Just a few pics today. busy working. So I will post post a few pics. I guess the title should really be show and no tell. I will get more pictures tomorrow and post more details.
Sherri Howard, Angela Yosten, Camille Roskelley, Bonnie Olvasen. New Thimbleblossoms fabric in background
new American Jane pattern that I am dying to make
Sandy Gervais’s booth is an adorable Thanksgiving dinner set-up. Yummy!
me, Sara Fielke, Holly Hickman chilling on a boat.
set-up day one complete
Due to the limited flights and travel time from Dallas we actually came in a day earlier than normal. This gave us a day to relax and get situated in Pittsburgh. We met some local musicans. We went into a local dining spot and there she was…the queen of market, Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill. We knew we had to be in the right place.
Of course we had to get our Market energy.
Here is a before picture. Looks simple, right? We have put down almost 4o00 sq ft of flooring. We got alot more down today but I did not get many pictures. Afterall I had to stay focused on my actual job. I promise I will take more pictures tomorrow.
If you have never seen what set-up is all about. It is ALOT of work. If you don’t believe me just look how hard Joanna from Fig Tree is working. You thought she just did pretty fabrics and patterns! Her booth is going to be beautiful, I think. ( her new fabric is laying on the table)
Wish you were here,
quilt market fun
Here I am at quilt market. 2 days of set up, 3 days of show and 4 hours to take it all down. Tell me what you would like for me to blog about while I am here.?
and the winner is…
Hello to all,
I learned something about blogger. If you make a post and save it to be posted at another time, it doesn’t work like that. It was a tie between Alesiha and Another Amy with both guessing 987. The number is 985. I guess officially Another Amy is the winner because her guess came in first. (Aleshia I will send you something for second place)
Working hard on fantastic new stuff for Quilt Market. The new things will be avavilable in Stores beginning September. Check some of the things out by going to the moda designers blogs listed in my side bar.
I thought I could at least show you a sneek peek of 2 of the projects i am working on. When it is quilt market time we tag team on alot of projects. I think one of the quilts has about 6 different people working on it. I wish i could tell you more but the shops get to see it first in Pittsburgh. Check out the moda designers blogs!I maybe posting a few twitters bits of info as the countdown to market continues.
Gotta go sew, sew, sew,
toodles,
Lissa
My Quilt Updates
The quilt for my new little niece is finished and in the mail. I changed some of my plans on the border. I was inspired by Camille’s quilts with ric rac. I called my friend Gina Halladay and frantically ordered enough ric rac to sew around the border. Love it! I was going to sew it down but someone suggested that a baby would love touching the loose edges. Good idea, stiffy! I chickened out of appliqueing Savannah Lynne Tardy along the border so I had her name quilted along the border.(thanks, Maggi Honeyman) Also there are 2 Aunt Lisa’s in this family, so I am Aunt Izzy. Maggie also quilted “made by Aunt Izzy” in the corner. I can’t let the other aunt Lisa get credit for the quilt. Can I? Emily quilt is in the mail, give Savannah a big hug for me.
Bear with me while I talk about myself a little more!
Yes, I was a cover girl on the April issue of McCalls Quilting. (no honey, not the cover of the sports illustrated swimsuit issue!) I just found out that this quilt will also be hanging in Paducah, KY. Wowser! Well, it will be hanging in Hancock’s of Paducah’s store, not in the actual show. I think I could still be able to say I had a quilt at Paducah, right?!
One thing you will not see in the magazine is the back of any of my quilts. Each year I choose a theme for my quilt backs. 2 years ago everything I made had plaids or wovens on the back. Last year was the year of the dots, the bigger the better for my quilt backs. This year is pieced backs. This is my attempt to use my stash, you know make room for new stash while helping the environment and the pocketbook. (or at least that what I tell my husband)
I took a quick picture of the back before I had to SHIP MY QUILT TO PADUCAH.
How time flies? My first post as modalissa was right before I headed of to Quilt Market. At the time, I gave you a preview on my Honeybun TM log cabin quilt. At least twice a year I make a quilt using as many different moda fabric collections as I can. I know this is psycho, but it makes me happy sewing and thinking about each of the designers.
This week I received my copy of McCalls Quilting- June 2009. There on page 40 (same as my age 🙂 is my log cabin quilt. I forgot how much I love this quilt. It is so easy but the way the blocks are sewn makes it look as if there are staggered seams. Basically half the blocks start with a dark center and half start with a light center. Maggi quilted it and really made the quilt sing! This quilt is scrappy and so to get your started on your very own, I am going to give away my extra strips from this project. There I go again, helping the environment and your pocketbook. All you have to do is guess how many pieces are in the quilt.
A couple of clues:
Not how many different fabrics, how many pieces. Simple multiplication- pieces in a block X how many blocks plus corner strips.
Tricky part- I have pieced the back, so this is where you just have to blindly guess. Sorry had to make it interesting.
Okay I admit it, they use a picture of me from when I was 40. Thank you, Beth!
I will draw a winner on April 19th. That way if you go to the show you can see the quilt in person. The AQS show in Paducah is April 21- 26.
I thought I would add a picture of the Prize. I will even throw in the blocks in all stages and the wonderful storage box holding the strips.
Support your favorite quilt magazines, quilt shows and independent quilt stores!
What Happens at Retreat Stays at Retreat-NOT
The retreat was not in Vegas but in Bennigton, KS at Lynne Hagmeier’s. No pictures can do the place justice. It should be on the National Museum register. It should also be featured in all decorating and collecting magazines. INCREDIBLE! (we all said, “How does she dust?”)
Some information does stay at the retreat…………..
How much food we ate….
Any of our new boyfriends…………………………
Any discussions of politics or religion…………..
So some of the stuff I can talk about.
Why does it take 14 hours for an 8 hour road trip?
Well, first stop and first credit card swipe was Oklahoma City Quiltworks. Love this shop! I can always find something different here. (thank goodness the many antique shops did not open until 10:30 or else we would have turned it into an 18 hour road trip.)
Another “A-word” Antiquing. In Wichita, KS at Paramount Antique Antique Mall, there were only 3 of us, but it is still a race to get inside to the treasures. We pushed on to arrive in Bennington in the dark. I live in Dallas so driving dark country roads with no signs was an adventure also. The retreat officially began. Lots of laughing and visiting by all.
Day 1: Imagine shopping with Sandy Gervais of Pieces from my Heart, Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs, Amy Bradley of Amy Bradley Designs, Sandy Klop of American Jane, Barb and Mary of Me & My Sister, Terry Thompson of Peace Creek, Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson, Jan Patek of Jan Patek Quilts, Barbara Brackman (check out her new blog-post a comment and tell her I sent you) and of course our hostess, Lynne Hagmeier. Yes it was heaven. Sandy Klop was shopping for props for her booth at market with scads of suggestions by all of us. (secret!?) By the last day we were all shopping for each other. Through the power of technology, we actually did some shopping for some of the designers that were not there. Take a picture, send it to them…you want it or not? This group is just that kind of crew, always looking out for each other and willing to help spend each others $$.
DAY 2: More shopping. Oh, did you think retreat meant we would be sewing?
We also hit any quilt shop in our tracks. The Quilting Bee in Salina, KS had a display of Lynne’s fabrics so I couldn’t resist making Lynne strike a pose. (you know they all hate me taking pictures-Thank you, Lynne) 
We played games. Read all about it on Laurie’s blog. 
welcomed us. (June is a quilter and Ed could talk quilt.) Ed took our picture and asked us to say “muslin” instead of cheese. He won us over! Alma is holding a jar of their homemade salad dressing. All the pie boxes are hidden. Go to their site to read the history, salivate over the menu and learn more about President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Abilene.
Material Girls Quilt Shop was closed by the time we got there, boo hiss. Maybe next time. 
I even found an outfit to wear to Market. What do you think? Flats or heels?
I am so energized by all the talent, creativity and knowledge that was shared. I could go on and on about my 3 days in Kansas but that is it for now. Oh ya, road trip home, 9 hours, only 1 detour and 1 speeding ticket scare. Whew! He got someone else. We were already trying to figure if we could talk him out of a ticket with moda fabrics.
DALLAS QUILT SHOW
The Dallas quilt show started out Friday with a day of downpours and floods in the area. I am sure this brought back nightmares to the previous year when rain poured into the building on the last day. The vendors were knee deep in the muck and slush. This was not the case this year. The rain went away and the quilters came out in droves. I apologize for the lack of pictures but I ran into so many old friends and of course I am easily distracted.
Nostalgia by Linda Wiley of Mathis, Texas was one of my favorites in the 2 person category.
This wonderful Dear Jane quilt reminded me that this quilt is on my “to do in this lifetime” list. (I apologize I didn’t get the maker’s name-was distracted)
I do not do the “A- word” but I always seem to take pictures of applique quilts. I guess that is Susan Stiff’s influence on me. I love using a ticking as a background. (remember this for an after market posting)
This quilt is incredible. Carol Morrissey made it. She has a pattern company, O Carol Designs. I would like to think that I taught her how to quilt many years ago when I worked at the Olde Craft Store, but that is not the case. I am amazed at how people can get this kind of art out of their head and onto cloth.
Another incredible artist that I am mesmerized by is Karen K. Stone. Her use of color is incredible. I can only imagine her fabric stash. There are a couple of her patterns that are also on my “to do in this lifetime” list.
One of the things that Karen does is the tiniest piping that is added along with the binding. I tried to get a close-up of the small gold piping. I admire that she takes the time to do the piping. By the time I get to the binding I am ready to be done.
I believe Piece O’ Cake also does this small piping. So with local teachers like Becky & Lynda from Piece O’ Cake and Karen Stone, I began to notice the small piping on several quilts.
Then I came to this quilt. Yes …..applique. It was vibrant and cheery and brightened the entire area. Just the perfect quilt to brighten up the day. The most incredible part of the quilt is the binding. It is covered cording (several colors and sizes) made into little semi circles sections. WOWSER!
Running in to some of my old friends.. Jackie you looked fabulous! Olde Green Cupboard was here from Florida. I love watching Katie’s locker hook rug demo. (yes on my to do list)Quilt Country had some fabric I “needed” for my I SPY baby quilt. Another old friend had a cute booth full of retro items, Ruby Jane. I guess the only bad thing is I did not win the beautiful Amish raffle quilt.
One side note: I need all of you to remind me to enter some of my quilts next year. (Got to get over the intimidation factor)
Happy Quilting,
The Winners are…
What is one persons trash is anothers’ treasure as the saying goes.
This certainly is true by the overwhelming responses to the selvage giveaway.
The winner of the selvage ball is SandyQuilts.
The winner of a bag of selvages is AnitaInFlorida
the winner of a bag of selvages is DSpack.
Please send me your shipping address.
Selvages – Tell a Story
The saying…. every quilt tells a story has been true since the beginning of the needle & thread. The selvage also tells a story. (some say selvage some say selveldge – potatoe or potato or papa if you are in Spain, right Joanna?)
wikipedia defines selvage as: In a woven fabric, the selvage (or selvedge) is the uncut edge of the fabric which is on the right- and left-hand edges as it comes out of the loom. As such it is ‘finished’ and will not fray because the weft threads double back on themselves. The term also refers to the unfinished but structurally sound edges of flat knitted textiles.
Very often fabric near the selvage is not usable as it may have a different weave pattern, or may lack pile or prints that are present on the rest of the fabric requiring that the selvage fabric be cut off or hidden in a hem. Not usable…. if they could only see how selvages are being used.
Very often fabric near the selvage is not usable as it may have a different weave pattern, or may lack pile or prints that are present on the rest of the fabric requiring that the selvage fabric be cut off or hidden in a hem. Not usable…. if they could only see how selvages are being used.
The selvage is so full of information. It shows how many screens it takes to print that fabric. It tells the order of placement for each screen.
(have you checked out the selvages on some of the chain fabrics?…not very many dots there)
I like to sew a piece of the selvage on the back as I am adding the binding. I then whip stitch it down to the back of the quilt. What does this do? Mainly it just helps me remember what collection was used in the particular quilt. I don’t use this as the label but it does document the quilt for historians down the road.
So imagine how intrigued I was when I discovered Karen Griska’s book, Quilts from the Selvage Edge. Her blog is a must read. I invited her to make a project for the moda bake shop using the scrapbags. Have you heard of the Moda Bake Shop?
A couple of years ago, the theme of the Moda booth for Quilt Market was Selvages! Small world! So I started saving some of the moda selvages. After visiting with Karen, we thought we would both do a giveaway. I have come to grips with the fact that I am never going to make anything from the selvages I have saved. So I am going to give them away here. Just post a comment and talk about it on your blog. I will draw 3 winners Saturday the 14th. Karen is giving away the pillow she made for the bake shop. Go to her blog for details to win the pillow.
Karen said it was okay to include selvages of any width or length, so I did. It seems as if I have been wrapping that ball for days. I think the winner will be pleased. Images may appear larger, so I photographed the “Selvage Ball” alongside some of balls that were laying around my house. (the basketball is a kids size) 2 of the winners will receive their selvages in a gift bag. I don’t think I can get any more balls made. Can’t wait to see all the selvage projects out there.
Favorite things winners!
And the winner is…..
eamylove has won the pincushion and bookazine
I have 2 extra bookazine so I have 2 more winners!! (Bookazine only)
Jen & Daz Bookazine
passingdowncrazy
Contact me via e-mail with your shipping info.