We are just back from Quilt Market in Houston … and it was so much fun. There were so many quilts that I bet if you laid them end to end they would stretch across Texas and beyond!
For us, a market is often the culmination of months of collaborative work, and it is satisfying to see it all come together. Lots of faces are beaming … and bleary. Two of our favorite faces to see were those of sister team, Joanie and Melanie of Tailormade By Design. They were responsible for four quilts made with our fabrics, as well as many quilts for several different companies .. all of which need their quilts ready on exactly the same first-day-of-Quilt-Market! And, every year they make that tough deadline and arrive in Houston with big smiles. We are amazed and in awe. Here we are with them at Blue Hill Fabrics.
Our favorite surprise was the Bot Buddies™ quilt … we had not seen the final cottons, and we were delighted with the colors and the delightful quilt pattern that Joanie and Melanie had designed with them. We created the cottons to be easy for nursery decor, and indeed the super sisters created a quilt to set the theme for a bright and cheery nursery or toddler room. They even created these sweet fat-quarter charm packs (below left) to get a new mama started. Photo below right is a close-up of the darling Bot Buddies quilt, ready for snuggling.
I believe these cottons have just arrived at the warehouse, so as soon as they are in the stores, we will add some links to the blog so you can go bot-shopping. There is a softer than soft flannel group, too. Be sure to send us your Bot Buddies™ projects so we can share them in our up-coming Flickr groups.
Another of our baby collections was also starring at Blue Hill. Zoophabet® is all about personalizing with an alphabet of cute critters. And it comes in both cotton and soft flannel. The group was displayed with lots of one-of-a-kind DIY ideas: personalized pillows, quilts, bags and blocks. The photo below is Cathy visiting with Elaine Sexton, of QUILT Magazine about all the DIY possibilities with alphabets and bots.
Below are more photos from our busy visit in the Blue Hill booth: From upper left clockwise:
1. Zoophabet® display including personalized blocks, bag and pillows made by Deborah Elliott and soft flannel jammies made by Nancy Keirns 2. Ellen and Cathy with Roger Roby of Blue Hill Fabrics 3. Close-up of the quick quilt made by the Tailormade sisters created with the Zoophabet® Pink Panel. This quilt panel is so easy that a mom can make the quilt top during a naptime (unless your baby naps like my middle gal did … which was not at all … maybe a morning while babies are attending Mother’s Day Out is a better quilt-making venue.) 4. Cathy with quilt designer, Robin Jackson, brainstorming about some creative projects she can make with the Zoophabet® collection.
Well, all this talk of fabric and sewing and quilts is making my fingers itch … I‘m off to make some quilt blocks. Of course, first, I will have to learn how … which is next on my empty-nestin’ list of things to do!
