Today was the first day the vendor booths were open here at Quilt Market.

Timeless Treasures really increased their booth space this Market, and everything looks fantastic–including this adorable line, Bavaria! 😉

Only one yard of each print was flown into the office in New York, and it had to be cut up for 20 samples, so each salesman would have a set so they’re very tiny!

Needless to say, I’m quite fond of the Orange Crush line.

Timeless does fabulous batiks, and Mango Salsa is really pretty.

I’m thinking I need to make a circle quilt!

Isn’t this a pretty purse made from the Tonga Treat?

Everything old is new again!  My bedroom in the early Seventies was hot pink and orange.

More pretty fabrics.

Black and bright is always stunning.

Wild Ginger.

Mixed Media Mosaic.

Made from pre-cuts.

More eye candy.

This is Monica Lee’s Cardigan Girls.  I got to meet Monica this Market, and she’s a hoot!

Catch of the Day is adorable with lobsters and crab.

L’amour de la vie is a cute little French line.

Mechanical Genius is a first line from Mo Bedell.  Perfect for boy quilts!

Don’t’ you love how the selvedges are incorporated into this pillow?

Sweet on NYC by Sugar Pixie.

Bella Verona is a beautiful new block of the month.

And Timeless has an exciting new division called Dear Stella.

So much inspiration! And all this in just one booth!

 

Greetings from Quilt Market in Houston!  Today was Schoolhouse–15 – 30 minute sessions all day long introducing new products that are going to premiering at Market.  Well, when I saw a title called Quilts in Sweden you know I had to go! Turns out that’s the title of a new book by Kaffe Fassett.

Much to my delight, the quilts were photographed at Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm.  Historic buildings have been brought from all over Sweden to this museum–including one from Anna Lena’s farm!  These photos are washed out because I was taking pictures projected on a screen, but I thought they were worth sharing with you.

I love this quilt on the outside of a typical Swedish log cabin–square logs and Falu red paint.  This paint, which is prevalent all over Sweden, is a by-product of the copper mining.

I recognize this as the inside of the main house at the Delsbo farmhouse.

I love this balcony shot!

This photo was taken inside a manor house at the museum.  Don’t you love the geometric design of the quilt and the geometric design of the floor!?

Beautiful painted wall–and beautiful quilt.

Kaffe said they topped off their day with tea at the Tea Room!  Perfect!

…Is Market ready for me?

Whew!  3:30 on Wednesday afternoon, and all the projects are finished.  I don’t leave until 4:00 AM tomorrow.  Time to spare!  Now I suppose Bob will expect me to cook dinner.

In the last six days, I’ve made a Laptop  Sleeve, a little Stitchery called Gretel, and I’ve been plugging away on the blocks for the Bavarian Rose quilt.  I don’t know what possessed me to applique 32 rose blocks, but I did.

Finally, after dinner last night, I got the quilt quilted.  Thank goodness for stippling!

 

Joan, my binding fairy, just returned from Salt Lake City yesterday, but I took her the quilt this morning, and she returned it the afternoon–all bound and with a sleeve on it.  Thank you, Joan!

I wanted one more project to showcase the fabrics so whipped up this bag.

I think I’ll go pack now!

I’ve been busy making samples from my new fabric line, Bavaria.  My main project for the Timeless Treasures‘ booth at Quit Market is a quilt with 32 appliqué blocks!  So, every once in a while, I take a break from appliqueing and work on a small project–like this little stitchery.  I call her Gretel!

Once the stitching was finished she still looked a bit plain so I was going to embroider a line about a half inch in from the edge, but then inspiration struck–why not rick rack!?!  It was quick and I love the look of it.  There are twelve fabrics in this collection and it was fun to cut up a few squares from each one to “frame” her.

Speaking of the twelve fabrics, here they are!  I always name all of my prints.  This is the inspiration piece for the line and, of course, it’s called Bavaria!

Many years ago I was a tole painter, and I loved the Bavarian folk art that influenced a lot of my projects.  One of the things that I loved to do was paint folksy roses with just a few brush strokes, like this chest I painted many moons ago!

So I knew this collection would need a rose print in it.  Here’s Bavarian Rose.

I like to play with different grids and geometric elements, so Tulip Chain found it’s way into the line.

Four Flowers is just that–clusters of four folk art flowers.  This is the one I used as the lining in my Laptop Sleeve.  By following the paths between the flowers, I was able to quilt this without marking!  Gotta love that!  Actually, you could follow the design in the Tulip Chain for quilting, too.

I always want different scale in the lines, so Buds in Windows helps fill the bill for something small scale.  It’s also fun to have something with a little bit of a hard, geometric element.

And speaking of geometric, how about a stripe?  I didn’t want just a plain stripe, so this one, Bavarian Stripe, is filled with garlands of flowers.

Last but not least is Gridded Buds, another small scale print, but this time, it’s monochromatic.  I always like a little something that’s rather plain to give the eye a place to rest when making scrappy quilts–which most of mine are.

So, there you have it.  I hope to get the quilt top pieced today and then it’s onto the long arm.

I’m busy making Market samples from my new line of fabric – Bavaria.   Yesterday, I took a break from appliquéing roses to make a laptop sleeve.  I need to go shopping for a big red button and some Velcro for the closure.

Since it will be displayed in the booth at Quilt Market, I didn’t want to put my real laptop in it.  Luckily, my sister recently bought a laptop sleeve, and it came with a nifty foam insert.  Perfect!

This was so simple to make.  Here’s the “formula!”  By the way, this would work for an i-Pad, Kindle or any size notebook!

Measure the width of your laptop and add 2-1/2″.

Measure the height of you laptop, double it an add 5″.

Cut two pieces of fabric and some fusible fleece this size.

Layer and quilt.

Round off the corners on the top edge.  I used a sewing basket lid as my guide!

Cut a strip of binding 2-1/4″ wide and bind the bottom edge.

Fold up the bottom, using your laptop as a guide.  Stitch the edges with a scant 1/4″ seam.

Using more 2-1/4″ binding, bind the sides and top of the sleeve, turning the binding under at the bottom edge to finish.

Voila!  It’s that easy.

Note: I used the Four Flowers print for the lining of my sleeve.  When it was time to quilt the fabrics together, I just followed the path between the clusters of flowers.  No marking!

Yesterday, this…

…brought me this….

…which contained this!

My new fabric line….

…called Bavaria!

Excuse me, now I have to go sew!

I’m a member of the Peninsula Quilt Guild (that would be the Long Beach Peninsula!).  There are about 50 members, which is pretty good for our small community.  The group is very diverse, and one of the most fun things about the meetings is seeing what everyone brings for show-and-tell.  I had my camera with me yesterday, so thought I would share with you, too.

Joan made this Migration quilt.

She used a gorgeous fabric on the back.

She’s been making 6″ blocks, and used 12 of them in this house quilt.

Becky has been making red, white and blue quilts to donate.

Here’s another one.

She also made this snowman quilt using wool.

Eleanor made this kaleidoscope quilt in a class at Boardwalk Quilts.

Glennys made the next two table runners.

She says they’re the same block, just turned different ways!

She also showed us the peacock sweater she made which won Reserve Grand Champion at the fair!

Deborah made this in a Paula Nadelstern class.

Jerene made the next two quilts.

Beverly made this strip pieced quilt.

Glennys made this quilt…

…and this wall hanging.

Joyce brought this Seven Sisters quilt that was stitched in the early 1900′s.

Audrey had been experimenting with piecing around a center hexagon and made this Christmas table runner.

Carol showed off her row-by-row quilt.

She also showed her recently completed Over The River quilt top, which she plans to hand quilt.

I don’t know who made this patriotic quilt.  Help?

Gloria brought this quilt that her mother made several years ago.

It was a great meeting.  After it was all over, Kathy brought this garage sale find in to show me.  I’m in love!  That’s Anna Lena Land!

Well, this is the final installment.  All I can say, is there was a lot of creativity in that room.  I love hosting the retreats.  I get so inspired by everyone!

This is Karen’s millennium quilt.  It has 2000 DIFFERENT fabrics in it.  Wow!

She also brought this applique sampler for show-and-tell.

I like the setting for this Redwork she did.

I thought maybe she brought this Thirties row quilt for me, but, alas, it wasn’t so.

She did a great demo on her favorite way to make circles for applique.  Turns out, it’s the same method I used for the Lollipops, like on the quilt in the background!  That’s one of the great thing about retreats, we’re always learning from each other!

Robin has a new grandson, and she made this quilt for him.  The motorcycle is an accurate depiction of the one his daddy has!

She also used the Bow Tie Block challenge to make him this matching quilt.

Robin and her mom, Mary, showed off the quilts they’d each made from a block swap they’re involved in.

 

These are Mary’s blocks from this years swap.  I think we may have to do this next year!

Mary also made this adorable Halloween table topper…

…and this pretty fall table runner.

She got a pillowcase finished…

…and started making a Bears Outside My Window quilt!

Connie did the Bow Tie Challenge, too.  I love her Hugs and Kisses setting.

At retreat she made 57 Halloween treat bags for her grandkids’ schoolmates.  Wow!

My sister, Sally, was there scrapbooking.  For our boutique, she brought 25 Christmas wreaths that she had made.

Even Josie, who’s on the Falls Creek Staff, brought show-and-tell to share.

I think these snowmen are fabulous!

I showed my Dress Up Time quilt…

…and my Christmas Memories quilt, which I was working on at the last retreat.

But I was happiest about getting this top all put together!

Retreats are wonderful.  We had mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters-in-law, sisters and lots and lots of friends.  I can’t wait for March when we get to do it all again.

Pat P3, also known as Nana Pat, brought this pretty quilt for her show and tell.  I love how the checkerboard sashing is repeated in the border!

Mary’s favorite animal is the buffalo, so this is the perfect quilt for her.

She made this yummy batik top during the retreat.

Mary took Robin’s 1″ challenge.

Looks like she’s getting a good start!

Penny brought this beautiful cross quilt for show-and-tell.

She was working on another one during retreat.

While recuperating from surgery, she made this yo-yo table runner.  There are 78 yo-yo’s in it.  Can you imagine making enough for a bed quilt!?!

Penny and Nana Pat were both working on Hunter’s Star quilts.  I can’t remember if this is Pat’s or Penny’s!

This one is definitely Penny’s.  She did half blocks around the outside to make the start the center of every block.

Penny was also working on a layout for her split nine-patch.

Anna had several sampler projects that she brought to put together, including this pretty one.

She was framing these blocks to make them all the same size.  Smart trick!

Phyllis brought this wonderful wall hanging for show-and-tell…

…as well as this City Pavement quilt.

Barbara’s neighbor bought this quilt at a garage sale for $5.00!

During retreat, Barbara made my Center Piece Table Runner.

And from some scraps she made a bookmark!  Very clever!

Laraine showed this charming button-on-wool piece that she’d made.

She’s also made these wool hearts.

I kinda like this photo of me!

For show-and-tell, Stephanie brought this great Bear’s Paw.

During the retreat she put her Lollipop quilt top together.  This is one of my designs, and it’s so fun to see someone making things I’ve designed.

She’ll be ready for Halloween with this charming wall hanging.

During retreat, she was experimenting with the Hunter’s Star ruler…

…and got this all put together!

She also made this adorable cat block, appropriately called “Stalker.”

At the last retreat, Judy started this wall hanging, and she brought it back finished for show-and-tell.  It should help chase away the winter blues!

She also got this Halloween table runner together during the retreat.

And how about this adorable, seasonal wall hanging.  I think these blocks are just the cutest I’ve seen in a long time.

One more post, and we’ll be caught up with retreat!

 

I’ve been on a mission, cleaning closets in my studio.  I’m pretty proud of how the kit and bundle area turned out.  Hopefully, it will save me time when I’m shipping.

After that was done, I tackled the closet where I store batting, quilts to be quilted and quilts and quilt tops that are for sale.  The batting is now neat and organized.

While I was folding up “projects waiting to be quilted” to put them back in the closet, I decided I had to add one more to the web store.  It’s this pretty queen-sized Stack N Whack.

I love this quilt and I loved teaching the technique when I had my quilt shop.  Every block comes out a little different.

I fully intended to quilt this, but it’s been three years!

So, it’s now listed on the web catalog.  Maybe it can find a new home with one of you!  Maybe you need a Christmas gift, but time is not on your side!  I’ll never tell that you didn’t make it yourself.

I even have the backing pieced for it.

You can see it on the web catalog by CLICKING HERE.

I have other new and vintage quilt tops for sale there, too.  CLICK HERE to see them all.

My closet thanks you.