Back from Market

Another Quilt Market has come and gone, and I survived yet again. We had a fun trip to Salt Lake City, and found some great patterns. I have finished uploading everything to the website that is in stock now, and more will follow as ordered items start to arrive in about a week or so. Check out the New Additions category to keep up with everything we found!
I also ordered various fabrics that will ship through the rest of the year. Included are a western themed line, a large selection of black, white, cream, and brown prints, some wilderness cottons by Holly Taylor, and new Maywood florals.
Now that I am on summer break from school, I will be spending my spare time (or lack of spare time as the case may be) sewing up a storm of new store samples. First up, my Santa Monica jacket, which now has sleeves and will hopefully have a collar and a zipper by the end of tonight!

Countdown to Quilt Market

I added a new widget to the right sidebar of the blog today! It is a countdown calendar counting the days, minutes, seconds until I leave for Quilt Market. It's not too pretty right now, but it's what I could come up with in 5 minutes, and now I can check it whenever I need a reminder of the happiness that is Quilt Market, made even sweeter by the fact that Quilt Market conincides with the beginning of my summer off from school!

Upcoming for Spring

Spring will hopefully start here in North Idaho soon, and with it comes a load of events and fun! Here is a quick run down of some of the spring quilting events at The Crazy Quilter:

April brings 2 quilt shows, Clarkston, WA and Moscow, ID. I will have a booth at both this year. The Clarkston show is over Easter weekend, the Moscow show is the weekend before. More details for times and dates is available at the store. Considering they are barely a month away, I'm starting to get that panic feeling of not being able to get everything done for them I would like. A surprisingly large amount of work goes into creating a booth and attending the shows, so it's high time I get myself in gear!

May brings the I SEW shop hop. Over Mother's Day Weekend, May 6, 7, and 8, visit nine quilt shops around the Palouse and Eastern Washington for fun and prizes! A large amount of work goes into this project as well! Food treats, give-aways, free patterns, prizes, advertising, phew! Even spread over 9 store owners it is a hefty task.

The weekend after the shop hop is Quilt Market! International Market is being held in Salt Lake City this year, which is fantastic for me for a few reasons. First, it's close enough to home to be a fairly easy trip, a short plane ride, and inexpensive. Plus, my sister lived in SLC for awhile, and we are familiar with getting around there. Last, I'm super excited that Bailey gets to come with me this year. I told her when she was old enough I would bring her, and this is the year! It will be great for her to see what Market is all about.

Considering that the week between the Hop and Market is my finals week, I have some work to do! But won't Market be sweet knowing that I don't have to worry about school work for a few months. I'm hoping that means I'll find extra time to make some of the great new projects we always find.

To Market or Not to Market? That is the Question.

I'm having a horrible time deciding whether or not to go to Quilt Market. So horrible that I've put the decision off until now, and it's only a month away! I've got to get down to business, before the price of plane tickets sky rockets, and the only hotel rooms left have cockroaches! So....I've posted a little poll on the blog. Help me out! Would ya?

Home From Another Quilt Market

I'm home from yet another Quilt Market experience, this one in Minneapolis, MN. I must say, Minneapolis was a great city to visit, and this turned out to be a great Quilt Market. I came home with as much as I could carry, and ordered even more than that to be shipped to the shop!
C had fun too, I think, especially since we were able to do a little site seeing in between time at Market. However.....he has already ran out the door this morning to go meet G for some man time, so maybe he got a little more girl-i-fied than he could handle after all.
They wanted $9.95/day for WiFi access, so I didn't blog from Market at all. I mean, come on, that's like over a yard of fabric! That means I have a back log of great stuff to share with you all. To get started, I'm going to begin uploading new items into the online catalog. Watch for them to start appearing today!
Oh yeah, a little birdie told me that new Christmas fabric from Moda arrived in store while I was gone. You can check it out at Fruitcake in the online catalog under fabrics.

The Final Count Down to Market

I leave for International Quilt Market in less than 12 hours! I have yet to finish packing and get my thoughts in order. It has been a crazy week. I've spent all week fighting off a nasty head cold, and completely lost my voice yesterday. I've burned through nearly half of my sick leave at work, and spent every afternoon sleeping in an effort to avoid attending Market with a box of kleenex and bottle of cold syrup in tow. I think it's working, as I'm starting to feel better, but it's working slowly. And, chances are C will just start to come down with it by tomorrow and I'll end up towing around a box of kleenex, a bottle of cold syrup, and a miserable husband! Should be fun, huh?

Our plane leaves at 6:15am sharp tomorrow, and since the airport's a 2 hour drive from home we'll be leaving the driveway at 3am or so. Another reason this has been a crazy week? C's started back to work, with a night shift of 4:30pm-2:30am. That means that he'll have just enough time to take a shower and inhale a few of those donuts he bought today just for the occassion before we hit the road.

Despite all of this, I'm really excited! I think we'll have enough time to check out the Mall of America tomorrow afternoon, before Sample Spree. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow of Sample Spree, so watch for those. That is...assuming I don't get trampled over, Day After Thanksgiving style, by the mass of quilters waiting to get through the door!

So, I'm off to finish up the last minute tasks. A t-ball practice to take Ky and Will to, packing to finish, thoughts to organize, kids to organize, etc. etc. etc. Let the count down commence!

New and Fresh From Quilt Market!

My mom and I made a whirlwind, less than 48 hour total, trip to the Fall Quilt Market in Houston the weekend before last. Even with very limited time, we managed to find some awesome new stuff to bring home! Here is a list of what you can watch for in the next week or two:

*2 new Garden Patch Cats! Get ready to grow an Eggplant and Gourd in your Kitty Garden, patterns will be posted online soon!
*New projects from Hillcreek Designs, featuring coordinated button packs and wire hangers. Great projects you can finish in an hour or two, perfect for gifts!
*A fantastic, beautiful new Block-of-the-Month for 2010! Featuring fabric from Timeless Treasures, "Back to Nature" is a one year feast for the eyes. Sign up begins now, and for the first time ever, I will be cutting sign up off (tentatively Jan. 5) so don't miss your chance! View the project HERE!
*We also came home with many new patterns, including quilts, bags, and aprons! Watch for them to be added to the "New Additions" catagory as the orders arrive in store. Some of them are already up!

We also ordered new fabric lines for early 2010 arrival, and I test drove 3 brands of quilting machine. All in all, it was a great trip!

Wool Pin Cushion Kit

For the past few evening while I watch TV I've kept my hands busy making up one of the new wool pin cushions I found at Market. Here is a picture of the final result:

Everything but the floss and stuffing to make this pin cushion is included in the reusable tin! For $1 more, I also have bags of crushed walnut shells, which is used for the filling. A great stocking stuffer or friend gift!

Back from Market

Well,

I'm back from Quilt Market! It was a whirl wind trip, but worth it as usual. I will be updating the website with everything new, so be sure to check the New Additions catagory over the next few days for everything I brought home.

I don't even know where to begin, we found so many things we loved. There are new fabrics featuring tractors, cowboys and indians, paper dolls, and shoes coming in the future. There are TONS of new patterns (2 suitcases worth), and some exciting new products. I have a couple of advent calendars, a tree skirt, an adorable wool pin cushion, and so much more to add! I will try to highlight one or two things per day over the next week or so. If you want a sneak peak, watch the New Additions!

My money saving strategy of staying farther from the convention center and renting a car proved to be iffy, at best. By the time we drove 30 mintues each way, paid for parking at the convention center ($10/day), and got lost looking for the nearest Starbucks, I'm not sure this proved to be a good strategy, so I'll probably be revamping for next year.
Although my GPS was invaluable, it did have it's faults. For example, did you know it doesn't tell you when you're about to run a red light? Nope, you need my mom for that, who's scream from the passenger seat is actually quite effective. It also doesn't speak up when you're driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Nope, once again, major GPS design flaw. Some days you're just lucky to be alive, huh?

Yep, I think I'm going to fire myself from making travel reservations and let my mom take it over. Especially after the long lay-over in Seattle and the puddle-jumper plane we had to ride to Spokane in. Try staying calm with my mom next to you, making comments like "This small of a plane should really come with parachutes." Yes, I think I'll let her make any future reservations!

Anyways, watch for lots of new stuff. Lots, and lots, and lots.......

Our Friend Rosie

You might remember I promised after Quilt Market to introduce you to my new friend Rosie? Well, Rosie looks something like this picture, and is owned by my friend Vicki. Rosie came in very handy the entire weekend, especially since my driving while reading the mapquest directions tended to make my passengers nervous! Rosie got us safely to our hotel, to Market, to the warehouse Saturday evening, and told us where every Starbucks for 100 miles was located! I gotta get me one those!

It was on the way home that Rosie failed us, but only because we confused her. We were pretty sure we remembered how we'd come, so when we turned off the Interstate to head toward Kennewick we were surprised when Rosie quickly became irritated with us, telling us to "Turn Left," and then "Turn Left in .1 miles," sending us back the way we'd come, right back onto the freeway.
We spend the next few miles discussing how we were so sure we'd come that way before, while Vicki tried to reconfigure Rosie and make sure we were going the right way. "Why does she say we won't be getting home until 4am?" we wondered, since we were quite sure we should be home around 10pm.
Only after Vicki discovered that Rosie mistakenly thought we lived in Boise, instead of Deary, did we realize that we had been right all along. With a few quick entries, Rosie corrected us, sending us off the freeway, then left, and "Sharply Left!" (She was quite irritated with us by this time) and back again the way we'd come. We made a 20 mile circle, and it ended up we'd turned correctly the first time all along!
Seriously, we loved having our own private driving director. If you've never used a GPS, you'd be surprised how useful they are. Rosie gave perfect directions (as long as we told her correctly where we wanted to go.) Type in any location, any restaurant or business name, and get voice commands, turn by turn. If only we would have asked her, I'm sure Rosie would have told us we'd driven by the last gas station leaving Portland for 50 miles, saving us that harrowing retracing of our steps with the gas light on! I am seriously getting one soon!

New Fabric and Books From Atkinson Designs

One of my favorite booths at Market was the Atkinson Designs booth. I am excited about the new fabric line, Paisley Party, designed by Terry Atkinson, to arrive sometime in late August/early September! Most of the quilts in both of Terry's new books are made from her new fabric line. It's full of bright colors, including orange and turquoise. I picked up some of her books at Market, where she was nice enough to autograph them for me. I have less than 5 autographed copies available, on a first come, first serve, basis! The books are called Time Out Quilts and Let's Do Lunch. Below are some pictures from the Atkinson booths, with projects from both books.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Sales Reps

There are so many quilting fabric manufacturers these days, they are hard to keep track of. Usually, quilt shop owners purchase from these manufacturers through sales reps. Each company assigns the shop a sales rep that works in their geographical area. I have 4 or 5 sales reps that I can order through, depending on whether I'm looking for Moda, Troy, Maywood, Buggy Barn, etc. However, I've actually only met 3 of these reps, and only 1 stands out as outstanding.
At the recent Quilt Market, there was a line of flannels we decided we had to have. (My buying budget at Market is always "If I love it and have to have it, I buy it.") This required ordering through the manufacturer, Troy. My sales rep for Troy is a great guy, but wasn't available at the time, so he directed us to another desk to ask for help. What happened next stunned the three of us. This is how it went:

Two men are standing in the Troy booth, chit chatting with each other. We sit down at the open desk and start looking at the fabric swatches. They proceed to continue chit chatting and ignore us. My mom says "Excuse me." They continue to ignore us. Mom says "Excuse me!" louder and one finally turns around like we've just interrupted the most important conversation in the world. "Is there someone available to help us place an order?" After a long pause, one man says, "Let me go see," while the other man just stands there and watches.
Now I'm thinking "What the ---??" because, first of all, the last time I checked, these companies rely on quilt shop orders to stay in business. As a general rule, rudeness does not make me want to order from you. Second of all, since when is chit chatting more important than taking a large fabric order???
The man proceeded to walk across the booth, and talk to a woman at the other end. He returned and said "I thought she was available, but she has a scheduled appointment, so she can't take your order." Then he just pauses and stands there. At this point, I'm holding in some rude comment, Vicki's mouth is hanging on the floor, and my Mom starts to get up out of her chair to leave. "Well, I guess I'll take your order, since she's busy," the man finally decides, and sits down somewhat reluctantly.
If that damn Granola Girl fabric hadn't been so great, we would have high tailed it out of there, after giving him the tongue lashing he deserved. Instead, we ordered as quickly as possible and split. Trust me, we didn't get so much as a thank-you, and instead I'll never think of ordering from them again without remembering how rude they were.

The Low Down on Quilt Market

International Quilt Market happens twice a year, in October and May. This May was my second market, and it was just as good as the first! Here are some pics of what Market looks like. It is huge, with almost 30 isles of 10-20 vendors each!

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday browsing and shopping the booths full of quilter's eye candy. This Spring, there was a definate trend toward both aprons and bags. They were everywhere! Alice will be wearing a new apron soon! I've also started making some new samples of various bags for the shop. This includes the new Eco Market Tote and the The Lunch Bag.
Saturday evening, we made the short drive to E.E. Schenck's Portland warehouse for an open shopping night. It was insanely busy, with wall to wall people! Here is a picture of the chaos:
I already posted earlier about G.E. Designs' new stuff. Here is a picture of their booth:
There's lots more to tell, this is just a starter entry of the happenings at Market!

The Return

I'm back from Quilt Market! And boy oh boy, it wasn't disappointing! My mom, Vicki, and I came back with a car load. I'll be posting all week on what we found. Watch the website for new merchandise in patterns and notions all week. Then, watch each month for new fabrics from The Buggy Barn, Atkinson Designs, Moda, Timeless Treasures, G.E. Designs, and Granola Girls!
We even managed not to terrorize the Starbucks baristas in Portland (OK, maybe just a little), and we even met some new friends. I'll be introducing you to Rosie and Alice soon.
For now, I have to run. I'm closing my eyes to the house my husband and kids didn't clean while I was gone, and I'm spending the day frolicking among the new patterns and notions. I might even manage to get some new projects started. I also received the new Moda University information while I was gone, so I have meetings to plan and fun things to think of. I'll be back to write more soon, with pictures!

The Countdown Begins

OK, so I'm a little late starting my Quilt Market Countdown. After all, there's only 4 days left, really, so what's the point of starting it now? Well, remember how I'm always late? Consider this part of my "late" personality! It only takes a quick blog search to find out that most Quilt Marketer's have been counting down since the beginning of the year!
After reading all about it on everyone's blogs, I'm getting even more excited to go. It should be a fun road trip, since it's in Portland and we are driving. Funny how that flying sickness gives you a new perspective on flying, not to mention that there's no way I can fit everything into 2 suitcases. A prerequisite of Market is to bring at least 1 empty suitcase to fill with great stuff to bring home!
That DVD player I bought for the infamous trip to Salt Lake City will sure come in handy. Combined with the GPS system my friend offered to bring, we should be set! Portland Starbucks beware!
I also made reservations for Houston last night. Yes, believe it or not, you need to make reservations for Fall Quilt Market before Spring Market even happens! This year, I am trying a new tactic. Instead of spending $150/night on a hotel room downtown near the convention, plus paying $50/each way to and from the airport, I am staying 10 miles away, and renting a car. Only time will tell if this is a good strategy, but I had to try. Between the taxi and hotel savings, I saved over $200. That may not seem like a lot, but I hate wasting money, and that's $200 more I can spend on fabric and other merchandise!
Well, time to take the girls to school. And then it's on to my to-do list for the rest of the day. Hopefully I can squeeze some quilting in there somewhere!

I still can't believe it!

I am watching a show about Survivor tonight, hosted by last season's winner, Todd, revealing the new season's set and contestants, and I am again reminded about how stupid I was! Last October, my mom and I went to International Quilt Market for the first time ever. We were very excited to be going! Our flight left early on a Friday morning. That Thursday was my Moda-University meeting, so it was a late night. Plus, when I got home I stayed up to finish packing and watch all of my Tivo, including that night's Survivor espisode. I finished watching around midnight, and then went to bed. At 3am, we were up and on our way to the airport.

We flew to Salt Lake City, and then changed planes for the ride to Houston. I was so tired, I could barely stay awake, and so was my mom. We were in the very last seats on the plane, across from another lady going to quilt market. During the ride to Houston, we chatted with the flight attendent, and with each other about Market. The jump seat for the attendent was right next to me, at the end of the aisle, so he was there for a lot of the trip.

We had a blast at Market and flew home Sunday evening. Fast forward to the following Thursday evening, as I turn on Survivor and start watching. Immediately, I thought that there was something oddly familiar about Todd. "That's so weird, if they show his occupation and it says 'Flight Attendent,' boy will I be pissed," I thought. Sure enough, they start interviewing Todd and his occupation is "Flight Attendent." I still can't believe I was so stupid. I sat next to him for 30 minutes, he served me snacks and chatted with the lady next to me, and do you think I recognized him??? Oh No, I was too excited about Quilt Market. What was I thinking?? I still can't believe that I watched every episode of that show, and never once did it cross my mind that Todd looked familiar until it was too late. I must have been really tired! Of course, I probably saved myself from looking like a completely psycho Survivor fan.