 to Michaels, 1 to JC Penney, 2 to Staples and 5 (yes, 5!!) to Garden Ridge. Despite planning ahead and knowing exactly what we would need and where to get it, we managed to visit 5 different Garden Ridge stores to collect it all.
On our scavenger hunt list: 2 Kitchen Islands, 2 Cute Stools, 1 Adirondack Chair and Table (it HAD to be red, although everywhere we went had white), 2 Large Picture Frames, 2 24" Closet Doors and Hinges, 1 Wet & Wild Poster, 3 Quilts on the Go Posters, 3 Plum Mums, 1 Quilt Rack, 2 Pillows, 1 Business Card Holder, 2 Wreath Hangers, 2 Extension Cords, Command Strips, Tape, Ribbon, Diet Pepsi (for Susan) and Diet Coke (for Christine). In addition, we had 14 boxes of quilts and patterns to pick up from Quilter's Emporium in Stafford.
We didn't get pictures of our carloads, but here is everything after arriving at Booth #1645:
I should mention that the kitchen islands came flat in boxes. Christine put them together in record time while I covered a lamp shade and wondered where the heck our curtains were (they never made it...).
Here are the "after" pics:
We ended up finding a red Adirondack chair half-price in the scratch & dent section at Garden Ridge #5 - SCORE!
And, better yet - a matching business card holder:
We took pictures of everyone who joined Michael Miller Clubhouse and added them to the "I'm In" boards. By Monday we had four boards of smiling faces.
To show off our Weekend collection, we matted the fabric pieces in these giant frames we found at Garden Ridge #3:
One of them fell down and shattered on Sunday night and was replaced with our Chain Letter quilt. C'est la vie!
Our booth was hopping and we didn't have much time to browse, but we managed to get pictures of some of our neighbors in the Michael Miller Fabrics row. Michael Miller had a fantastic vintage picnic theme:
Here is our friend Emily Herrick from Crazy Old Ladies with her new line "Hall of Fame". Click here to read Emily's blog.
Mark Hordyszynski, who made Fairy Frost famous, was there with his fun new line, "Apothescary". He displayed our Voila! quilt made from his glow-in-the-dark Fairy Frost.
Pillow and Maxfield have a gorgeous group, "Ooh La La":
Sarah stopped by with her version of our Perfect Ten pattern. It looks great, love that border!
Wet & Wild, our applique design card for Slice Fabrique, made its debut in their booth. Click here for more information.
Timeless Treasures featured three of our patterns in their new fabrics. Here is Grand Central in their "Plume" line:
Zig Zag and Shady Character from our book "Think Fast!":
Thank, Timeless for showing off our patterns with your beautiful fabrics!
Going to Quilt Market is a lot like planning a wedding. You plan ahead, work for months, make major decisions, experience emotional ups & downs and wonder if it all will get done in time. Then your guests show up, you have the time of your life and it's over before you know it! You look around after the party and then the work begins again before your life returns to normal. Here is a picture of Booth #1645 on Monday evening - all packed up to ship back to Richmond.
As for returning to normal, we are back in the studio gearing up for another great year of Michael Miller Clubhouse and working on patterns for our upcoming ruler with Creative Grids. We are fortunate that our "normal" includes designing, color, sewing and working with great customers. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at Market - we will see you in Kansas City!
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A trip to the country
Posted: Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one.
- Aristotle
Last Saturday, Christine and I left our great city and drove to a less-populous, great city - Dayton, Virginia. What a beautiful drive up to the mountains!
It quickly became apparent that when we left the highway that we were not in Richmond anymore...
Our first stop was Patchwork Plus, where we did three trunk shows for their Saturday morning clubs. Their fantastic classroom was packed with quilters of all ages and skill levels. This shop has a huge selection, wonderful displays, and tons of samples - including this Perfect Ten quilt.
Don't you know that we got inside, started shopping and forgot to take a lot of pictures. You'll just have to visit and see it for yourself or click here and visit right now.
Next we went to The Cottage - loved it! This fun shop is located in an old bank on Main Street in Dayton. They have an awesome brick building, gorgeous ceiling and a vault.
The fact that we left without the aqua table above is a testimonial to my impressive willpower!
Check out their clever register counter...
And this great way to display jewelry using a crib mattress spring:
My impressive willpower didn't stand a chance against this bench - it was a steal (not literally, just a good deal). I also scored a white sugar dish and a red toy iron; as well as a funky letter "e", which I will paint aqua to help me get over the table.
Christine has much more beautiful pictures of her haul, like this wooden bowl and jar of vintage buttons:
To save this peaceful town from a Swirly Girl cat fight, we decided to buy and share this box of vintage sewing stuff:
Across the street from The Cottage is the Thomas House Restaurant, just down a charming walkway. Once inside, we forgot about our cameras and (getting less-impressive) willpower and focused on the homemade meatloaf, chicken casserole and other home cooked yummies.
It was a relaxing and memorable day. If you ever find yourself in the Shenandoah Valley, be sure to stop and say "Hi" to Phyllis at Patchwork Plus, pick up some treasures at The Cottage and eat yourself silly at Thomas House. And if your buggy breaks down, just call Mr. Burkholder!
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Pardon me, have you seen my comfort zone?
Posted: Friday, August 19th, 2011
Christine and I are members of the Richmond Modern Quilt Guild and the challenge this month is to create a 6" block for a Round Robin project. Read details here.
I decided this was a great opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. So I dove into my fabric closet - here is a pic before I trashed it!
Somewhere amid all of the 1930's reproductions and other prints with RED, I found some batiks to use in my block. And here it is...
I used a little applique, a little paper piecing and a whole lot of getting out of my comfort zone!
I don't have a picture of Christine's closet, but here is one of the many piles of selvages we have laying around waiting for us to eventually make a quilt, apron, pincushion, bag, prom dress or whatever:
Christine had the genius idea to use them for her round robin block. She chose a traditional block from the Hummingbird Quilt, a class she will be teaching at Quilter's Corner on September 17th. I love the result!
Tonight we will exchange blocks with others and the fun begins! Each month we will add a border to someone else's block and we won't see our blocks again until the reveal in December. I'll post again then to show you how they turned out.
Have a great weekend!
Susan
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Chain Letter - Our New Release
Posted: Friday, August 12th, 2011
Introducing
"Chain Letter"
Available Now!
Our newest pattern uses fat quarters
and includes Lap, Twin, Queen and King sizes.
This fun quilt is strip pieced and great for beginners,
as well as quilters of all skill levels.
Click here for Fabric Requirements
Click here to order Chain Letter
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Spring Quilt Market Here We Come
Posted: Monday, May 9th, 2011
Introducing "Think Fast!"
Eight new patterns with Lap, Twin, Queen and King size instructions for every quilt.
36 Pages - Full Color
Want a free book? Come to our book signing in Checker\'s Booth
on Saturday, May 13th from 12:45 - 1:30 p.m.
Our latest notebook series block of the month program
features beautiful batiks from Island Batik.
Included in the program you will find 13 monthly block patterns and instructions for setting blocks and finishing.
The notebook format contains hard copies of each block, setting block and finishing. Also included is a CD with pdf files of the entire program and pictures of the quilt and logo for your promotional purposes. All for only $65.00.
You may copy the patterns as many times as you like and run the program the way that best suits your shop. Works great as a Saturday Sampler, $5 Quilt, Free Pattern Series, Club or Class.
Schoolhouse Presentations:
Thursday, May 12th
11:30-12:00 Think Fast! Book Debut - Room 251D
See the quilts from our book and learn to demo and sell the
fantastic Creative Grids 90 Degree Double Strip Ruler
1:15 - 1:45 Fast Kitting! Fast Samples! Fast Profits! - Room 255B
Learn how to plan your buying for easy kitting and quick sales.
See quilts in the latest Michael Miller prints from the book, "Think Fast!".
2:50 - 3:05 Paint the Town BOM - Room 253B
See the stunning new quilt, Paint the Town, featuring batiks from Island Batik.
Discover how uncomplicated a profitable BOM program can be!
Stop by and say hello!
Booth #325
If you aren\'t coming to Market,
please contact us directly for more information.
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