More from Houston Quilt Market: Ina le Roux

I had the pleasure of meeting Ina le Roux at Quilt Market in Houston last week. Ina is from South Africa and she has a company called Tamabani Textiles & Gifts. Ina has been teaching the women of Venda in South Africa how to embroider and create little pieces of art that tell the folk tales of their tribe. The embroideries are used as applique blocks and have been marketed around the world. This work allows the women to have an income with which they can help to support their families.

Here is Ina, on the left, and her helper at Houston Quilt Market.

Ina's poster showing the women of Venda

The embroideries are beautifully done and each one tells a folk tale of the Venda tribe. When you purchase one these panels, you also get the printed story and a picture of the woman who did the embroidery.

More embroideries on display in Ina's booth

Houston Quilt Market etc

Here are my daily photos taken while attending the International Quilt Market in Houston. You can click here to see close-ups of all these pictures.

October 23: Clouds from 30,000 feet, just before landing in Houston.

October 24: This is Jane Sassaman, one of my favourite fabric designers, showing her new fabric collection during a Schoolhouse class.

Octobe 25: Houston skyline, 8 a.m. while waiting for the shuttle bus to the Convention Centre

October 26: This is Sam, a real Southern gentleman. He has been greeting visitors to Quilt Market in Houston as long as I have been going, and probably for many years before that too.

October 27: Sunset in the rain: Toronto airport

CreativFestival

I have just returned from the CreativFestival in Toronto. This event was held at the Toronto Convention Centre and attracted thousands of quilters, sewers, scrapbookers and crafters in general. It was especially exciting to see all the enthusiastic young people who came and were interested in all types of crafts.

People started arriving one hour before the show opened. The escalators were full and the line-up extended the full length of the exhibit hall.

Here is one of my neighbours putting the finishing touches on her booth before the show opened.

Fabric, fabric everywhere!

Here is the booth of another of my neighbours.

And here is my booth, all ready for opening day.

Make Your Own Cards with Kaleidoscope Kreator

Here is another way to use the Kaleidoscope Kreator programme. You can make designer cards in just a few minutes using your own photographs. The designs can be printed on photo paper, other specialty papers or fabric and then used to create a unique card. You can add beads, sequins, glitter etc. to make your cards even more special. Have a look at these cards to see some of the possibilities. They were all created using just one photograph and the Kaleidoscope Kreator software.

More About Kaleidoscope Kreator

The Kaleidoscope Kreator program can also be used to make 3 dimensional ornaments. These designs can be printed on fabric or paper and then embellished with beads, glitter, buttons etc. What a great program for those who wish to create hand-made gift items or useful pieces for their home! Click here to see all the projects that are included on the Favorite Pojects CD which is an add-on to the Kaleidoscope Kreator program.

I will have this program at my booth at the CreativFestival in Toronto next week and will be doing demos as well. I also have samples of many of the projects that you see on the Kaleidoscope Kreator web site.

Introducing Kaleidoscope Kreator

Now you can create beautiful, one-of-a-kind kaleidoscope designs from your own photos with just a few clicks of your mouse! This is a great software package that is perfect for both quilters and scrapbookers and is very easy to use. I will be introducing this programme at my booth (#250) at the CreativFestival in Toronto next week. Have a look at the website to see some of the wonderful projects you can create with this software.

Here are a few samples that I created in just a few minutes using my October 11 daily photo shown below.

All of these designs were created using the picture above. They can be printed on fabric or paper in any size you wish. The resulting prints can then be used in scrapbooking or quilting projects.

You can also create a frame design which can be printed on either fabric or paper.

You could also add another picture within the frame and print that as well for scrapbooking, card making or quilting. All of these examples were done in about 20 minutes using the Kaleidoscope Kreator programme! The possibilities are endless.

New Pattern Available Now!

I have just put my newest pattern, Hip Hop Houses, on my website. This pattern is definitely a no-stress project (no templates and no paper piecing) and is also a Layer Cake friendly design. Layer Cakes are those wonderful bundles of 10" sqaures that are distributed by Moda fabrics. This pattern gives you a great opportunity to use up a lot of your fat quarters and small pieces of fabric. Instructions for both a small quilt (36" x 45") and a wall quilt (26" x 26") are included in the pattern.

Photos from Scotland and Ireland

I have added my daily photos from September 19 until October 4 on my Picasa web site. Just click here and here to see them. These pictures were taken during my trip to Scotland and Ireland.

Back Home Again

I have just returned after 2 wonderful weeks touring Scotland and Ireland. I was fortunate to meet with 2 Irish quilters who live in Dublin. They were introduced to me by Tricia Sherman, producer of the Great Canadian Shop Hop. Kelly and her friend were at the hotel to meet me when I arrived in Dublin. We only had a short time to visit, but quilting is certainly alive and well in Ireland. There are very few quilting or patchwork shops but there are some people who sell quilting supplies from their homes. There are also several quilting exhibitions held each year.

I took some Canadian Quilter magazines with me for my new Irish friends and they had brought me the latest issue of the Irish Patchwork Society magazine. You can read more about their Society here.