Market Report

I am home from Fall Quilt Market in Houston and finally rested and ready to go to the next project. My good friend and helper Becky went with me to market to help and I also had help from Paula Ward and Jeanne Kuchelmeister. I showed four new patterns.

Shooting Stars

 which has three sizes (twin, queen and king). Everyone liked it because it has six different stars that make up the center of the quilt.

 Radiant Stars

which has two sizes (wall or baby and throw). It is really fast and easy to make with any style fabric.

I made the cover quilt with Moda Tradition and the wall quilt with Moda  Love is in the Air by Deb Strain.

Post & Beam

which is lap quilt for the contemporary quilter to use the new bold graphic prints like Wonderland by MoMo for Moda.

It is a wonderful fabric with all sorts of designs.

The last pattern is

Abstract Harmony

I designed it to use the beautiful silks by dellaQ.  Della and I have teamed up to encourage quilters and sewers to use silks in their projects. I made two quilts and four table runners for Della to show in her booth. She is making kits that will be available at your local quilt shops. If the shops don’t have what you are looking for you can check out Della’s website to order from her. I will also be stocking the kits for students taking my new workshop The Road to Success With Silk. The workshop will cover many aspects of working with silk like how to prevent raveling, to wash or not to wash, what kind of needles to use, etc. 

This is my booth before we decorated

and this is a picture of the finished booth.

That is Paula in the picture.

I did three School House sessions while there. School House is mini classes on the day before the exhibits open. We show new patterns, new fabrics, new techniques and have fun at the same time. I did two sessions for Dell to show samples made with her silks.

We also gave out information on how to use and handle the silk. We had good attendance at both. I did one session to show my new patterns and had standing room only. All were a great success. We also did some great networking with publishers of books and magazines. There will be numerous new and exciting things happening this year at Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.

Tomorrow I will show you some of the celebrities we saw while in Houston.

I recently went to Brenham, Texas to give a lecture and teach a Shining Star class for the Friendship Quilt Guild. In case you don't know, Brenham is the home of BlueBell ice cream. A great time was had by all including me.

 I had great students who worked very hard.

And they served a fabulous pot luck lunch.

This is a quilt made by Mabel Dimick.

 She used the Broken Star pattern from my Simple Stars Beautiful Quilts book.

My hosts were Karen & Mike.

They have a beautiful home in the country with a great lake on the land.

This is the Putter Shed Mike built for Karen. Don't you love it?

They treated me to a wonderful dinner at Volare in Brenham. One of the things I love most about traveling to teach is meeting the wonderful people.

The ladies in Brenham sewed, visited and had a lot of fun.

Just a couple of stars ready to put together.  

 One student brought her Carpenter's Star quilt top to show.

I have to get to work now. I am working on quilts and patterns for Fall Quilt Market.

Tomorrow I will show you some of my progress.

When I was in Benton, Arkansas teaching at the Saline County Quilt Guild my lunch was provided by Gwen Rogers' husband. This is his recipe.

 Tom's Tasty Tuna

1   5 oz. can albacore tuna in water, drained

1/2 apple, chopped (sometimes we use the whole apple)

1/2 cup chopped pecans (more or less)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (more or less)

3/4 cup mayonnaise (more or less to suit your taste)

(We always use albacore tuna because it doesn't have such a strong flavor.)

Mix all ingredients and serve on lettuce or in sandwiches.

Also while I was in Benton one of the students shared the quilt she had made using the free pattern from my website.

http://www.calicocarriage.com

It uses the No Diamonds / No "Y" Seams technique. It is also fat quarter friendly. It is a great project for a holiday like today. I hope you all have a great Labor Day.

Here are some of the pictures from the Memories / Chick N' Stars class in Benton, Arkansas.

Great group of ladies!

I am back home from my teaching trip to Arkansas.

 I did a Lecture/Trunk Show and two workshops for the Saline County Quilt Guild in Benton, Arkansas.

If you get a chance to go there it is delightful. The ladies are warm and friendly and very accommodating. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

These are the pictures of the Carpenter's Star Workshop on the first day.

I can’t believe the weather. Yesterday it was 103º and today it is only 69 º so far. I sure hope it stays this way for a while.

I am still working on my new patterns for market. This is the center of the queen size version of “Shooting Stars”.

No Diamonds and No "Y" Seams"

The fabric is “Heritage” by Howard Marcus for Moda Fabrics. This is a new group. Ask for it at your local quilt shops in September.

The proceeds from this fabric go to Gilda’s Club.

This is Miss Kitty. She loves fabric as much as we all do.

Karen Gass from Cotton Spice Quilting Magazine is hosting a Summer Blog Workshop for 14 days, July 21 to August 3. Each day is a different project, each with a different skill level. The projects are different crafts; not all quilting. My project will be posted on July 26. It is a small needlework or jewelry bag that can be made in one afternoon. Be sure to check www.cottonspice.com/CSblog each day for that day's project. Check here on my blog to get the instructions for the needlework bag.

This was a busy Spring as I did a lecture and workshops in Cape May, NJ, a workshop for South Shore Stitchers, NJ, a lecture and two workshops in Tallahassee, FL, attended classes at Empty Spools in Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA, had a booth at the wholesale quilt market in Portland OR and took a little vacation to Charleston, SC.  Here's a couple of pictures from the classes. More later.