I was in Chicago last week to attend the Craft and Hobby Show, the trade show for anything related to crafts (a consumer show followed the trade show). It was exciting to see the show floor filled with people who also seemed excited as well.

While there, my friend Brenda Pinnick and I took some time off to catch the El and go into Chicago to visit the museum at the Art Institute of Chicago. Its a fabulous museum and had expanded with a new modern wing that has been open a year.

The weather was fabulous, much cooler and less humid than here at home so Brenda and I spend some time walking through the city as well.  Chicago is so clean and beautiful and there were flowers everywhere along the streets. Large planters divided the street on Michigan Avenue as we walked toward the museum.  And there were plenty of sidewalk cafes with vibrant flowers.

Huge planters also lined the street.  I just happen to be in front of this one.

I am a huge fan of Art Nouveau and in Chicago, you don’t need to go to a museum to see a lot of this style as its prevalent throughout the City on buildings and other items of interest.

These 2 pictures shows some of the art nouveau designs on buildings.

And here is the famous Chicago Theater landmark on State Street, probably the most photographed  building in Chicago. 

One final shot - the Chicago River.  Didn’t I tell you Chicago was beautiful!

We enjoyed our day and it rejuvenating to have a break.  The next day, it was back to the CHA show  for meetings and to walk the show as well as visit with friends.

Here’s to a beautiful day for everyone!

Phyllis

It was a hot time in Atlanta as crowds arrived to attend the Atlanta Gift Market.  Mix in some humidity and it was sweltering, but it didn’t dampen our spirits while at the show.  I wish I knew how many miles I walked while there.  My poor feet wished I had not covered as much ground.

After days filled with meetings, it was fun to meet up with friends.  A highlight of my trip was a party held at the studio of Paula Joerling and Tom Haney.  Both Paula and Tom are so talented and have the most fabulous studio walking distance from market. Please check out their delightful blogs.

Tom is a master of creating kinetic sculpture art.  Here are 2 photos (which doesn’t do them justice since you can’t see the kinetic aspects.  Tom’s studio was filled with these wonderful pieces as well as tons of components.

Here’s a group photo of some of us in the studio - Elizabeth Tipton, Tom Haney, Robin Davis, Paula Joerling, Chad Barrett, me in front, Chad’s sister, and Janet Wecker Frisch.

While walking market, I saw one of the products that I designed, a garden flag for Evergreen Enterprises, Chick Power. More products will be out soon based on Chick Power.

Meanwhile, back to more gathering of friends.  A bunch of us met at the Westin to get together and basically talk and talk along with a few hugs. Pictured are Jane Maday, Terri Conrad, Martha Collins, Joyce Shelton, myself, Sue Zipkin and seated in front, BJ Lantz, and Carol Eldridge.

And, I was walking by the C.R. Gibson showroom while Jim Shore was there for a personal appearance and signing.

I have finally recouperated and am in the middle of getting work out.  Just in time to attend the CHA show in Chicago next week.  I’m looking forward to seeing several of you there!

Stay cool and out of the heat!

Its always fun to meet someone who you really admire.  At the Atlanta Gift Market last month, I had the good fortune to meet Mary Engelbreit in the showroom of Katherine’s Collections.  Mary was there for a personal appearance.  I have always been a fan of Mary’s as well as appreciate her as a trail-blazer for art licensing.

The past couple of months have been the most hectic of all.  Preparing for two major trade show events in January required hours and hours of work.  Attending the shows, Atlanta Gift Market and CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) were almost like vacations because while they were technically work, I could lay down my paint brush and ignore my computer for a few days.  Plus, its always such fun to meet up with friends.

The day before the CHA show in Anaheim, Brenda Pinnick and I went to Laguna Beach for some much deserved R&R.  We shopped and had a great lunch while watching the Laguna Beach surf (which was very high due to the recent rains).

Although the shows are over, work continues with work from the shows as well as the work that was still in progress before the shows.

And, I am happy to say that I just finished a new fabric collection and am really excited about it.

I hope you are all staying warm in all this cold and snowy weather.

Phyllis

When walking International Quilt market, there is so much eye candy to grab my attention.  This dress in the booth of Coats and Clark really jumped out at me just from the sheer beauty.  (My picture doesn’t do it justice). This dress is befitting the dreams of a fairy princess!

The dress was an award winner in the Bernina Fashion show last year.  The fabric was all sheer and machine emellished with Coats Dual Duty XP threads which you can see in the detail closeup.

In addition, crystals were added in the back.  The construction of the skirt was really unique with  streamers of fabric sewed at the waist, with the edges slightly overlapping and sewn around the bodice in several layers.

Below are more wonderful quilts from the quilt exhibits.  (If you missed my earlier post with some quilts, check back a couple of posts to view them.)

Cynthia St. Charles from Montana designed this quilt of a Village.  I love the colors!

Another fabulous quilt with wonderful colors, this one was designed by Carol Taylor of NY.

Pat Watson of Victoria, BC Canada designed this quilt.

This quilt by Katie Williams of Colorado was an award winner.

All of the quilts above have such wonderful colors.  These were just a sampling of the quilts exhibited at International Quilt Market and they all were wonderful.

I  have one more article I want to post from Quilt Market - but its something fun, unique and whimsical that I saw outside the market in the park

The quilt designs are copyrighted by the quilt designers.  The photo’s are copyrighted and cannot be used without the permission of Phyllis Dobbs.

The International Quilt Market and Quilt Festival in Houston always has a huge exhibit of exciting quilts made all over the world for various quilt challenges and exhibits.  I took bunches of pictures and want to show you a some of my many favorites, starting with a few today.

This is a gorgeous quilt of pumpkins by Lauren Strach.  I loved the color and the whimsy of it.

Bodil Gardner from Demark created this whimsical quilt.  The women are a delight!

This quilt by David Taylor of Steamboat Springs, CO, was simply amazing. I just had to show you the detail involved with the piecing and tight quilting.  And what a twinkle in the chick’s eye!

Patricia R. Charity from California created this gorgeous quilt of a vinyard.  The bottom edge with tassels added to its charm.

This quilt by Linda Beach of Ketchikan, Alaska caught my eye and brought back wonderful memories.  I was on an Alaskan cruise in May and visited Ketchikan.

I still have lots more to show you from Quilt Market so please check back!

The copyright to these unique and special quilts belong to the individual quilt designers.  The photos are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission of Phyllis Dobbs.

I just returned from a terrific weekend as a house guest of my talented and gracious friend Brenda Pinnick.  I went to Atlanta for the gift market in addition to some brainstorming time with Brenda.  Brenda and her husband are wonderful hosts (and their kitties are just as gracious and friendly).

We attended the gift market, meeting up with artist friends Stella Violanto and Andy Mathis .  Andy exhibited at the market with his booth serving as our meeting point.  Unfortunately, he was located very close to the cash and carry section.  I’m afraid that we “cashed and carried” too much, but hey, I’m only human and who can pass up all the fun jewelry.

Brenda, Stella and I walked the market for trends and connections for our art licensing businesses.  We all went to dinner together at one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Atlanta, Azio, where we were able to catch up with our chatting since there was no “cash and carry” nearby to distract us.

Brenda and I stayed up late, trilled with the time to do some more talking and brainstorming, which was aided by a couple glasses of wine.  I also had a tour of Brenda’s studio, which was very organized and inspirational and filled with her gorgeous fine art paints (she is one very talented artist).

It was such a fun weekend and now its Monday, and back to earth and my own studio. 

My heart goes out to all of you in Texas and the gulf affected by Ike. 

Blue ice seen on train ride from Skagway, Alaska into Yukon territory May, 2008.  More Wordless Wednesday blog links.

While enjoying all the beautiful glass art pieces in the shop at the Seattle Glassblowing Studio, I had a very hard time deciding which piece to purchase (no one was twising my arm, but I just had to buy something).  The decision on which piece to get was helped by airline regulations, you know, weight and number of checked pieces.  After a lengthy bit of time with a paperweight in each hand, trying to decide between the two, I saw this one, picked it up and walked to the register. I have a small collection of paper weights as they are easy-to-tuck-in-the-suitcase items so this one feels right at home. 

I did a lot of walking on vacation and just have to show you my very you my very comfy red walking shoes.  Brenda Pinnick - eat your heart out!!!!  (My very talented, fun friend who just happens to love red shoes!).

After a wonderful trip to International Quilt Market in Portland OR, I took an absolutely fabulous 2 week vacation to Seattle and Alaska.  It was eye-popping every step of the way, including the unique trip to Seattle from Portland.

After arranging for a rental car to drive to Seattle and having increased fees added to my reservation on an almost daily basis, I decided to chunk the rental car reservation and take the Amtrak.  Let me tell you, it was a great idea - not only did it cost much, much less, it was a pleasant, scenic ride without the stress of driving and none of the hassle of going through an airport.  There was so much room, as you can see in the picture I took, plus dining and lounge cars.

Actually, this is business class.  It only cost $13 more to upgrade and since I was already saving a bundle of money, I splurged!  I really hope Congress passes bills to increase Amtrak’s funding so that we can have high speed trains like those in Europe.  I love traveling by train and want to be able to travel this way in the U.S.

Just imagine - getting to the train station 45 minutes before departure, checking oodles of luggage with no extra fees and boarding with no hassles.  And once on the train, you will have plenty of seat and leg room plus you can walk around and go to the dining and lounge cars to sit, talk, eat, read or have a drink. Oh, did I mention that there are bathrooms in each car - such convenience!

Once I returned home, I checked on the Amtrak schedules in this part of the country and they are very inconvenient for any trips I will be taking.  So I will have to continue to use my car for short trips and fly on the longer ones.   I look forward to the day when I can just hop on a train to go somewhere.

International Quilt Market is always a beautiful trade show, full of eye candy with all the beautiful colors of quilts and fabrics.  It was an exciting event for me as Meow, Meow, my new cat fabric collection debuted with Quilting Treasures. 

I also created several projects for Quilting Treasures’ booth using Meow Meow.  I’m in the center with Donna (left) and Jodi (right) from Quilting Treasures.  The two quilted projects shown in front are a Meow Meow Cat Carrier (with a fluffy white “stuffed” cat), and a Meow Meow Table Runner.  Free instructions for making the table runner as well as a quilt will be on the Quilting Treasures website for downloading soon.  I will post a link when it it up.

Two other quilted projects that I designed with Meow Meow cat fabrics are a Chair Back Cover and a Tote Bag. 

Quilt Market was held in Portland, OR in mid-May, during an unexpected heatwave with temperatures in the 90’s.  Since I live in the South with high temperatures, I was looking forward to the cooler days in Portland.  Oh well, at least it didn’t rain.

Portland was really beautiful with all the flowers blooming.  Even though Portland is known for roses, I think it should be noted for rhododendrons as they were huge and blooming everywhere.  They were gorgeous and gave additional eye candy for Quilt Market.

After Quilt Market as I took a vacation to Seattle and an Alaskan cruise.  Please check back for lots more from Quilt Market as well as some photos of unbelievable scenic views from Alaska and Mt Ranier.