SCHOOL HOUSE IN HOUSTON

gThe first big day of activities during Qui t Market is School House. Eight hours of classes. The classes are either15 or 30 minutes, and are as varied as the vendors on the show floor. We see new tools, clubs and fabric. I try to go the the classes with designers I know my customers love. So that I can see what new patterns, books or fabric lines I should be looking for once market opens.

Jo Morton always has a packed house. They hold up her quilts and we are all trying to take pictures from a far. Seeing these quilts in person is a wonderful treat. The rooms are bright and I was far away, but I tried to snap a few pictures for you to see.

This quilt was amazing.

The number of fabrics used to create her scrapy look, takes years to collect. Her quilts have depth and richness.

I went to classes with Alex Anderson, Darlene Zimmerman,Nancy Zieman, Eleanor Burns and Elizabeth Scott. Great Samples and wonderful ideas.

Quilters I saw across the room-Pam Kitty Morning,Kaffe Fasset Jinny Beyer, Elly Sinkiewicz and the Swirley Girls.

It was a great day, and I will take more pictures tomorrow, when the market floor opens. j

FALL 2010

I love the fall. I love the crisp mornings, and the warm afternoons. I love the colors of the trees, the mum's and I love fall fabric.

Months ago, I thought about the great blog posts I would write during the fall. I planned to take lots of pictures of Fall Colors. What happened? Where did the Fall go? Last week I was thinking how beautiful it was. My husband was lamenting about the lawn. We wore jackets and sat outside in the evening.


It's raining, the wind has been howling for 3 days. The beautiful leaves are gone. There's no sitting outside in the evening. But, Safeway still has fall colors! Look at the wonderful graphics on these giant boxes of pumpkins! Beautiful. Who are the grocery store 'designers'?

And the displays! Do they keep those cute wooden crates in the stock room all year, just to drag them out for Fall? Or if I look other times of the year, will I see them? Who would think Watermelon and Pumpkins would work together? Makes me want pie and salad! Beautiful.

Oh, and the gourds! Bumpy and colorful, in a cute little basket. And look at those cute little pumpkins all wrapped up in orange net! Green, orange, white and yellow!

I must admit that Orange is my favorite color right now! You can't have a bad day if you wrap yourself in Orange!

You never know where you will find color inspiration. These colors just might show up in my next quilting project!

Stay tuned, I am going to Fall Quilt Market. ( Where it is 90 degrees with 87% humidity.) I will update you on a daily basis with ideas, color trends, and quilt super star sightings! J

THE REST OF THE STORY

I love my fall quilt retreat. I love my Killer Bee Girlfriends. We have a secret wave, and love all things Bee's. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the projects we worked on.

This was a gift made by one of the Bee's. Stinkin' Cute Scissor Fobs. We all had a lesson in twisting embroidery floss to make the little cording.

This was the pile of Bee parts. It was a secret hiding in plain sight! Pam is so sneaky!

One of the things I worked on was a very scrappy quilt. I have been saving 2 x 3 1/2 rectangles. They make a really cute block, and a super scrappy FREE quilt top!

Our Queen of the Hive, Laurie, was working on this beautiful French General quilt. She can make perfect points, even if the hive is swarming with activity.

Pam loves her turtles. She is one with her machine. Whether it's machine applique or machine quilting!

Kay worked all weekend on this wonderful fall quilt. It is from a 10 year old book from Country Threads. It has aged nicely, and the project is fabulous!

Cleo worked on many things. My favorite was a Dirndl for an October Fest party she was attending. Darn, where was my camera? This block is going to be a quilt for a dear friend.

Betsy loves a Cowboy Quilt. Cowboy Bob has been her go to, snuggle up quilt for a few years. This is really a Cowgirl Quilt. Really great fabrics!

Our Head Drone, Suzanne, was very buzzzy. She made 2 table runners from 1 charm pack, and a little extra fabric. Beautiful!

There were many other projects. Lots of laughter, great food, a little shopping and ice cream for the Ferry ride home.

Best retreat buddies, ever!

Pin Cushions

I love pin cushions. I have lots of them. Old and new. I don't really use a lot of pins. But, I have pincushions at every station. On the cutting table, on the ironing board, on the coffee table, next to my sewing machine. I just love them. Last week I was on a retreat with my BFF's, I took a few pictures of everyone's pincushions. I thought you would enjoy them.

Isn't this one wonderful! So organized, and perfect.

This is actually 2 at one station. The little one is filled with Lavender. A gift at a previous retreat. Remember this In The Beginning Floral?

What's cuter that red and white? Very functional, almost looks like little polka dots!

I hate to admit that this one is mine! I keep it in a travel bag, when I fly to far away retreats. It's tiny and adorable. Kay Hobby made all of the Keepsake Cottage girls one of these for Christmas a couple of years ago. I should have done a little organization before the photo shoot.

Jam packed, a little Blue Bird and on a pink mat. Stinkin' cute!

Look at those darling pins!! They look like buttons on a stick. Perfect.

Do you recognise this one? It was the before picture of the 1st pin cushion of the post! BFF Betsy, you are so adorable!

Okay, Vicky wins some kind of a prize! Can you tell that she is an office manager for our local High School? My mom had that same seam ripper, and our dog Cindy, took a bite out of the handle. It still had a lot of 'good' left in it, so she used it for years!

Retreats are the best. Gather up your BFF's and your favorite sewing supplies and plan a weekend. You won't be sorry! J

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

I am a lucky girl. I get packages delivered to the shop almost every day. Wonderful packages, filled with wonderful quilty goodness. Fabric, notions, books, patterns. Everything a quilter could ask for.


Not every box is as Stinkin' Cute as this one!


Not every box comes from McCall, Idaho. McCall has many wonderful things. My favorite things are my son Christopher and his girlfriend Megan. They sent this darling box.

What could it be? It looks like plastic bags, and a little fabric.

OMG! It is a block of the month embroidery kit! Rosalie Quinlan Designs, an Australian artist. With red, turquoise and yellow fabric!! Super Duper Darling!

They bought it at the most adorable shop in McCall, Huckleberry Patches!

This is what it will look like when I get it finished. Oh My, is this cute or what?

See, I told you I was a lucky girl!

FIG TREE CLUB

We are very excited to be an Exclusive Fig Tree Club Shop! This means that 4 times a years, Joanna Figueroa will design patterns that will only be sold in these shops. There are only 30 shops around the country that were invited to be members. We will be having our first Club meeting next week, we hope you will join and be a part of the 'in' crowd!

With a one year membership, you will receive 4 exclusive patterns from Fig Tree, 10%off all things Fig Tree on the evening of your meeting, special on-line coupons to be used on Fig Tree's web site. Plus lots of ideas using Fig Tree pattens and Fabrics.



It's no secret that I love Joanna's fabric. Just look around in the shop. Our Fig Tree section is always messy, because you, my favorite customers, are searching for the newest or a little piece of an older group, or maybe a surprise you forgot was out there.

The soft vintage look seems to never go out of style. It's just like 'buttah'!

Here is a sneak peek at the pattern, Twinkle. We are using the newest collection, Breakfast at Tiffany's, but honestly it would be beautiful in any Fig Tree Jelly Roll.

Come join our club! We are going to have a great time, and you won't want to miss it!