Great News From the Electric Quilt Company!

I have just learned that the Great Canadian Shop Hop video filmed at The Country Quilter in Osgoode, ON has been linked to the Blog on the Electric Quilt site. Look for the EQ post from May 23. I always use the EQ Printables fabric sheets for my memory quilts and was happy to be able to talk about them on the video.

I also discovered that there is so much good information on the EQ Blog. If you use any of the Electric Quilt products, be sure to check out their Blog for lots of good tips and suggestions.

Here I am during the filming of the Great Canadian Shop Hop at the Country Quilter in Osgoode, Ontario.

Quilts Kingston

On Saturday I visited the Quilts Kingston show in Kingston, Ontario. There were many outstanding quilts from the members of the Kingston Heirloom Quilters' Guild and the Limestone Quilters' Guild. Here are a few of my favourite quilts along with the artists' statements.

Quilt Canada, Here We Come!

Darlene and John Cooper from Country Concessions Quilt Shop in Cookstown, Ontario offered to take some of my quilts and patterns to have on display in their booth at Quilt Canada in Newfoundland. This is our national Canadian quilt conference held bi-annually in different locations across Canada.

The Coopers are having some holiday time in Nova Scotia before Quilt Canada. Here they are putting my quilts and patterns in their already-full trailer. Good luck at the show! I am sure you will do very well.

John and Darlene Cooper from Country Concessions Quilt Shop

Lots of treats in here for the quilters at Quilt Canada!

Quilt Market Revisited #5: Fun Stuff

Quilt Market is an exciting but exhausting adventure. We were all very tired on the last night, but after packing our suitcases, a small group of us went went out for dinner.

Here are our friends, Tracey and Helen from Australia.

Here I am with my friends, Tricia (Producer of The Great Canadian Shop Hop) and Janet Rice-Bredin (Botanical Art Quilts).

Here's Sid (Janet's husband, her booth candy, salesman extraordinaire and general handyman who helped many of us with our booths) who was brave enough to tackle dessert after dinner. Of course, Janet was right there, trying to take half of it!

One of our group, who shall remain nameless (at least for now) got the perfect quilter's tattoo.

Quilt Market Revisited #4: Schoolhouse

Schoolhouse is a wonderful event for Quilt Market attendees to meet with dozens of designers, publishers, fabric companies and "famous quilters". Each teacher makes a 15 or 30 minute presentation about their products or designs. I had 2 presentations about my Memory Quilt patterns and was delighted to have over 100 people in attendance.

Here is Faye from Michell Marketing, waiting to hand out the Schoolhouse class lists.

Susan and Carole from The Quilting Quarters in Almonte, Ontario
choosing their Schoolhouse classes

Some attendees sat outside in the beautiful sunshine amid the rhododendrons to choose their classes.

I was able to attend one Schoolhouse session with Mark Lipinski, editor of Quilters Home magazine. Mark is also designing fabric for Northcott fabrics. I now have some of his black and white Califon fabric and hardly wait to start using it. Lots of ideas - not enough time!

Quilt Market Revisited #3: Portland Convention Center

These beautiful rhododendron trees greeted us every morning as we walked to the Convention Centre.

These sculptures were suspended from the ceiling throughout the Convention Centre.

Ready for another day at Quilt Market.

Quilt Market Revisited #2: Sample Spree

Sample Spree is held from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. on the day before Quilt Market opens. It is an opportunity for attendees to buy samples of all the products from the vendors for their shops. The fabric companies have hundreds of fat quarter bundles for sale and everyone seems to head there first.

Setting up for Sample Spree

Although the event does not start until 8 p.m., people start lining up at 5 p.m. I met these shop owners and teachers from Oregon who wanted to be first in line. Last year they came at 6 p.m. and were half-way down the line, so this year they came at 5 p.m. complete with snacks and reading material, so they could be first in the door. As you can see by the happy smiles, they were having a great time!

This was the line-up for Sample Spree when I arrived at 6 p.m. to set up my table.

8 p.m. The doors have just opened and people run to the fabric tables!

Happy buyers at Sample Spree

Quilt Market Revisited #1: Set-Up Day

Spring Quilt Market has come and gone for another year! There is always a feeling of excitement and anticipation as we enter the Convention Centre to set up another Market. Here are a few pictures of my booth during set up.

An empty 10 foot booth always presents a challenge.

My friend, Marilee, helped set up the booth.

Almost ready for opening day

My friend, Janet Rice-Bredin's booth (Botanical Art Quilts)

Day 2 of Quilt Market

The temperature was 95 degrees here in Portland yesterday. Thank goodness the Convention Centre has a good air conditioning system! I taught my "Hang Ups" pattern to 25 wonderful students yesterday morning and will be doing the same class again today.

I still haven't had time to see the rest of the show, but hopefully I will be able to get out of my booth for a few minutes today. There are so many great displays here!

Greetings from Quilt Market!

Here we are in Portland! I made 2 presentations about my Memory Quilts at the Schoolhouse Seminar this morning that were very well received, the booth is all set up and I am now getting ready for Sample Spree this evening.

Sample Spree is a huge event for shop owners to obtain models, patterns, notions etc for their shop. There will be about 100 vendors there. The event lasts for 2 hours and there is always a real feeling of excitement in the room.

Portland has been very warm. 85 degrees today and 95 degrees tomorrow. This about 20 degrees warmer than normal. Thank goodness the Convention Centre is air conditioned!

I will have lots of pictures of this event that I will post when I get home next week. The daily photographs will be updated at that time as well.

One More Day Before Quilt Market!

I finally have everything packed for Quilt Market which starts on Wednesday May 14. I just finished this last sample of my new Remembering pattern (#332). The fabric is from the Northcott collection called Seems Like Old Times.

The picture in this sample is removable, so you can have a different photograph whenever you like.

The picture in this sample was printed on EQ Printables fabric.

The pattern gives instructions for using both types of pictures and for making the fabric flower embellishments.

Portland Quilt Market - Almost Ready!

I have just finished a smaller version of my Thanks for the Memories pattern (#330) for my booth at Quilt Market in Portland. This quilt has removable pictures so you can change the photos whenever you like. The photos in these pictures were all taken during my trip to South Africa last November. You can see how versatile this quilt is because you can change the pictures.




Here is a picture of the large quilt made from this pattern. The pictures in this one are all printed on EQ Printables fabric.


Here is a picture of the blocks that didn't work! I really wanted to use this bright, colourful fabric to show off these wonderful houses in Capetown. Unfortunately, the fabric design was too large and busy, and the pictures just seemed to disappear.

Portland Quilt Market: Just a Week Away!

I spent yesterday cutting 50 fabric kits for the classes I will be teaching at the International Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon next week. The classes will be making a sample of my "Hang Ups" pattern #327. The fabric is from Northcott Fabrics and is called "Emma Louise & Ethan Michael". It was designed by Sheri Berry and is part of the Lyndhurst Collection. This fabric comes in both cotton and flannel and is perfect for a project for a special child or grandchild. The fabric just arrived in the Northcott warehouse last week and will be available in quilt shops very soon.

Here are some pictures of the fabric, the kits waiting to be packaged and the project for the classes. This little hanging can be hung on the wall or placed on a decorative easel. You can see more samples of the pattern on my website at this link.

"Emma Louise & Ethan Michael" fabric from Northcott

Some of the class kits ready to be packaged

This is the project the classes will be making.

The Great Canadian Shop Hop: Ready to View!

Tricia Sherman's Great Canadian Shop Hop programme that was filmed at the Country Quilter in Richmond, Ontario is now on her website. You can see my demo on Memory Quilts, as well as all the events connected with the Quilt Marathon, held annually at the shop.

Go to Great Canadian Shop Hop. Click on Video Player, then Video Library. Scroll down to Show 7 and hit the Play button.

The filming of the show took many hours and Tricia and her editors have done a wonderful job of showing all the highlights of that day in a few minutes. Congratulations to everyone involved!

The show will also be shown on the QNN network in the very near future.

Here are some pictures of the "Hang Ups" series of patterns that I talked about on the show.