ROAD TRIP!!!

We are planning a road trip to Oklahoma City at the end of the month and we are spending the week in this little house not far from the Paseo Art District.

We found this little gem on the Vacation Rental By Owner website!

$75 a night!

Take a peek inside and look at the bright paint colors!

Just my cup of tea!

A great place for breakfast each morning.

A comfortable place to rest each night.

A cozy little kitchen - maybe I will cook!

And I might even bring clean clothes home!

So much better than a hotel for 5 nights!  Can't wait!

Herringbone Fabrics are Back IN at Michael Miller Fabrics!!

I recently finished a quilt for Michael Miller Fabrics 

for Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburg.

The booth design will feature the return of herringbone fabrics.

MMF has categories for all fabrics and the quilt I made is for the

It's a Boy Category!

I especially like my toes in the left side of the picture!!

The quilt is also on my red rug on the one corner!

Pick-up Trucks!!

There are small pick-up trucks in some of the fabrics.

I quilted it on my home sewing machine - my Pfaff.

I hadn't done needleturn appliqué for awhile and it was really fun!

And Ricky Raccoon for the backing fabric!

I hope it will sell a lot of fabric at market!

Say a Little Prayer Today

We hear way too many stories today about tragedies 

but this one has come close to my heart.

Kellie Rynn Martin, 3 months old, was found dead in the home of her day care provider in Greer, SC on February 21st.  She is the granddaughter of a friend of mine at Westminster Fibers.  She was the first grandchild and was named after my friend, Kellie.  Many irregularities were found in the home - licensed for 6 - but 23 children were there - hidden in the basement.

Nancy Grace reported on this story last Wednesday.  The day care provider has been arrested on a number of counts but not murder.  All is pending toxoligy reports and an ongoing investigation at the scene.

That's all I really know. 

Please keep this family in your hearts 

as they deal with this devastating tragedy.

A Visit to the Chicago Auto Show

Dennis and I had not been to the Chicago Auto Show for 32 years.

The last time we went our daughter, Alison, was an infant.

We are replacing a vehicle this coming year so we decided to take a look.

The Muppets weren't there but the all new Highlander was.

Who knows, maybe we should consider an Airstream trailer for retirement!

A chance for a photo moment together.

We even coordinate with the camo truck.

A LONG WINTER!!!!

Oh my!  Will winter ever end??

I have been laying low - very low and have taken a break from my blog.

I did a couple of projects for MMF in early January.

This was kind of an "out of the box" request.

These fabrics are printed exclusively for Spotlight Stores in Australia.

They wanted something to play prince and princess so this is it!

Children's play cubes with appliqué crowns

and of course a crown to wear as well.

Hope they were a big hit!

Also made a sweet baby quilt featuring the owl fabric and many brights.

The diagonal print of the fabric made it perfect for a

coordinating grow chart.

How fun is that???

Another project on the design wall and the winter thaw is under way!

Exciting News!!

Remember these pillows I recently posted??

They will be in a great sewing magazine this spring!!

I made them for Free Spirit Fabric to display at fall wholesale quilt market.

The fabrics are Bontanique, designed by Joel Dewberry.

How much fun is that???

Stay tuned for the name of the magazine & when it hits the newsstand!!

A Visit to Wholesale Quilt Market in Houston

I have been attending wholesale quilt market off and on for a number of years.

In the early '90's I had a home based manufacturing business and I purchased fabrics at market for the items many gals sewed for me in their homes.

Ane then I had a small fabric business for seven years beginning in early 2000.

So the changes I saw and did not see at market were very interesting.

Overall, the show is much smaller.  Most fabric companies have really downsized their booth displays.  This is always a slower paced market, but I thought it was REALLY slow.  Many sales reps were just twiddling their thumbs - there just weren't buyers writing orders at their tables.  It was , though, the first day of a three day show.

The displays are always so fun and creative as you will see in the photos.

I thought this was a clever way to display a fabric line - 

and this is designed by Marcia Derse.

She has just overlapped 1/4 yards of the fabrics and sew across the top.

If you did away with the selvage edges, I think you could have any interesting texture piece for your wall.  She talked about how she does this when she gets new fabrics - just so she can look at it for a few days before starting to sew.

There are always so many totes, but I thought this one was fun!

This creative display really drew me into the booth.

The pattern is to set up a Burrito Baby Bar.

This looked like it would be so fun!!

Sew up the babies, wrap 'em up, add toppings and add a little spice!

I just had to have the pattern.

Burrito Babies, anyone??

Clever display with lots of fun things, including a checkerboard quilt on the floor.

I have always been a fan of Ardvark Quilts.  Her quilts and patterns always make the fabrics that so many of us do not know what to do with - just go together.  Very inspired by this one!

Another Ardvark Quilt -a real twist on the zig zag quilt.

And I will end on this one for today - 

as I said - some fabric displays get a little crazy!

This was the feature in the Timeless Treasures booth!!

More from quilt market in my next post.