QUILT MARKET!!!

This was my first time attending a Quilt Market and it was fantastic!  I went with my mom and my cousin Michelle (who is a sewing instructor at a fabulous shop in Clintonville called Sew to Speak and who has also worked for Amy Butler helping with her sewing patterns.) We saw so many amazing things, I think my brain is completely full.  We got to see the incredibly creative booths of some of my favorite designers:  Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Tula Pink, Joel Dewberry and Valori Wells to name a few.  I was so inspired by all the creativity that I came home and finished 2 collections that I had started and was stuck on and started another one.  (I haven't slept much this past week)
Here are some of the super fun things we saw:

How cute is this ruffled duvet in the Bari J booth?  I want to make this in my fabrics!

These dresses in the Ann Griffin booth are adorable - I especially love the one with the handkerchief hem!

These VW bus pillows in Tula Pink's booth are beyond fabulous!

This camper was an extension of the Moda booth and it was so fun!  The inside was all decked out too.

One the coolest things was going to the Robert Kaufman booth and getting to meet everyone in person.  (I've been working with them via phone and email)  I also got to see the  boards with the swatches of my collection that they were showing.  I even met a buyer at the show who liked my bag that I was carrying and requested that I take her to the Robert Kaufman booth so she can see my full collection and place an order.  Yipee!

I also got to attend a cocktail party hosted by Robert Kaufman and I got to meet fellow Robert Kaufman designers Ann Boyd of Anne Kelle and Laurie Wisbrun.  Since I'm a newbie to this industry, I got some great advice from Laurie who is very talented and has a great business marketing background.

They had a photo booth at the party and my mom, my cousin and I had a ton of fun with it!

Not too long after we were in the photo booth, we heard a loud scream and the whole booth collapsed with about 5 people falling to the floor.  One poor girl in a dress was on her back with her legs up in the air.  Luckily no one was hurt and when they all got up everyone cheered.  All my mom and cousin and I could say was "We're so surprised that wasn't us!" and "Thank goodness it wasn't us"

Aside from continuing to work on more fabric collections, and creating my own sewing patterns, I now have a ton of sewing projects to work on because I bought some really amazing trims at Market.  (I spent way too much $$)

Here are some of the fun things I bought:

These beads are made from paper in Uganda.  They're amazing and come in so many beautiful colors!

I see some jewelry making in my future.

These are all vintage trims that I bought to go with my Modern Bliss collection.

BALLS!

These are the most fun thing ever!  They are wool felt balls and you can do so many things with them.  You can make jewelry, Christmas decorations, trims for bags and clothing etc.  They come in many sizes and the color palette is beautiful. 

 I'm obsessed with these balls!  I LOVE wool felt and these are just so fun!  I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I couldn't help it - I bought about $50 worth of them.  When we first stumbled upon the booth and saw them we all went crazy and I said "I want balls!"  My mom replied "You have balls"...  I wasn't sure how to take that, but I'm taking it as a compliment.  And now I officially have lots of beautiful, colorful woolly balls.

They make me happy.

Lastly, I do have to mention that we spotted Elvis!!!  Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a huge Elvis fan (with some very cheesy memorabilia) - I have the same birthday as Elvis.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that it was Halloween - but we totally saw Elvis at our hotel bar and got a pic with him!  (we also saw Elmo)

TCB