Reporting in from Quilt Market in Houston

I'm in Houston for the next ten days for International Quilt Market (wholesale only) and Quilt Festival (retail!) Last night was the C&T Publishing Authors' Dinner and it was great. I gave a little talk about using the internet to market your books and promote yourself and I hung out with a lot of other authors and some of the wonderful people at C&T. I took this picture while I was waiting for the bus to take me to the hotel where the dinner was held. The architecture of the buildings in downtown Houston is interesting. I didn't realize that the other hotel was only about a block from my hotel until after the dinner when I walked back with a couple of other authors. Could have saved myself a thirty minute bus ride on the way there if I had but known. Oh brother!



We have a booth at both shows, but with completely different stuff at each. At Market we show the books and patterns that we publish through our shop, The Country Quilter. We have four new patterns for this Market and we're also running around the show looking for wonderful new things to carry in our store. Tomorrow I'll be in C&T's booth for a little while signing books and chatting with customers. Next Tuesday we disassemble this booth and reassemble as Flourish! with all of our art quilting goodies and supplies.



I have a new pattern out, Market Bag, that's a really generous size for shopping. It's completely lined and has a medium to heavy interfacing inside to make it strong and give it some body. I'm going to make a slew of these when I get home for my own grocery shopping and to give as gifts. So much prettier than the bags with store logos that I'm currently using!



The highlight of my day today was meeting Jay McCarroll, the winner of the first season of Project Runway, who has two new lines of fabric out with Free Spirit Fabrics. He's completely adorable and his fabric line is fresh and funky.



My least favorite part of today was the two hours I spent in the ER waiting for a tetanus shot after a staple gun accident at the show. Oof. The medics at the show told me I was the fourth (!) person that day who had stapled themselves and the hospital people told me I was the fifth (!) quilter in to see them today. The other quilters were at the hospital for less exotic reasons, mostly falls, at least mine was more creative, though hardly unique, lol.

Project Runway - Week Six

Ah, drag queens! That may have been my favorite episode of Project Runway ever...



Here's my model, Zsa Zsa LaHore, in all her glory. A slinky jacquard skirt with a revealing slit up one thigh (the better to show off shapely legs!) and iridescent lamé lining pair with a shapely strapless top, both finished with sparkly trim. A tiara of lamé to match the skirt lining and a pair of sequined-encrusted glittery pumps complete the look. It's harder than it looks to design something truly "over the top" and on a paper doll even...

Oh, if you'd like to know your drag queen name, go here.

Project Runway - Week Five

Week five's challenge was to create a day into night look for a high-powered executive. Here's the day look - a raw silk pencil skirt with a sleeveless crinkled silk top and a tweedy jacket with a slight peplum detail.



For the night look the jacket's removed, a belt is added, a quick change of jewelry and shoes and off she goes...



Tonight's episode promises to be epic! Drag queens.

I. Can. Not. Wait.

Project Runway - Week Four

Okay, I missed last week and I would have been eliminated, but reality intruded and I had no choice (well, I could have given up sleeping, or stayed home from work...) I had a paying deadline and had to be a grown-up for a minute, but luckily I'm still here, still playing.

This week's challenge was to design an outfit for the Olympics opening ceremony.



My design is a capri-length pant with tailored cuffs and red buttons at the wide waistband. There is a simple white shell underneath the cropped jacket, which also has cuffed sleeves. The shoes are red patent leather eyelet peep toe flats by Rafe New York from the Bluefly accessory wall. I think this ensemble is very stylish and would suit a variety of body types, including the buff physiques of our female athletes. I'm really enjoying this season of Project Runway, but would love to see more inventive designs come down the runway. It seems like the designers are playing it safe, for the most part.

Project Runway Challenge - week two

Week two's challenge was to make a young and trendy cocktail dress with "green" fabric. The show had the models choose the fabric, which was impractical when your model's a paper doll, so we choose our own. Yeah, yeah, I know, but what else could we do? Their little arms just can't carry the bolts of fabric to the cutting table.

My baby doll dress is made from a piece of silk dyed and sprinkled with sea salt. I wet and crinkled the skirt for texture. The bodice is a piece of dyed mulberry bark and the straps are twisted and knotted silk. I intentionally left the hem undone for a deconstructed, organic touch.

I tried making shoes, but gave up and choose a pair from the Bluefly accessory wall, along with a cute satin Valentino bag. This is fun and the scale is definitely a challenge.

Project Runway Challenge - week one

I was invited to participate in a challenge based on those presented on season 5 of Project Runway each week. Each of the five participants has to make an outfit for a paper doll following the PR rules before the next episode airs. And the organizer rounded up some judges so we'll get feedback and snarky comments (I hope). I don't think anyone will be eliminated - but I'll let ya know! Week one presented a challenge to use only items found in a grocery store to create an innovative outfit. Mine is comprised of parchment paper, dried basil leaves, aluminum foil, star-shaped pasta and silver dragees. Can't wait to see what the new challenge tomorrow night brings!



I have a feeling this is going to be a great inspirational exercise. In fact, I challenged the art quilters who meet at The Country Quilter each month to make a small quilt following the PR challenges. Come play along with us!