Market Report - Part 1
Fall International Quilt Market 2008, Houston, TX

Hi everyone! I'm baaaaack! Last time I tackled Market Report in one fell swoop (a.k.a. one ginormous blog posting that left you and I both exhausted!) So this time I've decided to save my sanity and break this up into parts... not necessarily in chronological order, just so you know.

Quilt Market was everything I expected and more. We drove 16 hrs. there and 16 hrs. back (well, Jon drove. I mostly slept, twittered, googled and doodled). Those of you following me on Twitter got the full state-by-state report... even when I called Arkansas "AK" instead of "AR." I can't believe no one teased me about that one! I can take it, I really can! ;)

So, for those of you who are new to my blog, we went down to the International Quilt Market in Houston, TX to debut my first line of fabrics, titled Andalucia, for Michael Miller Fabrics. Below, are a few scattered pictures of my booth and the surrounding areas...

This first picture shows the view from the aisle directly in front of us. On the left you see part of my booth, on the right you see part of Paula Prass' booth. Directly behind Paula's booth you see a sliver of Sandi Henderson's booth and the remainder of this picture shows what Michael Miller's selling stations looked like.



Below is a picture of Kathy Miller (Michael Miller Fabrics) and me standing at my booth. Check out the awesome quilts made specifically to showcase Andalucia by some amazingly talented ladies. The one on the left is called Now & Forever and was designed by Abbey Lane Quilts. The one on the right is called Spring Up and was designed by Lizzy Anne Originals. You can also see the 2 chairs that I painstakingly upholstered just days before the show and a few other sewn samples...



Here is a full shot of Spring Up:



This picture shows a few Market goodies including a couple of purses by my talented mom (a.k.a. marielizcreations on etsy), some super sweet bibs by Bug-A-Boo-Baby (check out her blog for some detailed pics of these and of the baby blankies she made for the booth!), and a pillow and dress by yours truly. By the way, my mom will be offering her Market-Sample-Purses in her etsy store very soon, so keep checking for these!



A super cool pineapple pincushion by my talented friend, Eva Taylor. Check out her blog and leave her a comment to be entered to win a pineapple of your own! How generous is that?!?



Totally AWESOME Andalucia jacquard ribbons designed by me for J. Caroline Creative (these are only 8 of the 16 designs offered!) Wish you guys could see & touch these! They are super soft and the quality is unsurpassed. These ribbons totally stole the show, IMO! Caroline will have these in her shop soon, so keep checking!



And speaking of Caroline, here I am standing in her AWESOME booth, which, by the way, won a prize of Best New Exhibitor. Way to go, Caroline!!!



And last, but certainly not least, is this picture of me sitting in my booth chatting it up with one of the loveliest ladies I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, the vibrant and so inspirational Elinor Peace Bailey.



Now, I want to leave you with a few links to check out:

• I did a designer interview with Gina Halladay of Quilter's Buzz. What a lovely lady! Go over there and read! (those of you who attended my schoolhouse session may notice some overlap... sorry!)
  
  
• Boutique Café created history with the first ever live podcast from Quilt Market and I was honored to be their guinea pig, er, first interviewee! ;) You can catch a recording of the live feed right here... complete with testing, bloopers and a heck of a lot of giggling!
  
  
• The Jolly Jabber, Fat Quarter Shop's awesome blog, is doing a day-by-day Market Report that is not to be missed. One of the best pictures of me has already surfaced in their "findings" and check out this one I spotted on their Flickr account of me & Jon. Awww! Please stay tuned for a full interview in a couple of weeks! I'll let you know when it's up!!!

OK, that's it for now! Thanks for being so patient through this super long post... I swear I thought it was gonna be much shorter! And to all of you lovely ladies who came over and saw me at Quilt Market, MWAH! Love ya!!!

Portland or Bust!

So this is it. I am heading to Chicago in just a few minutes and flying to Portland for the International Quilt Market. I am still on Cloud 9 and just cannot believe I am actually going! I can't wait to meet all the Fabricnistas (yes, Paula, I stole your term) and catch up with old friends, but most importantly I am so excited about getting to meet the folks at Michael Miller Fabrics face to face. Kathy Miller has been an absolute pleasure to chat with over the phone through this whole design process and Sandi tells me the rest of the crew is just as great so I am just giddy with excitement.

And as a side note, good thing I am -- what my friend Melissa would call -- "elfin," LOL! I was able to fit 6 outfits, 6 pairs of shoes, PJs, my flat iron, my cosmetics & toiletries, my camera, my iPhone, my wallet, 2 design portfolios, a sketchbook, a box of Moo cards and the new purse my mom made me for Mother's Day in this small carry-on suitcase and this weekender bag from Bath & Body Works. At first, when I looked at those diminutive pieces of luggage I thought it was nearly impossible but, again, "good thing I'm elfin" and my shoes & clothes are tiny!!! ;)

So... if you'll be attending the show, I hope to meet up with you. If not, I will be back next Monday with a full report. :) Have a great weekend, everyone!!! I have a feeling Blogland will be a tad quiet for a few days... at least the crafty neighborhood in Blogland. ;)

My New Title

I've been hinting here and there about a new venture in my life... something that I've been working tirelessly on for the past few months. Sorry to have kept you all in suspense for so long. It's not like me to keep things bottled in but at the same time I wanted to make sure it was "official" before I blurted it all out and made a fool of myself if something went wrong.

But I can finally say it: I am the new fabric designer for MICHAEL MILLER FABRICS. Phew! I actually exhaled as I typed that. The long awaited contract finally arrived yesterday and I ripped open the envelope like a kid at Christmas. Everything has been reviewed, signed and mailed back so I can finally say it's official! WOOOHOOO!

I look forward to sharing tons of sneak peeks with you all in the coming months, but right now it's still a bit premature as we are not sure yet if all my designs will be actually printed or if some will get cut in the process. As usual, I was an over-achiever and produced more than my fair share of designs & colorways, so at some point in the next few weeks we will be reviewing my work and deciding what gets printed.


My new fabric line will debut during the International Quilt Market in Houston, October 25-27, 2008. But as I have mentioned before, I will also be attending the Spring Quilt Market in Portland, which is fast approaching in 3 weeks... gulp...so if any of you will be out there on May 15-18 you might catch a glimpse of my portfolio. :)

Now that the envelope has been opened, it's time for me to express my gratitude to a few people who I owe it all to. First and foremost, I'd like to thank Kathy Miller for taking a chance on me and offering me such a wonderful opportunity with her company. I have been a fan of Michael Miller Fabrics for as long as I have been in this industry and it is truly an honor (and a dream come true) to be working with you guys now! Secondly, I'd like to thank Sandi Henderson for introducing me to Kathy and for putting up with my non-stop blabbering during all those crazy late-night chats. Thanks, sweetie! And last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my wonderful husband, Jon and my girls, Sophie & Sydney, for being so patient with me and allowing me to slack off on my wife/mother/housekeeper duties as I tried my darndest to multi-task for the past few months. I know it hasn't been easy... I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Blush

It's the name of my newest design -- a 3-piece set made with my friend, Sandi's, yummy Ginger Blossom fabric :) ... check it out:



I listed this on Etsy already, but since it is hard for me to break out of the eBay mentality of taking/showing tons of pictures, I made myself a little page to show the entire shoot! LOL!
So, you can click HERE to go to the Etsy listing, or click HERE to check out the rest of the photo shoot.

Due to my busy schedule right now (and the fact that I am going on vacation next week) I can only offer this as a ready-made set in size 3T/4T, but if you are interested in a custom of this design, please check back with me on March 25th, when I will be joining 75 other children boutique designers on an eBay/Etsy launch honoring Ginger Blossom! ;)