Day 4--The End!

Here's a little re-cap of our shopping trip for Bear Patch--

After ordering some fabric at the Northcott booth, Debbie put the spin on the wheel and came up the big winner with 500 fabric bucks that she can redeem later for something (we're not sure what!). We even got a picture with Bernie Berlin, the owner of Northcott.

And here are some of our fabric selections from Moda--

Papillon by 3 Sisters

Hello Luscious by Basic Grey (that's the name of the fabric, not my name for you!)

Thanks for following along with us on our fun trip to Houston Quilt Market 2011! Back to MN in the AM!

Day 3

Hi! Sunday was not a day of rest for us! I hope that some of you had a more relaxing day! We did have a good class this morning (at 8!) about organizing store promotions, etc. It was presented by Kizer and Bender, both very knowledgeable and inspiring speakers. The rest of the day, right up until the last call at 6 PM, was spent searching for new ideas to bring back to the store.

We did a little bit of an interview with Elizabeth Bishop about the new Ellie Mae patterns--

We don't claim to be pros at this! Thank you, Betty and your Ellie Mae associates!

We did order some fabric today--Clothworks, Blue Hill and Moda. Some good things to look forward to!

One of our goals on this trip was to find some new sources for embroidery patterns, both hand and machine. We hit the jackpot with Turnberry Lane. Here is just a peek at some of the patterns we purchased:

SamSarah Design Studio was another new source for us, and we especially liked this little advent calendar pattern. The individual squares are attached by a magnet so you can count down the days.

Another good find was the Abbey Lane booth. We have enjoyed patterns by this designer before, and picked up a new book, Simple Choices, that looks like it could be a good possibility for a future class.

Other booths that we liked and shopped:

Lily Anna Stitches for wool applique

GoLightly Sewing Studio by Lila Tueller Designs for e-reader and iPad covers

From My Heart to Your Hands by Lori Smith, some possible block of the month projects

Pieceful Designs, I especially liked their little ramekin pincushions

A Quilter's Dream, fat quarter friendly quilts

Blue Roze for wonderful crystal nail files--I know, not quilty, but still important!

Renee Haddadin's booth for Red-E-Edges, a new gadget for my longarm!

A good dinner at McCormick and Schmik's, a short walk from our hotel, and now jammies! Ahhhh!

Day 2

A full and busy and fun day is coming to an end. We walked and walked and walked. With an occasional pause for purchasing and inquiries in some of the many vendor booths. And maybe a snack break! Although a lot of the booths have a little candy dish to keep us moving!

Here is the bright sunny morning vista from our hotel window--

One of our first stops in the convention center was at the Checker booth. Checker is a distributor of all things related to sewing and crafting and quilting, etc. We especially wanted to look for the type of items that would be interesting Christmas gifts for our customers. We liked these "Quilt Happy" coffee mugs.

Or tea mugs! A little later we had an appointment with David, our rep for P&B Textiles to see their newest lines of fabric. One of the fabric groups that we especially liked was Leila Rose by Alex Anderson, and not just because she was there, too! She showed us one of her quilt samples made from the fabric--

If you are new to quilting, you may not know that Alex Anderson has authored some of the best instructional books available, has taught for many years, has hosted her own TV show, and currently partners with Ricky Tims to run The Quilt Show.

Next we headed over to the Kwik Sew booth to meet up with our friends there. We especially wanted to check out what Elizabeth (aka Betty) has been working on with a new division of the company. Ellie Mae Designs is a new group of sewing patterns that target a different audience, and we had heard a few whispers and rumors about what was in the works. This was the official "unveiling" of the pattern line, and we were impressed! My favorite item has to be the set of storage boxes! We will be watching and waiting for more fun designs in addition to the great ones already available!

We went to the Smith St. Designs booth to find out what they have for new machine embroidery designs. This Halloween one is appropriate for this weekend--

Our Bernina customers love these embroidered and appliqued patterns!

The next stop was a quickie to place an order for the Primitive Quilts magazine. This is a new publication, and will be good reading for our customers who enjoy a homespun feel in their projects. Thinking of you, Nancy!

We stocked up on some beautiful new plush fabrics from Shannon Fabrics, and have some great ideas for samples to show ways to use them. They have some beautiful designs that aren't restricted to baby and kid quilts and gorgeous sculpted pieces.

We found another Minnesota designer, Anne Marie Yohnk of Quilts Remembered. It's fun to see another familiar face!

We stopped to talk with Nicole Chambers-Kaya of Tiger Lily Press. We thought the tablerunner and placemat in the background would become favorites at Bear Patch.

We found designer and Minnesotan Darlene Zimmerman in the EZ Quilting booth, demonstrating her latest ruler designs. She does come up with some great ideas!

The Market closed at 6 and we headed back to our room to unload our bags before a relaxing dinner and good conversation. Now we need to rest up for our 8 AM class and another full day covering more of the show floor!

On Assignment

We covered some miles yesterday, traveling to Houston for the International Quilt Market. We are here to search for the best of the best to bring back to Bear Patch.

Of course, the travel time was put to good use with some easy knitting!

A little baby hat!

We had a stop-over in Denver, here is proof!

Now wandering the halls of the convention center--

we spent all day attending "Schoolhouse", which is a whole roster of 15-30 minute sessions to inform quilt shop owners about new ideas and products. This evening we attended a Bernina reception, and caught up with some familiar faces. Then it was time to work our way through a big crowd attending "Sample Spree", which is sort of like a preview of the official Market with a chance to purchase single items on the spot instead of ordering larger amounts for the store. Debbie was tempted by these bundles from AdornIt. I was supposed to be her conscience, but I'm not so sure she should have assigned that job to me after the appetizers and wine!

A couple of goodies that we will be bringing back to Bear Patch--

These cute little pattern booklets from Liberty Homestead, each contains a quilt pattern and a smaller bonus project.

And Kristina will love these new wool designs, especially since she won't have to stitch up the samples! They are from Plays With Wool Designs.

We have enjoyed meeting up with some friends and favorite designers--Kaye England, Alex Anderson, Barri Gaudet, Anna Griffin--and who knows what tomorrow will bring! It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

We love wool!

We are happy to now offer you some great kits for several of the Bareroots candlemats and wraps. These are packaged by Bareroots and contain the wool felt, embroidery floss, and even beads when needed. I have made one of them and was very happy with the kit. The kits are priced at a very
reasonable $14, and the patterns are $5.50.

Right now I am working on this Christmas design and was surprised to find that the kit even includes the ribbon ties for the wrap!



And who wouldn't love this little Halloween goodie!?

Just right to hold my personal bowl of candy corn!

Silent Auction

Silent Auction has started!

We have a total of 19 items all handmade and donated to benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation. We support the fight to stop breast cancer from claiming our loved ones! Please join us in this opportunity to support the cause and take home a fine gift for yourself or someone else. The auction continues until October 30 at close of business (4:00). These photos show some of the items on display, there are more that you will need to see for yourself!