Fun Things from Quilt Festival and Market

This is really for all my quilty friends, but you others might like it too! There are so many inventive/creative people out there!

I went to Quilt Market two weeks ago. The owner of The Feathered Star, Alicia Edwards, encouraged all of her employees to go. It was so fun. First of all, I got to hang out with a couple of my dear friends, Fran and Kelly from Quilter's Attic. What fun! We picked up where we left off and had a great time. Plus I learned a lot!!

We went to Schoolhouse, a day-long series of workshops/lectures about new things in the quilting industry. By far my personal favorite was Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts. (check it out at www.laundrybasketquilts.com) She was born in Poland, raised in Germany, and came to the states in her teens. She has the most precious accent. She married a man from the Lancaster, PA, area who was blessed with quilting grandmothers. They took it on as their mission to teach Edyta to quilt. Boy, am I glad they did! Edyta's enthusiasm and creativity are fabulous and really gave me a shot in the arm. Most of the time her patterns involve little pieces which I have grown to love since completing the center of my Dear Jane. Makes things so interesting......at least to me!

That evening we went to Sample Spree where manufacturers and designers have their wares at special prices for shop owners and other "business professionals." Am I one of those? Don't know, but I enjoyed the shopping!

The next days I went to buy supplies for my longarm quilting machine and see what other fabulous things I could find. Something I did find and am working with is called Half Square Triangle Templates by Sunday's Best Quiltworks. Check it out at www.sundaybestquiltworks.com. They have created "templates" using regular template plastic for 4 sizes of half-square triangles. It is like triangle paper or triangles on a roll, but the key is.....there is no paper to tear off after you are done! You use water-washable markers, like Crayola. Check out the instructional video on their website. They are NEARLY perfect. My favorite method for perfect half/squares is to draw a line diagonally on a square and stitch 1/4" away from that line, cut apart and square down. While I still may have to do some of the squariing down, I made 32- 1 1/2" half-squares from tracing to stitching, to trimming, to pressing in just under 20 minutes......What a time saver! It was one of those "Why didn't I think of that moments!" I have since made over 300 half squares and have another 600 pinned ready to stitch.......Ocean Waves, here I come!

I'm proud of myself for finishing a couple of P.I.W.'s (Projects in Waiting, for you non-quilters!) lately. I made the simple but pretty "Falling Leaves" from Super Simple Strips. It had been living in a plastic bag for about 5 years just waiting for me to put it together. So, one Saturday in September I did and even quilted it, bound it and it is on the back of the sofa! FINISHED!

I also pieced the top for both "Bears Need Homes, Too" from Log Cabin Frenzy. I used fall batiks and am calling it "Smokey's Tennessee Home" as it reminds me of the beautiful Smokey Mountains in the fall. (If I knew how to upload pics by myself, I would include pictures!)

Last night I finished my version of "Wedding March" by Glad Creations. It has a blue batik background with navy, green, gold, and a little purple for the piecing. Very striking.

Well, if you've made it this far into this post, you are a quilter. I am off to work at The Feathered Star today. If you are in the area, stop in for some "fiber therapy!"

Have a quilty day!