Sunday, May 19, 2013

You gotta fight, for your right ... to party !

Or just crash a party at quiltmarket like me ! Technically I am not even sure whose party it was but I got to hang with some awesome people who I can't link to and then a sweet random man watched me walk up the street to make sure I got to my motel safe.


My internal clock is a disaster, and once again it is the early hours of tomorrow and I feel like I should be eating dinner. Today was a great day at Quilt Market, I talked ( no surprise) to anyone who stood still for 2 minutes.

I saw and chatted to a heap of famous folk, and even took a photo of Bari J's breakfast for you but it is on my phone and my phone and ipad aren't on speaking terms.

I am uploading to flickr so you can go and have a look over there (vintagericrac), lots more booth photos and I still not even halfway through the market floor.

I was determined to get an early night tonight and in a way I am...its early morning.

Night folks, I'll try not to snore.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

I didn't get far

Today I escaped my booth and walked ONE short aisle of quiltmarket
There is just so much to see, and I promise there will be more. I am going early tomorrow to have a wander before the show opens.
I was beyond excited to see Lisa of the Red Thread represented so well. (can't figure out how to link could someone add it in the comments for me). Her Hello Tokyo range looks great ! Lisa and I met at Stitches and Craft many moons ago when we were neighbours. Her work is delightful and she is worth following on any and all forms of social media.
Famous Folk 3: Met Bari J last night and had a great chat. She is lovely of course and this morning I saw her sweeping her booth floor. ( See... sweeping her own booth, can't get much more real than that). I wanted to take a sneaky photo but you know I'm too professional .
Famous Folk 4 : I was walking along and saw a man and he seemed familiar so I smiled a vague smile and thought "oh he must be a dad from school" ...... dad ? oh that was quiltdad !!!!! So I did a quick about face and walked past again just to be sure. Then I raced back to the booth to tell Jemma who replied "quiltdad hey, so I guess he is some dad who makes quilts?"
My daughter is a craft heathen.
Weird stuff 2 : The light switches are the opposite to Australia so everytime I leave a room I turn the lights on ! It's quite dementing.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Its not pretty but it's 1am

This is about a 1/4 of the line of people lining up for sample spree.
( people were in the line at 3.30 for an 8 pm opening time)

This is what sample spree looks like before it is set-up.

After sample spree opens, it is all a blur but let me tell you those crafty chicks can move.

Outside in the line, they might all look like mild-mannered crafty folk, but once those doors open, it was like a stampede. For future reference, do not get in the way of a quilter and the Moda booth.

There are heaps of photos on instawobblies if you use it. Just search the quiltmarket hashtags and see it all.

Oh, I'll show you the giant swan tomorrow.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Arrived

So, it has started.

 

And it is HUGE ! and exhaustingciting ( Thats my new word) The travelling was, well, you know ....long might be a bit of an understatement. Today Jemma and I mastered the local light rail and located Target ( which sells alcohol and really awesome useless stuff for a dollar) and IKEA. I met Angie and her amazing family and we began the booth setup.

Famous Folk 1 : Saw Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio from a distance

Famous Folk 2 : Saw Bari J's booth but she wasn' t there.

Weird Stuff 1: In Portland there are bubble taps in the street ( drinking fountains) that just bubble all the time. I find this even more disturbing than I can explain.

And its now tomorrow here and if you are where I left you, then its even tomorrower than that .
I'll see you then.
 

 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Man, hasn't she gone yet?

I know, I feel a bit like the friend who tells you that she is pregnant 5mins after conception. That early knowledge makes for a long nine months. It is a bit the same with Quilt Market, I seem to have been banging on about it forever.

Tomorrow will see Jemma and I join Nikki and her entourage and set off. There is nothing more to done in any practical way. I found myself at a bit of a loss yesterday, life without a to-do list sits uneasily with me. Of course, I just started on the after-quilt-market list. ( lots of classes, kids ones, grown up ones- even a class in Cooriemungle!

I have been scouring the interwebs for crafty places to visit in Portland after the show, and will be mixing that in with a bit of definately-nothing-to-do-with-crafty-stuff shopping for Jemma. I have to admit to a bit of a giggle when I think of Jemma at Quilt Market....she has no idea !

For the longest time I have been focussed on the "work" of quilt market, the to-do list , the booth panic, the logistics, the not insignificant amount of time energy and dollars geared at this event. I got a bit over-it before it had even happened. People kept asking me if I was getting excited....and I would look at them like they had three heads.

'

But you know what ? its going to happen, regardless of whether I packed the right clothes, or the sensible shoes. No matter what my booth eventually looks like, or who stops by to visit, I am going to the USA and I am going to meet some wonderful, crazy, internet friends that I never ever thought I would meet in real life.

And that is reason enough to pack the Lady Depends.

 

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Craftsy to the rescue

Look over there on the right – see all those tabby things (made by a dear friend meg), well one of them still causes me grief.

The free patterns tab leads to tutorials and downloads and I get a huge number of emails from people for whom the download simply doesn’t (download that is).

So I struck upon a plan and I am going to add each of these (or most of them) to Craftsy. Craftsy is completely seamless in its downloadyness. Are you already a craftsy member? (it’s free). If you are you can find my shop and follow me if you like. (I guess that would mean you might get a notification when I add new stuff but I am just guessing)

pic9_1

pocketbots

So far I have added the party turtles and the pocket-bots – all completely free of course,  now with added downloadyness !

Just click on the photo and get downloading.

Now, who’s next ?

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Crackle crackle

Howdy cowdies,

This is Jodie here, speaking to you from beyond the computer. In a quest to keep everybody up to date and bore you all rigid I am experimenting with The Blogsy App so I can blog from the Ipad.

Can I just add here, the number of interacting devices and associated passwords in my life has reached a point of critical mass. As much as I am keen to be able to post photos of my trip on every concievable platform while I am away, I can't help but think of the old days when friends went away and you had to WAIT until they got back to see their holiday photos. Cue, the interminably boring slide night effect of people describing every single photo to you. "This was our taxi driver" "This was a funny man selling stuff".

So maybe it is better if you just follow along, clicking "like" every now again if it behooves you. You can find me on Bookface and Instawobblies if you want it all blow by blow.

At any rate I can't get the "how-to" guide to show up so its all dumb luck from here on in. I can't figure out a preview thing, nor can I get rid of the acres of space. I apologise now for the fact I cannot locate spellcheck.

 

From where I am sitting this post looks like a bit of a dog's breakfast. Crazy spaces and teensy photos but you know what, I say Publish and be damned.