Kaffe Book Signing

 Last night was 

Pre-View night

for International Quilt Festival

From 5-10 pm, the public

could enter in on a special ticket.

The first two hours are just

for Special VIP Entrants.

My big moment was to look

2 booth spaces down

and see 

Kaffe Fassett and

Liza Prior Lucy

at a book signing.

I am a BIG

Kaffe fan.

The only fabrics I collect

are 

Kaffe Fabrics.

In fact, during our little break

in between Market and Festival

I sewed in my hotel room

making a quilt

with Kaffes :)

With Halloween

both Kaffe and Liza wore

big Spiders on their heads.

Cute

 Another BIG moment:

After the signing, as

Kaffe and Brandon walked down aisle

they paused at our booth

and commented on how much they liked

my Indian Blanket quilt

(the one hanging under our sign)

Kaffe noticed my quilt!

Big Moment!

Niser Holland's 

* Day Trip ( with Flying Geese to the left)

is made with Kaffe fabrics.

 We have been traveling a lot the last few months

with quilt conventions

and another part that I have loved is reconnecting with friends.

Heather Purcell (Mother Superior)

of Superior Threads has been at the shows in 

San Jose, and then here in Houston

and we have been visiting each others booths.

I used to work for Superior Threads

when we lived in St. George,

and it's been so nice to catch up

and find out the happenings back home.

 It's been pouring rain the last few days here in Houston

but it hasn't discouraged the shoppers.

These ladies stopped by our booth

and were ready to 

SHOP!

Look at these bags!

The fabric reps have left after Market

and new and wonderful booths have been set up for Festival.

 Pat purchased this cute vintage lamp

for our spot right before the doors opened.

It's a good thing I spend most of my time in our 

booth, or my $$$ could be in trouble.

Pointless Quilt

All  300 booth spaces

from 156 Vendors

are now down and dissembled

from

Pacific International Quilt Show 2013

It was a wonderful week.

Now we head home to Arizona for a few days

before flying out again early Thursday morning

to Houston.

This is the busy season for Quilt Shows.

There were so many wonderful quilts

at PIQF

that I had a hard time deciding which ones to 

photograph

I would love to have

Pointless

by Linda Basanga

Winchester, CA

on my sewing room wall.

Linda wrote:

"After being presented with the

Black and White With A Twist Challenge,

and after working through and discarding

more design ideas than I care to mention,

I happen to notice my scissors lying on 

the cutting table and I thought

'That's it! That's the design!'"

Vintage Spool Pin Cushion

 Today was another fun day

working at 

Pacific International Quilt Festival

The crowds have been so large

we haven't had time to venture far

from our booth.

Across the aisle

I saw this darling pincushion

designed by

 The Vintage Spool

I've seen vintage dish plates glued to the top 

of glass candlesticks,

but this is the first I've noticed 

this type of use for a canning jar.

Wonderful way to display old threads

and to create a unique pincushion.

Verna Mosquera

The Vintage Spool

Specializes in "Romantic and Timeless Quilt Designs"

You can learn more about their patterns 

HERE

Venetian Menagerie Quilt

 Pacific International Quilt Festival

honors the Best of the Best in quilting

from around the world.

With nearly 1,000 quilts and displays

this week has been 

a visual overload.

In this World Competition

Venetian Menagerie

By Melissa Sobotka

won a 1st place ribbon

for 

Best In Country, United States.

How does one select the Best

with so many outstanding entries?

Consider the honor in receiving such a ribbon!

 A wonderland of imagination 

and technique.

 Melissa wrote

"Inspired by a photo I took of a display window in Venice. 

The dramatic still life was a menagerie of masks, 

art and oddities.

Raw edge fused applique constructed from

cotton batiks and enhanced

with Tsunkineko Inks.

Old Master art is transferred with computer printing."

I felt transported back in time

to unique, exotic cultures.

Amazing!

My Brother Lives In A Redwood Forest

My brother lives

in a Redwood forest

deep on a mountain side

near the ocean

in Northern California

John Steinbeck wrote that

"No one has successfully painted

or photographed 

the redwood trees.

The feelings they produce

are not transferable."

 Often ranging in height 

from 250 - 300 feet tall,

these giant

Redwoods are known as the largest trees in the world.

 Yesterday we hiked 

through

Henry Cowell Redwood State Park

with only the

sound of the creek and rustling of leaves underfoot.

 We carried in a picnic lunch and dined

by the Historic Lime Kilns

built in the 1870's

 During their peak,

this forest was a busy area 

providing lime to make 

mortar and plaster for construction.

Local lime was in great demand 

while San Francisco was 

being rebuilt

after the 1906 Earthquake

 But now, all is quiet,

and serene.

Another Check on the Bucket List

 I'm in the Bay Area

preparing for 

Pacific International Quilt Festival

San Jose is my home town

and I came in a few days early 

to spend some time with family.

While I have been home 

I placed a check mark 

on my 

Bucket List

My brother-in Law

recently purchased a 

Harley- Davidson motorcycle

and offered me a ride.

 I've never been on a Harley before :)

It was quite fun to stroll around the 

scenic tree lined streets of Pleasanton, California.

And then we hit the freeway....

Zoooommmmm!

I think if I ever get back on a Harley,

I'll request we stick to the tree lined streets.

Oh my.

 Those things can go from

0 to 70 miles an hour in just a few seconds.

 When we got back from our ride,

my brother (who is an amazing cook)

had prepared a fabulous meal

of Caribbean food.

Jerk Chicken
Coconut Rice and Beans
Caribbean Slaw.
Yum:)
I'll keep you posted on 

the events from the 

Convention that starts on Wednesday.

Seam Fix Seam Ripper

Recently I was in a local quilt shop

and saw the

Seam Fix Seam Ripper

on display right at the front counter.

I've heard of this nifty little notion

and for $7 thought it was worth a try.

Have you seen it 

or tried it yet?

In a perfect world, 

we would not need seam rippers.

But, in MY World

I need to keep one 

close at hand :)

You use the seam ripper part first,

and then rub the fabric with the white rubber ends 

to clear away the stray threads.

I gave it a try, and it really works!

I have a friend with arthritis

who struggles with finger dexterity

and she feels this tool is quite helpful.

Heirloom Creations 

has done a short little demo

on You Tube

After watching the video

I found out there 

are also

 Electric Seam Rippers?!!!

oh my

Is Your Ironing Board Toxic?

 The other day when I took Sharon Schamber's Workshop

she mentioned that many quilters are using 

Ironing Boards that emit toxic fumes.

I had never considered the possibility,

but now that I think of it, 

it makes complete sense.

Do you ever 

get headaches

become dizzy

or smell fumes as you iron?

The inner
chemical ridden  Polyurethane Foam

or

Teflon coating

may be a contributor.

I'd be quite happy to give up ironing my clothes,

but as a quilter,

I  NEED (yes need!) to press fabrics 

on a daily basis.

I've found several solutions that can help.

 I purchased a pre-made

Perfect Pressing Board 

14" X 19"

from Sharon's daughter Christy (Purple Daisies)

HERE

There are a lot of perks to this pressing board

including the fact that they are non-toxic,

 and made with 100% Cotton Canvas exterior

with Warm and Natural Batting underneath.

(the back)
Added features include

the use of a hard surface that helps in accuracy

by not distorting the size of your piece.

* see additional features 

HERE

Or, if you would like to make your own

Pressing Board

Sharon offers a

Free Tutorial 

on You Tube

Thanks Sharon!

And if you would like to recover your 

ironing boards 

with non-toxic materials

Rachel Hauser (Stitched In Color)

offers a great Tutorial

HERE

*and my friend Cathy Underhill from Australia
(Cabbage Quilts)
recently did a post
HERE
on how she made a large
Pressing Board 
(using Sharon Schamber's Tutorial)
to fit the top of a
green sideboard in her new
quilting studio.

Sharon Schamber Workshop

 On Saturday I attended a Workshop

provided by our Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild

taught by 

Award Winning Quilter

Sharon Schamber 

and her daughter Christy Fincher

I learned to make a

New York Beauty block

using Sharons' 

Piec-lique technique.

Have you ever tried this technique?

It's a little bit like paper piecing

except you use a glue method 

rather than sewing on paper.

 The class was full, and it was so nice to have 

both Christy and Sharon moving between stations

to help us individually.

 We all worked away 

 Piec by Piec

 I always love these kind of workshops

where you see the same block

come alive in various fabrics.

 My favorite block was Danni's.

Sharon showed us a method where 

you can also add another insert

in the arched sections.

 My block

I still have some sections to sew together.

Of course, I had to use (Kaffe) Triangles 

for my back ground fabric :)

 The Piec-lique method is quite popular with many quilters.

Bari Ackerman (Bari J.)

is a member of our guild 

and was in the midst of making a Double Wedding Ring

using Sharon's technique.

 Piec-lique

can be found on 

Amazon.com

HERE

Sharon brought a few of her quilts

from the book.

Showing her amazing quilting

that she does on a domestic machine.

I learned so much from this class

and am so happy I had the opportunity 

to learn from one of the best

in the Industry.