Quilt Market Houston 2008

We're back!! It was one of the best times I've ever had at Quilt Market!
My daughter, Sarah Raffuse, made a great presentation at our Schoolhouse Session (late in the afternoon, so we offered chocolate at the door :) and our Take & Teach Class was SOLD OUT before Market even opened (wow!). Here are some pics from the Take & Teach, with some of the participants and their little quilt projects:












We had a great crowd at the book signing in the Krause booth and got to catch up news with some quilters who helped us out a LOT in Houston for the 2007 Quilt Market - -one of them had made five quilts (using our methods) since she got her book last year!!

Houston was warm and sunny (80 degrees didn't feel like a "fall" market to me!) and Market was a crowded and happy affair and it looked to me like there was a lot of commerce being conducted between the vendors and the buyers. I'll be posting about some of the patterns & vendors that caught my eye over on Quilt News.

Oh, and a double special bonus: I was able to meet up with my old pal Trish Stuart (I used to quilt for her and worked in her booth at several Quilt Markets) AND a quilt that she painted and I quilted was in the booth for Tsukineko Inks. That's Trish in pink on the left, our quilt under our arms and me in the blue on the right. Look at those huge smiles :)

Gone to Quilt Market

A few updates without pictures. It's been rainy and windy here, the snow is gone and now most of the leaves are off the trees. The bear has moved on and the bunnies are back. I managed to get all the kits cut for our Take & Teach class and quilted up 250 teeny tiny little quilties (4" x 4" squares) and sashed them using the technique in our book. These are our "promo" items that we give out at Schoolhouse and yes, it takes some work, but it's really, really worth it to see the looks on the faces of the quilters (shop owners & teachers) who receive them :)

Houston is a great town to visit and we always try and get around to the Museums, the Galleria and my personal favorite - Target (I'm a low budget girl!). I did buy some lipstick at a Galleria shop last year - that was exciting! LOL. This year we are going to stay downtown, something we've never done before, so I am looking forward to walking around in the area that the hotel is in.

I'm also looking forward to meeting up with my old pal Trish Stuart. I used to quilt for her and our brainstorming sessions are something I miss. I spent a few Markets working with Trish in her booth and it was a blast! I bought a video camera (!!) because I've been saving my pennies... I hope to shoot some quilty footage while at Market. Stay tuned! (oh, I forgot, but yes...I did fold and put the laundry away!)

Getting ready for Quilt Market

This is what happens when I am working on quilts.....hehehehe....and I'm not even apologetic about it! Every load of washing (at least I'm washing the dirty clothes!) gets brought up to the living room and then left there. That's why I have about 7 laundry baskets...this is a lifelong habit and it makes me laugh. When I am done with my current quilt project (or I run out of baskets) then I'll start putting clothes away. Until then.....need clean socks? Go to living room and search baskets........ LOL

Here's some of my squares from this project....

Quilt Art

Check out these gorgeous quilts by Diana Bracy! Her blog or Her Flickr.....

Snow for Martha

Compare this one to my photo of Mt. Marathon from the 4th of July! This is for Martha in Louisiana :) This next one is of the trees across the alley, just outside the garage door. My bunny friends hang out there, but right now there's a black bear living there (no kidding!). Bear has been getting into the garbage cans at night. Don't worry about bunny, she's tough and she's faster than this black bear. I saw her last night & she's fine. My portable quilting table is set up by a living room window that looks out over the alley and the trees next door. I'm going to try and get a pic of bear.

The sky is falling

In thick white chunks! LOL Look at this poor Sitka Rose, still blooming in this early snowfall. Actually, this isn't our first snow, it snowed yesterday but didn't stick. Looks like it's going to stay today...