My fellow Sew-Ho's and myself made a week of it and moved into my Cabin Too (except for Cara Gulati who stayed downtown as she had a booth at Market).
Let's see...it all started when the out-of-town hos met up at Shogun for a pre-Market dinner. Had a great waiter who didn't mind waiting on a bunch of rowdy women - which resulted in him making a pretty penny off our table! (Great Bellinis and Plum Wine!)
Schoolhouse
Another really cool Schoolhouse session was by the Squedge folks.
They've got a cool new ruler that can make a radiating pattern so quick and easy you won't believe it. You can get it from Connect the Blocks where there's a link for a tutorial about it.
Sample Spree
After a very brief dinner break, we got in line for Sample Spree. You have to experience it once while at Market. If you do it again, you're certifiable. Here's 1/4 of the line, 2 hours before the doors opened. It snaked around behind me to the left by about 100 more people, and duplicated itself on the right. Unbelievable. My warning would be to find out where the Moda booth is and elbow your way through the stampede, in the other direction. Those Modaholics are a determined bunch! That's Shirley on the chair, trying to prove to her honey that there really are that many quilters waiting to break down the doors.
I forgot to take pictures of all the loot we came home with. Dead tired. The creaking and groaning was pathetic, but we persevered. I did take a picture of all the stuff from Market though, and my favorite find. But that comes later.
Market
The view of the show floor from the 2nd floor porthole
First stop, one of my favorite vendors with one of my all-time favorite tools:
These have totally reorganized my fabric stash and kept me sane.
They come in 3 sizes and can be used for storing yardage, fq's, kits, strips for borders or log cabins...and you can always see what you've got. And you no longer have to lift up piles of fabric to get that little piece at the bottom.
Plus they look terrific all lined up on the shelves in my studio!
This is just a fraction of the ones I have! There's the same amount again, on the left, and a full shelf below. Don't be fooled by imitations: DeNiece's are the original, and they're made right here in Spring, Texas!
Then on to Cara's booth!
Fashion & Footwear
So how about some fashion shots?
I don't know what these were, but she posed for me!
To get the full effect, you have to see...
the big picture!
A whole busload of these girls showed up! Since Market/Festival is around Halloween every year, they come with a theme.
Her shoes & tights looked awesome with the red carpet
She made her purse to match her shoes!
Guys too
Boy did she have the right idea!
Absolutely LOVE these boots!
These were on a shelf in a vendor's booth, but they were awesome just the same
The over-the-knee sox got me
Sensible shoes. Finally.
But not the only ones.
But not the only ones.
The Sew-Ho's sensible shoes - including my orthopaedic nun's shoes.
Food & Beverage
Over at the Hilton, while everyone else was either in class or shopping,
I was having Eggs Benedict on savory bread pudding. Alone. Both the food and the company were perfect.
The first day's breakfast was so good, I went and did it again. Lox and bagels.
What's not to like?
Crab cakes with a Tanqueray & Tonic
Appetizers and adult beverages in the lobby bar. This time I wasn't alone. Found one of the only 3 outlets in the whole stupid lobby to charge our cell phones. So we had to spend a little dough here.
And check out what they had going on in the lobby:
A pumpkin decorating contest!
Misc Cool Stuff
Quilted cash register in the Steady Betty booth
Blinged out cash register
And a blinged out croc in the same booth
Alexander Henry got in the spirit
Aurafil threads let you play mini-golf. No, I didn't win anything.
A fabric barnyard! So cute!
Buttons!
The Buttonlovers.com booth
Giant buttons made of buttons
Button postcards
Layered buttons
But all good things have to come to an end...not a moment too soon.
Exhausting, exhilarating & expensive!
This is all the loot I got from Preview Night, Market and Festival
Not one, but two small Tutto cases (perfect for hauling Featherweights), lots of fabric, patterns, freebies, Quilted in Clay jewelry, and my very favorite find:
Earrings made from typewriter keys by Barbara's Buttons!
(alas, no website)
That's it for this year's Market Festival pictorial!
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