Tag: best press

Just Quilty Stuff · Quilt Shows and Trade Shows · villa rosa designs

Yummy Breakfast and a Quilt Shop Hop in Chicago after the H&H Americas Show

rosecards10 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

There was more I wanted to share with you last week about the H&H Americas Show, but I ran out of time. LOL! So I thought I’d continue with “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say.

Right across from our VRD booth was the Oliso booth. I’m sure you know what Oliso is, right? They create really amazing irons for quilting that actually lift up so you won’t scorch your fabrics. Well, when I wasn’t busy talking to all the wonderful folks who stopped by our booth, I must admit that I was eyeing their gorgeous irons. They come in super yummy colors – pink, blue, yellow, and lavender.

At the end of the show, I just had to go over to their booth to chat and before I knew it – a brand new blue Oliso iron was going back home to Pennsylvania with me. Huh…. How’d that happen??? (Eye roll here.)

Turquoise Oliso iron with an auto-lift feature for quilting, shown from the side.

I haven’t taken her out of the box yet (yes, she is a “her”), but will be doing that very soon, I promise you. Just as soon as I find my pressing station – I seem to have lost it somewhere. Has anyone seen it?

I think a wild band of pixies tossed my sewing studio when I was in Chicago at the H&H Show. At least, that’s what I’m telling people.

Another fun thing I brought home was a bottle of Made By Hand gel lotion, made by Mary Ellen Products, who is also the maker of Best Press. I’m looking forward to giving it a try – just as soon as I find it again. It’s supposed to help sore fingers and arthritis, too.

A bottle of Made By Hand hand therapy gel from Mary Ellen Products, labeled with benefits including relief for nicks and scratches, soothing for swollen hands, and softening dry skin.

Breakfast

After the show was over on Friday, it didn’t take us long to pack up and head out.

The funny thing is, when I’d made my travel plans, I thought the H&H Show lasted longer than it actually did (found this out later), which accidentally gave Pat and I an extra day before we both headed back home in opposite directions on Sunday. So Pat suggested we go out to breakfast and on a shop hop on Saturday! Yay!

She totally had me at breakfast! And quilt shops – joy oh joy!

Let’s start with breakfast!

Exterior view of Gail's Carriage Inn, featuring a green roof, brick facade, and a sign displaying the restaurant's name.
image from the website

We went to Gail’s Carriage Inn, which wasn’t far from where we were staying. Gail’s is known for their iconic “spuds” which is an omelet with your choice of fillings totally encased in hash browns. Is your mouth watering yet?

But wait! There’s more!

How about a duo of the lightest fluffiest buttermilk pancakes on the side?

Plate of a crispy hash brown omelet encased in hash browns, served with fluffy buttermilk pancakes on a side plate, with a glass of Dr. Pepper in the background.

Yup, that is exactly what I had for breakfast……….and leftovers for dinner. What can I say????? It was totally amazing! Pat had a lovely scramble and somehow managed to clean up her plate.

After dropping my leftovers back at the house, we were off on our Shop Hop adventure.

Shop Hop

The first quilt shop we visited was Sew on Central.

Exterior view of Sew on Central quilt shop, featuring a green awning with the shop's name prominently displayed, along with decorative elements and entrance.
image from the website

Sew on Central was right in the middle of everything in Evanston. Located in an active busy downtown, the shop had a bright and fun vibe. In fact, when we stopped in, there was a kids’ sewing class going on in the back of the shop. It wasn’t a huge shop, but it was a hive of activity and it totally made me smile. I even heard a Mom ask her kiddos if they wanted to sign up for sewing camp in the summer. How awesome is that??? What a way to bring new quilters into the world of quilting and sewing!

Our second shop was Quilter’s Heaven .

Exterior view of Quilter's Heaven shop, featuring large windows displaying colorful quilts and sewing supplies, with a sign indicating the store's name and contact information.
image from the website

Quilter’s Heaven was a traditional quilt shop located in a shopping center in Northbrook. In addition to fabric and supplies, it featured sewing machines, long arm quilting services, and classes.

Our next stop was Linda Z’s Sewing Center.

image from the website

Linda Z’s was a really unique shop as it had been in business for over 50 years. The shop was 2 stories and even had an elevator with quilts hanging in it to enjoy (of course!) as you zipped up to the second floor or came down again – cool! This shop featured sewing machines as well as a large classroom for teaching – including classes in sit down long arm quilting. Wow! And did I mention the FABRIC???

Check out their rainbow batik wall below – the batiks even had their own room on the first level!

A colorful display of fabric rolls organized in a vibrant gradient from red to yellow and green shades in a quilt shop.

Amazing, right? The second floor had A LOT more fabric, including a selection of garment fabrics, too. I mention this because of the cosplay stuff at the H&H Show.

Our last quilt shop was Warman Cozy.

A cozy quilt shop entrance featuring a glass door with the words 'Warman Cozy Quilt Shop' and a decorative blue chair on the porch. A small black dog sits in front of the entrance, adding charm to the scene.
image from the website

Warman Cozy (don’t you love the play on words???) is a wonderful quilt shop tucked into a quiet corner of the Ice House Mall in Barrington.

Right across the walkway was a really cool antique shop and we just had to stop in and admire the antiques for a few minutes before stepping into Warman Cozy. Warman Cozy was a bright and modern shop with a thoughtfully curated selection of modern fabrics along with lots of sample projects to inspire you. I certainly had too much fun in this shop. LOL!

I really enjoyed our Shop Hop, because not only did I get to drool over fabric, but I also got to spend time with Pat. And I added lots of fun stuff to my already-overflowing stash back in gool ol’ Pennsylvania. But, isn’t that the whole point of a shop hop – to buy fabric? Tehehe………..

Check out my shop hop goodies below. I found some great yardage along with fat quarters and a bunch of 2.5″ mini charm packs. Mini charms are hard to come buy in my area, so when I see them, I snap them up. I like to use them to make EPP hexies with. Of course, I have no idea what those hexies will turn into, though.

A vibrant collection of quilting fabrics and mini charm packs scattered on a crafting table.

Now I need to get busy and and turn that beautiful fabric into finished projects. I wonder how long that will take?

I hope you get a little time to work on a new project this week, as well as an old one. I’d love to hear what you’re working on in the comments. 🙂

Have a great week.

Until next Thursday –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

quilt festival · quilt market · Rose Cards

Favorite Finds at International Quilt Market and Quilt Festival 2024

rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Today is my last post about Quilt Market and Festival.

We’ve covered the insider’s view of Market HERE and the 50 year Celebration of International Quilt Festival HERE. We’ve also explored some of the amazing and wonderful quilts on display this year during Market and Festival HERE.

So what’s left to talk about????

All the cool stuff at Market and Festival, of course!

My Finds at Market and Festival

I’m going to share with you the things that inspired me at Market and Festival. I wish I could showcase every single thing I saw because there was sew much eye candy in Houston, but that would make this post into a very long long book, I’m afraid. So I guess I’ll focus on the things that I found interesting, cool, or just plain fun, in no particular order.

Just sit back and enjoy…………

Sew Q Laser

I watched a demo of this cool system in the Sew Q booth. It really was quite fascinating! I’ve been using my trusty 1/4″ seam guide foot for a long time, but I can really see a lot of possibilities with this laser system. You can check out their website HERE.

Thimtec Thimble Tape

The Thimtec booth was right beside our VRD booth during Market and I had the opportunity to stop by to learn about this new product. Thimtec tape is easy to use, only sticks to itself, and molds to the shape of YOUR finger. It’s reusable and economical, Cool beans!

I took my pink roll to my Friday group and everyone made an individualized thimble to take home and use. After everyone was done creating one, I still had half a roll left!

You can find video demos and more info on their website HERE or find it on Amazon HERE.

Classy American Quilt Design Walls

I met the owner, Tony, when he asked if I could watch his booth for a couple minutes. Of course I did and I had the fun opportunity to play with the Quilt Design Walls. I must say that this is now sew totally on my quilter’s wish list! The smaller one (in the photo above) is big enough for a long throw quilt, but my dream is the really big one because — gasp — it has a remote control! AND I LOVE GADGETS! LOL! The small one would be great, too, as it goes up and down easily just like your window blinds. I tested it out, of course, and discovered that if you were careful putting it up and down that your quilt blocks could actually stay stuck to the design wall. Brilliant!

You can see Tony himself introduce his design wall in the video below and you can check out Tony’s website HERE. Just tell him Tricia sent you. Tehehe……..

Patience Griffin Books

I don’t remember what she said to me that had me laughing that hard………….

I had the pleasure to meet Patience Griffin at Quilt Market. In addition to being the popular author of both the Kilts and Quilts book series and the Sweet Home, Alaska series, Patience is a quilter and also a new fabric designer with Riley Blake Designs. You can see Patience’s collection, A Touch of Celtic, coming to a shop near you in May 2025, HERE.

If you love quilt fiction as much as I do, you can find her books HERE.

Printed Felt Board Story Panels

This one is for all you librarians, teachers, early childhood educators, parents, and grandparents. I mentioned this adorable felt printed panel by Jennifer Long for Riley Blake a couple weeks ago (the Created with Love panel, above, will be available in shops April 2025), but I just had to include it again on my “favorite finds” list.

When I was a children’s librarian, I created my own felt board pieces to go along with the stories, rhymes, songs, and activities I used for my weekly felt board story as part of my library toddler story time. Oh! How these wonderful shapes would have been a fabulous addition to my felt activity repertoire! Although I am no longer a librarian or early childhood educator, I still have very fond memories of engaging the youngest library patrons with fun stories, songs, and rhymes accompanied by my humble pieces.

Here’s a Nativity felt panel by Jennifer, which is available right now. You can find it HERE.

Goldie Lou’s Shirts

Image from the Goldie Lou website

Goldie Lou’s was a new business at Market and Festival this year. They were selling the most fun quilting shirts and sweatshirts with the cutest tongue-in-cheek sayings! Oh sew fun! I bought a couple shirts myself to show off my quirky quilter style, including one of the shirts you see above (it is sew me!). You can find more info about Goldie Lou’s HERE.

Horn of America Deluxe Storage Chest

I am sew sew in love with this cabinet! It has drawers and shelves and cubbies on one side and a flip up extension table on the back where you can even add more shelves! This would be a real dream piece of furniture in anyone’s sewing space! I kept walking past it whenever I went to the food court and dining area — it stopped me every time and I would pause to test out the drawers or just imagine it in my own sewing dungeon, er — studio. I would want the one in the white finish……You can find more info HERE.

Mary Ellen’s Best Press

Yippee! Mary Ellen’s Best Press Spray has a new scent — Lemon Mist! I’ve been using the Best Press starch alternative spray for a long time now and I am thrilled that they finally have a lemon scent. I was very excited to have scored a sample at Market so I can test it out, but I already know I am going to love the Lemon Mist scent. It will most likely be my new favorite. You can find it HERE.

Well, folks, I hope my favorite finds will inspire you — they have certainly inspired me! Now I’m adding everything to my quilter’s holiday wish list. Sigh…..do you think that cabinet will fit down the chimney????

That’s it for me this week. Take care and travel safe this coming week if you are heading somewhere to celebrate Thanksgiving. And while football is playing after Thanksgiving dinner, maybe you can sneak away and read all about my recent visit to Ohio Amish country for my Mom’s birthday.

Until then —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

quilt market · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Welcome to International Quilt Market Fall 2022!

rosecards8 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Here it is — a little peak inside International Quilt Market by moi just for you.

I remember before I attended my first Fall Market in 2010, “Market” was a term that conjured up all kinds of quilt mystique. We talked about it in hushed voices tinged with awe. What exactly was it? How did you get to go? Why was it such a mystery?

Twelve years later and although the mystery has unraveled over the years, I am still amazed by every Quilt Market I attend.

This year was different from all the others — I came to Market with a whole new purpose. In the past, I either attended Market in order to promote my latest book or as an independent designer associated with a publisher or other business. This time I came as part of the Villa Rosa Designs team and would be working at the VRD booth for the first time. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was so excited to go. I had a lot to learn and had great teachers in Pat, our “Rose Queen”, Bonnie who manages the retail shop in California, and Leann, Pat’s daughter and the VRD computer whiz.

So what exactly is International Quilt Market?

Since 1979, the show has been the trade show for the quilting and textile industries.

Market is a wholesale trade show, open only to credentialed attendees and those in the business. Here, you’ll be able to visit more than 1,000 booths to see all kinds of products both new and familiar ranging from fabrics, book, and patterns to sewing machines, notions, and supplies. You can also learn in dozens of Take & Teach classes and Business Seminars, and take that knowledge or class skills back home to your shop or business!

From the Quilts, Inc. website.

This year’s Houston Quilt Market might not have been as big as the last pre-pandemic Houston Market in 2019, but everyone there was excited and energized to be there.

Let me take you on a little tour of Quilt Market by visiting some of the booths and vendors.

First up, of course is our Villa Rosa Designs booth!

Nice, huh? All the quilts you see hung around the walls of the booth are all cover quilts for Rose Cards of the last 6 months. Oh! The table runners were there too — draped down on the table fronts. Bright, colorful, and fun! We even had fat quarters bundles and kits.

So many great shop owners/workers, designers, and lots of other folks in the industry stopped by to see the latest patterns and catch up. Everyone was so kind and excited about our Rose Card patterns. I met a lot of super people and really enjoyed chatting and talking Villa Rosa Designs with everyone.

When the booth wasn’t too busy, we all took turns going to appointments, meeting up with contacts, and walking the floor, seeing all the other booths, and checking out displays to see what was new and trending. Of course, when we were swamped, it was all hands on deck!

News Flash!

One of the things we were really excited to share with everyone who walked into the booth was our NEW Villa Rosa Designs fabric collection with Blank Quilting. The collection is called Xanadu. Yep, like the 1970’s movie. And the collection has a wonderful 70s feel that is fresh, fun, funky, and flirty with an updated color palette. It was designed by Pat’s sister, Nancy Lorene, who does most of the art for the Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards. There are 12 completely different fabrics in the collection. It should be shipping to your local quilt shops in April 2023.

Here it is! Isn’t it great??? My absolute favorite piece is the one that looks like paper snippets (I love them all of course, but that one really sparks my imagination).

We were even able to make up a few quilts using Xanadu samples! The real fabrics are even better than the digital images.

On the left is Addison and Honey Bouquet is on the right.

I checked in with some of my favorite vendors and also met some new ones this year.

One of the first places I checked out was the “Toy Department,” Graphic Expressions, where you can find all kinds of fun, useful, and quirky little goodies.

My next stop was to see my old friends, the Springers at Quilts from Mulberry Lane. I met them at my first Quilt Market and at every one I’ve attended since, I make sure to stop to shop and catch up. They always have a great selection of antique quilts and textiles. This year they even had some feed sacks, but I was already familiar with the patterns, so I shopped through their antique quilt blocks and brought a great selection home with me.

It took me a little while to find the Swan Amity booth, but after the second attempt, I found them. Boy was I glad too! They were on my to-do list for Market because I needed a new pair of machine quilting gloves. I found their gloves when I attended Market in 2019 and I never quilt without them now, but after 3 years, my gloves are starting to show some wear (see my 3 year old pair on the left in the photo below). Swan Amity gloves are a lot like a leather golf glove with touchscreen fingertips and padded palms. Love them!

I had a great time shooting the breeze with the ladies at the Mary Ellen’s Best Press booth. Devi and the gang were so much fun! I personally can’t make a quilt without Best Press. My favorite scents are Peach and Citrus. What’s your favorite?

I stopped by the Hoffman California Fabrics booth and got the chance to meet up with Sandy, who I’ve been working with on some projects lately. It was so awesome to finally meet her! That’s one of my favorite things about Quilt Market — meeting people in person, especially if you’ve only been in contact with them through email.

At Market, the fabric companies display quilt samples featuring their upcoming collections so it’s a really good opportunity to see upcoming trends in fabric colors and quilt styles. Look at these gorgeous quilts on display at Hoffman.

I checked in with my pals at Choice Fabrics, too, and introduced them to Villa Rosa Design Rose Cards. Sorry, I never did get around to taking a photo of their booth, we were too busy gabbing! LOL!

I was on the lookout for new products and other cool stuff when I walked around the show.

I met Rosanna of Rosanna Diggs Embroidery. This was her first time at Quilt Market, showing off her great embroidery kits. The kits had absolutely everything in them you needed except scissors! And the designs were just adorable. The Hexagon quilt block kit grabbed my attention on the front table, so I stopped in the booth to say hi.

I stopped to visit with the designer, Lori, of From My Heart to Your Hands, to tell her how much I love her gorgeous miniature quilt patterns. I have collected quite a few of her Fat Quarter Quilting patterns, which have 9 mini quilts in each pattern pack. I love the mix of piecing and applique, although I’m definitely a piecer and not an appliquer — I still haven’t finished my first mini applique quilt from one of her patterns from years ago. I really loved her display of the mini quilts pinned with clothespins to clotheslines. So fun and eye catching! Wish I’d thought of it!

I visited with another pattern designer, Dawn, at the Sew Cherished booth. Her wool applique was simply amazing. Wool applique is something I really admire, but haven’t done much of it yet. Someday……

A new friend I met at lunch introduced me to the ladies at the booth next to hers, Trailhead Yarns. Their threads are truly amazing and there are so many colors to choose from — even variegated! I’m thinking I might want to try some Sashiko again sometime.

Everywhere I turned there were QUILTS, QUILTS, and more QUILTS! Here are some of the great quilts I spotted at Market.

Well, that just about wraps up my visit to International Quilt Market. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I saw. My head is swimming with visions of quilts and fabrics. Time to spend some quality time with my sewing machine.

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD