Fabulous Fun at Quilt Market or Traveling Part II

The second leg of our recent trip was packed with firsts for me. I'd never been to Pittsburgh, I have never attended a Quilt market and I was about to meet some fellow bloggers and extraordinarily gifted and creative women whom I had become friends with through the blogosphere. First I have to say that Pittsburgh was not at all the dark smokey industrial city I had imagined. It is green and beautiful and looks like a great place to live. We thought there were no cameras allowed at the show so I've had to borrow these great shots from other bloggers who were more prepared. Thanks




My first stop was at Michael Miller Fabrics and the inspirational booth of a new blogging pal the super talented interior designer and fabric maven Paula Prass. My good friend Kay Ellen Hammer introduces us via the web. Her fabrics are vibrant and full of color and energy which pretty much describes Paula as well. I didn't get a chance to visit with her for more than a moment at the show but spent about an hour with her on the phone yesterday. She is a sweetheart and is my kind of gal.



Let me tell you that there is a whole lot more than quilting going on at this show. Fabulous patterns for purses, kids clothing, home decor, and everything else under the sun are for sale at every booth. Paula line in particular is suited for home dec sewing.



Some of the displays were just adorable and the whole show was chock full of inspiration and new ideas. Loved these aprons displayed over tutus - Yummm

Met the queen of Midwest Modern, Amy Butler. She is one of those gals that just exudes style. Her booth was fresh and clean and swamped with devotees of her fresh style. This entire show was packed by the way and I am told that this is the years "small " show with the Fall show in Houston each year being the "big one".




Another blog buddy, designer Jennifer Paganelli ( sorry couldn't find a picture of her adorable booth) introduced me to new fabric designer Vickie Payne who was introducing a home dec fabric line. Loved her bold use of color and classic motifs that had a very current edge to them. I'm sure she will do very well with this new line which I understand is a departure from the norm at the Quilt show.




Lila Tueller is a Utah girl and is too cute for words. She actually made her mannequin friend with a pvc framework and some stuffing. Isn't she great? this was my daughter Angelica's favorite booth and I wish I had taken pictures. She had the greatest idea for creating simple fabric covers for those inexpensive fabric globe party lights. Angelica wants to make dozens of them. You can barely see one hanging in the back of this photo.





There were samples of bedding here along with the many quilts and traditional goods.




This fabric line, Thimble Blossoms is a mother daughter team and the daughter lives right here in Las Vegas. I tried to meet her but her booth was always full. I'll have to stalk her and track her down here in town.





Patty Young is a fabric designer whose blog I read and she posted right before market of how her husband had built this great booth in their garage and just as they had put the finishing touches on the garage door was mistakenly hit and the door took the booth down in one fell swoop! What a nightmare - luckily her talented hubby was able to put it back together and it looked great.





I've got to say that my eyes have been opened to a whole new busy bustling world of fabric and soft goods construction. I had no idea until just a few months ago that this world even existed and I am so glad I stumbled upon it - just another happy coincidence of blogging!!! Can't wait to go to the October show in Houston......

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4 Months 24 -7 Later - A Collection is Taking Shape

Ok Buddies - here it is, the first cut of the JVT Collection for Adaptive Textiles. 18 classically hip patterns in three distinct colorways sure to fit your every need and desire! The suzani pattern was inspired by one of the first blogs I began reading years ago now - All the Best. Rhonda loves suzanis and ikats and I learned quite a bit from her blog about them.




This grouping is tentatively named happy because that's how I feel when I look at it. This whole "naming" thing is much harder than it seems. You want to give your creations names that are descriptive yet catchy without sounding cutesy or overly serious. Not an easy task....




The groupings are designed to mix well together with similar and contrasting colors. We are still working on ground cloth selection. There will be a generous helping of organic cottons along with a smattering of washed linens and linen cotton blends.





The corner piece of this group called Bouquet, is the Birds & Branches toile which was inspired by my friend Joni from Cote de Texas. I set out to design a fabric that captured her aesthetic and this is what came to life.




Choosing the colorways was extremely difficult. I whittled some patterns down from 10 colors to 3 or 4. The toile and damask will be available in the most colors as they are the most versatile patterns. I could have had a zillion colors - it's so hard to choose so few.




These choices were selected from well over 100 patterns and colorways. I feel so guilty about those who didn't make the cut. They have been abandoned and may never see the light of day! I'm not used to editing myself as you must know if you have my book! I just include everything.... Oh well, hopefully I will find some use for them in the future. Sorry my little babies.


This group is called Moon Flower - I don't know why, it just came to me when trying to describe the large floral design on the bamboo trellis. I love the geometric shapes in this group and I must upholster something in the zebra stripe immediately. Preferably a beautiful antique french chaise lounge for my boudoir!



This grouping owes it's inspiration to my long time blogging pal the uber talented Patricia Gray and the wizard of interior color blogger Toby Fairley. I have learned some seriously insightful lesson from both of their bodies of work and have tried to apply some of it here.



I can't wait to put the finishing touches on all of these and figure out what cloth they will be printed on. Jeanelle Dech of Adaptive Textiles and I met at the Window Fashions Expo to discuss new options for groundcloth and I can't wait to see what she sends me. The pattern is only as good as the cloth it's printed on!

If you are reading this post, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, comment and give me some feedback on the designs that I have chosen. Which is your favorite? Which ones do you think still need some work? Which ones would you drop altogether? I would so appreciate any input you can give me. I really want to design a collection that is appealing to others besides myself - so I need your insight.. Don't be shy, tell me like it is.

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Whew - What a Great Trip !! Here's Some Highlights

Debbie Green of Minutes Matter & Studio & Me

I'm back from my whirlwind tour of creative trade shows starting with the International Window Fashions Expo in Atlanta. It was a great show despite our current economy and I was so encouraged to see how enthusiastic and positive all of the attendees and vendors were. Vision magazine did an absolutely fabulous job of managing the show and putting on some great educational seminars and industry events. Thanks to Grace McNamara and her staff for providing such an invigorating and vital opportunity for our industry. I look forward to attending again next year!


Here's the Minutes Matter booth - always one of the most crowded spots on the show floor and not just because they were giving away fresh popcorn!

Pate Meadows Patterns

Just behind the Minutes Matter booth was Pate Meadows my favorite pattern design co. They introduced four new fabulous and truly innovative patterns this show. As always they were made up in the cutest selection of fabrics. These gals really know their stuff.

My daughter Angelica loved the York Wall coverings and Fabrics booth. They had beautiful dresses made up of wallpaper on mannequins in their display that were works of art.

As always the designer vignettes were fantastic. I forgot to write down who designed who so if you are responsible for one of the great treatments I am showing please let me know and I will add your name. Here are two very different designs using the same fabric. Love Them!



I liked this geometric fabric and the way the designer utilized it to form a dramatic border on the panel.

design by Robin Mcallister

This was Angelica's favorite vignette - I loved it to! The window treatment is great but I also loved the pillows, the mini chaise lounge and the surrounding wallpaper and draped walls. These vignettes are much harder to put together than you would think and it is a challenge to give the illusion of a real space with such a limited amount of room. I think this one did a great job of hitting those points.


Love the pillows and the combination of fabrics and trims.


Me and Angelica - this picture doesn't show how much my feet hurt - Ouch!!!


This treatment was truly innovative. The designer used glass mosaic tiles as a trimming element to create the square pattern on the leading edge of the panels and cornice. The addition of the beaded fringe on the swags and cascades balanced it out and the overall effect was reallly dramatic.



I was really excited to see a few treatments at the show that might possibly have been influenced by my book. This one was a real standout - I adored it!


Here I am with my fellow award winners at the WOW Awards ceremony. We had a great time. Congratulations to all of my fellow recipients your work was truly outstanding. Can't wait to see what you all come up with next year!

Check out my next post for more from the show including new hardware and beautiful bedding. See you then ......

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I'm at the Window Fashions Expo in Atlanta, GA to see what's new in window fashion design and technology and there's pleanty to look at. The show is not as crowded as in past years due to the economy but that hasn't kept forward thinking companies from putting their best foot forward to show their new and exciting offereings for this year.

Pate Meadows is a fantastic pattern company known for their unique design style and terrific use of pattern. They have introduced four new patterns that appeal to the modern aesthetic of pared down, siplified style. I love the new designs and the fascinating way they are put together. Sometimes simplicity can really be brilliant.

Of course Minutes Matter & Studio are here promoting the new 3.0 Studio release with all of it's enhanced features and functionality. They're also doing a great job selling the Jackie Von Tobel design modules and my book. What a great group of people! I am so fortunate to have become part of their oprganization. " at the WOW awards last night.

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Back in Action

I did not mean to abandon you my blog friends but I've been the victim of a complete technological breakdown over the last couple of weeks. It began with an aging laptop that decided it had been abused and overused and refused to boot up or preform its expected duties. Once it was apparent that it wasn't going to cooperate without a complete overhaul I broke down and bought a new desktop PC.



All was well for a few days until our cable Internet crashed. After navigating the treacherous audio phone interview system with the local cable co we were told that there had been several outages in our area but it had not been confirmed as a hardware problem yet. We would have to call the next day to see if it had been declared and then they would be able to schedule a service call. Sound ridiculous? Yes!!



Day 2: Endured the 1/2 hour phone interview again required to reach a technician to see if there was indeed a cable crisis in my neighborhood. I was told that there was no such event! Miraculously they had found the problem. They had decided to randomly discontinue the signal to my particular model of cable modem which has been functioning quite well for a few years now. Why? I have no idea. Could it be they wanted me to plop down the $50 bucks for a new one even though mine worked just fine? No!!!! Why could they have not told me this on day 1?

I'm beginning to start jonesing for my MSN homepage. No email, no blog, no face book. Would I survive. Told the hubby to go get me a new modem, stat!



Day 3: My husband in his infinite technological wisdom decided he would go buy his own wireless modem in case our now aging wireless router also decided to take a dive. He was assured by the cable geek at the end of the endless electronic phone call that this is ok and he would have no problem hooking it up. He made the sojourn to Best Buy and bought a shiny new Motorolo modem which promised to have me up and running again in no time.



By now I'm practically frothing at the mouth and having hot and cold flashes ( no not those kind) I had no idea how integral the Internet had become in my daily life. It seemed like every function I had to preform was somehow tied to the web. I had important stuff going on: last minute book edits before my printing deadline next week, changes in fabric samples for the Window Fashions Expo, Blog stalking, etc.





Day 4: The hubby hooks up the new modem and makes yet another techno call to the cable co. He endures the 1/2 hour set up interview and finally gets to a live human. They say they have done everything they can do on their end and there must be a hardware problem on our end. My husbands head is about to explode!!!! He reins in his furor and asks them to schedule an appointment ASAP noting that we had already been without cable for an unacceptable four days. They said the earliest possible appointment was in four days. A few expletives later and the appointment was set.


Four days - how could I go another four days? I thought of my pal Joni trapped last year in Houston after the hurricane for days with no Internet hunkered in her car listening to the radio for any kind of information. Would it come to that for me? How would I survive?



Day 5: Decided to take the laptop which was gasping for it's last breath to the Coffee Bean my hubby's home away from home and hook up to their wi-fi. I got it fired up, logged on and the damn thing crashed immediately. After several tries it was clear that this was not going to happen. Had to take the laptop to Best Buy, home of the non-functioning brand new modem for a diagnostic to see what the heck was wrong with it.

Had to make actual phone calls to people and talk to them voice to voice to let them know that I had not been kidnapped by South American terrorists, I had just lost my Internet connection. They all gave me that, oh-I understand, response that makes you feel like you just told your third grade teacher that your dog ate your homework. Much fun!!!



Fast forward Day 7: I am awaiting the cable man with all of the anticipation of an addict looking to score some crystal meth. Every time the dogs bark I run to the front door only to be disappointed. Finally 3:38 he arrives - my hero - here to free me from the prison of electronic solitude. He fiddles around with the equipment outside - he fiddles around with equipment inside - he calls someone on the phone and says " I don't know what the problem is here, it must be on your end. A bitter battle ensues between service technician and phone operator. It's your fault - no it's your fault. The grand conclusion - we can't hook up your new modem. We don't know why but we just can't.

My response - I don't care what you do, I don't care what it costs, I just want my freaking. &***%*#(#***$*$**%*%* cable working NOW!!!!!!!!! The solution - they sold me their $50 cable modem that is the exact same model as the one the hubby bought except for the fact that it is not wireless. Miraculously he plugged that thing in and the little row of lights that had remained blinking on the other modem all week lit up like a Christmas tree on this one.



My husband is now looking forward to yet another trip to Best Buy to try to return his modem purchase. Perhaps he can pick up my laptop which has supposedly been repaired after $385.00 labor charge and a brand spanking new hard drive. What are my chances that it will actually work?

By the way - Hope you enjoyed the preview of some of my new fabrics. I'm making progress and they should be ready to launch in July!!! We are previewing samples at the Window Fashions Expo and Quilt Inc show this month - I'm so excited !
Sorry for the crappy photography but I am having camera issues as well!

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Are You a Thoughtful Person?

I'd like to think that I am a thoughtful person but in truth over the past few years under the pressure of work and family and everything else that comes along I think I have lost touch with my thoughtfulness. I went to lunch yesterday with a group of my best girlfriends whom I have know since junior high school. It was my "best friend" Danette's birthday and we got together to celebrate.


Here we are in all of our "creeping up on 50" glory. Danette is the beauty at the center of the table in the black shirt. She makes sure we all do her birthday justice. As we sat down to lunch one of my friends Janie, had brought everyone a small party gift. Mine was this little blue bird of happiness nestled in a tiny straw bed with a darling little note that says happiness on it. What a thoughtful and loving gesture that was, it made everyone's day a bit brighter, why don't I do stuff like that anymore. I make excuses for my lack of interaction and participation in life because of my ridiculous overindulgence in work but in reality I am making a poor choice in neglecting some of the most important things in life, friends and family.



I'm making a pledge to myself to make more time for the good things in life and to be a more thoughtful person. Thanks Janie, your little birdie lit up my day.

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WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Normally when I get an early morning phone call it's either a telemarketer or bad news so when the phone rang this morning at 7:30 am my first thought was oh lord what is the problem this morning. Imagine how surprised I was to find Grace McNamara, president and CEO of Grace McNamara Inc., on the line. I tried not to act like I had just woken up but I was a bit fuzzy. She was calling, she said, to congratulate me as I am going to be recognized as the 2009 "Industry Rising Star" at the WOW! awards at the International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta on May 13.

I am so excited and honored to be receiving this award and it will make my trip to Atlanta all the more thrilling. I am so glad now that I had decided to bring my daughter along. Now she can really see her mom in action!

Thanks to Grace McNamara and everyone at Visions magazine for thinking of me and giving me such a nice pat on the back.. Believe me, when you work as I do now, alone in your own self imposed bubble, it can sometimes be hard to gauge if what you are trying to do is having any effect. It is so gratifying to have my hard work recognized so I can be sure I'm not just doing this for myself. I truly appreciate this honor and I can't wait to get my Gracie!

See you in Atlanta.......







In other blogging news, three fabulously funny, knowledgeable and entertaining bloggers have joined forces to bring you the "hot off the presses" news, and hopefully the down and dirty gossip and rumor that make up the pulse of the design world. Broadcasting via podcast you can now hear them as well as read their posts on their new joint venture blog The Skirted Roundtable.

For those of you were witness to the original skirted table scandal of 2008, you will understand the deep meaning of the blogs name. One can only hope that this new venue will generate that same kind of spirited debate!

Check out Joni Webb of Cote de Texas , Linda Merill of Surroundings and Meagan Arquette of Beach Bungalow 8 as they dish about subjects as diverse as; The Skirted Table - love it or hate it? and Snarkery?

I for one will be an avid listener.



In the Fabric World: New book deals seem to be popping up everywhere. I'm taking this as a fantastic sign of economic recovery. Two fabulously talented bloggers have been tapped by Wiley & Sons for what sounds like a very interesting new concept in book writing.


Mellisa Averinos of Yummy Goods, designer of a new fabric line Sugar Snap is writing a book that will be a companion to one being written at the same time by Sandi Henderson of Portabello Pixie.

They will apparently be writing on similar topics and the two books will be published at the same time. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Wiley & Sons is the publisher of another blogger, artist and fabric designer, Anna Maria Horners new book, Seams to Me which is a great book for beginners.

It is an amazing world we live in, filled with the most talented and creative people! I'm just glad to be a part of it. Good luck on all of your new adventures girls and remember to enjoy the journey!

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