We're baaaaack! Quilt Market is always such fun for us. It's a ton of work but oh, so rewarding. I know you guys love the virtual tours and the behind-the-scene peeks, so come with me as I take you along for this rollercoaster ride...
Set-Up
This is what the booth spaces look like when they first open up the convention center doors two days prior to the show... ugly white curtains, unsightly metal poles and concrete floors!
We only get two days to transform the spaces so there's no time to waste. Luckily, we're always surrounded by the dynamic team of Michael Miller Fabrics so there's never a dull moment during set up. Video courtesy of Shawn Wallace from Michael Miller Fabrics.
After all's said & done, it's time for the finishing touches. Thank goodness Michael's a neat freak or MMF's famous white carpet would never stay crisp & clean...
Fabric 2.0
The night before Quilt Market begins, we always unwind at the Fabric 2.0 Party, usually hosted by the fabulous Caroline Devoy and this time also sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics and Stash Books (read: great food and a full open bar!)
Here I am with Caroline Devoy, mastermind behind Fabric 2.0. and Mary Abreu, who was there signing her brand new, awesome BOOK!
With Heather Jones (Olive&Ollie), Betz White and Tira Schulteis (Brewer Distributors)...
With Jona Giamalva of Fabritopia, who was showing her adorable new sewing patterns...
With the sweet social networking girls from Fat Quarter Shop...
With the ever-so-talented Kate Spain, who is actually like a foot taller than me, but you wouldn't know it from this pic...
And of course, the Michael Miller team having the time of their lives...
First Day
The first day of Quilt Market is always so exciting. Seeing the booth all put together after weeks of planning and days of hard labor is quite a thrill...
This time we went with a "Spa" theme to honor my newest fabric collection, Sanctuary. The booth walls sported a limestone look and we decorated the space with lots of spa-ish items like plush white towels, vanilla candles, and hot stones...
We opted for a more natural-color palette than our previous booths and used natural materials for our furnishings, like wicker, wood and wool (the 3 W's ... ha!). We even had a real 'tree trunk table' made for us by a local woodworking artisan sitting atop a real flokati rug...
But of course, my favorite part of Market is the constant stream of visitors at my booth. I love, love, love chatting with old friends and meeting new people at the show!
Here I am with one of my favorite people Elinor Peace Bailey...
With the lovely team of Fat Quarter Shop (sans Kimberly, since she's due to give birth TODAY!)...
With Kristen McVane and team from StashQuilts...
With Dana from MADE, who I met via Deborah Moebes of Whipstitch, who was ALSO there signing her amazing new book! :)
With Mo Bedell, who gave me some samples of her new fabric (eeee! I *heart* fabric!) and Monica Solorio-Snow, who I *heart* for so, soooo many reasons...
Monica gave me this custom-made St.JoJo plushie to help us sell the house and came with a letter that brought tears to my eyes (literally!). I cannot even begin to describe how special this zombie is to me... xoxo!!
We always love seeing Lindsay and Charlie Prezzano from Hawthorne Threads. They run such a professional operation and are such great supporters of my fabric designs...
Even the guys got some face time...
Last, but not least, I got to meet the adorable Marie Villa, who I can see "eye-to-eye" (literally!) and spend some quality time with another one of my fave ladies, Melanie Thornton of Above All Fabrics.
I did get to walk around for a few minutes that day, and got to meet Ty Pennington of Extreme Home Makeovers...
And have a little chat with the lovely Tina Givens, whose gorgeous booth took in 2nd Place for the Double Booth Category.
Second Day — HALLOWEEN!
The second day of Market was Halloween Day, so since we couldn't be at home celebrating, we thought we'd bring a little bit of Halloween fun to Market...
Luckily, we weren't the only ones...
Haha... Tina cracks me up!!!
Third Day
The third day of Market is always a little slower, so we just end up taking it easy and shooting a few more booth pics before take down...
We didn't win any booth awards this time (the competition was fierce!) but we did get a super cool trophy from the fabulous Gina Halladay of Quilter's Buzz and her entourage, who called themselves the 4-H girls, haha. I'm sure there's a photo floating around on the internet of me graciously accepting my award from a Ken doll dressed in all pink. Uh-huh! Holler if you see it!
And then there was take down...
Like I said... never a dull moment! :)
So, that's all folks! Until next time...
Check out all the other Quilt Market reports in blogland. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jona's and Mary's recaps. Happy Zombie did a super-thorough recap and she calls me a rock star so she gets my vote! haha!
