Market Update

First of all, thanks to Mary for naming the new Pheasant Hill charm pattern - Pheasant Crossing. Love it! For the winning submission, we'll be sending her the charm pattern and a charm & mini charm so she can start on the quilt. Thanks, Mary, and to all of you who offered names. Believe me, I've saved some for future reference. Be assured you'll receive a little something in the mail if your suggested name is used in the future. This is definitely the way to brainstorm!

From the last post, we've drawn 2 names for unclaimed Harvest Moon prizes - Terry @ a quilting blog has won the Harvest Moon scrap strip bundle and Becky wins the Harvest Moon charm/mini charm. Thanks for hanging out at my blog ladies.

Now, on to what's been going on the past week or so in my world. After a thoroughly hectic week before market - I received my final precuts 6 days before leaving for market. I made a quilt Thursday, got it to my quilter and back over the weekend (thank you, thank you Lori Kukuk for giving up your Sunday to quilt for me), photographed it on Monday with no binding, and bound it in the motel room the night before market. Whew! Such is the pace before market. Anyway, here's the quilt I threw together in about 3 hours using only  1 Dessert Roll [(20) 5" x WOF strips of Pheasant Hill] and 1 fabric for border/binding. So fast, fun and easy! I just cut an inch from one edge of the strip; layered them wide, skinny, wide, skinny; pinned them in place, kinda; then stitched close to the pinked edges. Some of them went a bit wonky, but it just adds to the movement and uniqueness of the quilt. Lori quilted it in horizontal rows with 3 different motifs for fun. For a quilt this fast, inexpensive and fun, I love it! I also threw together a bag and a pillow using the same technique with just a few strips. It's called Dessert for Two.

On Wednesday of last week, I headed south to Wichita and picked up my good buddy, Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts who flew in to ride with me to market and help with my booth. Who could ask for a better friend? The only condition was we had to stop in Dallas at the Moda warehouse since she had yet to visit there. Once there, we found all kinds of goodies, including some "vintage" KT fabrics from over 10 years ago. I was in heaven! More on that in another post. Anyway, we shopped the warehouse and checked out the KT display with Loose Change and the many other titles they carry. It's still exciting to see my patterns & books at Moda!

We trekked on to Houston to unload the car and set up the booth. Lots of work, but so worth it. We showed all of the Loose Change projects, the new Pheasant Hill projects and some of the favorite KT Stash and Mini Table Treats from the last year, too. I demonstrated the Five & Dime ruler, showing how simple it is to center, stitch, cut and sew precuts into delightfully easy quilts in the Loose Change book. I did my demo so many times I think I was muttering it in my sleep that night! There's a YouTube video of the demo, too. I'll have that link for you soon.

Moda's booth won First Place in Multiple Booths! It was so clever and fun with the theme of "My favorite color is Moda". Paint cans, stir sticks, paint swatches and dripping paint made for a colorful and eye-catching display. Awesome!

 The highlight of the weekend is always the Moda party. Mark Dunn, owner of Moda/United Notions, throws a party and invites all his designers and customers to come eat, drink and play for the evening. He'a a truly generous businessman and we all appreciate his sense of fun. This year, the theme was Cowboys with cowboy hats, a country & western band, a Reba McIntyre impersonator and mechanical bull. What a hoot! I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt! The Moda party makes all the hard work of preparing for market worth every minute. Thanks to Mark Dunn, Lissa Alexander, Cheryl Freydeburg and the entire Moda family for making us all feel a part of theirs.

If you can't get enough of market, there are dozens of designers and shop owners taking pictures for their blogs and facebook. Check it out!

This week, we're giving away Loose Change and a set of rulers - Five & Dime and Spare Change - to one lucky winner. Comment on your favorite blog - other than KT, of course. I'd love to know who you follow and why. See ya Monday, Lynne