Home again, home again, jiggety jig. (Spring Market 2012, Post #1)

Hi Everyone!

I am home from Market!  What an experience!  Wow!  It was amazing.  Lots of fun, lots of work, lots of new connections and friends!  I have so much to share, I'll have to break it into several posts again.

Last week, I flew to Kansas City for International Quilt Market!  I was so excited to be invited to help Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish, with her booth!

I arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  My flight was very delayed.  Everyone else was already there when I got there.  It was about 5:00.  The first thing we all did was to get a drink together.  This is The Quilted Fish Design Team.....well, at least some of them.  Starting on the left is Jackie, Amanda, Kayce (Amanda's best friend), and Candice.  Across from Candice is her mom, Robbie, and next to Robbie is Jana.  Brooke hadn't arrived yet.

When in Kansas City, you have to have barbecue, right?  So, we went to Jack Stack for dinner.  I had barbecued ribs.  YUM!

It was kind of funny, because here we all were....getting together...and while we were waiting for a table, everyone was on their phones, texting, checking on things at home....

It was pretty funny.  I had to capture it.

It was fun.  Amanda and Kayce do love each other.  I caught them in an intimate moment.  LOL.

On Thursday morning, we headed over to finish setting up the booth.  The others had started without me on Wednesday.  Can you tell I was a little excited at this point?!

Before I had come, the crate had been delivered, and the girls had set up the walls.  You can see all the walls behind Jana covered in Amanda's beautiful new fabric line, Apple of My Eye from Riley Blake Fabrics.  There was still much to be done!

We filled goodie bags for our Schoolhouse talk to be given later that afternoon.

Amanda had made a lot of cute booth decorations like these buttons.  And, see the lanyard around Jackie's neck?  Amanda had those made, too.  They match her fabric (as you can see on the wall behind Jackie).

Definitely getting closer to being finished with the Glamps hung and The Quilted Fish sign going up!

Over the next couple of days, we would be holding a make-and-take at our booth, so Jackie taught us how to make it.  It was really fun to sit down, relax, and craft for a short period of time.  (Sorry for catching you with your eyes closed, Candice!)

That afternoon, we had "Schoolhouse," where Amanda shared with everyone her new line of fabric and a bunch of projects with it.  Okay, I can reveal my big secret now.  See the book in her hand?  We all collaborated to write a book!  Yes, each of us has a project in the book!  I'll show you more photos soon, but we were all excited to have our book published and sell it at Market.  We sold out of all the hard copies we brought with us and had orders for 4 times as many more!  Yahoo!  Let's hope it keeps selling well.  I'll give you more details on the book in an upcoming post.

Here Amanda is showing one of the projects in the book.  It is a bag that carries an 18"x24" cutting mat and opens up into an ironing surface.  Julie contributed this project.

Here, Amanda shows her project, which is a fabric box.  Inside are little storage boxes/trays to store supplies in.  It's awesome!

This is my project....an organizer for carrying your handwork with you when you travel.  I'll show you more detailed photos when I tell you more about the book.

This project is not in the book, but I love it.  It's a separate pattern.  It's a bunch of reverse applique apples.  The apples are all made out of ruffles.  So awesome.

After that, it was back up to the booth to finish setting up.  We are almost ready!

We had a few visitors stop by the booth while we were setting up:

The Lizzie B Cre8ive girls came by.  (Liz is on the left in this photo, and Beth is on the right--that's YOUR left and right, not Amanda's.) They also had dinner with us the night before.

This wasn't in the booth, but as we were walking out to get lunch, Amanda introduced Jackie to Pokey Bolton, who is now the Chief Creative Consultant for Quilts Inc. (the people who organize market).  It was Jackie's life-long dream to meet Pokey.  She is as nice as can be.  Jackie cried after this photo was taken.  Nothing like having a dream fulfilled!

Tula Pink stopped by for a bit, too.  She's about as neat as a person can be.  I really enjoyed meeting her.

At this point, we lined up for Sample Spree.  I think I'll tell you more about that in the next post.  All this was only in the first 18 hours or so at Market!  Maybe that will give you a sense of how exhausted I feel today!  LOL.  Hope you'll come back to hear more about it!

Until next time,

 

Comments

[Amy]

Congratulations on the book! I look forward to seeing your project up closer in another post. And I look forward to the next installment about market. It's so fun to read.

[Lynn]

Sounds like a super trip! Congratulations on the book! How exciting! Looking forward to hearing more.

[Linda]

Sounds so cool!!! can't wait to see more!!

[carolld]

Looks like a wonderful time! What a surprise hearing about that book. Can't wait to see it. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

[liveacolorfullife]

I was SOOO good to see you! I wish I had taken more pictures of things--like the banner outside. Hey, can I borrow yours? Anyway, exciting news about the book!!

[sherri]

Such a fun post to read! I remember the excitement of arriving the first day! I also remember the exhaustion which lasted for a few days after I got home! Congrats on the book!

[Terri]

Last year I had never heard of such an event, and this year, because of all the blogs I now follow, I feel like I missed out on the best convention EVER! A trip to Quilt Market may have to be on my wish list for next year. Where will it be held?

[Donna]

I know you had a wonderful time and sooo much fun! Love all the pics and can't wait to see more. Your project in a book and that is so exciting! I love the apple quilt and will be looking for the pattern.
Hugs,
Donna

[Jana]

You have the best pictures! Candice had her eyes closed because she was talking.

[Brooke]

Man, you had tons of fun before I arrived!! Reading your blog just makes me miss you even more!!!!!! It was the most awesome thing to spend the weekend with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your advice, friendship and our shared experiences together - amazing!!!! Hugs!!

[Maureen Dague Peterson]

Can't wait to hear more about market! Next year, can you pack me in your luggage?? :)

[Linda in Calif.]

Well, now isn't this all very interesting! Can't wait to see your next post.

[PegVan]

I'm loving reading about all the fun you're having on your quilting trips. And congratulations on the book coming out! How can I buy one? Love all the pictures. Once again, I am ever so proud of you. And to think I knew you when you didn't even know how to sew!! (Of course that was probably before you could walk and talk!) ;-)

[Deb]

How fun! And CONGRATULATIONS on having a project in the new book. Looking forward to seeing more about it!

[terriaw]

Sounds like a fantabulous weekend! How great to get together with your group like this. You all had so much to share and show off to the rest of the world. Very exciting to be a part of this!

[Jackie]

Man, your posts are sooo good... i may just put a one liner in mine stating, 'to hear about market, go to Steph's blog' LOL

[Allie]

A BOOK! A BOOK! Oh girl I'm so proud of you I could burst....I can't wait to hear more about it!!! And I LOVE that quilt with the apples, wow. HOW FUN!!!!!!!!!!

[Maggie Szafranski]

Totally Awesome! How wonderful of an experience is that! Gonna have to get that book!

[Deb]

Congrats on the book, Stephanie. Looking forward to reading more about it on your blog!