Thursday, May 19, 2011
I think I've decompressed enough to be able to write about our experience at Market last week. I've spent the past three days trying to regain some order in what morphed into a disaster of a home over the past month. Never before have I left our house in such a state when we've gone out of town; I mean aside from dumping the garbage and loading the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, I left everything else a complete disaster. Seriously. As glad as I was to walk into our own home Sunday evening, there was a part of me that still wanted to be sitting in the beautifully-decorated, mess-free booth at Market.
Our bedroom/sewing room/my office/kids' video gaming room (this overwhelming mess of a multipurpose room will be remedied as soon as the basement is finished) has yet to be completely dug out, but if I wait to resume my work until then, I'll never post about Market. So, I'm going to do my best to condense what was a very busy four days into a succinct Quilt Market recap. First things first, here is our lovely booth:
Even after having watched as Joel created it from beginning to end over the past couple of months, first on his computer and then in real life, I was still stunned with how amazing it looked at Market. It was definitely worth all the effort after seeing everyone's reactions to the booth. Here is one of the chairs Joel reupholstered for the show. I'm changing the entire decorating scheme in our living room just so I can make it work in there. I've got some work to do:
Here is the other chair he reupholstered TWO DAYS before the show! Yeah, that caused just a bit of stress, especially when Joel almost impaled his finger with the staple gun:
This is the flower arrangement that garnered much attention. We kept getting asked what the draping greenery was called, but had no clue until Amy Butler informed us it was "Heirloom Amaranth". I guess our florist really was paying attention to our booth theme. Cool.
We are thrilled that this collection of fabric includes the laminate substrate. This is the Farmer's Market tote from Joel's book. I can't wait to use it for all of our pool outings this summer:
This is the quilt Joel designed for the Heirloom collection, using the Ruby colorway. The pattern will be available for download very soon:
I loved modeling a new outfit made from Heirloom prints each day. This Empire Maxi dress in the Ruby colorway was my most favorite!
And, the Empire Maxi Dress is just one of the five new patterns we debuted at the show. All of them will ship July 1st!
We loved having Kim and Kris from DIY Dish and Daria from Boutique Cafe stop by to film a segment in our booth.
My very favorite part of those four days was meeting so many incredible people. In the six years that Joel has designed for Freespirit and Westminster Fabrics, this was my first time meeting the people who work there. Joel and I were both flattered when four of the Westminster ladies were wearing outfits made out of his Heirloom prints on the first day of the show; what a fantastic team to be working with!
Our booth neighbor was Mark Cesarik, the newest designer for Freespirit. Mark and his wife Cara were hilarious and kept us entertained during the slow moments of the show. Regrettably, I failed to get a photo with them, so I hope they don't mind me stealing this one from their blog.
In fact, I failed to take very many photos at all. I don't know what happened to my normal photo-happy self. I guess it was too much to think about when we had so many other people snapping photos of the booth and us all day long.
I enjoyed meeting all of the designers under the Westminster umbrella, including Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Tula Pink, Erin McMorris, Jennifer Paganelli, and Valori Wells. I mean WOW! What a talented group of people.
I have to say though, meeting all of the wonderful people who stopped by our booth was the most rewarding part of the show. Watching them react to Joel's designs with such a positive, and sometimes outright melodramatic way, was so entertaining. I especially loved the ladies who were starstruck upon meeting Joel for the first time. I think my favorite reaction was that of Jamie, one of the employees from Material Girls, a local quilt shop. She just stood there gaping for almost a full minute and kind of looked like she was about to cry.
Joel and I also loved spending a few moments talking with John Adams of Quilt Dad, Sandi Henderson, Liesel and Todd from Oliver + S, Amy Callaway from thebelleandthebeau, Chelsea Anderson from Pink Fig Patterns, Charlie and Lindsay Prezzano from Hawthorne Threads, Corinne from Persnickety Clothing and on and on.
The team from the Quilt Barn in Kimberly, Idaho were also a lot of fun. In the end, they even convinced Joel and I to sell the Citrine Empire Maxi dress (pictured in the background below) to their shop owner so she could wear it during her trip to France in two weeks. We tried to convince her that if the dress was going, Joel and I needed to go as well. No such luck though.
Before leaving for the show, I had the erroneous idea that by being away from our children, the weekend would be somewhat relaxing for Joel and I and make up for all the dateless weeks prior to our leaving. I had images of romantic dinners out, maybe a walk around Temple Square, catching a movie together, but we were so exhausted most evenings that we just collapsed from exhaustion after dinner and called it a night.
We were fortunate to slip away for a couple of hours though on Thursday evening and watch our son play in a soccer game that just happened to be the only game of the season scheduled in downtown Salt Lake. We had only been gone one day, but when we walked over to the game and saw him, my heart tugged in my chest because I already missed our kids so much. His team won the game, the weather was perfect and Joel and I grabbed take-out from Macaroni Grill for dinner...and then some Olive Garden for dessert. It was a perfect night.
Well, I thought I could keep this succinct, but there was just too much I wanted to include. I loved my first Quilt Market and the fact that Joel and got to be there together this time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
27 comments:
It all looks amazing! I am hopeful I will be able to attend next year :o) Thanks for sharing!!!!!
Your booth is just gorgeous! I love the new line, it's amazing. I can't wait to see it in person. Those chairs look phenomenal! And I love that fancy framed fabric behind the one chair! What a great decorating idea.
Your booth was stunning! I just posted about it and really couldn't come up with the right words to describe it! Of course I can't wait for the fabric to be available as well!
Wow, everything is beautiful! I love all these new fabrics, and I can't wait for the maxi-dress pattern. What a perfect summer dress.
I'm currently upholstering a chair in one of the older lines. It looks great. I love your chairs too!
Gorgeous booth... I love the quilt in the Ruby colorway, can't wait to see it in person!
Mark and I had so much fun meeting you two! The photos are great.
Everything about your booth is magical! I adore it. And I LOVE the dress in the second picture. I hope that you will have or do have a pattern for that. Because I could make that a thousand times and still not be tired of it.
Laurie, I am so sorry that I didn't get a chance to meet you the times I visited the booth. It was simply spectacular, and I can't wait for the collection to arrive in the shop.
Best,
Callie
Laurie, my sister and I LOVED seeing you guys at Market! You are gorgeous woman! I wanted to hang out in your booth all day and pretend it was my living room - it was so peaceful & cheerful. Can't wait for the patterns to arrive and I'm hunting down the voile fabrics to add to my shop - and selfishly because I want to make things for myself out of them - they're beautiful!
Loved meeting you guys again at quilt market! Call me when you need a quilt done and I will work you in!
It all sounds so wonderful!! Your booth looked amazing!! The hanging Amaranthus flower also comes in a deep red or Ruby colour. Loving Heirloom, it's a beautiful range!
First off I just want to say that I'm totally jealous of your quilt market experience. If only just once in my life I could go that would be awesome (especially hard since I live in Sydney, Australia). Also, I'm loving the new range and the new patterns. I love the Empire Maxi dress, it is totally me!
dxx
I loved your booth at market. After seeing it on Saturday... I think my living room needs some Heirloom curtains! All your hardwork paid off!
Loved your booth and Material Girls loves your fabric!! Jamie is still recovering:) Thanks for being so talented!
Loves,
The Material Girls
wow...looks beautiful....love the chairs and the decor.....amazing
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Rosabellebyvasu
Will you please share the paint color you used on the left side of your booth (blue yellow)??
Such beautiful fabric and patterns..I can't wait for the empire maxi dress, that is one I definitely want to make. Thanks for the lovely pictures! Lisa in Texas
I can't tell you how I have been anticipating the arrival of this collection. My husband and I are expecting our first in early Sept and want to do the room in the Citrine line. (Yes, it's a girl!!) Wishing I could get it before July but I can hold out a little longer - but I would like to know what wall color you used at the Market for the Citrine line. Since we can't get the fabric to match I would love to know what you used!!
Great recap! It was great to finally get to meet you in person and to see Joel again. Your booth was amazing -- definitely one of the highlights of the show! I can't wait to start creating with "Heirloom". You guys are the best!
Wow, this is one of my favorite new lines from quilt market (wish I could have been there!). It looks amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on some!
Any chance you would share the name of the flower shop that made your arrangement? It's beautiful,
Do you know of any good instructions or a tutorial on how to reupholster chairs? Would love to try!
LOVED seeing you both at Quilt Market. You're adorable, as was your booth. I look forward to connecting with you soon about the Creating Keepsakes magazine stuff we discussed. In the meantime, I hope you're doing well and enjoying the warm days!
Joel is definitely one of my favorite fabric designers, and I'm so excited about the new Heirloom line. Your booth looked fabulous! I'm glad you had such a positive Market experience!
Where will the dress patterns be avilable?
I love the Vintage Flutter Dress. It is just adorable. Where/How can I get a pattern?
increase backlink youtube seo backlinks backlink building service
Post a Comment