Quilt Market

Yahoo, I won something. At Quilt Market there are all sorts of things to win and today I won a fun pack of fabric from Susan of GourmetQuilter.

Susan and I sitting at the table in her fabulous booth. It's set up like a kitchen with fabric food and appliances - so much fun. And she has great patterns. They will be coming to SewArmadillo really soon.

This is the dining area at the Convention Centre at the start of the day. It gets very crowded during opening hours but there is always a chair somewhere.

I did a great short class with Suzanne McNeill doing Zentangles on a little fabric bag. These are a few of the samples. There are Zentangle books coming soon as well.

And this is the gorgeous Kelli Wulfson of Don't Look Now in her booth. This is her new robot quilt - isn't it fabulous.

Each row has a number and they start at 100, this is from the other end. It takes me most of the day to get around the booths, and I haven't had a chance to look at any of the quilts on display yet. They will be there for Quilt Festival next week so I will check them out then.

Fabulous Bus Trip

Today was a bus trip arranged by Quilt Market. It was an early start but a really good day. We went to 3 great quilt shops - where a little fabric was purchased - got to keep as many shops open as possible. And they all had fabric that was different, some I hadn't seen before anywhere and some I already have in my stash but 'needed' a little more of. And I found some great mini pompom braid that I had to buy in 7 different colors. Several of the other women asked what I was going to do with it - no answer - I have no idea, except maybe something for Sophia as it is so cute.
We also went to a great little town that is having major work done, and one of the things that is happening is a new tourist / art complex called Copper Shade Tree. There were lots of fabulous shops there selling gorgeous handmade arts and crafts.

This is one of the many fabulous old buildings that houses great new stores.

What a wonderful name for a store, so appropriate. They had stunning clothes - very different  and all gorgeous

Not sure what these were - there was a pair hanging each end of an old building, but I thought they were cool

One of the many derelict buildings in the town.

The side wall of the new Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange Texas. It isn't officially open yet, but has a great display of quilts - all made by Texans. La Grange is about an hour from Houston, but if you get the chance to have a look, it is well worth it.

Houston

Well I made it to Houston, unfortunately my luggage took the long way and only arrived this morning. I got here about 7.30 last night and I was exhausted. But I slept really well and had a lovely day today.
Houston is pretty hot, and steamy. It was 28 plus degrees today but a bit overcast. Looked around and did a bit of shopping.

I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Houston and I have a fabulous corner room. The pic above it the view looking toward the Convention centre, you can just see it at the end of the street.

And this is the view looking the other way - cool.  I love staying on upper floors of hotels. This one is a bit different though. The elevators have glass walls. There are 2 banks of elevators, one looks into the hotel, and you can see down to the lobby and across to the rooms from the elevator, and the other looks into the street. I must take some photos from the lifts when there aren't too many people around who would think I'm a hick tourist.(I really am but other people don't have to know that.)

Tomorrow starts the Quilt Show. Not open yet, but I have a bus tour to some tourist spots and some local quilt shops. It starts at 7.45am. So it might have to be an early night for me.

Ready or not, I'm off

Well I think I have everything done. I still have to pack but that is always the last thing I do. This post is to make sure it works from my laptop. I knew I should have practiced earlier,  but I'm very good at leaving things to the last minute.  And I seem to have lost my emails on my laptop, that could be a problem in Houston.
Anyway,  I'm happy, and nearly ready. Here's  a pic because I haven't posted any for a while. Isn't he gorgeous.

It's not a very good photo, it was taken thru the window (which needs cleaning) and the screen. But he is fabulous and hung around for quite a while. I had to stop work just to watch him.

Ready for Houston

I have finally got everything (almost) organised for my trip to Houston. I have a plane ticket, and accommodation and my classes and registration for the show booked. Still have to get to Sydney to catch the plane, but that is only a minor issue. 

Belinda is running things while I'm gone - it's great to have friends who will help out when they have to stay home and I get to go travelling. I hope to post while I'm away, just not sure about photos.

Anyway the featured designer for SewArmadillo this week is Serendipity Studio. These are fabulous clothing for women, and great bags - a bit of a change from quilts.

This is the Betty June dress, the designer was wearing it at Salt Lake City and it's gorgeous. I may have to start making my own clothes again soon.

This one is a great bag, with lots of pockets and fully reversible. Called Rita.

And this one takes me back to my youth. It's a retro style tunic - very reminiscent of the 70s. And I love the bright fabrics.

It's spring

Well, it's really Spring, the clocks have changed to Daylight saving, and it is getting warmer. Not too sure about that bit really - it's been really cold in the mornings here. But now I have finished in my temporary job and I'm back to SewArmadillo and eBay - millthorpe. I've got several orders in the last few days, including a new supply of fabulous rulers. Here is a quilt I made a few years ago with the Tri Recs ruler - I love these rulers - you can do heaps with them.

This one was given to a friend for her 50th birthday.

I'm going to go and check out the rest of the parcels and see what new goodies I have got in them. I'll post more when I find out what I ordered.

Sale - eBay and SewArmadillo

Things have been fairly hectic the last few weeks, but should slow down a bit now. I have been helping a friend in her shop while she has been travelling - she's home in a couple of days. And I felt like celebrating the start of daylight saving - so I'm having a sale in both my stores. All the sale items (which is most of them) on my eBay store are marked down on the site. If you shop from SewArmadillo then you have to put the code Spring11 in the coupon area on the shopping cart. 

And I'm getting a lot of new stock in. I got several parcels last week, and thought I would show them here as I list them.

The first ones are fabulous stitchery kits from Bronwyn Hayes. Some have preprinted fabric and some need to be transferred - they all have fabric and threads included. I have just finished one for myself, haven't worked out how to finish it, but I'll put a pic up when I do.

This is the one I have done, I haven't put a name on the cup because I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Quick and easy and fun. It's called My Favourite Cup.

I love this one too, perfect for everyone who loves sewing. It is called Sewing Basket.

And this is a classic design, called Vase of Flowers - perfect if you like samplers with alphabets.