Quilt Market Recap

We're home.  How to describe this trip?  Surrounded by beauty......creativity.......the latest and newest.......starstruck.......inspiring.......

I'm getting all the pictures up on Flickr, but here are a few from our fabulous weekend:

Some highlights in particular:
*meeting my fabric idol, Amy Butler
*being so impressed with both up & coming and seasoned fabric designers:  Bari J, Sarah Watson, Emily Taylor, Meg McElwee (pictured above on bottom left), and so many more!
*getting to see a quick glimpse of the Quilt Show, which opens to the public this week.  WOW.

More pics to come.....more to write.  But now, sleep is calling.

UK UFO in ABQ !

Part 2 in an ongoing series of longtime languishing but now completed UFOs   (see August 11, 2012 for part 1)

A few weekends ago I met two wonderful women, Martha and Susan, on visit from London.  

It was great fun and interesting to ask them and hear about about the Olympics,

Princess Kate and David Tennant.

Fun and interesting too to discover that Susan is a quilter, who, after viewing the Gee's Bend exhibit, had the same response as Jacqui Gering, "I can do that!"  Susan's first quilt was done ad lib.  (I am hoping to get a picture of it to share with you!)

And the UFO  part:  Her partner Martha started knitting this GORGEOUS sweater over ten (10!) years ago.  Over the years, the skeins of yarn and slowly materializing sweater spent time in the back of closets, behind doorways, near the couch, in the car, etc. And now, here it is:

The 10 Year (definitely-worth-the-wait-wearable-work-of-art) UK UFO in ABQ !

Good art is nothing more than infinite patience. (William Wallace Kimball)

A sweet little 6 yr. old recently made this drawstring gift bag in the lounge:

Aline came in wearing this Prairie Girl top......that she shares with her mom, Diana:

(don't know about you other moms of teenage daughters, but I love sharing clothes with my girls!)

Julie made this purse w/Parson Gray fabric:

Here's the quilt that will be raffled off at the Hipster's Craft Show Nov. 10.....have your purchased your raffle ticket yet?

And here's the scoop on the craft show!

Get out the kleenex....

...because I'm having a trip down memory lane tonight, due to some wonderful news about a baby-to-be in the family! (NOT ME)  No details until a more public announcement is made.......

So I was meandering down memory lane in my scrapbooks, and came across this picture:

Me and my baby/toddler, Jane.  I remember that old machine that was my mom's hand-me-down, and sewing that dress for a toddler friend.  I can close my eyes and almost feel that moment - Jane in my lap, reaching out now and then, wanting to help somehow but not knowing how, and me, taking my foot off the pedal, and gently reminding her to just watch, don't touch.  And then I blinked, and it's 14 years later......
....and now I'm going to go cry!

Call me June Cleaver.....

....but I'm just going to say it:  I like ironing.  I find it meditative, and calming, and peaceful.    For a few moments, I can solve problems that are quite simple - get out the wrinkles.  Easy peasy.  Granted, I don't have to iron daily - I don't have to iron my husband's white dress shirts to a crisp, like women in June's era did.  I iron my quilt pieces, my skirt pieces, my dress pieces, my handbag pieces.  There's going to be an end result of some creative endeavor.

Today, I used Best Press (new in the store!) in the lavender scent while I ironed.....and oh, how lovely that was!