Market Report -
Fall International Quilt Market 2009
Houston, TX

We're baaaaack! We drove (actually, Jon drove) a total of 1,700 miles round trip, which translated into 17 hours there and 17 hours back in a rented cargo van filled to the brim with booth walls, furniture, patterns and sewn goodies. Those of you who follow me on Twitter, already know that I got a bit car sick on the way down, almost ended up with eight Mochas at a Starbucks in Texarkana, and miraculously got rid of my headache the minute I saw signs for downtown Houston. The following pictures illustrate what our next 5 days were like...

On Thursday, we set up the booth. It was a long, arduous day but we had lots of help from some dear, dear friends!



On Friday, I presented a Schoolhouse Session sponsored by one of our U.S. distributors, Brewer Sewing & Quilting. I was so nervous in the hours and minutes leading up to my speech that I almost threw up, but once I got up there and saw so many smiling, familiar faces in the audience all the tension just fluttered away and I felt like I was just talking to a group of friends. Thank you to all who attended!



I don't know what I was doing here, but it must've caused a few of you to break out the cameras... hahaha



More booth set-up followed on Friday, but by the end of the day we were ready to par-tay and what better place that the Fabric 2.0 Lite, sponsored by the ever so lively Caroline Devoy, of J. Caroline Creative fame.

I got to visit with some of my favorite girls... Here I am with Caroline:



Traci Butler, of Hip Fabric, who made me and Jon the awesome Flora & Fauna badge holders for the show...



Anna Garner, of Sweet Dreams Designs:



Melanie Thornton, of Above All Fabric:



Mary Abreu, of Flourishes and InTown Quilters



Jenean Morrison, of Free Spirit



Jill Mead of BH&G's Quilts And More:



(boy, I just realized what a lush I look like... I have a Mojito in every picture!)

And of course, the notorious Jay McCarroll:



Jay actually convinced Jon to go with him to Sample Spree... an event that I had sworn never to attend again, after I nearly suffocated to death the first time I went! So, believe it or not, I tagged along (mainly because I didn't want to be left behind without a ride!) Here is a "Jon's-eye-view" photo of Sample Spree:



Fighting the crowds was definitely worth it once I spotted my pals at Fat Quarter Shop and got to spend some QT with them:



The next day was the first day of Quilt Market. Here are a few shots of my booth... not too shabby, eh?







Adding to this here, because so many have asked, YES, there will be a pattern for this hummingbird quilt! YAY! The actual quilt is currently en route to Australia with our distributor, Mac's Crafts, but it shall return in mid-November (hopefully with lots of stories to tell!) Pattern should be available in January if all goes well. Thank you all!!







Standing in one spot for 9 hours isn't so bad when I get great visitors at my booth. Here I am with Kathy Miller:



Tira Schulteis of Brewer Sewing:



Kay Whitt, of Serendipity Studios, wore a skirt made from Flora & Fauna! She was so cute & tiny I could've just picked her up and put her up on display with the other mannequins!



Patricia Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics:



The Michael Miller Fabrics booth was soooo cool! They made it up like the most awesome and whimsical campground...



Complete with life-size gnomes...



This gnome was Patty-sized!



Cynthia, of Fabric Worm, was more than happy to spin the wheel to see what she won...



And the best part... Camp Michael Miller won the Creativity Award!!!



And as if that wasn't cool enough, my pal Sandi Henderson, won the Merchandising Award. WOOOHOO!



Here she is in her adorable dress she made from her new fabric collection, Meadowsweet:



Sunday night, Michael Miller Fabrics celebrated their 10-Year-Anniversary in style with a rocking party on the top floor of the Hilton hotel...



Michael & Kathy cutting the cake...



No detail was spared... not even the life-sized K&M bobbleheads...



We had an amazing time... well, some of us more than others.



And again, I got to spend some great QT with the Fat Quarter Shop team... I just adore these guys!



Here I am with our Australian distributor, John Clegg of Mac's Crafts...



And with an amazing art quilter, Rob Appell



And I want to end up with this photo of two of my favorite people... Jean & Tom Meacham. Jean is Kathy Miller's sister and these two are about the most hardworking, dedicated and selfless duo I have ever met. Tom helped us out so much that I ended up giving him Jon's famous bee tie as a thank you gift (he had been ogling it the whole time we were there!) We'll miss you!



OK, that's it, folks! Thanks for staying with me. Now on to prepare for the next one...