To Market We Go!

What a weekend! We landed in Houston on Saturday morning, checked into our hotel, dropped our bags, and hit the ground, running to the George R. Brown Convention Center for our first Quilt Market experience. Of course, our first stop was in the Exhibit Hall . . . to find our quilt.  We were delighted to find it in Aisle A, just beside the "red carpet."

We decided to view the rest of the exhibit during Festival and headed directly to the Market Hall. We got so caught up in conversations with vendors in the booths that we neglected to take as many photos as we'd have liked. But here are a few highlights of our weekend.

Obviously, this was a favorite quilt, hanging in the Blend Fabrics booth,
where we bought a bundle of Little Red Riding Hood fabrics.

We were thrilled to see Jan Vaine's quilt and pattern—Sister's Garden—in the Valdani booth.

We were so excited about this sweet quilt (it really spoke to a few particular friends—you know who you are)
that we forgot to note where it was hanging! 

Tula Pink

Brand new fabric line from Free Spirit Fabrics

Michael Miller Fabrics

Of course, Kaffe Fasset's booth was absolutely stunning. And yes, we both purchased his new book!

This Kim McLean quilt starred in Kaffe's booth.

We have some fun ideas planned with the new paper pieces we received from Paper Pieces/Polar Notions. Samples below.

 

We we SO thrilled to find that there is a brand new magazine devoted to telling the stories of quilts and their makers.  Of course, we signed up to receive a subscription. When we get our first issue, we will write a review for you. For more information, go to http://www.quiltfolk.com/. To subscribe, please use promo code SHOP 1051.

We spent a good deal of time planning a project using hand-dyed wools and threads by Tracy Trevethan Designs.
She has such delicious colors! We can't wait to start our new pattern set.

There were a number of antique quilt booths, where we spent a fair amount of time studying old treasures. Oh, how we wish that money were no object! There were so many that drew us that we would have loved to purchase any number of them. 

A beautiful silk-sashed crazy quilt in the booth, Quilts from Mulberry Lane.
Chatting with Carolyn was like meeting an old friend.

A great example of a charm quilt in the same booth.

Julia, in the Piqué booth, showed us an incredible selection of appliquéd quilts,
which we will save for a future post.

This pineapple log cabin quilt from mid-1800s was in pristine condition, found in yet another vintage quilt booth.

This striking antique star quilt was the inspiration for a new fabric line by Washington Street Studios.

Detail of the star. How we would love to be able to find that Prussian blue fabric!!
(We learned that the process for achieving this color is quite expensive to reproduce
—the reason it is so difficult to find today.)

Our morning walk to the Convention center, just before the fog burned away.

Monday's class with Judith Baker Montano, creating an undersea picture using mixed media and embroidery.

Burning the edges of ribbon and fabric gives an interesting effect,
but our classroom smelled less than flowery.

We also spent a lot of time chatting with Brooke from Hanah Silk Hand-Dyed Ribbons.
On Tuesday, we created some samples of pansies for her. Stay tuned for an upcoming tutorial!

While talking to Pepper Cory in the Colonial Needles booth, she asked us to put together some
embroidery samples using Presencia threads.

The samples we finished during our Tuesday stitching session.
Featured stitches: spiral trellis and cast-on.

Cheers to an awesome first Market!
Now we are resting up for Festival.