Saturday, October 11, 2014

Shopping at Quilt Shows

How do you shop at quilt shows?  Do you have a plan?  I usually walk in the door with a list of things I need or short list of vendors that I know I want to be sure to visit, even if it's only in my head.  Otherwise, especially at large shows, I get overwhelmed and come home with nothing or crazy stuff that I don't need and I may or may not ever use. In any event, I'm usually not a big shopper ... as you can see from the photo of my purchases.

The Northern New Mexico Quilt Guild show is a small show with only a dozen or so vendors.  This weekend, I only had one thing in mind–a darling bird on a pedestal wool pincushion in the quilt guild's shop that had grabbed my attention during the preview Thursday night.  It turns out that I wasn't the only one that wanted it and it was grabbed up by the winner of the ribbon topper competition–her prize for winning was early shopping.

Quilt Show Purchases
Instead I picked up another of the sweet wool pincushions made by the same  person and, from one of the vendors from Oklahoma, a pattern for making a bird on a pedestal pincushion similar to the one that got away.

At the guild shop, I also  bought a sleeve for my iPad because as much as I keep telling myself to make one ... I haven't yet done it. It's a nicely padded bag that is sized just right with a fun, glitzy zipper pull.

Along the way, I bought some crushed walnut shells for stuffing pincushions because I never seem to be able to find them around here and a few new fabrics for my stash.  Lately, I've been thinking about large scale floral prints–can you tell?

After I came home, I noticed that a couple of the fabrics were from the same collection, Andover's Celebracion, which was created by the Museum of New Mexico.  It's not a new collection ... so if I decide I want more, it might be a bit of a scavenger hunt. I'm thinking that they might become the beginning of next years block lotto sampler.

Do you think that where you live affects your color choices?  When I moved to the South of France a few decades ago, I noticed how I started decorating my apartment in a completely different-for-me, pastel palette.  I do see more turquoise and red creeping into my environment (and my quilts) since I moved to New Mexico ... but whether it's because of fabric color trends of living in Santa Fe, who knows?

Update


When I went back for my volunteer hours today, I thought of Brenda's comment and took this iPhone photo with a couple of the bird pincushions and a better view of the  cover image on the pattern.


Bird Pincushions

I love the hand stitching along the seams. Now, to find an old zinc lid or a small wooden candlestick ... 

6 comments:

Brenda said...

nice haul. I keep to a budget at shows -- and see what I can find within that. I always shop at the guild boutique and then look for hard-to-find items, like notions or thread. I'd like to see your bird cushion finished -- hard to see from the pattern.

barbara woods said...

when we went to the Chattanooga quilt show all that was left was flannel so i didn't get any, but this week i won a whole box of 1/2 yards of guess what, flannels

icukirt said...

Stumbled on your blog. New to NM and just getting around to thinking about quilting. Love your blog.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I love to shop at quilt shows!! There are so many interesting things!!

Love your choices and can't wait to see the lotto block quilt for next year! I really need to go back and so this years ...... Now that I have the new knee and all.

Hilda said...

Hey Sophie, I have a massive collection of zinc lids, from a long ago auction in Colorado. Brand new ones in boxes even, and rubber seals as well. I actually used them for canning once upon a time! I can send you some..hint, hint--I love the birdie pincushion. Sorry Pat and I missed you at the show.

Anonymous said...

Your shopping was very prudent. I usually have a general category of things to look for with the vendors. At really big shows, I do the quilts first, then the vendors, and sometimes I miss some vendors, but I figure that's okay. Love the better picture of the bird. Have you looked in the pet store for crushed walnut shells? That's where I found them in Lake Havasu, AZ. I had to buy a big bag and still have about half of it, but it wasn't expensive. Love your blue-flower pincushion.

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