Quilt Market in Full Swing!

Let’s start this thing for real!

The doors for the Fall Quilt Market in Houston opened at 9:30am and crowds were already gathered to break down the door and make their way inside.

Shop owners and other business were eager to make appointments with reps to order new lines of fabrics, tools, notions, threads, and all else so that WE will soon have it available near where we are.

It’s a hustle.

It’s a bustle.


It’s a mob of quilty happiness, and it is so fun to people watch in situations like this.  This year’s Moda theme is “Super Quilter” Heros, and I spied two ladies wandering the aisles in red tutu’s and super quilter Tshirts…SO much fun.

Of course, it’s Halloween week, and that just adds to the festivities as well.

Not to mention that there is the first annual “Houston Egyptian Festival going on in the park across the street complete with live camels and music….we are a weird mix and we are loving it!

My cute cute friend Julie Herman of Jaybird quilts!

Pat Sloan in her Moda booth!

And then it was my turn!

Yesterday was a day for RUNNING.  Book signing happened in the United Notions booth at 11am, and I had 20 copies of the Addicted to Scraps book to gift away for folks who had picked up tickets to attend earlier.  It was really fun to meet everyone, get to know where they are from, and how excited their customers are over this year’s En Provence Mystery.  Several of the shop owners I talked to have staff at home pulling bolts of fabric in this year’s colors and cutting Fat Quarter bundles so they will be ready for you.  It’s going to be a fun one!

Lunch at Pappasito’s with Mary Kerr!

Mary’s latest book, TWISTED!

15 of Mary’s quilts are in a special exhibit here in Houston and I got a personal tour with Mary as my guide, telling me the ins and outs of each quilt!  I didn’t stop to take photos.  Some of the exhibits say NO PHOTOS, but I’ll go back again today and see if she’ll let me post some here for you or if there are photos she will let me use.

This is the perfect blend of tradition meeting innovation!  Here is the book description:

This full-color description of the creation of 22 quilts gives contemporary quilters fresh ideas for injecting their works with energy from repurposed antique textiles, abandoned blocks, and vintage fragments.

For each quilt's starting inspiration, a fragment of unfinished vintage quilting was incorporated into a modern quilt aesthetic. The newly-designed "past-combined-with-present" quilt tops were then shipped to one of 22 contemporary quilt artists, each among today's best longarm quilters.

The new, innovative quilts serve as a bridge between the vintage past and the modern present. Plus, helpful sections on documentation and on working with vintage fabrics assist readers with combining past and present in their own quilts.

The quilts were stunning, and they still had that touch of yesterday incorporating all of these beautiful vintage textiles that I love so much.  I may have to look at my saved vintage blocks a bit more closely!  I feel so inspired.

And full.  Because lunch was big.  REALLY BIG!

And we ran into Ebony Love on our way back into the show!

My afternoon video session went by in a blur without even stopping to think about getting out my camera and having someone take still shots.  It was just go go go go on a time limit because someone else was coming in on my tails and we didn’t want to backlog the schedule.

I ran back through the show for a couple of favorites!

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!

The text…biggie sized on my phone.

My one regret is that with the plastic tape in front of the displays, and the placards way behind, I was unable to read any of them at all.  My eyesight won’t do it.  They are too far back from the tape.  I tried with a couple of quilts to get the credits so that I could share who made what quilt, but it is just going to be impossible because they are too far back basically for ANYONE to read.

I loved the movement in this one.

And I love the stories behind the quilts as well!

There will be loads more to explore!

And the meeting & greeting continued!

Lynnette Anderson and Penny Barnes, two of the gals I love following on Facebook and Instagram.  So fun to hug you, girls!

Some shopping happened.

But not much!

There just wasn’t time.  But I spied these mola shoes and tried them on, and they were so comfy I just whipped out the credit card and did an impulse buy.  I do not regret it.  The molas are hand stitched in Columbia, South America and then made into shoes.  Each pair is one of a kind and they just called out to me.  And they carried me through everything all day on my feet, not bothering the still mending broken toe one bit because the fabric doesn’t bind.  The soles are cushy.  I am happy!

The shirt I had to double back for…I told Julie of Jaybird Quilts to save me one..that I would be back after my video.  I love Quilty shirts!

Thanks, Julie girl!

Before I knew it the day was done.  A bowl of soup for dinner.  A bit more visiting before crawling off to bed.  And another day is at hand. 

I’m beginning to think that Quilt Market is just not long enough to fit in all that you want to see and do.  I’ve literally been running from appointment to appointment and missing much of what I thought I could capture while I was here.  But it’s still all good.

I spied Idaho Square Dance in the C&T booth!

I hadn’t seen it in person since LAST NOVEMBER!

**Essential Triangle Tool Update!!**  I was told here at Market that there is a pallet load of 2,000 Essential Triangle Tools on its way to North Carolina as I speak!  It should be arriving on Wednesday, so there is ample supply to get these orders out before I go to Salt Lake on the 11th!  Hooray!

The C&T Booth was extra busy yesterday.

And this is where you will find me today at 11am for my book signing.  And I better get a move on.  Market opens in 15 minutes and I’m not ready yet.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage ocean waves quilt found in North Carolina.

As wonderful as these words are, I think it's also important to add "yourself" after these words: Trust yourself, believe in yourself, forgive yourself, and never give up!

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

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