We FINALLY MET!!

Back in March of 2012, when I purchased my APQS Longarm machine, I joined a few groups online and met TONS AND TONS of amazing people who have, still do and always will provide me inspiration to push the limits and try something new or different or hard for me.  Those people have become INVALUABLE to me since then.

 Perhaps nobody I have met online has been this inspiration more than Maddie Kertay.  She provides me just the right amount of BadAss and inspiration rolled into one.  I have learned from her that it really is okay to break the rules ( I had always been doing it but I also made excuses for my rule breaking to people.....) and that although I am young, and spunky, and a bit on the wild side, there is a place for me here in the quilt world and I dont have to try and fit into a mold I will just never be.......

Just after I met Maddie online she began a group on Facebook  THE BADASS QUILTERS SOCIETY https://www.facebook.com/BadAssQuiltersSociety after getting fed up with people getting bent out of shape over her way of doing quilty things..... I have never really asked her, but I suspect she didn't on that day believe it would become what it has grown into.  Anyway, I joined that group right away, it seemed like a place I would fit in.......and I was right!

Maddie and I have talked often, two of my quilts hand in her store SPOOL http://www.spoolquilt.com/ in Chattanooga, and she has helped me figure a few things out along the way, but we have never been in the same place to meet face to face, UNTIL market.  I got my first hug from her on Friday night just before sample spree but whew, what a crowd that is so we didn't get a photo......then she had a bit TOO MUCH fun on the market floor Friday and ended up confined to her hotel after a low blood sugar issue and I was afraid I would miss her....... LUCKILY she was feeling better, although not herself Saturday and I was able to get another hug and this time a photo......

I am SO glad we finally got to meet!! This beauty next to me is Maddie Kertay and I am over the moon excited we have FINALLY gotten to meet!..This made my trip to market complete!!

Thanks for being you Maddie and providing those of us who needed it, with just a bit of inspiration to let our BadAss side show, I wear my pin proudly!! 

Market Floor!

   Friday and Saturday were market floor days for me and the rest of the crew....... I was really excited that morning and then I walked up to the overlook and got a look at what it really was.....HOLY COW!!  That is a LOT to take in!! 

There are booths as far as you can see in BOTH directions!!

I didn't even know where to start!  Thank Goodness I had Margaret with me, she just said follow me, and I did my BEST to keep up, LOL We started on one end of the room and slowly moved our way across the entire floor.  It took us the ENTIRE DAY.  I was afraid my brain was going to be in overload but I really did better than I thought I would.  I took LOTS of notes, got a hug or 2 from some facebook friends

Selfie with Teri Lukas from Gen Q magazine!!

and saw some amazing things!! Since I was working with the girls from O'Susannah's Quilts http://www.osusannahsquiltshop.com/ After the first day we went back to our room and had a strategy session...... we made a plan for Saturday and talked about ALL we liked and wanted each other to check out on Saturday.  We made a list and Saturday we each tackled our to-do list...... Since it was the second time around the floor I took photos of my favorite things, or stuff that caught my eye while I was checking things off my list. 

I LOVED the color in this booth!!   BATAVIAN BATIKS. That quilt in the background which reminds me of a heartbeat on a monitor in EMS, is called sound waves!!

I wish I could remember this lines name, but it had paintbrushes that spread the color around and it was really fun!

AMERICAN MADE BRAND- this booth had so much AMAZING color!!

I loved the flowers......and I am not usually a flowery girl.....( I am unfortunately not sure who's booth this one is)

It is apparently the year of the deer, as there are a number of REALLY cute lines coming out with deer, this one is EMILY MERRICK's line RUSTIQUE

PRAIRIE GRASS-I am a sucker for rainbow colors!

This hanging thing was AWESOME!!!! 

EDITA SITAR'S quilts from her new book.... although not bright and bold all of her creations steal my heart and attention!!

ANGELS WALTER'S new Art Gallery fabric line Athena.... I watched her quilt that dress fabric on Instagram and wondered what it would become......STUNNING!!

WINGED by BONNIE CHRISTINE- this line caught my eye even before Margaret and the colors are WAY out of my norm, her little son napped under that butterfly quilt for most of market!

I truly had a wonderful time and I cannot thank Sue and the girls enough for letting me travel along with them!!  When we returned home we had a bit of champagne to celebrate!!  CHEERS!!!!

Cheers from the O'Susannah's Crew

Look at all the STUFF I brought home with me!!

the STUFF I brought home...LOOT, books brochures and THREAD samples from my favorite Guys, Fil-Tec!!

To Market, to Market, my very first one! Part 1 getting there and sample spree

Whew.....

I think I have recovered from my first Market experience........ it was what I expected and more than I expected and not as bad as I expected all at once.... is that possible??

First..... I went as an industry professional for my Longarm Quilting Business Yellow House Quilts.  This meant I had to go alone...... just me, in a strange city 6 hours drive from home...... that is a BIT more than I was willing to tackle and I almost wasn't going to go when I found out I couldn't bring my mom ( my quilty traveling partner) with me.

 I was lucky enough that my friends from O'Sussannah's Quilts and Gifts http://www.osusannahsquiltshop.com/  said I could tag along with them and share a room.  Whew, I am pretty independent but walking alone in a big strange city isn't this country girls idea of a good time....We had a blast!!  What fun those 4 ladies are!! 

My INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL BADGE!!

After driving for perhaps forever...... ( really hate long car rides, anything over 3 hours and I am BORED) and one brake check with a tractor trailer truck, we arrived with a bit of time to get settled before sample spree in a TORRENTIAL downpour.... it was raining so hard we had trouble reading the street signs to find our hotel.

I had some idea what sample spree was about..... I was excited to experience my first one.  I am not known for being a crowd person so I was a bit overwhelmed!!  We stayed to the back of the crowd and let all the crazies push and shove then calmly walked in..... I was run over by about 10 people had one lady actually SHOVE me out of the way for an item on a table that was STACKED atleast 15 high and she could have easily gotten in a moment or two.  This side of humanity is the part I dont understand.  I got a couple of Riley Blake layer cakes and 3 batik voile scarves and I was out of there!!  It was just WAY too much for me!!  I didnt even get any pictures.  I was a bit concerned about what the market floor would be like if that was how people were going to behave.......thankfully it was much better than I expected!!

Stay tuned to see the Market Floor!!

Beginning Machine Quilting at O'Susannah's Quilts

This past Saturday I was "home" to teach some Machine Quilting classes.  I think of O'Susannah Quilts and gifts in Watkins Glen as home because I started teaching there.  I just love this shop!!  Sue and her crew always make me feel at home and the students are awesome!!  It is now entering into my FAVORITE time of year to Visit the Glen so I just love to drive there!!  On the way I passed so many Amish/Mennonite farmers preparing their fields for planting and the views of the wineries are so pretty.  ( I didn't take any photos on the way down cause its really not safe to drive and snap pictures......)  Anyway on to the machine quilitng classes.

These ladies were SURE they wouldn't be able to quilt the designs I have in the packets when we began (this happens each time), I asked them to give them all a try and have faith in me and we would work miracles...... I was right of course!

They sure did AWESOME with the straight lines and I think they even enjoyed themselves.....

Somehow we got talking about barbed wire..... it ended up in me teaching them how to quilt barbed wire ( a little bonus design I guess)

Then we moved into circles and curves....everyone was certain we should have had a bit of wine with lunch and that they wouldn't be able to rock these designs but again...... they did AWESOME!!

Many decided to come back and take some more classes so they must have had fun!!  If you were in class please stop on over to my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/yellowhousequilts and post some photos of your practice or your quilted pieces I would LOVE to see them!!

If you are interested in more classes skip on over to the calendar at O'Susannah's page and check out what is coming soon.  http://www.osusannahsquiltshop.com/module/events.htm?month=5&year=2014 I will be doing a class called Quilt Whispering on May 14th that is going to be SEW much fun!  You bring your unquilted tops and we will walk thru some ideas for options to quilt them.  I will help you understand the "process" I go thru to choose quilting designs so you can enhance your quilts with the finishing touches as well!!  Join me??

On the way  home I chased a rainstorm the whole way.  I never drove in any rain, just wet roads and I followed this beauty.  I haven't had to chance to enjoy a rainbow quite this bright in a very long time and it lasted for at least a half hour maybe more......

I think it was LUCKY!!  and it was a PERFECT way to end a PERFECT day!!

Happy Quilting!
Mandy

Blocking your quilt....the scary step

I have been working on a tiny quilt for the past few days...... It started as one of those pre-printed blue marked quilts that you can follow the lines and create your own wholecloth quilt.  It was just a fat quarter sized one.  I cannot remember where I bought it now as I have had it for so long. 

I picked a Light turquoise Glide thread from my favorite thread company Fil-Tec ( you can find their awesome threads at http://www.bobbincentral.com/embroidery/top-thread/glide.html ).  I don't use any other threads than theirs I just LOVE them!! (more about them soon!!)

 After a bit of quilting I had to use my new favorite tool that I received just yesterday in the mail.  My friend Shirley and her husband Bill are creating the MOST amazing and unique seam rippers I have ever seen.  I got to custom choose my acrylic piece and Bill hand turned my seam ripper....... I know you want one of your own so go here to check him out and order your own custom ripper, cause you cant have my Purple Haze!!!! https://www.facebook.com/Jacktheseamripper45

I put one of the swirls facing the wrong direction...pick, pick, pick!

The swirls are my take on Heavy Metal quilting with Kim Stotsenberger from one of my MQX classes

After I finished the quilting this morning I had to soak the piece to get the blue lines off...... this cannot be accomplished correctly by just spritzing water on the top of the quilt, you really must soak it.......

I soaked it into the sink and wrung it out a bit but ran out of time before a meeting to block it up......

I had to soak it AGAIN, because it dried out too much while I was away.  I had BIG fears that this VERY dark teal fabric on the back would run and things would wind up a big mess, but so far so good.....I like how the thread looks on this teal fabric!!

Finally I was able to get to the pinning stage.  This is a little piece so I was able to just pin it on my design wall to dry instead of crawling around on the floor to get it straight again.  I couldn't take photos of the stage with the ruler as I needed about 5 hands to do the photo snapping while I pulled it straight and pinned it down, all while holding the the rulers on the wall too.

Here it is all pinned up straight on the wall, now it just has to dry for a couple of days and it will be ready to bind!!  The resulting dry quilt will be so flat and square it is worth the stress of dunking it in the water I swear!!

Have you ever blocked your quilts????

Happy quilting!
Mandy