For Your Consderation

At the Quilt Show there were three vendors that were definitely not your typical quilt show offerings. All three are fairly local and only one has a bricks and motar presence. For your consideration of some unique items you should try:

Focus Glass - Neil Pickthall makes wonderful dichoric glass items from large mirrors and platters all the way down to buttons.... yes ... buttons! I picked up a few buttons but wished I had also spent more time in his booth with the pendants and platters after I saw what others had purchased. I needed to get back to the fish pond so only made a cursory trip and I would be glad to see his stuff in other venues... or I could just go on-line and blow my credit card balance that way! Here's a shot of the buttons I picked up and the picture really doesn't do them justice:

Seditious Seraphim - This was a booth full of crazy stuff... silks and beads and cottons and cords and trims and lots of other stuff. Based in Corpus Christi, the two women in the booth were people I'd love to know. Wearable art is deifnitely their thing and I wish their etsy store and website had just some of the things they were offering at the Quilt Show. I picked up some silk, cords and beads for a very small cost. These bits will probably make it into my next Embellisher project. Taylor Stephens, the owner, taught at the International Quilt Festival last year and I hope she comes back. I think her classes would appeal to anyone who is looking for another creative outlet.

Paula's Primitives - This double booth had everything you coud want for rug hooking with strips of woven wool fabric. Although knitting does not seem to be their bag I did pick up a couple of sets of wonderful knitting needles and had a moment to notice that they had some lovely yarns. Most of their offerings were of wool yardage or kits for rug hooking. They do have a store front in Dayton (just down the road from here) but it is not open on a regular basis. Maybe my knitting buddies and I will need to take a field trip there and see if we can change their minds. It's worth a try to have another source of good yarn available locally.

I don't think Kingwood is unusual to have such diverse vendors at a quilt show. Next time you think about shopping at a quilt show be prepared to find some non-quilting vendors and give them your business. You'll be glad you did!

BTW - thanks to the incomparable Ms M for the selection of these vendors - I am so glad she sought out these people to have at our show. I hope the next vendor chairman will also seek out the unusual and not stick to typical quilting shops. Thanks M!