Missed - Didn't Miss

Today is the last day of International Quilt Market in Houston Texas.
I chose not to go this year as my lines of fabric Sassy and Name That Quilt Labels were pre-market releases
I find it is just to darn expensive to go to market without new product to show.
There are some things I missed about not going to market and some things I did not miss.

Things I missed:
Seeing all of my friends and customers :-(
Chicken Paige at Anthony's Steak House - delicious!
The Moda Party - always a fun time.
Buying new shoes for market - I love shoes.

Things I didn't miss:
The two and a half day, 1046.41 mile road trip to Houston.
Booth set-up.
Paying good money for bad food at the convention center.
Booth take down
The two and a half day, 1046.41 mile road trip back to Iowa.

Just because we did not go to market does not mean we have been sitting idle for the last week.

#534 Making Honey

Late Bloomers fabric has shipped
and the patterns are up and ready for purchase.
Name That Quilt labels will be shipping soon.
We have two patterns to go with this line featuring projects using the quilt labels in other ways than a label on the back of a quilt.

These labels are too cute to put on the back of a quilt.

We pieced ours into an Irish Chain Block.

Have friends and relatives sign the labels to create a keepsake

for you next special occasion - wedding, graduation or birthday.

#535 Please Sign In

This is the same quilt using the darker version of the labels.

Here we used labels in many fun ways.
We pieced them into a pillowcase - send this off with you college bound child.
Mug rugs - to protect your tabletop.
Eyeglasses case - to protect your glasses.
A tablerunner.
And an apron with a zipper detail.
#536 Bria-a-Brac

Hope you all had a great market - both those showing and buying.

I will show at spring market in Kansas City. See you there.

From my heart,

Sandy

My Most Popular Item At Quilt Market

We are just back from market.
So sorry I did not blog during market - just too darn tired.
I'm sure all of you attending market noticed the bags under my eyes.

The ones big enough to sack a weeks worth of groceries.

The whole market is a blur to me.
Our booth went up fairly quickly.
Can you guess which item received the most attention?

Was it this quilt featuring the panel from the Lollipop line?
Abby drew the picture on the easel - just like she drew when she was little.

Was it the quilt using a Lollipop Layer Cake™ with a dimensional flower?

Was it this "leaving the crib going to a big bed" quilt?



Or was it this quilt made with a Lollipop Jelly Roll™?
Look closely - the dresser is made out of cardboard boxes and fabric bolts.

Although there was much interest in these quilts - the question most ask was "where did you get the couch?"

My spiffed up Ikea couch.

It is very easy to do.
You will need.
Ikea couch.
Sandy solids fabrics (I used 6 colors)
Heavy Heat n' Bond
Olfa Circle Cutter
Markers to match you fabrics

Iron big squares of Heat'n Bond onto fabrics.
Using the circle cutter cut circles ranging in size form 4"-2".

Cut out circles.
Iron circles onto couch.
Using the matching markers, draw two circles around each dot.
Done!

Moda was introducing this nifty machine called the Slicer,

demonstrated by Debbie Duckworth.
Wouldn't these shapes be fun ironed on a couch?

Since market was so close to home, the family drove up to view the craziness.

Moda as usual had an awesome booth styled after an antique doll house.
Did I get any pictures - of course not. Falls under the category of sleep deprived.
Liesl from Oliver + S (Moda's newest designer) took some great pictures which are posted on her blog. Check it out.

Are you all wondering where I left my purse this market???

I went to visit Gudrun from GE Designs - right next door to my sister Brenda of Country Stitches

I sat it down in Gudrun's booth and walked away without it.

Sandy's purse left behind - another market now complete.

From my heart,
Sandy

Odds and Ends

This post has a variety of subjects - non large enough to devote a whole post to, so I will just post some odds and ends.

First off I was not able to get this picture to post off of my laptop when I did my market post.
If it were not for these 3 fantastic girls, I would not have had 8 finished quilts and 9 wool projects displayed in my market booth.

Great job girls!
Lori, Sandy K., and Lois
Thanks for your dedication - I could never do it without you.

Next subject: The Des Moines Marathon

As a mother it is very difficult for me to watch my son run a marathon.

To me it is scary. The ambulance is always coming and going.

I cannot even image running 26.2 miles.

Our son Anthony and his girlfriend Deb trained all summer for this marathon.

Their goal was to finish under 5 hours.

They both met their goal.

Congratulations Anthony and Deb!



It was very cold Sunday in Des Moines.
We spectators wore winter coats, hats and mittens.

When the runners finished they were wrapped in "Mylar"??? blankets.
Anthony with his "blankie". Can you hear his teeth chattering???

I learned a lot about marathons this weekend. I learned they have what is called a pacer. This is a person who runs along with a group of people who want to finish in a desired time frame (theirs was under 5 hours) to pace them and sort of be their coach.

This man was their pacer.

I don't know his name but I do know he ran a full marathon

in Kansas City the day before this race.

Once again I don't understand - but wow my hat's off to him.

Next subject:
Jan and Pep Pateks anniversary.
Jan is having a contest to guess how many years she and Pep have been married.
I know but I shall not tell.
Hop on over to Jan's blog http://www.janpatek.blogspot.com/
to wish them a happy anniversary and make a guess. Guess right and you might win a Blessings Jelly Roll™ . Hurry up - you only have until Saturday to guess.

Jan and Pep on their wedding day.

What a great looking couple.
Happy Anniversary!

That's all for now.

From my heart,

Sandy

Back From Fall 09 Market

We are finally back from market.
Market itself was great. We were able to connect with old friends and customers.
Just a few of our friends:

Mr. Mark Dunn the owner of Moda Fabrics.

Jan Patek of Jan Patek Quilts. http://www.janpatekquilts.com/
Jan and I have been Moda designers for 15 years now.
We were the third and fourth designers to join Moda.
The first and second designers are no longer with Moda.
So that makes us the oldest - in more ways than one. :)
(Kathy Schmitz is in the background)





Deb Strain of Saltbox Illustrations - she too has been designing for Moda for quite sometime.

Alma Allen and Barb Adams from Blackbird Designs http://www.blackbird-designs.com/.
And Kathy Schmitz. http://www.kathyschmitz.com/

Lynn Hagmeier from Kansas Troubles http://www.ktquilts.com/

Joanna Figueroa from Fig Tree & Co. http://www.figtreequilts.com/

Sandy Klop of American Jane. http://www.americanjane.com/

Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts. http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/

Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson from Minick and Simpson
with their award winning booth ribbon.
Congratulations Polly and Laurie! http://www.minickandsimpson.com/

Lila Tueller of Lila Tueller Designs.
So sorry that I did not get a more complete picture of Lila.
http://www.lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/

Karla Eisenach from Sweetwater. http://www.sweetwaterscrapbook.com/


We also visited with Barb and Mary from Me and My Sister. I snapped a picture of them but they will be very glad that I did not post it - sorry girls - it was not good.

Market itself was great but set up, take down and the trip home were brutal.
I will try to make it brief.

•As I mentioned it was ungodly hot for the first day of set up.

•The second day of set up we drove around Houston looking for antique shops.
•With a GPS that kept saying "acquiring satellites".
•In the pouring down rain, thunder and lightening.
•I was looking for a bench to display my pillows.
•Never did find one.
•Jan Patek was a dear and let me borrow one of her baskets.

•Right before takedown there was a downpour.
•Found our trailer sitting in a big puddle of water.
•Quit raining - the sun came out - then it was hot and humid.

•Monday night after market we drove to Conroe - just outside of Houston to spend the night.

•Started out bright and early Tuesday morning.
•In the pouring down rain.
•Stopped at Rudy’s Bar-B-Q in Norman Oklahoma for lunch.
•Mainly stopped there so I could have one - or 2 or 3 of their caramel/pecan bars.
•I only ate half of my turkey sandwich - to save room for the bars.
•They were out of caramel/pecan bars.
•So disappointed.
•My sole reason for stopping there was for a pecan bar.
•Left disappointed.
•50 miles down the road discovered that I had left my purse at Rudy’s.
•They are mailing it back to me.

•Nearly ran out of gas on the turnpike.
•We had 9.2 miles to a gas station.
•We had 8.2 miles of gas left in our tank.
•Missed our turn for the first gas station.
•Somehow by the grace of God we were able to drive about 2 more miles to the next gas station.
•We put 17.1 gallons of gas in our 17 gallon tank?????
•We did not shut our windshield wipers off anytime during this day.

•Finally made it to Kansas City about 8:00 Tuesday night.

•Slept in Wednesday morning.
•Drove the rest of the way home.
•Rained most of the way.

•Glad to be home.

Unusual thing that I saw on our trip to Texas:
At a convenience store they had two ice dispensers.
One said Regular Ice and one said Diet Ice.
Not sure what that was all about????
Did I have my camera to take a picture of this? NO. (I can't carry it with me, I might leave it somewhere and then I would never have blog pictures.) :)

Please bear with me - I really am trying to become a better blogger.

From my heart
Sandy