Market, Retreat and a Sneak...

Whew! I have had a busy couple of weeks, as mentioned in my last post...I attended my first market then we had a retreat to attend and then unfortunately my littlest one has been sick so this is the first chance I have gotten to download allll those pics and share with you!

First, Market was a huge success! Stefanie and I met a ton of wonderful people, saw a ton of beautiful new fabrics and of course got the inside scoop of this wonderful industry. It was overwhelming but exciting and at times so daunting, but overall I am energized and excited about venturing into this amazing world!

The first night we attended Sample Spree which, to say the least, is crazy! We met some wonderful people in line from all over the country and of course met up with Sharon from Red Geranium Cottage and briefly met her friends Nancy and Karen. Then the next 2 days were spent looking through the booths and meeting some of our favorite designers- it was so hard to not be completely star struck, I tell you! Some of our fave's were Joanna and Eric Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts fame...one booth I really wanted to take a pic of( go here to check out Joanna's pics) ...both Joanna and her husband are wonderful and nice and I am so excited for her new line Patisserie to come out! It is gorgeous! We met Barb Adams and briefly Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs fame. Very beautiful booth that one an award for Best single booth. They also have a really awesome book coming out that had this amazing cross stitch pillow to make! You can go here to check out pics of their booth. We also met Cyndi Walker of Wishful Stitches as well- her patterns are just wonderful. Oh there were so many others and we enjoyed meeting every single one and to see all of their newest designs- very inspiring! Unfortunately I did not realize that I had only taken a couple of photos....Stefanie, I believe took more. I am hoping to be a little better about the camera next time around!

One of my faves to meet was Lynette Anderson and her son Eddie at her booth Lynette Anderson's designs. She is the sweetest and talked with us a while even offering me some good tidbits of what it is like to design (thanks Lynette!). She is coming out with her first line of fabric in June from Henry Glass. Go to her blog and check out her sneak peaks- too cute! If you have not been working on her cute Noak's Ark Stitchery, then pop over and check that out too! I am hoping to have some of her paterns and books on my Etsy shortly so keep checking back if any one is interested.




We also bumped into Melly and Rosie from Melly and Me and Rosalie Quinlan Designs fame on the shuttle to the convention center! They were so sweet and so we made a point of stopping by their cute booth and they obliged us with a photo op! Their designs are just darling!

Like I said, Market is a bag of feelings but mostly it shows a wonderful example of our industry and I can't wait to be part of it someday!

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Last weekend, my bestest Quilt Buddy Stefanie came to visit for a wonderful 5 days! The reason was to attend the Lil Country Shoppe's third annual Quilt Retreat in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. She flew in on Thursday and we began immediately to catch up and of course pack our bags for a weekend of quilty bliss! I of course was way to ambitious and packed several projects of which are still untouched. Instead I pick an intricate wall hanging called 'Snowmen on Parade'. It is adorable and I cannot wait to finish it and show you! I will see if I have a pic from the shoppe. It involves applique and paper piecing and the prep from that alone kept me busy! Stefanie managed to get one quilt top pieced and 2 others almost completely pieced. This year we sat with the wonderful sisters that I sat with last year (guess I did not talk too much since they invited me again! : ) ) Here is the group sitting at our table getting some work done. From the back to front: Susan's sisters Charlane, Nancy and Susan (no blog-yet) and on the right is Stef. I of course am taking the pic so managed to stay out of it! LOL!

Here is a picture of the strip club quilt that was done this weekend and Doris graciously presented it to those members that were at the retreat! WOW! I am not sure what it is called but I will edit when I find out! Doris made this one out of the jelly roll Harvest Home from Blackbird Designs! I cannot wait to make this one!

All in all we had a blast! I am so ready for next years to come already! Doris and Susan did a great job as usual! Unfortunately it did not seem to last long enough before Stefanie was jetting back to her coast : (....

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I also manged in the past couple of weeks to send off my Stitcher's Angel present to fly across the big blue ocean to somewhere in Europe! I have included a sneak peak of what I made, just in case ---- reads my blog....I cannot wait to hear she has received it and I hope she loves it!

Once I know she has received and opened it I will post the other pics! I had so much fun doing this and anxiously await my own Stitcher's angel parcel to come! Thanks Helen for organizing this awesome swap!

Well, I have rambled on for too long and have to go hit the drawing board! Too many ideas in my head! LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Well, after a very busy couple of weeks I am finally back in the blogosphere! A lot has been happening and not a lot of work unfortunately- although I have managed to get my stitcher's angel stuff done in the nick of time! They will be winging their way across the pond to their new home! As soon as I have my pics downloaded I will give a sneak of them and once they have arrived I will reveal who she is!

On a different note, I am not sure how many of you knew that I have started a business. I started making custom memory quilts and other types as well and it has been a lot of fun! Well, since I was doing a lot of designing for these quilts I realized that in reality that is where my heart is- design. So I have started working on a pattern line for The Quilt Nook and had a very exciting opportunity to go to Quilt Market in Houston last weekend. All I have to say is WOW! It is definitely an exciting event but at the same time, as it was my first, it was very overwhelming! I did however get to meet a lot of wonderful people, designers and others as well as be able to get a peak at the up and coming fabrics that are coming out. I have taken pictures but have not downloaded them as of yet so I will have to share them in my next post.

The best part was I brought along my bestest Quilt Buddy and I must say we had a blast! We were totally exhausted though as we covered the whole market in 2 days!!! Can you believe it! Let me tell you, if you have not ever been to one - it is HUGE! We did meet up with some fellow bloggers- Sharon ( of Red Geranium Cottage Fame) and Nancy (of Nancy no-blogs fame) and quite a few others! It definitely was a weekend to remember and let me tell you I came back totally inspired and with plenty of knowledge to help me with my new endeavor (thanks Doris and Lynette!).

I will leave you with pics of a beautiful fall mini quilt that Stefanie made for me...it goes perfect on my kitchen table in the sun room! Thanks Stef! More to come about market and all the goodies we found there!

Stefanie's Fall Mini Quilt

More to follow...
Cara
P.S. Happy Halloween!

Shop Hopping with the Quilt Buddy!

Well, where to start...I am back form San Diego and what a whirlwind it was! It took me a day to just veg out and get back to East coast time and routine...so about my visit!

It was cool! On the first day Stefanie and I went to Temecula and met up with a fellow blogger at the Quilter's Coop- who, you ask? Well it was none other than Red Geranium Cottage blogger, Sharon! I tell you she is one cool lady! We went to this cute little barbecue place down the road from the Coop and had a leisurely lunch chatting the whole time. I really did not want it to end!

After lunch we walked back to the Quilter's Coop to do some shopping and sadly had to say good-bye to Sharon. It was great to meet you Sharon! You are awesome!

So we went into the Coop to drown our sorrows with some retail therapy! My how cute the Coop is- check out the loads of samples they have hanging and they have a wonderful selection of fabrics and patterns. I bought some gathered Ric-rack and some patterns from here.

Then we went onto Rooster Creek- wonderful stitchery store with some antiques and shabby chic decor products in the front. I bought some wool felt for a couple of the patterns from the Coop and a cute little felted bunny for The Little Ballerina.



Then we were off to get some Starbucks and to go home. We decided to get Rubio's for supper. Let me tell you , if you have not tried their beer battered fish burrito...go get one...they are to die for! I dreamt about them the previous night knowing I could not get them out here on the East Coast! Yummm!


Well, I will leave you with that for now and tomorrow I will post about the second day and the Country Loft's outdoor quilt show as well as the loot we got there! Also, here is my Hexagon progress- check out all of that Fig Tree love! : )


Until then...T.T.F.N.

More Quilting time and giveaways...

Unfortunately they are not my giveaways, but they are just too cool not to mention. There are 3 cool giveaway's happening out in blog land and here they are:

Go to Janelle Wind's blog and leave a comment about a cherished childhood item that you have and check out the completion of her Bluebird BOM quilt (gorgeous!) and you can win a copy of the pattern!!

Then hop on over to Anna Maria Horner's blog and leave a comment on her ne fabric line-- Garden Party (totally fab!) and which one is your favorite (not an easy choice I may add) and she will be drawing for some fabric.

Last but not least, if you need a new summery bag pop in to Red Geranium Cottage as she is giving away some handbags she has made (very cute!).

Whew! That is a lot of very generous people! I just love giveaways- don't you?

On the quilting front, I have been working on finishing a couple of projects...one is my Home Sweet Home quilt ( see WIP list for the link) and trying to finish my Star Struck strip quilt. I have also made a pact with Stefanie over at The Quilt Buddy to help both of us clear up our unfinished projects and our baskets of planned semi-fabric-bought-for-but-not-started projects. We have plenty to work on so hopefully we can show some restraint for a little bit and get these things to at least flimsy status! More on this later as we are compiling our lists of the 'To Do's'.

Well, I am off to get back at it! More later and happy giveaway hopping!
T.T.F.N.