trip to houston

Hello fellow quilters!
This is week one after Houston. The Quilt Market is certainly the experience of a lifetime. As with most things American, it is huge, well organized and very diverse. Store owners visit the Market to develop network, look for new trends and establish relationships with vendors and BUY. So yours truly visited hundreds of stands, met with many store owners, exchange information with designers and purchased new fabrics for the coming year.


The best news is that I was able to bring back many new patterns, some books and a lot of ideas that I wish to share with you. Many of you are aware that quilting is evolving constantly. The more adventurous artists are creating a totally different approach to quilting more along the lines of free creation in a fiber environment. This direction has opened the door to the use of different fabrics (silk, wool, threads, beads, etc.) being integrated in quilts. We have moved a long ways from our grandmothers using pieces of clothing or other available fabrics to put together a warm quilt. Today we find thousands of patterns to entice us to more and more creativity. The quality and diversity of fabrics ensures that quilts will be unique even if a standard pattern is used. Is it not great that our creativity can be so enhanced?


Was it a great trip? Without doubt because of the incredible variety that was proposed to buyers, because the weather was great, because the quilt show is incredible with quits that blow you away. (It is possible to see the Quilt Show in advance when we attend Quilt Market). There are many great quilters, many designers and fiber artists that are showing their latest creations that makes the show so wonderful. It was outstanding. Did anything go wrong? We could not get out of Houston on time so we missed our connection in Philadelphia and ended staying the night in the Airport with the cleaners, the waxers and even a ghost. That is most unpleasant and to make the experience worse, it was 0 degree in Ottawa under snow. Very difficult when you leave Houston at 85 degree Fahrenheit.


And what was the highlight of the trip? Would you believe the new sewing machine, Bernina 830. Barb and I were bowled over. It was incredible. It is hard to describe how wonderful that machine is. WOW! We will soon have it in the store and we will have special presentations. Brace yourself! You won’t believe your eyes. This machine does everything a quilter could dream of. Sorry, it does not talk, but otherwise it’s a perfect tool for the avid quilter and not so avid. You can see more information at the Bernina site (www.bernina.ca)


Come to the store to see the new purchases as we have received many new collections during the month of October. Many new patterns are available and so are lots of new books. We have some new quilts that should inspire you.


Remember we have longer hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday we are opened till 6 and Thursday we are opened till 8 or 20hr. All classes are full for the fall but there will be a new set of classes starting in January. We are still accepting registration in our clubs with more to come in January. Please inquire at the store.


Remember also that winter may be coming early so get your winter projects ready with the fabric that you want.