Home again from Quilt Market in Houston. I can't decide if I need a vacation or if I'm too revved for one! Quilt Market is a brain drain - there is so much to see, so much to do, so much to take in - and only three days to do it all!

They're turning the old parking lot in front of the George Brown Convention Center into a gorgeous park. Karen and I walked it in the 90 degree heat with 95% humidty - very sticky!

Here's a bird's eye view of the market floor. Then Karen & I snuck inside with our vendor badges minutes before the opening.

The crowds waited impatiently outside the doors.

And then they were opened & market was on! The lady in the front booth was still using her ladder to put up last minute touches.

This is a kit that will be coming in February, depending upon the rainy season in Bali where the batiks are made. It is GORGEOUS!

Here's Karen Snyder's fabric display in the Timeless Treasures booth. (she was sewing the buttons on the red one the night we all got there!)

These two lovely ladies are my fall market roommates - we did manage to get some sleep.

This is a block of the month that will start in March 2010. I saw it the first day & promised myself that if I still loved it on Monday, I would buy it. I liked it more every time I saw it, so I ordered it!

And Jessica Hudson, a long time customer, had a photograph in an exhibit entitled "Eye of the Quilter". Congratulations Jess!

More pictures later, I really should be doing paperwork . . . .

To Market, To Market!

This is a bird's eye view of just part of last fall's quilt market in Houston. Each booth has all sorts of neat things for quilters & there's about three football fields of them - it's AMAZING!

I'm heading to TX this morning for this year's version and I can hardly wait! Going to market is one of my favorite parts of owning a quilt shop - seeing everything that's new, meeting up with national teachers and spokespeople, hanging out with friends - what could possibly be better????

Ok, opening all the boxes when they arrive of all the stuff I bought at market comes close!

I'm hoping to post pictures while I'm there - stay tuned!

Winner!

Barbara is our winner of our Fat Quarter bundle. I've emailed her the good news! Thanks for everyone's comments. We'll do it again soon.



Here's Barbara's comment - Fall is my favorite time of the year. The colors are so great. I really like your log cabin pumpkins. It has inspired me to go get the fall decorations and start putting them out!





Debbie

Fall Colors & Projects Part 2

Jeannette reminded me I'd forgotten to post about this fall project! We're kitting this for Quilt Magazine and it's been very popular - not sure why I forgot to post it! It's on our website too. I pieced the middle and Judy appliqued the borders - after a bit of mumbling about my pressing abilities . . . LOL

Thanks for reminding me Jeannette!

Fall Colors & Projects

Growing up in New England, I was spoiled when it came to fall colors. I grew up with vivid oranges, bright reds, yellows and greens and if you looked real hard, there were definitely purples in there too. The Jersey Shore doesn't have the vivid leaf colors of New England but we do have the orange pumpkins and there's something about those freaky looking gourds that I just like! Fall colors are definitely my favorite colors (my "good" livingroom carpet is a burnt orange . . .)

So I have to limit myself to a couple of fall projects every year & I need to limit the number of orange bolts of fabric I bring in since I seem to like orange much better than most of my customers. This year I found a great brown and green fall leaf print and did up a simple lap quilt showing off the fabric. This quilt will coordinate really well with my "good" (read children not allowed in there when they were growing up) livingroom just like the green and orange one I did last year. I'm going to run out of furniture to put these lap quilts on pretty soon.

I also have too many fall table runners for the number of tables in my house, but that didn't stop me from making this one this year. I saw the fabric and bought multiple bolts. My shopowner friend BrendaLou from Scottie Dog Quilts bought the same fabric and made the same table runner as a sample for her shop - another fall fanatic! I really thought I was making this as a gift for my Mom but somehow I don't think she's going to get it . . .

She's probably not going to get this one either . . .

Judy made this one & I am lusting after it . . . .

There's something about the colors of autumn that just warm me inside. Maybe it's because fall leads up to my favorite holiday - Thanksgiving. I like the garish colors of Halloween too, but those warm, vivid colors of fall just do it for me.

How about you? Are you an fall color fanatic? If so, check out the fall section of our website, we have just the project for you!

Leave a comment on this post before Oct 5th & we'll draw a winner for a fall fat quarter bundle!

Sewing Furniture Event In The Lobby

We have sewing furniture! Well ok, we've always had sewing furniture on display but this time we've taken over the lobby - yes, the bed is gone for the moment - and put five pieces of Koala Sewing Furniture on display.

The cabinets are made in the USA just outside of Chicago and I have to say, they are GORGEOUS. Peg came in today and remarked on the Cadillac sewing furniture in the lobby!

One of the nice things about Koala is you decide what you want - they have 8 different finishes, all different sizes of cabinets and you decide if you just want the base, or add side wings, or a back that folds down? Drawers? Shelves? YOU decide.

Stop in & see for yourself! The holidays are coming, it's time to get rid of the computer table that works, but not quite, the door over two filing cabinets that's bowing in the middle, the kitchen table . . . .

Koala has made these beautiful cabinets & we're proud to bring them to you. Stop in & see for yourself!

A Day With The Lady In The Harbor

The National Park Service opened up the crown of the Statue of Liberty July 4th this year. Sara & Brian wanted to go, so Jim & I went with them. Brian had never been, Sara & Jim had never been into the crown & I was 8 the last time I went into the crown. Closed since September 11, 2001, renovations were done while she was closed. We ordered tickets in July and today was the day!

Our tickets were for the 10 o'clock time slot so we left at 7am & drove to Liberty State Park to leave from New Jersey. The weather was gorgeous! We couldn't have asked for a nicer day, not too hot, not too cold - perfect. We took the ferry the Miss New Jersey out to the statue.


Going to the Statue of Liberty now entails two security screenings, one before you get on the ferry and the next before they let you into the monument. No bags, no coats - nothing but cameras, your watch & your wallet can go into the monument. No pictures in security either - big signs everywhere! - or else I would have been taking pictures of Sara being wanded BOTH times.

First stop on the ferry is Ellis Island. We were running close to our time for the crown so we stayed on board & stopped on the way back.


















From the ferry as it docked, an unusual view of the lady herself. I'd forgotten how many trees are actually on the island.

















You go through security & then you start climbing. These are the "big" stairs to the observation deck. All 192 of them.














These are the stairs above the observation deck & to the tower - all 162 of them (it felt like a thousand!) 354 steps in all. My legs were not happy about 3/4s of the way up! YIKES!

This is Sara going down. This is definitely not for the claustrophobic!




The crown itself is MUCH smaller than I remember from when I was small - yes I was only 8 but I thought the landing was bigger. The four of us fit comfortably & were happy we had the crown to ourselves - anyone else up there with us would have been one too many. Here are some of the views from the crown.




Looking towards Brooklyn. The windows themselves, 25 of them, are about the size of the windows on airplanes.

The view of Manhattan. The green triangle is the bottom of the book the lady is holding.

Looking out at the bottom of the torch

The ladder leads up into the torch. Only maintenance workers are allowed into the torch.

An inside view of the lady's nose & mouth

Looking up towards the crown from the observation deck level. The tube is the staircases going up to the crown.

The four of us on the observation deck with a Manhattan view. (Don't we look like typical tourists????)

The NY skyline heading back to Libery State Park.

And this building is the train depot at Liberty State Park. The building has been restored & the state is working on the ferry slips. Hopefully the trainyard is next!

It was a wonderful day and a real treat to visit an American treasure right in my own backyard.