Quilting Adventures ~ The Friendly Store for Everyone Who Creates With Fabric!

Yesterday was another busy day of shopping and spending money! We spoke with Amy Butler (and Phoebe got a signed copy of her new book – we have more copies on order!), but I think one of the most exciting finds of the day was patterns from this Austrailan team, Melly and me. We’re bringing many of their patterns home with us and can’t wait to get sewing on some samples!

We’re also very excited about the new threads from Wonderfil. We’re bringing home some samples and have some sample packs on order – you’ll be hearing more about these!

We ordered bamboo batting and stuffing, too, new from Fairfield.

Here is a photo of the Michael Miller organic line made up into some samples; it just feels so warm and delicious:

Many of you already know that Laura Blanchard designs quilts for Red Rooster to showcase their new fabric lines. And Betty Sanderson sews for them as well, doing all of their chair covers (no small job!). This year Betty also did some pillows. Here are photos from the Red Rooster booth, showcasing their work:

The latest fabric line from Jim Shore, Noah’s Ark:

Here is a quilt by one of our customers, Elizabeth Schamber, which is in the show.  It’s just incredible, and we have it on good authority that it is one of this year’s award winners (they aren’t posted until later in the week).  Congrats, Elizabeth!

We fly home this afternoon, but plan to do more damage to the credit cards at the show this morning.    Sadly, I’m probably sicker than I was when I got here, and now Phoebe’s got a sore throat and cough, so it will likely be another day or two before we return to the shop with all our goodies.

~ Joyce

Good morning all!

Yesterday Phoebe and I did “Schoolhouse” at Quilt Market; it’s a series of infomericials that focus on new products, fabric lines, techniques, etc.  It’s an exhausting day, with a total of 15 sessions that are 15 or 30 minutes long, and it’s crowded and chaotic when the classes switch (not unlike high school).  But certainly well worth it!  Phoebe attended a session with Kathy Miller of Michael Miller Fabrics.  Part of the class was a color forecast – and I must say, we’re looking forward to some colors I can get excited about!  Kathy also talked about Michael Miller’s new organics line, which we plan to check out on the show floor today.

I attended a session with Karen Montgomery of Timeless Treasures and learned some great tips and techniques for using our fabrics in home dec projects.  She’s got a great pattern for a reversible valence that I plan to order and schedule some demos for.

Usually we divide and conquer at Schoolhouse, each doing a different session to take in the maximum amount possible, but we did make one exception.  Argirlz are here, Tracy and Alison Stillwell, and we are fans of theirs from way back.  Okay, so maybe we’re groupies.    But their products and creations are so happy and inspiring – as are they themselves – and we’ll be ordering more of their goodies for the shop before we leave Houston.

There were lots of other great Schoolhouse sessions, too, and by dinnertime our bags were filled with handouts and freebies and our brains were just spilling over with new ideas.

Last night was sample spree, and in addition to picking up some new patterns with samples already made for them (YAY!), we got some great fat quarter bundles of up and coming fabrics.  Be watching the shop newsletter for the announcement of when our “new fat quarters from Quilt Market” basket is ready.  It’s usually a few days after get back from Houston, and it’s always a big hit – your chance to buy some fabrics MONTHS before they hit any of the shops!  Companies seems to be introducing their Christmas collections earlier again, so we’ll see some of next year’s Christmas fabric this weekend, too.  I’ll be honest, it can get confusing.

Phoebe has made a very long list of fabric that we “have to” buy.  There have been a few Markets where we didn’t see fabric that excited us much, but I can see that this one is going to be a budget buster!  There’s just too much good stuff to choose from.

More updates tonight or tomorrow, hopefully with photos. 

~ Joyce

I don’t really have much of anything to say – except that I am again dorking around with the settings on the blog in hopes of getting the notifications to work.    Phoebe and I arrived after a mostly uneventful trip and are ready to start the Market activities first thing tomorrow.  Stay tuned for updates – with photo!

~Joyce

The weekend of November 9-11 will be our second annual panty raid!  You can read about our first one, here:

http://quiltingadventures.com/qablog/?p=107

You bring us a multi-pack of new panties in women’s or children’s sizes (and please don’t forget plus sizes!), and for each package we give you a free fat quarter and a chance to win our gift basket.  All the panties we collect are donated to the YWCA Women and Children’s Shelter, where they are very much appreciated.

Help us beat last year’s total of 39 packages of panties for the shelter!

Rosemary is a customer that I knew in my former life, before I opened the shop.  Back then, she wasn’t a quilter.  But somehow I managed to lure her into the shop once we opened, and I don’t think she’s looked back since.    She’s taken fabric and run with it and put out some awesome stuff.  Sadly, she’s moved away now, but was kind enough to share some photos of recent works.  The first one would have been her QA Challenge entry (had it been done on time), and the other is a charity quilt:

If you have some show and tell you’d like to contribute to the blog, please send it to Phoebe at phoebe@quiltingadventures.com.  Thanks!

~ Joyce

After the first day of the Tour de Quilt yesterday, we decided to change the way we’re handling demos. Rather than doing a pre-determined demo every half hour, we’re just doing continuous demos, all day long, by request. If you come in and want to learn about the Log Cabin Ruler, just ask and we’ll show you! If it’s photo transfer, we can do that too (and be sure to check out the poster-sized photos-on-fabric of me and DH at Bryce Canyon that I printed yesterday – it’s about 30 X 20). Be sure to visit our “demo room” and see what you can learn.

And remember, this isn’t just for people doing the Tour de Quilt; we’re doing this for our loyal regular customers, too. Special hours this weekend – Friday and Saturday 9-8 and Sunday 12-5.

Free goody bags at the door for EVERYONE, lots of free pattern handouts, and food! Hope to see you soon!

~ Joyce

One of our customers, Timothy Goad, will be showing and selling his work this weekend at Gallery at the First Unitarian Church on Blanton Avenue. We are so excited for him! Here’s a link to another blog entry that includes some of his work.

Another one of our customers, Curtis, brought this piece in for show and tell yesterday. The background fabric is fabric that he discharged himself. The leaves are fused with raw edges, covered with wonderfun hand blanket stitching. It’s just a lovely piece:

Sorry, no pictures of new fabric this week – our camera has been on a business trip to Louisiana.

We got some awesome entries into our QA Challenge! It was tough to select the winners, but we did – Barbara wins a $50 QA gift card for first place (hers is the one on the left in the first picture; Cydnee wins a $25 QA gift card for second place (this is her first quilt and she’s only 15! – the one on the right in the first picture); and Beverley wins a $10 QA gift card for third place (the one on the left in the second photo, the one that uses Yo-Yos!).

Congratulations and thanks to all!

One more thing – I’m still struggling with the subscription notifications for the blog – sorry to anyone who still isn’t getting them!

~ Joyce

and another link by way of apology:

http://www.cater-woods.com/

And another interesting link:

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

Again, my apologies as I continue to troubleshoot……