Home from Spring Quilt Market

Salt Lake City is an incredibly beautiful place. Last week-end was my first time there and I fell in love with it!

But most of my time was spent in the big convention center downtown at Market, where I demo-ed my new pattern in Tracey's booth, had a book signing, an interview for QNN-TV (!), and generally prowled the aisles looking for new and interesting crazy quilt related products. I helped out my friends from RiverSilks during the Sample Spree event....where vendors lay out their wares at wholesale prices for attendees to shop. That was a melee!

I also went to a reception at HandiQuilter's headquarters, where I toured their production facilities and enjoyed the great feast they put on. Three chocolate fountains!!!!

I made a new friend, too, my fellow author, Janice Vaine. Her book, The Art of Elegant Hand Embroidery, Embellishment, and Applique is an instant classic, a reference I will treasure for the rest of my stitching life.

I've put most of these pics up on my Facebook page, but wanted to post them here too, so I invite you have a look.
Here is my little corner of Quilt Market....

...where I am demo-ing away.

Here is the rest of Tracey's booth. You may recognize her "Bento Box" pattern, along the wall to the left. She has sold almost 50,000 of them. Her new pattern, "Puzzle Box", is hanging on the right.


Jean Krynicki and her daughter Jill are hard at work at the RiverSilks table at Sample Spree.

Sample Spree is always a mob scene.

Jan Vaine and I enjoyed a quiet breakfast together the next morning.
She is a gracious lady, and has talent to burn.

Here she is demo-ing her method of needleturn applique at the Checkers Distributers booth. She is wearing the flower pin I gave her, which is so neat... ;-)

My book signing was at Peterson-Arne's booth. They are another wholesale distributor business.
It was very special for me to see the interest in my book and everyone was very friendly and sweet.

Here are some of my friends from C & T Publishing. My quilt is hanging in their booth behind them!

HandiQuilter has got to make the best sitdown, midarm, and longarm machines out there. Each one is made by hand in Utah.

Here is one of the benches where the machines are assembled, with parts carefully sourced from all over the world for highest quality and reliability.

Their quality control and customer service are second to none, I am sure. I have got my eye on one of their Sweet 16 sitdown models too....

The white chocolate on the Rice Krispie treat was the best. Unbelievable!

Jodie Davis, of QNN TV, ate the much healthier shrimp....

I will have to be honest and say that not too much of the current trend in quilting fabric appealed to me, and many of the booths from the fabric companies and designers looked the same. I have a sneaking suspicion that the retro-look is going to be pretty dated in a few years' time. There were almost no hand-dyed or primitive wool fabric booths to be seen...previous trends from years past that have pretty much totally died down. I can't predict what will come next, but I know something will!

There was one booth that totally decked me though.

I've used Renaissance Ribbons for years, buying them at a local fabric store which carries a few of them. I have never seen them all together like this! Oh my oh my.....

I got back last night, and even though it was raining and cool.....

....It is SO good to be home.