What a whirlwind week it has been!
I had such a great time at Spring Market in Salt Lake City. Not only did I get to create the booth you see here, but I got to reconnect with old friends, make some new ones, and meet so many wonderful quilters! It was a fantastic experience.
I had been dreaming of this moment for years, and planning this booth for nearly a year, so it was great to finally see it in tangible form. I could not have accomplished all you see here without the help of so many people! First I want to thank Karen and Sharon for dropping many of their other activities once my fabric finally arrived (11 days prior to leaving for Market) to help me with the quilts. Actually the only thing I did on the quilts was piece the Argyle (the big blue and green one on the wall) and the Ascension (the whirling one on the bench); they did all the rest! Karen pieced 3 quilts and quilted 4 of them, and Sharon quilted the Argyle and did the hand binding on 4 of them. A HUGE THANK YOU to both of you! There is no way I could have done 5 quilts plus all the other stuff by myself - you totally saved my bacon.
I made 3 skirts denoting the 3 colorways...
...and I made a flower box to display the 7 patterns that I am selling.
Some local friends helped with the backdrop curtains and some pillows (thanks, Whitney and Murray!)
Once I got to Utah, a bunch of us (thanks Edith, Emilie, and Star!) worked on these cute and easy flowers made with yo-yo's and fabric-covered buttons, which were scattered in the flower box and the "bushes". Edith and Emilie also worked with me for the day and a half it took to set up the booth.
I had hurriedly made this appliqued sign before I left, but as you can see it has issues. All you professional quilters out there, don't look too closely! I spent my flying and airport layover time working on the hand-stitching on it, but didn't ever finish it. Ah, well. It got the point across, anyway.
Here's my favorite li'l critter, the Huggable Slug - isn't he just, well, huggable? The pattern for the slug and his pal Sir Snake is coming soon! And all net proceeds from this pattern will go to One Heart Bulgaria.
Speaking of One Heart Bulgaria, my Sewing For Orphans project was enthusiastically received by a lot of women who were excited to bring the project back to their hometowns to work on. This makes me SO happy! Hopefully the project will really start to snowball from here. If you are unfamiliar with OHB and/or SFO, please click on the icons in my sidebar for more information.
Here's a closer look at the bags for my Infinity Tote pattern. Isn't that the cutest wagon ever? My friend Emilie borrowed it from a neighbor, cleaned it all up and sanded the rust off, then when I got into town we painted it together. Love it. She also painted her garden bench red just for the booth. And she found the white stool that I recovered with my fabric so I could have a place to perch during the show. Not to mention helping me set up and take down the booth, printing more business cards at her house after I ran out the first day, and driving me everywhere for several days. Thanks for everything!
Here's Emilie Daly, in all her stylish splendor. She's a prospective designer and her impressive portfolio attracted a lot of attention from several fabric companies, so keep a lookout for her name in the upcoming year!
The little birdies and flowers in my prints are perfect for applique, as you can see on my Eliza-sized mannequin. I made both mannequins to be the sizes of my girls, for obvious reasons.
Now Hazel, whenever she sees the blonde one, shouts, "That's me! That's me!"
I had Mod-Podged fabric to fit underneath the "stepping stone" spaces I cut in the fake grass, but made the mistake of cutting the fabric before decoupaging it = shrinkage! Some pieces didn't even quite fill the gaps, but with a lot of carpet tape Edith and I made it work.
Here I am in another matchy-matchy outfit. I inadvertantly scared so many people when I was sitting calmly in my chair - when I moved around they totally jumped because they thought I was a mannequin too! Nearly gave one lady a heart attack.
For any of you who are awaiting the release of my patterns (I didn't have time to get them printed before I left, despite spending all day last Monday trying to do so), please look for the pattern images to appear in my sidebar. I've still got to get a lot of ducks in a row before I'm ready to fill orders, but it should happen in the next week or so. Thanks for your patience, and to all of you who helped me this month (including my Mom, who came about 2 weeks before I left to help entertain the kids so I could sew, and of course my husband Steve, who took a week off of work to play Mr. Mom in my absence), thank you, thank you, thank you!
