Pour l'Amour du fil {For the love of thread}

I have been invited to exhibit at a wonderful French show in Nantes by Quiltmania. A publisher of an amazingly popular quilt magazine printed in 3 different languages. They also produce quilt and sewing books in Europe. So, they visited us in Houston at one of the Quilt Shows here, and loved my booth so invited me there. Well, we leave this Monday evening, hopefully if the Ash cloud from the burping volcano in Iceland lets up... The scary thing is that we decided not to ship any last minute stuff for the show because it may not make it in time! Yikes. So here we go, many bags, travel via air then train to Nantes... Hopefully customs will behave themselves.

A bit about the show, there is a website, see www.pourlamourdufil.com for more info. However, it is a boutique show open to everyone, not just the trade which will be a first for me and the fabrics... Usually we exhibit to the trade where stores and buyers from everywhere come to see what the fabrics look like and we provide a lovely aesthetic to look at.... I do this for each collection. It's an enormous task, where all sewing patterns are recreated in the new fabric collections, I can't help but design items around the new fabrics and naturally I always take way too much. I have to literally stand up and say, ok I think we have enough!!!

I am going to blog a little on what I have prepared for the show, and workshops... oh, yes did I mention I am scheduled for 3 different workshops... the trip in general. Of course it's Paris, and it's spring, so I must take the husband don't you think? Poor thing, but he loves every minute of it all. Guess who sets up the booth... he's known as Mister Lighting! Obsessive about how everything is lit! It's a good thing! So here's the itinerary:
Monday 19th April We hopefully leave for Paris
Tuesday 20th ... We arrive in the am, then take the 3 hour train to Nantes....
Wednesday 21st... Set up for the booth, show and fluff and stuff
Thursday 22nd ... show starts
Friday 23rd ... Workshop 1: Kimono Suit for Baby {Tailleur de Kimino pour les enfants}
Saturday 24th ... Workshop 2: Goddess dress and Zig Zag dress for little girls
Sunday 25th ... close of the show, return to Paris
Monday 26th ... Paris
Tuesday 27th ... Workshop in suburb of Paris called Marcoussis, Everything Bag and Reversile hat... I'll post all about the workshops too. The hat and bag is a new sewing pattern and is gloriously easy but has a little 'stunning' injected into the finished product.... wait till you see!
Wednesday 28th ... Home

So, it's a busy schedule but it's great. A lovely show, visiting with people I adore, a little inspiration, a tiny bit of teaching, a little practice with the french language, a little scenery, a little French food, a lot of wine, and a little romance... what more could I ask for.

So stay tuned... loads more to follow!

International Quilt Market: New Fabric Launches

I just returned from a very busy trade show, the International Quilt Market in Houston! Wow, what an energetic week we had. Again we displayed the new fabrics and again I am so overwhelmed with the kind words and super fabric orders we received from all over the world. The UK and Australia, France and Germany, Canada and of course home, USA. We were also excited about the tremendous enthusiasm within the fabric, sewing and quilting industry. What hiccup in the economy? We didn't see any evidence of a slow down in fabric sales which means textiles and sewing are the place to be. And an enormous increase in young and new sewers.... interested in fun and colorful, new and current design and projects for children, the house and clothing! So loads of great news for the industry!
For me personally, I am thrilled to be a part of the Westminster Fibers team... my booth was directly across from my friend and the queen of design, Amy Butler. We shared giggles and smiles the entire show! More on Amy, Anna-Maria Horner, Jane Sassaman, Kaffe Fassett and fabulous Brandon Mabley in a future post!
Anyhow, enjoy a few pics to whet your taste buds and stay tuned for much more on new fabrics, patterns and projects, my book in the works and more....