Quilt Market, Portland

We left last Wednesday for Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon. The weather was unseasonably warm outside and unseasonably cold in the convention center. It is always a challenge to pack. Nancy, Judy (who has worked with us forever and is irreplaceable), and I, did the buying for the store. Ashley, our Director of Marketing, and Kim, my daughter, worked in the booth to sell our new books. It was Kim's first visit to quilt market and it was so much fun to see it through her eyes. We bought lots of fabric, patterns, books, and more--and we will be telling you about them in future blogs. We returned to Denver on Monday, inspired and ready to play. Stay tuned for more market news and pics.
Lynda

Mother's Day Present Update

Just a quick update--literally 5 minutes before we returned home yesterday, my son, Richard, had finished mowing and edging the lawn and pulling some weeds. To be truthful, my husband, a friend of ours, and myself made a bet on the way home. My husband and I bet that it wouldn't be done because it was still 3 hours before dark. Our friend bet on Richard! Maybe there is hope!
The Doubting Mom : )

Happy Mother's Day

We have had a busy week around here. We shipped our booth stuff to Quilt Market and now are finishing up the last minute details and packing the big suitcases. This is the last time we will be able to check two suitcases each on United Airlines--I'm not sure what we will do--except pay the extra. Spring Quilt Market is in Portland this year. It is one of our favorite places to go and the weather is supposed to be so nice. We have already been buying fabric from our reps so that we don't have so much to look at. I'm ready to be inspired with new fabric, books, patterns, and ideas!

I'm leaving for a quick road trip to Albuquerque tomorrow. My husband and I are going for the Legacy Art Foundation Auction. My husband builds guitars. He built one especially for the auction and then C.J. Wells painted an American Indian on it. Three years ago, he built another one and it was painted by Amado Pena. They are beautiful and hopefully this one will bring in a good deal of money for St. Pius X Foundation. Maybe I'll get a chance to sneak away and visit some of the local quilt stores.

Sunday morning, Mother's Day, we will start back to Denver. I gave my son a special idea for Mother's Day that won't cost him anything. I hinted that I would love to come back home and have the lawn mowed and the weeds pulled that have popped up already with the little bit of moisture and nice weather that we've had. We'll see!

If you happen to be in the Denver area, we are having our Spring sale today through Sat. and also on the web. Happy Mother's Day and I hope you get a little time for 'piece' and quiet.
Lynda

Denver National Quilt Festival III

Thursday, I spent several hours at the Denver National Quilt Festival III. I couldn't decide whether to shop or look at the quilts first. I decided to just start from one end and work my way to the other. The first row was filled with special exhibit quilts, including quilts from the Colorado Quilting Council on Parade 2008. Also on this row was Pressing Matters II-Chicago School of Fusing featuring the works of Frieda Anderson, Ann Fahl, Melody Johnson, Anne Lullie, Emily Parson, Judy Coates Perez, and Laura Wasilowski. There are 13 special exhibits at the show, including quilts, clothing, and dolls from the Hoffman Challenge.

The next 3 rows were vendor booths, so in the first two rows I was able to shop and look at quilts. I thoroughly enjoyed my leisurely walk through the vendor booths. It was my little taste of Paducah and the Chicago Quilt Festival. I talked to a couple of friends who had vended at all three shows--Chicago, Paducah, and Denver. I don't know how they did it. Shows are fun, but very strenuous--especially setting up and taking down.

Finally I got to the quilt competition. I love quilts--I love art quilts, I love traditional quilts, I love small quilts, I love large quilts--and this competition had them all! Over 230 quilts were on display in the competition, not counting the special exhibits and you were able to get up close and personal with them all, although there was a crowd around our own Ann Petersen's quilt, Fine Feathered Fancy (shown below). The winning quilts were, of course, stunning, and Ann's quilt won Dierdra McElroy's Judges Choice award. Congratulations Ann!



Overall, it was a pretty good show--a little expensive to get in. I wish the vendor mall had more vendors, but it has a lot of competition, with Chicago and Paducah so close. Let me know what you think.

Lynda

80 degrees Wednesday, snow Thursday!!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Just kidding, but in case you haven’t heard we had a snow storm here in Denver today (after the 82 degree high yesterday!). You would think that by May 1^st we would be having spring weather, but not Colorado! Several years ago, on June 5th, we celebrated my daughter’s graduation from high school and her birthday, all of which occurred on the same day. Our back yard was where we hosted the party. However, even as late at June 5^th, our backyard was turned into a complete snowfield! So go figure, I guess that unpredictability keeps us all young.

We had a wonderful tour bus of ladies (and one gentleman) join us today. The group was with Heritage Tours and the participants were from all over the world. We had such a great time! Some of the ladies had been to Chicago for Quilt Festival, traveled to Paducah for the AQS show, and now were in Colorado to visit shops and go to the Mancuso Show. I always feel such pride from all of the nice compliments we receive, and it’s so fun to sign books and visiting with these groups—we are just so lucky.

Lynda spent the day at the Mancuso show, (which is being held at the Denver Merchandise Mart). It is close to her house and she was so glad to not have to drive into the store in this snowy weather. I have signed up for a class tomorrow, so I will get to see the show after I take my class. The supply list for my class is very extensive, so I will be heading home after work to get everything ready. The class is designed so that we can learn lots of new embellishment techniques. I hope that when I’m done I have lots of exciting things to share with you!

Stay warm and go put a pot of soup on. Then give me a call and tell me what time dinner is! Have a great weekend.

Nancy