November 2011 - Page 3 of 3 - The Cottage Mama

This past weekend I packed up myself and my little man (Caspian Finn) and flew down to Houston, TX for the fall International Quilt Market. Luckily my mom lives in Houston, so attending market was not a ‘must’ this time, but it was a good excuse to visit family and do some business at the same time!

I’m not sure if you remember my post from Spring Quilt Market 2011, but in that post I explained that International Quilt Market is a trade show for the quilting and sewing industry. Every fall the market is held in Houston, TX and every spring it is held in a random city across the U.S. Spring 2012 will be in Kansas City, MO. All market attendees must submit credentials to attend market as it is pretty much for wholesale buying. However, there is the International Quilt Festival that will take place this weekend in Houston and it is open to the public.

I was so busy with appointments, meetings, and heading out to the lobby every 2.5 hours to feed my little baby boy (no infants or children allowed in the market) that I didn’t really feel like I took all the pictures I wanted. But after looking through my camera, I think I got enough to give you a feel for Quilt Market 2011. Are you ready for some eye candy? Here we go……..

I love this fabric artwork found at the BasicGrey booth. It’s so pretty with all the different fabric prints, embroidery thread, and layered buttons. So creative!

Printed fabric labels from BasicGrey.

Pretty bags and gorgeous buttons also from BasicGrey.

My first appointment was with MODA fabrics. I always love Aneela Hoey’s whimsical fabric designs and her new line, ‘A Walk in the Woods‘, was no exception.

More from ‘A Walk in the Woods’.

‘Salt Air‘ by Cosmo Cricket was another line that I was really loving. The colors are unique, but I don’t think the pictures even do it justice. Just so pretty!

I don’t do a lot of quilting, but this design made from ‘Salt Air’ had me at hello.

At the MODA booth a lot of the newer designers are together in one booth handing out samples of their fabrics. I love these teeny-tiny squares of each line. They are so much fun and they are free!! I’ve got a few projects in mind for the fabric squares I picked up.

I just had to share this gorgeous booth design!

Buttons, oh how I love buttons.

In the morning of the first day of market, I ran into Dana from the blog MADE and Deborah Moebes author of Stitch by Stitch and owner of Whipstitch Fabrics. I love being able to meet friends in person that I have chatted with over email. Yes, I knew what these ladies looked like, but it was totally different actually meeting them and hearing their voices. So glad I ran into you ladies!

The Windham Fabrics booth has some really beautiful new lines of fabric. I can’t wait to work with ‘Cabana Blooms’ (the pink and gray one in the middle) – it’s just my style!

Also at the Windham booth was Lotta Jandsdotter, author of ‘Simple Sewing for Baby‘ (and many other books), who is coming out with a new line called ‘Echo’. It’s a really beautiful, modern line of fabric that is perfect for clothing and home decor.

Now I’m sure many of you have heard of Amy Butler, but did you know her husband designs fabric now too? It was pretty neat to see David Butler in his booth with his line, Curious Nature by Parson Gray, set up next to his lovely wife. He is a graphic designer so the transition into fabric design was a natural step for him. He was a really down to earth guy and reminded me a lot of my husband, Brett.

Next to David Butler, was his always lovely wife, Amy Butler, with her new line ‘Lark’. I’ve said this before but I truly feel Amy Butler is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She really is a celebrity in the quilting fabric world, but yet you would never know. She speaks to each and every person as if they are the most important person in the world. She is so genuine and kind – definitely a wonderful role model.

More from Amy Butler’s ‘Lark’ collection.

Tina Given’s gorgeous, creative booth.

A pretty dress from Anna Maria Horner’s booth.

Sandi Henderson and I had a little time to chat and she was promoting her ‘Secret Garden’ laminate fabric. The umbrella and several of the kites were great ideas for using that type of fabric. Sandi said she has another book in the works and will be releasing some new sewing patterns in about three weeks for women, girls and boys.

Another pretty booth.

I just thought this fabric cake was too cute!

There is a new division of Timeless Treasures Fabrics that was debuting at market called ‘Dear Stella‘. This is a contemporary, hip, young group of fabrics and their booth was just that! I believe they won the prize for best new booth exhibitor. I loved all the white, clean lines…….it was like no booth I had ever seen there before. I may be working with some of these fabrics in the future, so be on the look-out.

Riley Blake Designs always has a fun, happy booth display.

All the collections from Riley Blake Designs.

Loved this bed display with the upholstered head-board and gorgeous pillows.

Jenean Morrison’s booth for her new line, ‘Power Pop‘.

How cute is that lamp shade?

Isn’t that floor lamp so creative? It’s tied with strips of fabric.

My favorite part of Jenean’s booth display had be the flooring. She had these vinyl tiles printed to look like a string block quilt. Genius!

Anna Griffin is one of my favorite designers and this year she has brought on several other designers with their collections to be licensed under her brand. I would have loved a little bit of everything from each and every line in her booth.

More from the Anna Griffin booth.

These fabric prints were too adorable not to photograph. The Japanese fabric is always to-die-for!

I have a real thing for trims (if you haven’t noticed). May Arts had so many beautiful ribbons, velvet trim, lace and so on.

More eye candy from the Japanese manufacturers.

I was loving the large floral print from Camelot Cottons.

I stopped by the organic fabric company, Monaluna, to visit with designer Jennifer Moore and her husband. They were so down to earth and their fabrics are some of the best I have ever felt. I’m thinking that apple print might have my name on it.

I had to show you Betz White’s booth – isn’t it adorable? What a great idea way to use all of those embroidery hoops. Her display really caught my eye. I found myself drawn to her booth every time I walked by.

And finally, I leave you with another of my favorite booths. Those 3-D flowers coming out of the wall are just so beautiful and creative.

This is my second time attending quilt market and I think it’s going to become a semi-annual event for me. Like I said earlier in this post, I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, but I hope you got a feel for the whole experience. With over 2000 booths, it’s hard to make it around to everyone!

I spent my time at market meeting with different manufacturers, distributors, promoting my new sewing patterns, purchasing fabric for my etsy shop, networking and just trying to stay on top of the new trends, tools, and fabric lines that will be released over the next several months. I almost decided not to go seeing as though Caspian is only 2 months old, but I’m SO glad I did…..it was well worth the journey!

A couple weekends ago was my sister-in-law’s bridal shower that was given by my mother-in-law. The shower was french themed since the couple will be honeymooning in France. I took lots of pictures of all the amazing details from the bridal shower, but I’ll share those with you in another post.

For now I wanted to share a fun little gift idea that I came up with. I really wanted to make something for my sister-in-law, but with the craziness that comes with life with a newborn and two toddlers, I just decided that this was not the right time. However, I still wanted to do something kind of crafty. Have you seen those diaper cakes that some people make for baby showers? Well, I thought I would try to make something similar, but use dish towels instead of diapers.

I purchased three packs of solid color dish towels as well as one with a print. I rolled up each dish towel and put a elastic hair-tie to hold it in place. I got a pie dish that I decide was going to be the base for my cake. I put a small, round craft box (the cardboard kind) in the middle and put the dish towels on their sides surrounding the box. Once I had put the dish towels all the way around, I took a grosgrain ribbon and tied it around all the towels.

For the second tier, I laid a dish towel that was folded on the top of the craft box lid to give me a little more height. Then I placed more rolled up dish towels all together. This time there was nothing in the middle. Once I had them all on top, I tied the grosgrain ribbon around them to hold in place. I used straight pins to secure the top tier to the bottom tier.

For added decoration, I folded a printed dish towel and wrapped in around the top tier and made a bow.

Once the cake was complete, I needed to add something to the top. I had purchased a french rolling pin and I stuck that into the middle of the top tier. Then I placed bamboo cooking utensils into the middle of the rolled up towels on the top. I put an oven mitt over the top of the rolling pin and put the other oven mitt in front. I had one extra dish towel, so I folded that and place it behind the rolling pin which actually added a little more support. I tried to pick a print on the dish towel that looked sort of french country.

Since the shower was french themed, I thought I would try to make the gift entirely themed. I bought four Le Creuset french ramekins and a baking dish as well as on of my favorite cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Paris by Ina Garten.

I think my sister-in-law really liked the towel cake and now she and her hubby-to-be will never have to buy another dish towel again!

Linking Here.