To market, to market to....

.....be completely overwhelmed by the huge variety of new stuff that will be marketed to sewers and quilters in the coming year. I have just spent the past few days at the Internaional Quilt Market which leads up tot the actual Quilt Festival. What a diferent place the market is when compared to the festival space. For one thing, there is very little purchasing of items to take home. Most of it is ordering stuff for future deliveries. In addition, there really aren't a lot of people at the Market, when compared to the Festival. Many store owners do not come to Market every year as they have reps from the companies visiting them regularly. In addition, there are usually just samples available in the booths rather than the bolts and bolts of fabric you see during the festival. The best part about the reduced number of people is that you can really spend a lot of time with the quilts in the display area without ducking out of the way of people trying to photograph the quilts.

Things I saw at Market that I am lusting after:

• Fabric from Daiwoo that is infused with Lavendar, Rose or Herb scents. Very subtle and they say it will wash out after several washings but what luxury while it lasts!
• Batting made from Bamboo or Bamboo/Cotton blends. There is something about the Bamboo that makes the cotton even more drapable than just cotton alone. I must find a good cheap source for this when I make my next big quilt.
• Rulers - I love rulers and have many but I MUST have the one that makes cutting bias binding easier. Its really neat, folds in half, is florescent green and stretches completely from selvage to selvage for cutting
• Bamboo and Cotton interlock knits distributed by Siltex of Canada. Silky smooth, very dense, very lightweight and soft as a cloud - I must find someone that carries this line!

Market is now over for this year. If I get a chance to go next year, I will know better about what's available for immeadiate purchase and what needs to be ordered. One thing that I will look forward to next year is the Friday long 'School House'. During 12 - 15 sessions that are between 15 and 30 minutes long, various designers and manufacturers show the attendees what's new in their lines.

This year Jay McCarroll (sic?) of Project Runway fame was there with his first fabric line. Its very cute but if you look too closely at his bunnies and such they look like they are all having a bad LSD trip while looking very innocent. He even showed some small quilts where he enlarged specific motifs from the fabric and recreated them with solid fabrics fused to the quilt. Very clever!

Mark Lipinski was also at the 'School House' and kept everyone in stitches with his tale of purchasing and wearing a girdle. Besides promoting his new fabric line (Krakow) he also did a session on growing a quilt or any business. He made the point ( and I think I have this right) that we need to market to ourselves and our children rather than to our mothers. We grew up in the sixties or later and reproduction prints and traditional quilt patterns are probably not our style.

Another vendor brought up Daddy and me classes rather than Mommy and Me as a business builder. I had a flash of all those divorced Fathers looking for new and different ways to entertain their daughters on their weekends with them. What a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon rather than going shopping at the mall or taking in another movie.

The actual Quilt Festival starts tomorrow evening. Today my Northern Friend and I will be doing a little cruising around town... visiting Ikea and a couple of quilt shops. We may also take a trip down to Galveston to see how things are going. If we do, I'll try to take and post some pictures of what we find All in all, a lazy day so we are well rested before the real shopping begins.

Heather Fish Studio

One of my favorite people on the web has just opened her own web based business. You may remember the car carrier I made for her or the Easter Egg bag I sent her for her daughter. Now she has taken her sewing skills and branched out so that her wonderful creations are now available for purchase here. She has mad skills and a great eye for combining fabrics. Instead of making it yourself and not being completely happy with the outcome, buy from Heather Fish Studio. I've got a feeling I may become a regular cutomers. Enjoy!

Star Wars Costumes

I saw this picture in the daily Craft mamagzine update by Natalie and I am SO jealous. Princess Leia, Darth Vardar and an Ewok - almost makes me want to skip Quilt Festival type stuff and sit down and make these for Alex and the Girls. I'm not going to make these... but you could with these great instructions.

PS - I wonder if Alex would mind be Princess Leia?

Bohdi Boy

While I was in Canada last week I had a wonderful visit with my niece. I got to meet her big puppy that I have heard many tales about. Bohdi is a Heinz 57 dog that she picked up from a pet shop over a year ago. He is eighteen months old now and still acts like a brand new puppy. He was so happy to get a visitor that he did all his tricks for me including jumping up on me, trying to be a lap dog and continuing the destruction of his toy box. The latter was pretty funny. His toy box is actually a plastic milk crate and he kept trying to break off more pieces of it by chewing on it and shaking it around. Bits kept falling off but he ignored them for more destruction. Apparently he has been doing this for a while and still has not brought it to its knees in submission. Although he has many soft toys, the old milk crate seems to be his favorite.

Here is a picture of this good boy -

and here is a picture of his toy pile.

I was glad to see that Alex is not the only one who enjoys disemboweling his toys!

It was a good visit as it was nice to spend time with my niece. Its tough to reconcile the tiny tot I remember spending time with many years ago with the blond Amazon Warrior babe she has become. I always wanted to be tall, blond, thin and rich - nice to see that one of the family has achieved at least three of my four goals!

In the Mail

The Bag Ladies Swap project for October is a Christmas Stocking. This is a complete departure from the usual swaps and I was truly looking forward to getting it done. Today I received my package from my partner. Along with a bunch of candy and freebies from an odd assortment of companies, I also got this little gem:

Side One

Side Two

I think this stocking highlights the good and the bad of working with old ties. The good part is all the wonderful fabrics and patterns in them.. Toni highlghted this by quilting the opened ties onto muslin before constructing the stocking. The bad part about working with ties is that it is hard to get the folds pressed out so that they stay out.

All in all , a very successful swap. My cotribution will be going out tomorrow. I wonder which little muchkin around here will be getting this filled with treats this Christmas?

Off the needles

I have been trying to improve my knitting skills by working on a simple sweater. I just fnished what was called the Ballet Camisole on Ravelry here. There are a couple of weird spots... like 15 purls when there should have been knits on one row and seed stitch rather than ribbing for the bottom... but, overall I am pleased with it.

I made the 42" bust size and it actually fits. I used Hempathy yarn so all the stretchiness is from the knitting rather than the yarn itself. I ended up with about 2 1/2 balls left over so I am now working on a scarf with a lot of fringe. I don't think I will wear it as a stand alone garment, but more as a vest which should work well with the cooler weather coming. I will not be doing the little gathering detail between the boobs bacause I don' think I want it that fitted as a vest.

I must admit that I very pleased with this project and I hope that young children will not run screaming from me in horror when I finally wear it in public. Of course, I will need to get all those ends tied off before then!

Operation Care Package - Final Report

Well, our contribution to Operation Care Package, for the holiday packages they will be sending out, are on their way to Joliet, Illonois. The final tally was 125 stockings... a number I never thought we would reach. Here's how it all came together - Ms. M and I made the first 50 at our post-Ike sew-in, members of the KAQG at their retreat made 11 more, a friend of Ms. M. made 8, I made 6 out of some donated decorator fabric, 25 came from that ball of fire Ms. MJ., another 10 came from the serging maniac Ms. J and Ms. M. finished it all off with another 15. In addition, we added holiday cards with a little note in them to most of the stockings. Who knew we had so many leftover cards from previous seasons?

This all started as an idea to contribute to the effort and we ended up with contributing 1.25% of the needed 10,000. I hope there will be no need for this effort next year, but, if there is, I hope all that contributed this year will be able to help again. Two crazy ladies and their friends on a mission - together they moved a lot of fabric to bring some holiday cheer to our soldiers overseas.

If you would like to contribute to the effort without sewing anything visit their website for additional ideas.

Crochet Joy

I found the neatest little gadget when I was in Toronto. It's a wooden darning egg with inter-changeable crochet hooks coming out of the narrow end. It is the most clever thingy I have seen in a long time and is really comfortable to use. If you crochet, this is a must have tool/toy. Here's the web site - http://bourbj.tripod.com/.

DROH Stuff

Dachshund Rescue of Houston (DROH) is havng their Halloweiner party next Sunday. I will be unable to go and will truly miss the sight of 50 or so costumed Dachshunds amusing their humans. For pictures of last year's pretties see here. (Alex is the third one down in the second column.) The problem with the timing is that I will be enjoying the quilt market that day with friends and just can't see myself giving that up.

Anyway, part of the Halloweiner festivities is a silent auction. I scored big at the spring one and wanted to give back this time. I decided to make a little package of items for a day out with your best doggie. First off there is a teal nylon leash, then a large tote bag and a small accessories bag. There will also be a gift certificate to PetSmart so the winner can choose appropriate treats. All the fabric and webbing came from jcaroline creatives including the great Dachshund ribbon trim. Cute, right?

The downside of all this is that I now own many. many yards of teal webbing for many more leashes. I got a 50 yard spool for $0.50 a yard and just couldn't pass it up. I think Alex and the girls will have teal leashes for the rest of their lives!

Have a good weekend!

The Tale of The Pink Leather Gloves

As many of you know, Alex, loves chasing his rubber balls. My son got him a red rubber kong ball and it was love at first sight. He cannot stay still while the red ball is anywhere on the property. He is either chasing it, licking it, chewing it or chasing it as long as its around. He is especially adept at rolling the ball under the couch. He then whines and crys and struggles to flatten himslef out to retrieve the ball. I, also known as the Lady of the Long Arms, will eventually stop what I am doing and retireve it for him. Sometimes it takes all of three minutes for him to push it back under the couch.

Sometimes I get very weary of it all and I will hide the ball from him. Cruel, but my boney knees really hate the ceramic tile floor. Even when hidden in a drawer with red pepper sauce wiped on the handle, the red ball calls to Alex and he wil cry and whine until I distract him with food or a walk.

So much for background... here are the details of the Pink Leather Gloves.

One day last week I had hidden the red ball in the drawer with the red pepper sauce on the handle. The sauce was to hide the smell in hope that he would not smell out the ball. It was time for bed and although I had already put the Girls to bed he was still cryng by the drawer. The poor guy had bags under his eyes he was so tired. I went to pick him up and he tried to bite my hand. I tried again and he tried agan.

This was getting serious, he was so obsessed that he was getting this crazed, ferral look in hs eye. I thought I could calm him down and get him to bed if I could pick him up, tickle his belly and carry him to bed. I was afraid he might try another nip at my hand so I went for the first gloves I could find. I put them on and as I approached him he went total passive, crawling on his belly to me in abject sorrow. I picked him up, tickled his belly, told him I loved him and put him to bed.

Since then, the gloves have been sitting on an end table and every time he sees them he becomes completely passive crawling on his belly asking forgiveness . . . . from the gloves!.

So that is the tale of the Pink Leather Gloves. I don't know why they make him so passive because I can't believe the his previous owner would have hurt him with pink gloves but you never know. Anyway, here is a picture of them with the object of his affection.

I hope your week has been going well and the cool down around the country has reached your neck of the woods. I know I am ready for jeans and sweater weather!