I’m back after a whirlwind trip to PIttsburgh for the International Quilt Market, spring edition. My friend Sarah let me tag along with her to shop for Intown Quilters and I had the best time! It was kind of a quick-n-dirty trip because both of us had a lot of stuff going on with our families right now, but I think we made every moment count.

I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to approach my Market round-up and I think I’ll hit up the people today, the goodies tomorrow and do a Market-related giveaway on Thursday. Yes, a giveaway! And I think it’s especially cool and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I’m even toying with doing a second giveaway just for the blog fans on Facebook.

Now, on with the show!

We arrived in Pittsburgh Thursday evening, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and then headed over to the Omni for a casual get-together with some bloggy peeps. Lots of fun was had, even though I manage to spill half my drink on myself and Patty (sorry, Patty!). Among the folks hanging out were Jona (Fabritopia), who organized the shindig, with her hubby; Myrinda (Fabric Hound) ; Jamie (Maricopa Fabrics) and her mom; Jessica of Juicy Bits; Mary Beth (stringer for True Up); Jen (Tula Pink) and her mom; Paula Prass and her daughter Jennifer; Patty and her husband; Sandi Henderson; new Windham fabric designers Genevieve Gail and Bari J.; Jenean Morrison; Scott Hansen of Blue Nickel Studios; and even a brief fly-by of Laura Gunn and Heather Bailey.

At Houston in the fall, I was so intimidated by all the amazingly talented people I kept meeting. I struggled to even say “hello” to some of them, much less talk to them or ask if I could get a picture. I’m happy to say that I’m over it! LOL! It was great to be able to be myself and be comfortable enough to chat with people and even ask favors of them. *grin* And I got a lot more pictures this time than I did in October:

Clockwise from top left: Me with Chelsea and Lucy at the Pink Fig Patterns booth; with the amazingly wonderful and sweet Jennifer Paganelli (who let me sew for her for Market!); at the Windham booth with their new designers Genevieve (who lives just up the road from me!) and Bari; finally meeting my sweet friend Kristen of Gock’s Frocks — that girl gives awesome hugs!

April Cornell organized a Tweetup at Market Saturday and it was an absolute blast. That’s actually where I ran into Kristen, who I did not know had made it down.

I’m not 100 percent sure how I managed to form words when meeting April Cornell, but I did and she was so, so nice. (And when I get the pic she had taken of our entire group, I’ll post it, too.) Also there were (at left) Gen, Bari, Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts, Paula and Sandi. Plus pretty much all of the people I’ve mentioned previously. Somewhere out there is a pic of a bunch of folks Twittering while at the Tweetup — too funny!

Sarah and I went to lunch with Phoebe and Joyce from Quilting Adventures on Saturday (later joined by Myrinda, Kristen, Eileen and Renee), but I somehow managed to not get a photo with them. Don’t ask me how that happened. So, fair warning, y’all: the camera is coming out in Houston!

And last but not least … I kept seeing this woman on the floor and thought, “She looks really familiar. Where do I know her from? Am I being outrageously rude because I’m not talking to her?” I even asked Sarah if she recognized her, since she’s the Market guru and has been eleventy-billion times. Nope.

Finally, I walked up to her and just said, “I feel like I should know you but I just can’t place where.” Turns out that her sister Rachel, who lives maybe two miles from me, had won a giveaway on my blog (they look a lot alike)! And she and their mom read my blog and happened to be at Market at the same time. So I made them take pictures with me! They are just super sweet and I’m so glad we bumped into each other.

Tomorrow: Fabric, patterns and just plain coolness in Pittsburgh.