Asymmetrical Quilts – Book Photography in an Amazing Studio!

During the photography session for my new quilt book Asymmetrical Quilts, I also took pictures of the session, photographing the photographer. Sometimes a photography session can be a little boring during the actual photography, but not with Becky Stayner of Sunny House Studio.  She is a fantastic photographer and has an amazing studio in the most charming house as you will see from some of the pictures I took and from the photographs in the book. All of the quilts were photographed flat, then were shot throughout the studio.

Asymmetrical Quilt book photography fireplace

This photograph was in the main living room.  I fell in love with the fireplace as well as the bottles on the mantle!

Asymmetrical Quilts photography in the dining area of the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with so many wonderful pieces of antique class and ceramics, some in turquoise and greens.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography in the kitchen

And as you can see, the kitchen was a perfect area for photographing this quilt. The turquoise chairs were a perfect accent.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography on jasmine covered deck

In addition to the wonderful interior, the outside decks were a great location for several of the quilts. The back deck has a jasmine covered arbor.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography Sunny House Studios jasmie arbor

Looking up at the jasmine arbor…..

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography under jasmine arbor

I loved the table setting under the arbor which also made for a perfect location for a photo.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography on studio deck

This shot was taken at the side edge of the wrap around deck.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography photostyling on deck

Becky is setting up for this photo on a picnic table on the side porch. Another turquoise chair adds a great accent. (I was delighted that Becky shares a love of the color turquoise!)

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography by Becky Stayner

Who says photography can’t be hazardous?? Becky stood on the top of a ladder to get the flat shots of each quilt.

Asymmetrical Quilts stacked quilts after photography

The quilts are all stacked ready for each shot.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of Becky’s studio and the photography session.  She’s fantastic and I look forward to working with her again.

Phyllis

Asymmetrical Quilts – my new book from Leisure Arts

Its so exciting that my new quilt book Asymmetrical Quilts from Leisure Arts has been published and is ready for shipping. Instructions and patterns for 9 quilts are included in this book, all with an off-centered design. I created each quilt to be unique and all are made with wonderful fabrics. The designs use a combination of traditional and nontraditional blocks in nontraditional arrangements, with several of the quilts adorned with whimsy applique.

Asymmetrical Quilts book by Phyllis Dobbs

My copies are on the way to me and I can’t wait to get them. It was a lot of work putting this book together, but I enjoyed every second of it. The photographs were all taken in the wonderful studio of Becky Stayner.  I will be showing some of the photos I took of the photography sessions so check back to see these and her studio (hint – its in a really quaint house).

I owe a special thanks also to Lisa Mullins of  Wandering Stitches Quilting Studio for an amazing job in quilting the quilts. She added the touch of whimsy where needed to keep the theme of each quilt.

I hope you will check out the book and find that you can’t live without it!

Phyllis

 

Summer Olympics Go for the Gold Fabrics – Free Quilt and Sewing Patterns

The Olympic themed fabric collection Go for the Gold is one of Quilting Treasures latest fabric collections and is in time for the Summer 2012 Olympic Games in London. I  enjoyed designing several sewing and quilting patterns for free download from Quilting Treasures website. The fabric features the most popular summer games and is perfect for all sports lovers!

Go for the Gold Free Patterns for quilting and sewing from Quilting Treasures

The tote bag is extra large and is roomy enough to carry all your gym or workout clothes and accessories at 24″ wide and 20″ high. The tote is lined inside with the beautiful flag fabric showing the flags of all the countries. The roll up yoga or exercise mat cover is available in two colorways.  The yoga mat carry bag has a carry sling strap so that you can easily carry your rolled up mat and cover hands free.

You can follow the preparations for the London 2012 summer games that will be held in July and August – its actually not that far off. Start sewing and you will be all set to help celebrate the games!

Phyllis

 

Quilt Designs in a New Quilt Book “Bed Runners and More”

I just received a copy of a beautiful new quilt book Bed Runners & More and am trilled that I have 2 quilts featured in this book. Bed runners add such a dramatic decorative touch to a bed and bedroom! Published by House of White Birches and edited by Carolyn S. Vagts, this book has instructions and patterns for 9 bed runners with some coordinating shams for different looks for the bedroom. The theme of the book is seasonal, with bed runners for the different seasons of the year.

The runners made for this book are for sale in both my Etsy store and this website.

Bed Runners and More quilt Summer Blossoms by Phyllis Dobbs

I designed Summer Blossoms runner with 2 pillow shams. I adore and love these hot and spicy colors in the Penny Lane fabric collection from Quilting Treasures. They definitely say “summer time”! This runner is 81″ x 27″ and the shams fit regular size pillows. The fuchsia flowers are appliqued.

Bed Runners & More quilt Warm Splendor by Phyllis Dobbs

My other quilt is Warm Splendor made with the beautiful warm and cozy fall colors in the Cornucopia fabric collection by Quilting Treasures. The size of this bed runner is 77 1/2″ x 30″ plus the prairie points on each end. Both of these quilt runners are easy to make and make great projects for a beginner quilter as well as the experienced quilter.

I hope you look for this book for the other fabulous projects included. It was fun designing my projects as well as sewing and quilting them, so I hope you will give them a try!

Happy Quilting!

Phyllis

 

Quilt a Pocket Quilt for a Child’s Room!

I just received a copy of Quilted Gifts from your Scraps & Stash, by House of White Birches.  Its a book filled with all types and sizes of quilted projects, from quilts, backpacks, pot holders to pillows and much more for 40 great projects for you to make. I’m delighted that one of my quilt designs is included in this book.

Daisy Pocket Quilt by Phyllis Dobbs for House of White Birches

Daisy Pocket Quilt is the perfect size to use as either a wall hanging or bed quilt. The diagonal striped blocks are pockets so that kids can store their favorite items while adding a splash of color to their room. I used the bright, colorful fabric “Kids go Green” by Kari Pearson from Quilting Treasures to compete the quilt. The quilt is pieced with the large daisies fused and appliqued. I hope you will make one for the kid in your life – its an easy and fun quilt to make.

Happy Quilting

Phyllis

 

More Great Products and Displays from the Craft and Hobby Show (CHA)

Welcome back for more great products and displays from the Craft and Hobby (CHA) Winter Trade Show held in Anaheim, CA. If you missed my first CHA review post, please visit it to see some great color and design.

One of the fun trends I saw at CHA was paper sculpting and the Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) booth had so many fabulous projects, I took photos of all just about of them.

Paper Bird Sculpture at the DCWV booth at CHA

Paper fish sculpture by DCVW at CHA show

Paper sculpture Peacock by DCWV at CHA show

The bird, fish and peacock were all gorgeous and my favorite was the peacock with its tail “feathers” cascading to the floor.

Floral paper sculpture display by DCWV at CHA

Loved the paper flowers!

Paper tree with beads by DCWV at CHA

The paper sculpture tree held streamers of the beads from their bead line. DCWV also won the best booth for an island or peninsular. The DCWV booths at prior shows were also spectacular, including the one with full size paper dresses.

June Tailor booth with new products at CHA

June Tailor flower template to create multi-size flowers

June Tailor had several new products in their gorgeous booth. Two of their new tools were the Rosette Template and the multi-size flower template as shown with the layered felt flower. The rosettes made with the Rosette Template can be used as accent pieces on boots, knit caps and much more. With your imagination, you can come up with tons more uses. The fringe on the cap in the top center was made with their new fringe tool. And I love the colors of pink and orange color combination they used in this section of the booth.

Rose pillow using June Tailor Rosette Template at CHA

Blue Hydrangea pillow created with the Rosette Template by June Tailor

The gorgeous rose and hydrangea pillows were created with the Rosette tool and I guess you can tell that I love this tool!

Claudine Hellmuth at Ranger Booth at CHA

I ran into the talented and beautiful Claudine Hellmuth at the Ranger booth after she finished her demonstration using her product line for Ranger –  Studio Paints, Studio Brushes and Studio Sticky Back Canvas.

Debi Schmitz in the Expo International booth at CHA

Feather swirl accessory by Expo International at CHA

Debi Schmitz of Expo International is just adorable!  She’s pictured above holding some of the new feather swirls that come in both the bright colors she is holding as well as the more neutral colors that are pictured right below her. They are beautiful, no matter which color!

Peacock feather trim by Expo International at CHA

Small hat adornments by Expo International at CHA

Peacock’s are really trendy in both design, decoration and motifs. Their peacock feather adornments were gorgeous, especially with the bling in the center.  The hats are about 5″ – 6″ and are so cute. Expo had an entire line of the small hat adornments.

EK Success Crewel embroidery at CHA

The EK Success booth had a line of crewel kits for their Dimensions Brand, all designed by Lori Siebert. I’ve always loved crewel and embroidery and am excited to see this type of needlework being featured.

Duck tape prom dress and suit at CHA

In the recent years, Duck Tape has been put to much more creative uses than just being used as tape, with all kinds of fun things being made with it including clothing. Shurtech Brands displayed a prom dress and suit, all made with Duck Tape.

Vanna White at Lion runway at CHA

Lion colorful yarn display at CHA

Vanna White was at CHA again, presenting the Lion Brand Yarn runway show. Vanna has been the spokesperson for Lion Brand Yarns for over 14 years. This display of their yarns really made a splash of color!

Oliso Smart iron 2

Oliso smart iron in use at CHA

I don’t usually get excited about irons, but this one is the exception. The Oliso steam iron the “iTouch” is fabulous and its on my shopping list. You just leave it flat and after a few seconds, prongs come out of the bottom and lifts the iron up from the surface. You don’t stand this iron on its “rear” end like most irons, but leave it flat. When you get ready to use it again, just touch the handle and it lowers back to the surface. So no burned or scorched fabrics!  And since it stays flat, is harder to knock over. Oh, another thing I love about it is that it fills on the side instead on the front top end.

Paper pinwheel in the Silhouette both at CHA

More paper sculpture – the pinwheels in the Silhouette booth were cute and fun!

Sullivan Sharpening cutting mats at CHA

Sullivan Add a Mat cutting mat at CHA

For you sewers and quilters, Sullivans USA had some exciting new products that caught my attention. The top photo shows cutting rulers that sharpen your blades as you cut. In addition, they have a new mat, Add-a-Mat, lets you size the mats as you need them.  This is a great idea for travel where you need to take a cutting mat, like to classes, or are limited in storage space.

Tony Ford technology seminar at CHA

CHA has a lot of educational seminars. Tony Ford, the COO of ArtFire and CHA’s Emerging Technology Expert, conducted two classes. I attended both, which were outstanding. I attended a seminar by him at the CHA summer show last year and learned so much. So I made sure to be at both of his seminars this time as well.

Karen Embry and Phyllis Dobbs before the flash mob at CHA

 

One of the fun things that took place at the CHA show was a flash mob dance before the show opened. We’re standing around above trying to blend in and look natural in the crowd before the flash mob.  All of us wore pink She’s Crafty aprons from Charity Wings and had to cover them up prior to the flash mob.

I’m looking forward to working with many of the fabulous products that I’ve shown you, so it will be a fun year!

Happy Crafting,

Phyllis

Free Quilt pattern using Spice Cats Fabrics by Loralie

I’m excited to show you the latest quilt that I designed for free download from Quilting Treasures‘ website. Designed with Loralie’s newest fabric collection, Spice Cats, these fun and whimsy cats will completely charm all you cat lovers.  I love the colors of this collection and the way they work together.

Spice Cats Quilt free pattern from Quilting Treasures

The quilt is designed in horizontal rows and is very easy to sew.  The size is 56″ x 72″, a great size for a throw to keep warm on these cold nights.

I designed other quilts with Loralie’s fabrics for free download from Quilting Treasures website. The Sunshine Resort quilt is a fun quilt with flip flops, ice cream, Loralie’s ladies swimming and other summer activities. The Nurse Central quilt is delightful for nurses with Loralie’s nurses and other nursing designs. There are a lot of other quilt patterns for free download, so check them out.

Happy quilting!

Phyllis

More from Houston Quilt Market – Quilt Works of Art

I have more photos to share with you of the beautiful and amazing quilts at the Houston International Quilt Market. I showed half of my photos of these fabulous quilts from the exhibits in my prior post. The quilts are fun, imaginative, colorful and unique in their original designs.

Word Gets Around Quilt by Louisa L. Smith at Houston Quilt Market

Word Gets Around was created by Louisa L. Smith, Loveland, Colorado. She had collected fabrics with text and manipulated all the fabrics by hand painting, dying and over dying to obtain the color she wanted. She created the curved movement of the quilt which is a play of “words” to create the title.

 

Memories Stick Quilt by Charlotte Noll at Houston Quilt Market

Memories Stick, created by Charlotte Noll, Lauderhill, Florida, is created using the quilt pins she collected. She wanted a quilt design that can be rearranged and appended as she continues to collect pins. Each pin has an embellished pillow and is connected to the others with safey pins. Each pin reminds her of the wonderful times when she collected them. Techniques used were fused and raw edge machine applique, machine quilted, digitally machine embroidered and hand beaded.

 

Fantasy in Paradise Quilt by Laura Steiniger at Houston Quilt Market

Fantasy in Paradise was created by Laura Steiniger, Tucson, Arizona to depict fantastical birds-of-paradise flowers. I love birds-of-paradise. The techniques used were machine applique, machine decorative stitches, machine quilted and hand embellished. The black background really makes the flowers pop.

 

New York City Lights Quilt by Ellen Yamaguchi at Houston Quilt Market

New York City Lights, created by Ellen Yamaguchi, New York, NY, is heavily embellished with beads and charms. The beads were used to emphasize the swirls. She also added old New York City subway and bridge tokens and landmark charms to add interest. Techniques used include cut and assembled blocks using One-Block Wonder technique.

 

Twelve by Twelve Pink Colorplay Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Colorplay 1: Pink, created by Twelve by Twelve. This was one of the quilts in an exhibit showcasing quilts by Twelve by Twelve, a group of 12 quilt artists who embarked on an art challenge together. For 4 years, each made 12 x 12 inch quilted art pieces on a particular theme. Each of the quilts displayed featered the 12 art quilts on that theme. Check out their website to see all of the collections they created as well as learn more about their challenges.

 

Woody Quilt by Bonnie Ouellette at Houston Quilt Market

Woody by Bonnie Ouellette, Seneca, South Carolina, is embellished with glass beads. The tecnhiques inclue hand quilting and hand beading.

 

Garden Pool Quilt by Sandra Marietta at Houston Quilt Market

Garden Pool was created by Sandra Marietta, Palmetto Bay, Florida and is inspred by her Friday trips to Fairchild Tropical Garden. Techniques include fused and machine applique, fabric painting and machine quilting. Materials include various threads, batik and other fabrics, tetile paints, and was crayons.

 

Austin tatious quilt by Barb Forrister at Houston Quilt Market

“Austin tatious” by Barb Forrister of Austin, Texas features beautiful dimensional flowers. Techniques include dyed, painted and applique.

 

Saturday Market Delectables quilt at Houston Quilt Market

 

Saturday Market Delectables quilt closeup

Saturday Market Delectables by Tina McCann, Depoe Bay, Oregan, was inspired by a trip to the farmers’ market and watching people carry various bags and baskets stuffed with food. The techniques include Nuno, needle and wet felted, machine pieced, free motion quilted, hand stitched and beaded.  This quilt is very dimensional so I wanted to show a closeup of one section to show all the detail.

 

A Starlit Night Quilt by Soon-Joong Kim at Houston Quilt Market

A Starlit Night was created by Soon-Joong Kim, Seoul, South Korea, using the compass and kaleidoscope techniques. The quilt  was inspired by the earch and the rest of the planets.

 

In an Orderly World Quilt by Linda R Guild at Houston Quilt Market

In an Orderly World was created by Linda R. Syverson Guild, Bethesda, Maryland, and was inspired by an Art Deco design.  The techniques used were pieced, needle punched, hand and machine appliqued, machine quilted and hand beaded.

 

Ancient Weaver Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Ancient Weaver was created by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, California. The inspiration was the Mayan weaving traditions that are honored with Spider, the industrious weaver as the center of the wheel of life. Techniques are machine piecing and quilting, and commercial and original digitized machine embroidery.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing a few of the many quilts on exhibit. You can see part of the exhibit hall below, and this picture was taken less than halfway down the main hall of the exhibit.

Quilt exhibits at Houston Quilt Market

I am already looking forward to my next trip to Quilt Market.

Phyllis

Quilt Works of Art – Exhibits at Houston Quilt Market

I wanted to end my review ot the Houston International Quilt Market, held in October, with photos I took of some of the most amazing and beautiful quilts on exhibit. Each quilt was a work of art and produced an “ahhhh”.  I loved reading the inspiration for the quilts and love the wonderful imagination of the creators in designing their quilts.

Eat Your Vegies Quilt from Houston Quilt Market

Eat Your Vegies was created by Judith Roderick of Placitas, New Mexico.  The techniques were hand-painted, machine quilted, pieced, fused and embellished. Judith firmly believes the Beatles’ lyrics from the 60’s – “you are what you eat you know”.

 

An Autumn Breeze quilt at Houston Quilt Market

An Autumn Breeze, created by Akiko Kawata, OIsake, Japan, features machine and hand piecing and is machine quilted. The quilt expresses the scene of an autumn mountain path in Japan.

 

Leaves of Costa Rica quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Leaves of Costa Rica was created by Pam Berry of Lincoln, California.  The techniques include free-motion quilting, hand applique, with bead and yard embellishment. The leaves are two-sided with wire inserted to give form, and produced a beautiful dimension.

 

Serengeti at Twilight quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Serengeti At Twilight by Leona Harden, New Tazewell, Tennessee, used the techniques of raw edge applique, no piecing, and free motion quilting.  This quilt was featured on the cover of AQS’s American Quilter magazine, November 2010 issue. I wrote about this award winning quilt and Leona in a prior blog post. (Leona used a block that I designed in an earlier quilt that was her first awarding quilt).

 

Quilt based on pastoral settings at Houston Quilt Market

Oh Deer, Look What’s Become of Me! was created by Judy Coates Perez, Chicago, Illinois. The technique is whole cloth painted with textile paints and machine quilted. This quilt was inspired by the Medieval hunting paintings of deer in pastoral settings. This also reminds me of the beautiful Medieval tapestries.

 

Quilt on exhibit at Internation Quilt Market, Organic is good for you

Organic is Good for You! Bodil Gardner of Lystrup, Denmark, was inspired by growing her own organic vegetables in creating this quilt. The techniques include applique and machine quilting.

 

Hope Quilt by Ann Pigneri at Houston Quilt Market

 

Hope was created by Ann Pigneri of Louisville, KY. The techniques are paper piecing, machine quilt and bobbin stitching. This quilt is adorned by over 2500 crystals in 6 colors which, unfortunately, do not show up in the photo.

 

Quilt Black-Eyed Susans & Yellow Mexican Hats at Houston Quilt Market

Black-Eyed Susans & Yellow Mexican Hats was created by Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert, Austin, Texas. The techniques used were raw edge applique, thread painted, fused, beaded, and faced. Mary Ann was inspired to create this quilt from the flowers she sees on the way to work. The flower centers were very thick and dimensional and covered with beads.

 

In Bloom Quilt on exhibit at Houston Quilt Market

In Bloom was created by Teresa Shippy, Santa Ana, California, based on the Cherry Blossom Festival of her dreams. Techniques used were hand-painting, stitching and painting. Sweet dreams!

 

Big Bang Theory Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Big Bang(s) Theory was created by Teresa Sherling, Denton, Texas and is a tribute to the bliss women feel on a good hair day. The techniques include turned-edge and raw-edge applique, hand painted and thread-painted faces, hand-crocheted human hair and free-motion machine quilting. Ah, I love those good-hair days!  Too bad they are matched by bad-hair days.

 

Sea Witch quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Sea Witch was created by Christine Alexiou, Unionville, Ontario, Canada. Techniques include fabric painting, applique, hand sewing, thread painting and beading and uses cotton, silk, organza, cheese cloth, glass beads, shell beads and fabric paint. Christine was inspired by The Little Mermaid to portray a physical beauty while hinting at her deranged creepiness.

 

Really "Wild" Flowers Second Season quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Really “Wild” Flowers! Second Season was created by Sharon L. Schlotzhauer, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The techniques include machine piecing, paper piecing, hand applique, machine applique and machine quilting. This whimsical quilt features 7 colorful, dimensional “wild” flowers with Swarovski crystals in the centers.

 

Capital Hardware Quilt by Frances Holliday Alford at Houston Quilt Market

Capital Hardware, by Frances Holliday Alford, Grafton, Vermont, is based on the beautiful Art Nouveau hinges and hardware of the Texas State Capital. She used the hardware details to print on Spoonflower fabrics for the blocks. Techniques include patching, free-motion quilting and decorative stitches.

 

Vortex in Variation quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Vortex in Variation was created by Nora Ronningen, La Harbra, California. Nora was inspired by the Vortex Quilt exhibited in the American Folk Art Museum. She used Art Nouveau designs to draft her own applique pattern. Techniques include paper piecing, hand applique and hand quilting.

I’m about half way through my pictures and  have some work to finish so I will post the remaining photos shortly. Please check back as they are just as spectacular as the quilts posted here.

Phyllis

International Quilt Market, More Products and Beautiful Colors (Part 2)

I’m still in awe of all that I saw at the International Quilt Market in Houston and want to share more of the photos I took of products and colors from Market in a continuation from Part 1 of my prior post on Quilt Market.

This gorgeous dress in the Pfaff booth stopped me in my walks. This fuchsia dress has beautiful machine embroidery embellishment by Pfaff sewing machines. It was simply stunning and fit for Cinderella to wear to the ball! And look at the embroidery on the black coat next to the dress.

Dress embroidered by Pfaff sewing machine at Houston Quilt Market

 

Not all products at Quilt Market are sewing and quilt related. Karyn Kozak exhibits with her beautiful FIMO polymer clay products.  Created with different colored pieces of clay in the millefiori technique, Karyn created the beautiful vases and leaves below as well as jewelry, barrettes, and other items. Visit her website to see the ladybug pins and jewelry she created.

Fimo Polymer Clay vases at Quilt Market

and these fabulous teapots…

Fimo Polymer clay teapots at Quilt Market in Houston

 

I showed you some of the new fabric collections by Quilting Treasures in my prior post. Below are more of their fabrics that debuted at market. Simon-Kabuki has a new line out, In the Meadow, in these great, warm colors. I also love the design and applique flowers in this quilt using their fabrics.

Simon Kabuki fabric line In the Meadow at Quilt Market

 

And I also loved this new collection by Studio 8, Fantasia (click to see the individual fabrics) and especially love the color combination of black and white with a lime green.  (See my prior post for free quilt and apron patterns I designed for Quilting Treasures with Studio 8’s Monaco fabric collection).

Studio 8 fabric by Quilting Treasures at Quilt Market

 

I love the play The Phantom of the Opera and this new fabric collection is wonderful. Can’t you hear the music?

Phantom fabric by Quilting Treasures based on Phantom of the Opera

 

Angela Anderson’s Give Thanks, can be used to create a beautiful quilt or kitchen accessories such as a table runner or place mats next fall.

Give thanks fabric by Angela Anderson for Quilting Treasures

 

With quilting and sewing, you need trim. Expo International has all kinds of trim for your every need including home decor. I love the colorful displays of these trims and cords. The center row is button trims, which is fabulous since we all love buttons! I look at this and remember several years ago when I shopped trim, all I could find was dull colors. Its so much more fun sewing with these colors!

Expo Internation colorful trims at Quilt Market

And, there’s these fun feather trims…..

Feather trim by Expo International at Quilt Market

Quilt Market occurred over Halloween so I thought I would also show you Expo’s cute sequin appliques for Halloween.

Halloween applique trim by Expo International at Quilt Market

And the Expo International folks dressed up for Halloween. Debi Schmitz dressed as a witch, but I have to tell you that she’s a sweet  and lovely witch, not at all wicked! I need to find where she got the silver hair.

Debi Schmitz at Quilt Market

 

Walking by Michael Miller Fabric’s booth created a “wow” moment when I spotted this 1950 red MG convertible used in their vintage picnic display. I also like the turquoise cooler. I’ve always thought MG’s were the coolest cars. By the way, this MG was local from Houston and is for sale. It doesn’t run though, but it has a great body and I would just love to have it to look at and sit in (and watch Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road although her MG was green). Pretend driving would be ok as I would not want to risk getting any kind of ding in it.

Red MG car in Michael Miller Booth at Quilt Market

I thought the Sandi Henderson booth (Michael Miller Fabrics) was beautiful and great merchandizing.

Michael Miller Sandi Henderson booth at Quilt Market

 

The Kaleidoscope Kreator Software booth was beautiful and dramatic with kaldeiscope designs. This software lets you use your own photos and artwork to create kaleidoscope images for quilting, scrapbooking, card making and more. I’ve been eyeing this software and plan to purchase it. Actually, I don’t know why I haven’t already done so, except that when I get home, I get caught up with ongoing work. The software looks easy to use from their booth demo (and the price is great). If you go to their website, check out the paper crafting projects. The quilts are beautiful of course, but the paper stars would be really fun to make.

 

Kaleidoscope Kreator Software at Quilt Market

 

I stopped in Clothworks booth to see my friend Sue Zipkins new fabric collection, Suzette. I love the soft colors of the fabrics.

Sue Zipkin new fabric at Quilt Market

 

 

June Tailor, Inc always has a pretty booth. They have great quilting tools (I use them regularly)!  They have a new program for fleece, Fleece with Flair. The program includes tools for working with fleece, including fringe cutters and various rulers as well as fleece precut flowers. The right half of the booth below shows the new tools and samples made using the tools.

 

June Tailor quilting tools booth at Quilt Market

A closeup of the fleece  flowers….

June Tailor fleece flowers at Quilt Market

 

Tina Givens (Free Spirit Fabrics) won the booth award for best Merchandising.  As you can see from the photos below, it was a beautiful booth in oranges, tans and browns.

 

Tina Givens booth at Quilt Market

Tina Givens booth at Houston Quilt Market

 

I love felt and stopped by Kunin Group’s booth. They have felt in patterns now which makes a wonderful addition to all the solid colors. The patterns below were gorgeous. Kunin’s felt is made from eco-fil which is created with platic water bottles. The felt is so soft, its hard to imagine that it started life as a water bottle.

Kunin Felt new patterns at Quilt Market

You can create such cute critters with felt.

Kunin Felt display at Quilt Market

 

Prym has a new line of sewing products for baby along with a book of patterns for making baby clothing and cloth diapers. In addition, as you can see on the wall to the right below, they have a full line of accessory products and trims, buttons and applique to use with sewing for baby. Really, really cute!!

Prym Dritz booth at Quilt Market

 

 

La Todera had a pretty and colorful booth to showcase their sewing and soft craft patterns. The buttons and flowers below are just a few of their patterns. And the buttons can be customized with your own saying or art.

La Todera sewing patterns at Quilt Market

and aren’t these trees adorable for sewing!

LaTodera sewing and craft patterns at Houston Quilt Market

 

Downtown Houston has changed over the years since I first started attending Quilt Market. Below is a view from my hotel (Hilton) showing the George Brown convention center on the right (designed to resemble a ship) and the Minute Maid Park (aqua building) in the distance, home of the Astros. Discovery Green Park is just a few years old and is a great improvement on the parking lots that were there previously. Its nice to walk through the park for a few outside minutes during the show.

View of downtown Houston from the Hilton

 

I hope you enjoyed my take on Quilt Market. But there’s more to come – pictures of beautiful, unbelievable quilts from the quilt exhibits. The quilts are works of art!  So please check back!

Phyllis