Shopping + Samples = Fabric HEAVEN

At market there were plenty of freebies and samples to be given. As a designer, its nice to have the samples in hand to see how the fabric feels and also see if the colors are true to the representation from the internet catalogs. Its also nice to really see what the scale looks like on any given print. I do love the internet, but you can really, only get so much out of a thumbnail image. Speaking of scale- on the far left side of the picture above is the freebie sample of ZaZaZing by Studio E. Wow- that whole line is going to look great paired with military fabrics.

Along with samples, a couple of booths, RJR Fabrics, Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Benartex were a few that had a "cash and carry" section. Can I tell you how much I love trading my cash for fabric to carry???


At the end of the show, folks from our neighboring booth were purging samples, so they wouldn't have to travel them back home. I asked "Would you be throwing out that small pile of fabric swatches?" He said yes, to which I say "Would you mind throwing them our way?" The ladies in the Quiltwoman.com booth, and myself had a field day with their leftovers. Thank you so much!!! You know the old saying, "One man's trash is another group of lady's crack-like addiction!" ~or something like that~ And of course, the samples are the same beautiful high quality prints sold by In The Beginning Fabrics. We split the "leftovers" 3 ways at the booth and I still have plenty.

How great are those fat quarters? The top roll is from Textile Creations. They had a super fun booth with a complete carnival theme. The other fats are so beautifully packaged, too. Those Kaufman Fat Quarters are graded so nicely. They'd look great in the Floating Bubbles Pattern.

Some of the above samples were give at the school-house series. I love school house. You get prizes and learn about all the latest, newest, most interesting things for your shop or your designs. I attended an Andover Schoolhouse and learned at ton about Lonni Rossi, her Geisha designs and her painterly fabrics. I also got a free Lonni Rossi fabric bag to take with me. I've already checked it out, and its about 1 total yard of LR fabric!

Now, I have to tell you- when I was flying home from Pittsburgh, my suitcase was over the 50lb weight limit. I put it on the scale and I heard the bag-check-lady say "5lbs over, $90." OH- Heck no. (Later, a lady in line behind me says she heard "$9" and I have yet to look it up.) So, acting on the notion that I had to pay 90 additional dollars, I pulled my bags to the side and proceeded to decide which pair of jeans to trash and what pair of shoes I could live without. Obviously, I was not parting with the gems in the photos above. Thankfully, I found the Lonni Rossi bag at the bottom of my suitcase and I ended up using it as a carry-on. I didn't have to throw out anything! Sure, my arms were tired from dragging around the GIANT Military Monster purse (complete with camera and laptop) and the HUMONGOUS Lonni Rossi bag- but I'd take it anyday!

Ah. Happiness is ... f.a.b.r.i.c!

Have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend! ~jen~

Shopping + Samples = Fabric HEAVEN

Quilt Blogs

Quilter Blogs & Store Search

As luck would have it I met some really nice people at Quilt Market. One of the guys- yes, GUYS at the show had a booth next to Quiltwoman.com. His company is Danemco and he's also got a hand in Quilterblogs.com. What? You've never heard of quilterblogs.com??? Let me tell you its like your bloglines or google-reader meets the quilt world all in one place. They currently follow 473 blogs and they even have a feature for searching online quilt shops. Pretty cool. I'm very happy to be listed with them. THANKS. Its going to save me the trouble of surfing to so-and-so's blog then clicking on her side bar to find some other quilty blog with a cute title. Go check it out, and block out the next 5 hours of your day!

~jen~

Quilt Blogs

Pittsburgh PA

US Steel Building, Downtown Pittsburgh

Can I tell you how much I love the city?! We stayed in the DoubleTree hotel (not pictured), about 6 blocks from the convention center. I got to walk in the crisp city air every morning and night with the Quiltwoman team. Those ladies are a hoot and super fun to work with. The sky scrapers were incredibly towering. I grew up in Houston- but I lived in a suburb and I didn't go into downtown every day, or anything like that. I currently live in the land of all things flat & farmed- so this was a huge treat. Here's the view from my hotel room:

And let me show you a quick shot from the convention center:

Here's another reason to love Pittsburgh. French fries. Not just french fries, but french fries served standard on a SALAD! Oh yes, that's a great idea!

The abundance of pizza joints and coffee shops didn't hurt either. I had the best time in the city even though, for the most part, I saw my hotel and the convnetion hall. You can see a couple more city pictures here. ~jen~

Pittsburgh PA

My second market

set up day at the convention center

This was my second ever quilt market. As you faithful readers know, I launched Seamingly Accurate at the 2008 Houston Quilt Market this past fall. That was a whirlwind experience much like drying your hair in a windstorm. Thankfully, this market was, for me, much more relaxed and enjoyable. I was able to take it all in without the constant feeling of "there's so much to see" and "ooooh- its a famous person!" hee hee.

Let me tell you about the market. This one was a fraction of the size of the Houston Show. I mean, a drop in the bucket. It seemed like there were a few new notions (including an amazing circle designing ruler from Lacey Hill and Quiltwoman.com.) but mostly there were patterns and fabric. I'm telling you, those are two of my favorite things! Isle after isle of fabric companies and pattern designers. Here's the best booth at the show Quiltwoman.com (as voted by me):

Quiltwoman.com is a publishing company that works with 40-50 independant designers. This spring market they launched 53, yes 53, new patterns and showcased 5 books.

Wanna see a few other booths?

These pictures were from this overhead walkway area and the top shot is the left side and the bottom is the right. That is a ton of booths. 26 isles, to be exact.

I did have some favorites, other than the Quiltwoman.com booth, where two of my patterns launched. I loved the Michael Miller displays of course and LizzieBCreative had such a zany floor. I did also have a couple of "AGGHHHH- famous people"moments. I have a photo of Kaffe Fasset and saw Alex Anderson, Mark Lipinski and Elanor Burns. I met with Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio. She is just as nice in person as she is on her site and in her shop.


I also met Judy Laquidara. We have a mutual friend and hit it off right away. So very nice. I've found in the quilting and fabric industry- most everyone is so friendly and wonderful. I'm sure the less friendly ones are out there, but I have yet to meet them.

You can see more pictures and a few individual booths here. Thats a link to my webshots album from the booths at the event. Ok, go check those out & I'll keep updating and sorting through the remainder of the 137 shots from market. ~jen~

My second market

Back from Pittsburgh

Holy smokes was that a great show or what?! I had an excellent time. I learned a ton about the industry and the various elements. The schoolhouse series was very informative and the class "Be a Better Quilt Teacher" was spot on.

I'm currently spending my morning sorting through the small truckload of pictures I took this past week. I'll load them onto the blog in sections, so look for those soon.

In the meantime let me leave you with this tidbit of information... Did you know those fabulous cookies from the DoubleTree hotel have 314 calories in them, each?? Did you know that as a guest of the DoubleTree, you can get free cookies anytime during your stay? Did you know that 314 calories for breakfast AND dessert every day might not have been the best choice???? You do now!

Photos coming soon!!! ~jen~

Updated to add:
See the trade show floor and some of the booths I enjoyed here.
See some of Pittsburgh here.

Back from Pittsburgh