Happy Zombie

Fall Quilt Market was a whirlwind speed event. My market-mate and bestie Mo and I had only one full day at market, so we had to speed through it. Speeeeeeeed through it. We got in a lot… but also missed stuff too. I was armed with my iPhone camera, and Mo was armed with my other camera… between us both I hope we got it all covered.

Off to Quilt Market… I left the house somewhere between 0′dark thirty and the butt crack of dawn - and accidentally left an hour too early for PDX.  That’s ok… it gave us time to run through McDonald’s so I could get a MacGriddle.  That takes me to four MacGriddles consumed this year.  Now I’m over my annual quota by 3.

I soon met up with my #PDXflygirls Mo and Kristin - and as we boarded our flight… our personal DirecTV monitors greeted us with today’s top news. Yay… F-14’s ready to shoot us down.

After we arrived, we checked into our hotel, changed, jumped on the beds and left for Fabric 2.0 - hosted by the party princess J. Caroline - along with Michael Miller Fabrics and Stash Books. Oh the fun! Everyone was there in one place at the same time. And where was my camera?

After the party, off we went for a late night dinner at Guadalajara. We were a large group and they accommodated us with ease. Great food, drinks and service… and we were there almost an hour past closing. Honestly… I could have been there 5 hours longer. How could I not… I was with the best peeps ever. I have a good memory… but I also have good margarita ordering skills. In seating order (with the help of Heather’s photos here)… Susanne, John, Charlie, Ryan and his wife Mandy, Traci, Elizabeth, Kristin, Cyndi, Brioni, Katy, Jona, Heather, Mo, Bari, Kathy, Rebecca and me.

Having had a great night’s sleep in the best beds we’ve ever slept in… Mo and I had breakfast with Cyndi - who found a gem of quick/cheap/good little cafe/cafeteria called Au Bon Pain place across from the Four Seasons - I got my milk and oatmeal… and off to Market we went.

One of the first quilts that greeted us was a darling Susan Branch quilt.  Dear, sweet Susan.  I love her!  Hi Susan!

Barbara from QuiltSoup shows us the secrets in her beautiful quilt.  What looks to be lace behind the hexagons, is actually embroidery Barbara did.  Dreamy!

On my list of must meet peeps was Jackie (who I’ve been bloggy buddies with forever and have never met) - and while I was waiting to say hello and introduce my self to Melly of Melly & Me - low and behold the person who was photographing her was Jackie!  Fun, fun, fun!

Jenean Morrison and Mo - Love Jenean’s fabric… loved her both (and loved her… she’s SO NICE!).   The judges loved her too - Jeane’s booth won for most creative!

I was bedazzled by Anna Maria’s fabrics and booth (and I fell i love with this heart quilt) - and we got to meet Anna Maria’s sweet mom and chit chat with her a bit.

Tula, Tula, Tula… WOW did Tula deliver.  I’ve always been in awe of the magic that flows out of her pencils and what transforms into beautiful fabric (I ♥ Parisville)… and now I’m in awe of her super talent as a stylist as well.   I can’t believe her booth didn’t get an award.  #acrimehasbeencommitedinTexas.

One of my huge thrills was meeting Katy and Brioni - who came all the way from the UK.  LOVE THEM.  And so did everyone else.  We’ve started a campaign to have them move to Oregon.  #wishfulthinking.  Katy sports a tat of a Tula owl, so I asked if Katy and Tula would indulge me in some Theatre in The Booth.

Rockstar alert.  John aka QuiltDad indulges me in a little Stephen Colbert pose - showing us his beautiful ribbon quilt he made with Parisville for the Free Spirit Fabric booth.  John is BY FAR the coolest and nicest person and talented and funny and genuine and bigbrotherhuggable person I know.   If QuiltDad is not your Homeboy… I feel very sorry for you.

Another one of the #PDXflygirls is our own Elizabeth Hartman, aka Oh, Fransson! Elizabeth’s new book The Practical Guide to Patchwork is an AMAZING book. I have a copy (friendship has it’s privileges!) and it’s must have book for everyone. Open it up and a beginner will say, “I can do that!” - and a seasoned quilter will say, “I want to do that!”. Yes… it’s for everyone. Ev. Er. Y. One. And it’s a beautiful book. Eye candy. By the time I hit “publish” on this post, E’s book will be into the top 500 bestsellers rank on Amazon (it’s currently #644 as I type this, and E’s book is #16 in Amazon’s Home & Garden section. Ina Garten’s book is #19).

SQUEAL!! My sweet friend Lori has a sneak peek of her first fabric line - Sew Cherry with Riley Blake! I’m so excited for Lori! Lori’s talents and aesthetics sing to me. Plus I adore her. And I think she made Sew Cherry just for me!

More squeals! My good friend Cyndi also has her first line with Riley Blake - Daydream! So beautiful and I’m so happy for Cyndi. CLEARLY Riley Blake is the coolest of cool, as was their booth. Loved how they had everything laid out and it was easy to see all their lines and products. It’s no surprise they won an award for best merchandising.

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Part 2
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ANOTHER #PDXflygirl with her goodness… Our sweet n sassy Violet has a darling purse pattern with Indygo Junction (it’s hanging under the “tion”). You can read more about Violet’s purse at here or on her blog post. I love her purse!

Kate and Mo at Kate’s booth, celebrating the release of her latest line with Moda called Central Park. I LOVE THIS LINE and I love Kate’s inspiration for it! I love Kate! Kate is THE NICEST person on the planet and I’m in such awe of her. Kate oozes kindness and talent. Kate’s booth was so cute… it was like being in a park made of fabric. I’m shocked Kate’s booth didn’t win an award. #anothercrimehasbeencommittedinTexas.

SWOON! Melissa’s new line of Swoon with Andover. I love it… I love her! Loved seeing Melissa and Beth at market. Always fun, always full of adventure and good times… and Melissa also came with The Letter.

Finally it’s Mo’s turn for some show & tell! Here we are at the Blue Hill both where Mo proudly shows us her next line called Magic Garden. I LOVE THIS LINE SO MUCH. I thought Mo’s Party Dress was the bomb… and she went and outdid herself! I can’t wait for it to be printed - no doubt Mo can’t either! Kudos to Blue Hill and winning Multiple Booth, Second Place!

Penny, me and Sheree in Sheree’s Alchemy booth. I love these two and because of blogging I feel like we’re old, old friends! Check out Sheree’s blog post about market and see how beautiful her booth was.

Pillow & Maxfield’s booth at Michael Miller. Super saturated color and bold happy prints. I wanted to lock myself in this booth. Serious mad love. I got so excited I pee’d a little. Ooops Michel Miller… you might want to rethink your iconic white carpet in the future.

Aussie. Aussie. Aussie. Oi. Oi. Oi. What a thrill to meet my Lecien fabric sister Rosalie! She may be the “me” of Melly and Me… but she’s also sistah to me. It was such a thrill for me to meet her, and bonus joy I got to meet Leanne too! Suckaroo though… I never got to see Natalie and my other Lecien sister Lynette! I’m so happy I did get to see my newest Lecien sister Sarah and her husband Damian! Love them too. I heart my Aussie peeps soooo much!

Good times at the Better Homes & Gardens booth village. I LOVE my friends at American Patchwork & Quilting and Quilts & More. I’m hamming it up with Lisa, Jody and Maria (behind Lisa). Loved seeing everyone - (missed you Stumbo and wish you were there!). Do you get the AllPeopleQuilt.com weekly newsletter? If not, you SHOULD. Seriously. It’s so good and packed with so much goodness. Plus you’ll get to see Lisa’s smiley happy sunshiny face in the top corner with each issue. To the right is my “Project Runway” quilt (made with my Holiday Happy) it’s in the upcoming Winter issue of Quilts & More.

My newest Lecien sister Bari. I can not wait to see what she’s been cooking up for her Lecien line that’s to debut at Spring market. Bari’s booth was so cute… and loving the chair and ottoman she rocked out in her fabric. Love that we got to spend time together!

Felt sweet delights! This company was next to the Kokka booth, and I think their name was Sewfelt. SEW AMAZING! I was able to buy 3 kits and I can’t wait to get started on them! I’ll show them when I’m done. Mouthwatering cuteness. Dying over these. I wish Pam wasn’t MIA - she would have died with me.
And speaking of Kokka (who’s had me at Echino)… I saw THE fabric that made me force myself to exhale. If anyone asks me what was the one thing that was most memorable or exciting to see at this market… it was THIS fabric. Melody Miller’s Ruby Star Rising for Kokka. I was so gobsmacked by it I didn’t even get any photos! Luckily Melissa did… and she pretty much wrote E X A C T L Y what I thought about Melody and her new fabric.

Finally, finally, I get to meet Pat IN PERSON! What a thrill. And she was even more awesome in person (which I knew she would be). And if meeting Pat wasn’t enough, I got to meet her at the same time as seeing my rockstar donut toting friend Cherri! I love these women!

Speaking of rockstars… next stop Patty’s booth. Mo, me and Patty. I could have moved in. I admire Patty so much. If anyone reading this is considering a career in fabric or garments or patterns or ANYTHING… Patty is a role model for women in business. Heck… anyone in business. Patty is one classy broad, and she makes everyone feel special and valued AND delivers kick ass cute stuff time and time again! I love Patty and I feel blessed to be her friend (I know… there’s a long line of us!).

M’a girls. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! Traci, Violet and Mo. And see our cute badge holders? Traci made them all for us. Really sweet, really cleaver, really cool! And best part… Traci sells them (contact Traci via her shop for custom orders)! We’re at Lizzy’s world famous Cake Party. I didn’t get any photos, but I’m sure they’re around (put “lizzy cake party” in your googlereader seach). Lizzy OUTDID herself and made a cake in honor of Jana’s infamous pin incident. And speaking of love… I love Lizzy and Jana so much too!

Tear. The crazy deer heads at the Kokka booth started crying as the announcement was made that Market was closing for the day.

Off to the airport we go (Kristin, Traci, Violet, Mo and me) - #PDXpartyplane fules up with breakfast (surprise… oatmeal and milk for me). I asked for a “small”, and the cafe-lady handed me a small bucket of oatmeal. I guess in Texas that IS a small. Also notable, the airport PA announcements repeated over and over and over about not making any inappropriate jokes. SERIOUSLY? Then why was I so taunted in the airport and on the plane?!

And we’re off… Traci, Mo, Violet (and Kristin in the row behind us) on our way back home. We had a wonderful time. Saw wonderful friends. Traci and Kristen ordered wonderful fabric. We all were inspired. Back home, and tucked in and snug with our families.

Next stop… Salt Lake City!!

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Is there a name for a person who has 3 cameras and fails to take photos or mention people in my rambling above? Whatever the name… that dill weed would be me. So this is like a yearbook, and the people with missing photos get a silhouette image and a big angry “ABSENT” written on the bottom. Except I’m the really crappy yearbook editor. So crappy I don’t even provide the silhouette. EDIT: I had the intention of listing all the people I didn’t take photos of or mentioned above. I got to about two dozen people listed, and I was struck with a super panic, “what if I missed someone’s name?” - so I deleted it all. Please forgive me. Everyone who I spoke with, who I hugged with, who I shook hands with (sorry for the sugar donut residue I passed on)… everyone of them was a wonderful moment for me. I love my quilty peeps so much! xoxo, m

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