Quilt Market Recap

I attended International Quilt Market this past weekend. It was so much fun.

 I went with Caroline to help promote our new book.  We were able to do a Schoolhouse presentation and show off all the projects in a fun fashion show.

We recruited a bunch of friends and attendees to help us out. I wish I had some pictures of everyone walking the runway.

We also got to give away some books and sign them.  It was really fun to talk to people and hear how they were excited to use our book.  Thanks for snapping this pic Girl Charlee.

We also taught a little Make and Take based on a simplified version of the Foxy Cell Phone Cozy in the book.  I know you are getting excited to see all the projects in the book. Just so you know we are having a month long blog hop full of sneak peeks starting on Monday so stay tuned and I'll get you the details.

While I wasn't "working" at quilt Market I was able to walk around and see all of the wonderful displays and eye candy. I took pictures of my favorites and since I know my mom and sister at least are dying to see them here is my photo dump. :) I'll do my best to label them but no time for links today so if you like what you see google it!

Look at this fun display of lusciously draped Joel Dewberry Rayons. They feel just like butter.

 Heather Bailey's pretty booth with her AMAZING new owls.

Anna Maria Horner's Honor Roll love.

And she is reprinting a combination of her Little Folks and Good Folks lines all in quilting cotton!

Kaffe Faucett. I love the bookcases quilt!

A fascinating quilt by Denise Schmidt. and that dress is amazing.

I love Carolyn Freidlander's modern style. And that couch! Look, even the back of the cushions are quilted.

Cool tents at the Alexander Henry booth

David Butler's fabric. Hooray for fabric that is a little more manly.

I loved this quilting detail on the bags at Amy Butler's booth. She has the best ribbons too.

Tula Pink love

The sweet set up of my roomie, Jennifer Heynen. I didn't get a very good picture so I stole this one from her. She makes the cutest stuff.

I got to meet up with Maureen Cracknell and see how her booth came together. Can  you spy my bags?

She won best new exhibitor. Woohoo!

Kristina Rocella's booth

It was fun to meet up with Sara from Sew Sweetness. She has amazing bag patterns and always has cool Quilt Market outfits.

Bonnie Christine's Hello bear collection.  Did you know her little boy is named Bear?

The Charley Harper booth.

I'm such a sucker for these bold prints. Here's a little fox footstool.

Sample spree was wild as usual with the Cotton and Steel table being the craziest that I went to. Here they are with a table almost bare 30 minutes into it.  I'll save my fabric finds for another post.

Perhaps the most fun about quilt market is seeing people you only know online. The best surprize was when I walked onto the floor that first day and ran into my first blogging friend Nikki from the Girl Who Quilts, I had no idea she'd be there, but it was so fun to meet her in real life. She is a long arm quilter and was there helping her friend in her booth.

I got to room with Heather from Girly Charlee (left) and meet up with Stephanie from the Modern Sewciety podcast (Right)

There was more, so much more, including a whole quilt display with 100's of beautiful quilts. I really had so much fun and am so grateful for the opportunity to go.

I Spy...

We are in Georgia for the weekend to visit 2 Grandmas, Grandpa, an Aunt and Uncle and 2 little cousins. 
One of our little cousins is brand new so I made an I spy quilt for him. 

All those nine patches that I showed in my last post turned into this...

 The design of the quilt is called a "disappearing nine patch."  I used a tutorial from Obsessively stitching to figure it out.

This was a lot of fun to make.  I got to use up some of my scraps and shop for a few new fabrics as well.   I even found a doggie fabric with a picture of their dog "Cooler" (the black one)

 I used my new Quilting foot and attempted my first stipple quilting.  It is pretty messy but you can't really tell unless you start looking closely.  All in all I love how it turned out.  I can't believe I actually pulled it off.

 This is what the back looks like.

 Notice how the binding is bigger on the back than it is in the front?  My backing fabric was just a little smaller than the quilt top and I didn't have time to add strip to the back.  I ended up making a really wide binding and folding it so it was about a half an inch on one side and 2 inches on the other, and it worked

I love this quilt so much I just might have to make one to stay at our house.

Hope you enjoy it little "No No"!

One more Superhero party...and a couple of favor ideas.

A few months ago we threw our 3rd Superhero Training Academy Birthday party. Our littlest man turned 5 and he wanted a party just like his big brothers.

This party is so much fun I didn't mind hosting it again.  Though it is a bit of work to throw a party at your house, I kind of think they are the most fun.  

 We mixed things up a bit and I thought I'd share the few things we did differently this time around.

The Hulk decided to be Batman at the last minute so we had to rig a costume the morning of. Thankfully  we had the cape in the costume box and the t-shirt the drawer.  I added some yellow felt to a spy belt and we found some gray pajama pants.  I love a quick costume!

And of course batman needed a bat symbol cake too.

This was our third time making fake weights. I couldn't find thick styrofoam so I cut a bunch of circles from 1 inch styrofoam and glued them together before painting.

Boy do I wish I had thrown the first, and most awesome set, into the attic years ago.  I saved this set just in case any local friends are in need of a set of fake weights.

For punching practice one year we had them punch the Pow Pillows, this time we had each kid put on Hulk fists and punch through a series of balloons that were tied at their level.

We also had them practice their aim by throwing footballs through the tire swing.

I received an email asking for ideas of something to sew as a favor instead of capes.  Here are a couple of simple things I've made to give. 

One year I cut out masks out of craft foam and sewed a strip of elastic to them.  They hold up well and are fun to wear. One year we even gave them at the beginning of the party for those who needed to assume a secret identity.

This year I sewed the favor bags.  They are easy enough to make by sewing around the sides of two rectangles and hemming the top.

To thread in a length of yarn I just unpicked one of the side seams.  We stuffed them with a bouncy ball, fruit snacks, lollipops and "Kryptonite" putty.

After the party my kids use these little bags to store rock collections, and other little things or to tote just few cars church.

Hopes this helps give you a few more ideas to choose from if you happen to be planning your own superhero party. Good luck!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! My little guy has gotten a lot of use out of his Superman costume. Thankfully it was the only one I had to make this year... I bought Captain America (with muscles), and the other 2 kids are going to be a Spy and a Hippie both finding bits of their costumes in the dress-up box and goodwill.  I'm hoping the rain stops so we can have an enjoyable trick-or-treat night and I can get some pictures.

Ooh, I better post the Halloween things I made before it's too late! :)  This year my kids got to sleep on Halloween pillows.  It has been a fun little addition to our holiday decor.

And I did get a chance to make this cute Bat wreath .

 Here are the Crayon Rolls I finished for craft fair season

 

And I tried a new thing with one of my bags...strap hardware.  I love how this one turned out.

With a double pocket on the inside. 

 And that's the rest of what I've been making.  On to Thanksgiving and Christmas... I love this time of year!