Problem is, summer (I soon learned) is an insanely busy time at Quilts, Inc., so it has remained on our  Hurry-Up-And-Make list, but I was pleased to finally meet Emily in person at Quilt Market last week, and she was game for a brief interview too:

http://youtu.be/MnG4cIi8Wt8

Emily recently self-published a book with an accompanying workbook for quilters to plan their color schemes, and I have a copy of both.

In celebration of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, I thought to host a book giveaway.

Answer the following (pretty predictable) question and I will randomly choose someone early next week.

Question: What are your Memorial Weekend plans? (A good answer would be to say you are going to incorporate quilting somehow…even if standing at the BBQ grill.)

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Left to right: Fabric offerings from Seven Islands, Tula Pink’s newest book for modern quilters to devour, and the beautiful Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics.

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I’m finally home from Spring Quilt Market, and after indulging in a fat bowl of chicken dumpling soup from the Whole Foods soup bar (best comfort food around), I am very slowly starting to feel like myself again.

Quilt Market in Portland positively pulsed with patchwork energy, starting with Sample Spree:

On the first day of the show, I was elated to see the Tim Holz on the quilt show floor in the Coats & Clark area!

For those who don’t know Tim, he is a renowned mixed-media artist, and I was very excited to see that he came out with his very first fabric line. Check out this chair he had reupholstered in his textiles:

I was able to get him to answer a few questions, too…

Pattern and graphic designer Carrie Bloomston from SUCH Designs debuted her first fabric line with Windham Fabrics. I adore her color and collage aesthetic (if you are a fan of Marcia Derse, you’ll most likely like Carrie’s fabrics too). Carrie also likes to incorporate children’s drawings into her work; the quilt below was inspired by a drawing her daughter made.

She answered a few questions for me as well:

Hopefully tomorrow our office truck will arrive from Portland with my office bins…because I have some fabric bundles to give away soon!

More on Quilt Market tomorrow,

So in the meantime until I can get a reliable Internet connection, I was able to upload one video to YouTube with Heather Bailey who won a Best Booth Award (and in the video you will see why)!

More soon…

Please note: Quilt Market is a trade show only–it is not open to the general public.

What is so fantastic about taking your passion for stitching and turning it into a business? How about attending Quilt Market to preview (and pet) all of the new fabric lines; play with notions; plow through the latest and greatest in publications; prattle with fellow quilting friends in the biz, and parley in QUILT-SPEAK for three days straight! Yes, the Quilt Festivals are tons of fun, but Quilt Market–although entirely focused on the business of quilting–is incredibly energizing, too.

Pokey’s Predictions- Spring Fabric Trends

Every Market I am always on the hunt for new trends in quilting, most especially motifs in fabric lines.

In the past few years, there have been owls and elephants and birds (oh my!), polka dots and chevron patterns, cupcakes and mustaches, and textiles celebrating nostalgic modes of leisurely transport–notably bicycles, sailboats, and vintage campers. Last spring, Star Wars fabrics featuring vintage cast members were a force to be reckoned with, and I’m curious what other fiction-inspired fabrics will rally this spring. With the popularity of The Hunger Games–and a surging international interest in archery–I wouldn’t be surprised if we see quivers and quivers of arrow-themed fabrics take aim at the mass market. (Hey, and maybe mockingjay- and tracker jacker-themed fabrics will follow suit!)

Personally, thanks to George R. R. Martin and the special effects team at HBO for making Khaleesi’s dragons on Game of Thrones so lovable, I’d be thrilled to see fabrics with fierce–but cute–baby monster dragons breathing fire.

Whether in the quilt business or a quilt enthusiast, what predictions do you make for quilting this spring? Exercise your quilt soothsaying powers in the comments area, and I will randomly select someone to win a copy of the latest issue of Modern Patchwork.

More on Quilt Market from the show floor in Portland to follow…

Pokey

Tagged: Spring 2013 Quilt Market ]]> http://pokeysponderings.com/2013/05/14/pilgrimage-to-portlandspring-quilt-market-2013-pokeys-predictions-a-patchwork-giveaway/feed/ 32 pokeysponderings ???????????? emilia_clarke_mother_of_dragons PT1303 http://pokeysponderings.com/2013/05/10/happy-mothers-day/ http://pokeysponderings.com/2013/05/10/happy-mothers-day/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 21:51:37 +0000 pokeysponderings http://pokeysponderings.com/?p=1787 ]]>

This picture doesn’t have much to do with Mother’s Day. Except it’s spring-like and pretty, and if my mom were here in Houston on Mother’s Day, I would want to take her bike riding.

Earlier, I had ordered flowers for all the mothers in my life  and saw my grandmother’s name in my online address book. It made me wistful and thankful for all the women through the years who have been there for me and who have mentored me–whether a mother, a mother-in-law, a teacher…a friend. Thank you.

Ironically, I am listening to this particular song as I write this:

To all the women out there–mothers and mentors–Happy Mother’s Day,

Pokey

Libby has been transferred to an acute care facility and you can sign her guest book and learn about her daily progress on this webpage at Caring Bridge.

I hate sharing this kind of thing, but if you have not heard the sad news, Libby Lehman has suffered from a brain aneurysm and is in intensive care in a hospital here in Houston. She remains in critical but stable condition. Having also suffered a stroke, she is in a sedated state, but according to Ricky Tims (who has been in close contact with her husband and subsequently posting timely updates on his Facebook page), the doctors are gradually stopping the sedatives in the hopes she will begin to slowly wake up in the next few days. No one knows exactly what possible damage there may be until Libby wakes up.

The next few days are extremely critical, and Libby could use all of our thoughts, prayers, and positive energy.

Libby and me a few months ago in Cleveland.

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Libby made such an impression on me the first time I met her. About a decade ago I was invited to be a part of the Bernina Artisan program and that year there was a weekend retreat at the OESD headquarters in Oklahoma. That crew was comprised of so many famous and talented quilters, I was totally intimidated…but she was very kind to me, and made sure I felt a part of the group. And when I moved to Houston last year, she was the first one to call my office and leave a welcoming message, asking me to lunch.

All in the quilting world know she is extremely talented, but her kindness and generous spirit have had an equal–if not greater impact–on the quilting community.

According to Ricky, the family asks that no one sends flowers but rather cards–or better yet quilted cards–to:

Libby Lehman
617 Caroline
Houston, TX 77002

Wouldn’t it be fun for her to wake up and get heaps and heaps of cards?

Let’s do this.

Clarence and Nellie, my two rescue pooches from Friends For Life who make sure my back porch is ALWAYS splattered in paw prints.

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Last year we raised more than $20,000 to save animals’ lives with our Festival Pet Project and I am hoping—and I know this might be considered aggressive–we can double this amount this upcoming fall!

This past March, a few of us met with the Friends for Life folks to start planning a campaign to raise awareness about this fall’s pet postcard project (all instructions are the same as last year), and I’d like to dedicate the kick-off to this campaign to my mother’s little dog, “Tee,” otherwise known as “Tee Tee.”

Even though we know what a pet’s life span will be when we welcome one into our family, losing one never gets any easier, and last week Tee Tee went to doggie heaven.

So I’d like to kick off this year’s Festival’s Pet Project campaign celebrating the breed where it’s totally cool for both females and males to be sporting a mustache: the schnauzer!

Pet Postcard by Sue Bleiwiess (This is probably a Scottie but imagine this postcard with a mustache and you have something resembling a schnauzer.)

The last time I went to visit my mother this past December, I played a horribly mean trick on Tee Tee: I played dead on the family room carpet. After two minutes of pawing, nudging, and nipping me in efforts to wake me up, she ran out of the room,  frantic to find my mother, and barked anxiously as if to say, “Mom, Pokey is dead! I know I sometimes barked at her when she visited and that wasn’t nice, but Mom, Pokey is really dead!”

After I got up, she looked at me with the most indignant look on her face to make sure I knew that stunt wasn’t funny. It took me some time to win back her affection…

Little Tee Tee; December 30, 2012

I am on the hunt for fabric pet postcards for this fall’s show featuring schnauzers, and welcome quilt artists to make pet postcards depicting schnauzers for me to feature on this blog. (We will be featuring other breeds, too!)  As part of our Friends For Life campaign, we will also be featuring adoptable pets that we will invite quilters to interpret in fabric postcards. More on this soon…

Save the Date! Friends For Life will be celebrating their one-year anniversary in their new digs on Saturday, June 8, from 6-9 PM in The Heights neighborhood in Houston. I’m going! Want to join me?

 Details are all here!

Since Chicago is a foodie town, we thought it would be fun to adapt our Festival Pet Project for our Houston show, and turn it into 4″x6″ fabric postcard recipe challenge where the proceeds could be donated to a local Chicago food back. So think fabric postcards, but instead of a postcard backing where you would put an address and a stamp, you would share a favorite recipe.

Are you game? Let me show you what I mean with a little example:

1. Take some raw materials and make a mini-quilt sandwich, cutting top fabric, batting, and card stock backing to 4″ x 6″.

2. For the card stock backing, print a recipe:

3. Do not adhere the backing to the top fabric and batting yet, because you will want to stitch your design first! I chose lemons and started to very loosely free-motion stitch lemon shapes in yellow fabric on my top fabric that I had ironed to the 4″ x 6″ batting piece.

4. And I kept stitching…

5. And then I thought, why not add some hand stitching?

6. Then added a little saying for my lemonade recipe in card stock and stitched it down:

And stitched on that backing to make lemonade!

I think this could be a very fun challenge that could also raise funds for a local Chicago food bank. It’s hard to think that in today’s age people go hungry at night, but they do. So will you join me in this challenge? More details forthcoming but I am inviting you to please share this challenge with your quilting friends, your guilds, your Facebook friends, etc. We would like to receive as many fabric recipe cards as possible in advance,  although we will of course accept them at the show.

The Details:

If you are interested in making a foodie fabric postcard (or two or three or more), here are the requirements:

• Each fabric postcard must be 4″ x 6″ and can have either a horizontal or vertical orientation. They should be stitched (hand or machine) and consist of a front, batting (or interfacing), and a back with a recipe. As these postcards will not be going through the mail, it is OK if they are in excess of 1/8″ in thickness. So if you want to heavily embellish your postcard(s), go for it!

• You are not limited to making just one foodie fabric postcard. Create as many fabric postcards as you like.

• On the back side of the fabric postcard, please sign your name somewhere. (Contact information is optional.)

• If mailing in advance (preferred!) these postcards are due at the Quilts, Inc. office no later than Thursday, June 13. Please note: this is a received-by date.

• You can mail as many fabric postcards as you would like, but please place them in a padded envelope. This way they will stay in pristine condition to be displayed at Quilt Festival/Chicago. Please mail them to:

Festival Foodie Project
Attn: Pokey Bolton
7660 Woodway
Suite 550
Houston, TX 7706

Spread the word!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I sure did…starting Friday night when the Boston police caught Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, MA. Alive.  What happened in Boston is just surreal to me, I know this area very, very well, and to think of terror like this happening so close to home, I had that same awful pit in my stomach I had during 9/11 when there were two planes out of Logan. I don’t think I was alone in crying tears of joy and relief that it was over this past Friday night, and hopefully we can get some answers out of this guy for why he and his brother would intentionally cause such incredible hurt and angst on what was to be a celebratory day.

At any rate…it was a gorgeous, sunny weekend in Houston, and on Saturday afternoon I unpacked my supplies from the Cincinnati show and washed my monoprinted fabrics I had created in Open Studios.

They don’t look like much now, but I have some ideas for cutting them up into 4″ squares for hand stitching, much like Linda McLaughlin’s work that you can see here.

As it is Monday and the start of a new week that I know will be so much better than last week, I thought it was time to give some fabric away!
How about this little stack:

Just answer the following question and I will randomly select a winner in the next day or two.

Question: I am always on the hunt for new tunes to listen to while in my studio. What are you listening to now?

Me? I added a new tune to my playlist this weekend that I heard on satellite radio, and it feels pretty appropriate as we triumph over such a senseless act and take back the spirit of Boston and the marathon…

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Love you, Boston!

Meet the ladies from Special Exhibits who worked so hard to hang more than 500 quilts and textile works for the show! From left to right: Terri, Patti, Carol, Marie Christine, Trix, Annick, Ginny, Becky, Amanda, and Carmen

Attendees dropped off more blocks throughout the weekend for our Ohio Star quilt challenge. It’s going to turn out to be a beautiful quilt, and we are really looking forward to showcasing it at next year’s Festival and donating it to a Cincinnati-based charity!

Meet nine-year-old Delaney who shyly approached me to say she likes to watch Quilting Arts on Saturday mornings with her mom. Yes, my heart melted…

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Create on the Spot (formerly Make It University!) was busy with lots of stitch activity, from learning surface design techniques and embellishing to making small projects, including fabric postcards.

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But the highlight of this year’s show for many was our premier evening event, The Iron Quilter Challenge sponsored by BERNINA of America. Met the refs:

Me alongside the resident joker at Quilts Inc, Bob Ruggiero

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During this one hour and forty-five minute challenge, four teams of quilters each led by a celebratory quilter were tasked to create a “tasty, quilted masterpiece.” Armed with seven yards of fabric, two Berninas, irons provided by Oliso, rotary cutters, mats, and rulers courtesy of Prym Consumer, and a design wall, the pressure was on as the countdown clock let everyone know just how little time they had left to create a quilt top. The teams of four were led by Charlotte Angotti, John Flynn, Debbie Caffrey, and Wendy Butler Burns.

Here Bob is asking Wendy Butler Berns how confident she is that she and her teammates of “The Butler Berns Blasters” were going to win this challenge.

Charlotte Angotti and her team the “Angotti Avengers” demonstrated their confidence in winning by flexing some quilting muscle!

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While the teams were busy creating, attendees dazzled each other with their quilts during our show–and-tell portion of the evening.

And at one point when I told everyone that I had door prizes for the first 20 people to go dance with Bob, he got a little stampeded. (He didn’t seem to mind, though.)

Debbie Caffrey and her team, “Caffrey’s Cohorts” finished early and were so confident they were going to win, they bought all four teams a round of champagne.

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And time is up!  The tasty creations from left to right: John Flynn, Charlotte Angotti, Wendy Butler Berns, and Debbie Caffrey.

And after the votes were counted (in the form of marbles given to each attendee), Debbie Caffrey and Caffrey’s Cohorts took the gold in the form of a glittery spray-painted (non-functioning) iron.  (Special kudos to Allison Cooper for making this iron as gaudy as possible.)

Debbie and her team were not the only winners of the evening. BERNINA of America donated a BERNINA 550 sewing machine to be raffled off as the grand door prize to one of the lucky attendees that registered for our Iron Quilter event. At the end of the night, Jeanne Delpit of BERNINA drew the name of a very fortunate quilter who got to take home this…

Me with Jeanne Delpit

Looking forward to coming back next year, Cincinnati! (Show dates are April 3-5, 2014.)

We have some fun plans for our upcoming Chicago show in late June. More on those very soon…