Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Before anything, all the prizes for the mother's day give-away are on their way and they will receive them soon... I want to appologize to the 6 winners for the delay. Soorry girls!

Continuing with Quilt Market 2009 series, in this second part I want to introduce to you more amazing people from our BIG quilting community and share more beautiful pictures Angelina took of our booth...

Do you know Patricia Bolton? What a talented woman! She's the founder and editor-in-chief of Quilting Arts Magazine, and host of Quilting Arts TV on PBS. "Pokey" is pure energy! She came to visit me to my booth and told me about her new magazine: Quilt Scene. Her "new baby" will be published very soon and she invited me to show some of my projects for future issues! How cool is that?

I love how our booth came out. Beautiful.... It took a big effort of 2 days, but everything was on time and ready when the guy on the microphone said, like every show, year after year: "International Spring Quilt Market 2009 is open for business, we are open for business"... Each time that I hear to the same announcement I have goose bumps... of emotion and happiness!

We decorated our booth with flowers, to show shop owners that flowers are an eternal match for quilt displays...

Don't you love these balls? Simple: wrap styrofoam balls with fabrics and put them on a focal point in your room to show a splash of color!

This picture below is another corner of the booth, where we focused on Revive. We try to combine different projects to give more ideas to shop owners about merchandising. Everybody loved it!

She is a sweet, but really sweet lady. Please meet Deborah Hearn, editor-in-chief of QUILT Magazine. Beautiful publication, Deb is switching its look to a more contemporary and fresh one and without loosing perspective of the quilting's real essence. Beside great projects, there are spotlights and interviews to personalities in the quilting world (which I love to read), and a great "fabric buyer's guide", to inspire you for future projects. They made a quilt with my Botanica fabrics in the current issue and another one is coming soon! Stay tune and be sure to subscribe... Thank you Deb for visiting me!

Do you like this charming flowers? There were part of the decoration. Future pattern? I have had many requests. What do you think? Would you like to see a pattern of these flowers to decor your daughter's room?

Another wall quilt I've made.

Close-up of the pillows I prepared for the mini-bed showcasing Revive fabrics.

I hope you have enjoyed the photos. I have many more, and I'll try to show you in future posts.

Before I forget, one announcement: I have posted links to all my FREE projects! I'm very happy that now all of you can make them... They're really fun and very easy to make! Look on the upper left sidebar of this blog under "Free Projects" and click on them for download.

There's more to come, so see you soon,

Handmade rocks...  so let's keep on stitching!

Patricia

Hey girls!

I have finally arrived home on Tuesday night... OMG! What a marathon! Quilt Market is an experience so intense that you need a couple of days to process all the information, the emotions and all the joy... So many things to see, so many people to meet and talk, so many ideas that come out of my mind for the future...

I want to thank you all the people that visited our booth; they were all so kind to Walter, our staff and me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart... 

I'm so exhausted but so happy at the same time. We were driving 21 hours to go and same thing to come back; but boy, what a beautiful country this is!

This post is gonna be quick in text, but big in pictures, so you can know everyone! Don't worry, I will introduce each one to you...

First of all I want to show you how one section of my booth looked like. I know, I know, more pictures coming soon....

Meet my hubby Walter, having a great time with one of our best customers. I'm going to tell you who they are in the next picture...

 
They are Roxanne and Stuart Lasky, from The Quilter's Alley. A beautiful Quilting and Sewing Creative Center in Connecticut. I will blog in detail about many of our customer in future posts.

Look at these two dynamite couples (here with my Walter)... Hello Roxy and Stu!!

And do you know who this incredible guy is? Not other one that the most FUNNY STAR on the quilting industry: Mark Lipinski, from Quilter's Home Magazine. I love him, he is so authentic, and fresh...

Can I tell you a secret? One of my quilts goes to his magazine for the October issue... Which quilt? Be sure to subscribe to his magazine to see... You'll have a pleasant surprise, with splashes of color!

Another authority in the quilting world? Please meet Joan Hawley, the owner and creative force behind Lazy Girl Designs. You know that her bag patterns are number one in sales in USA? I'm specially in love with her Miranda Bag... Another secret? She will start working with my fabrics on some of her new designs! I'm so proud...

How about a picture of myself at my booth? At Quilt Market, I always have the best time of my life... Oh! Look at my eyes! I am a little bit tired...

Another great designer, Kay Capps, from Cross Cuts. A great quilting friend --I'll never forget her kindness and generosity on my beginnings. Many of you may know her as "The Black and White Lady", and her quilts are stunning. Be sure to buy one of her books, you'll learn tons and some of my fabrics will be on her new book!

I will post more great quilting friends and more great pictures on a second part.

Now I want to introduce to you the person who help me to make everything possible; my right hand. A woman so creative, that she is shining on Art Gallery Fabrics: my graphic designer and assistant Angelina Meneses...

She is 23, and I can tell you for sure that she's a beautiful person inside and out. This is her first picture, because she's very shy. But I will convince her to let me put more pictures and talk a little bit about her. I'm very proud that she's part of our Art Gallery Fabrics' family.

Well, this the beginning of a series of posts about Market.

To be continued...

Handmade rocks...  so let's keep on stitching

Patricia

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I want to congratulate all the mothers that participated in this give-away and all the mothers in the world. Thank you SO MUCH for all your answers, comments, and stories. They are very nice and inspiring!

Let me share a little bit with you how I feel about motherhood:

There are no words that can even begin to explain or describe the word "MOTHER". All the beautiful things they give us everyday start to be imprinted in our hearts since we are born. The best feelings and the behavior we show in life as persons are chiseled in our souls by them, by their "LOVE", "DEDICATION" and "VALUES".

I don't even remember how many good things my mother taught me throughout my life. Millions. And for that reason alone I feel devotion to her. This is how strong families are built. By teaching values, thoughts, deeds. To continue the work of God. This is how my mother raised me, and this is how I raised and continue to raise my son Alexander. And not because times are different now I teach him different things. No, no. I teach him the same way my mother did to me. Some things (honesty, goodness, to be close to your family always, respect for our elders, friendship) never change...

It's a process of constant building, that shows results after a very long time. But it shows. If you sow everyday a little bit, it shows. Look at this lovely picture:

My mother and my son

I love my mother SO MUCH and I miss her. She lives half of the year in Argentina and the other half here in my house. She will be here by mid July and spend all the Holidays with us.

Although she's 81, she keeps traveling back and forth. She says: "I want to be with you always", and because she has a very bad hip, makes her travel process very hard. But she continues to do it. I admire her.

I love my son SO MUCH. Since the very first moment I got him in my arms, I started planning a happy life for him. A good life. The best life. I'm not saying to be a millionaire, have AAA+ grades in the best college in the country and bragging about that. No. I'm not talking about that things. I'm talking him to be an honest, decent, good family man.

I don't know if I love him that much because he is the only one that God gave me after 2 miscarriages and years of fertility treatments; so much was involved until I could delivered him, so much time waiting and praying... The best day of my life. Or because God almost take him away from me when he was 9 years old and we discovered that he had kidney cancer. I remember the doctor telling me that bad thing... The only mention of the word "cancer" makes me start crying again. How much did I suffered... how much did I pray... I think I prayed SO MUCH that He listened to me and here he is, about to turn 20. I LOVE him for everything he is... I am extremely happy!!

 with his girlfriend Isabel

With these thoughts I don't want to impose any beliefs on anybody. You don't have to agree with me either. This is just how I think...

Now, changing a little bit subjects: HAPPY WINNERS' DAY!

I told you in my give-away post that I will choose randomly between 6 winners. Well, after 524 -WOW!- answers to my questions, here are the lucky ones:

jen w

Denise Felton

Ruth

Me? A mom?

Leigh Ann Tennant

Karen

Congrats to all of you!!

One little sad note about the winners: because I'm leaving for Pittsburgh tonight, I will find impossible to ship the fabrics today... I didn't even pack my suitcases with the clothes I will wear to the show yet! And we have to start loading the van with all the samples, booth display and everything we have to take to travel tonight!! Soorryyyy... I will e-mail each winner later and will ship the fabric when I come back from Market. Hope you understand...

Now, I am running against the clock, so I better get myself off the computer to finish things! I promise to tell you everything about Market after I come back... Kisses to everybody,

Handmade rocks...   So let's keep on stitching!

Patricia

I would love to post this days ago, but you don't even start to imagine how my studio looks after finishing everything for Quilt Market. It looks like it has been hit by 3 hurricanes altogether!

This is another sneak peak for the show: let me show you... The name? SPELLBOUND. Enjoy...

Enchanting, playful, mysterious, colorful...

Two colorways: here, LOUD SPELL. Turquoise, emerald green, sunny yellow, peacock blue, lime... Intriguing combination, uh?

These pictures below correspond to QUIET SPELL, the other colorway.

Night blue, and touches of magenta. But softer, quiet colors...

The full reveal will be next Friday at the show. I am SO excited!

We are taking pre-orders, and the line will get to stores by August. Not that much time to wait for!

I will talk more in detail about these prints in coming posts. Sorry that I don't have time right now; I am leaving Monday night for Pittsburgh and still so many things to do...

Tomorrow is Mother's Day (mom, I miss you); and I will post the winners for the give-away on Monday. So, if you want to put your comment, you still have time until tomorrow midnight. Hurry up!

I have to go. Need to keep working now...

Handmade rocks... So let's keep on stitching!

Patricia