Confessions of a Craft Addict

Saturday and Sunday at Market were full of appointments with vendors, as well as some time meeting people and just chatting. I can’t tell you how cool and intimidating it was to meet some of the people whose blogs I read, patterns I buy and/or fabric I’ve adored.

Lucy, me, Lila and Chelsea at the Pink Fig Patterns booth. What a fun and talented group to hang out with! And, seriously, what a talented family, too. (Lucy and Lila are sisters; Chelsea is their niece!)

I was so excited to get to meet Melly and Rosie from Melly & Me. We’ve been bloggy pals for a bit and they have always been so encouraging and supportive. I’m a huge, HUGE fan of their work and getting to meet them was just amazing beyond words. They are beautiful inside and out. Plus? Way cool accents! LOL! I could listen to those Aussie’s all day long. Every time I went by their booth (which was simply gorgeous), it was absolutely packed with people, snapping up their patterns.

(Above left) Me with Paula Prass in her beautiful booth; I still can’t get over how sweet she and her daughter Jennifer were. Maybe you recognize the jacket. Or maybe not, since you’ve only seen the inside of it. It was so cool to see her wearing the jacket I made, as well as the sample outfit I sewed hanging in her booth alongside the creations of some incredibly talented designers. I also was quite tickled to see a picture of it in her brochure (you can see a small bit of it in the center photo on the row above our heads; the full enchilada is here). In fact — and this is embarrassing to admit — I was sitting in her schoolhouse Friday night, opened to brochure, turned to the complete stranger sitting next to me and squealed, “I made that!” Yes, I am a complete dork!

(Above right) Daria and her sister-in-law Elizabeth were such a blast to hang out with. Daria has the most mellifluous voice I think I’ve ever heard. It was so fun to see her in action, too, interviewing designers on the floor and during her live podcast from the press room. And Elizabeth! Man, that woman is an amazing quilter and a photographer, to boot. Seeing her quilt in Patty’s stunning booth just left me awestruck.

On Wednesday: More namedropping plus cool things you’re going to want. For real.

Tags: Boutique Cafe, Fall 2008, Houston, International Quilt Market, Lila Tueller, Paula Prass, Pink Fig Patterns