Blog Tour and Book Giveaway - Week 7

Welcome back everyone and congratulations to Suz for winning last week's giveaway!

Today we're off to sunny California--Vista, California to be exact--home to quilt shop proprietor and good friend, Michelle Joyner.

Michelle runs the Fat Quarters Quilt Shop and has been one of my most loyal customers since I met her at Market many years ago.  Here's a picture of us in my booth in Salt Lake City, 2011.  (She's the cute, petite one.)

I've never been fortunate enough to actually see her store, but I can tell from the pictures she posts on Facebook, that it's amazing.  And this month she's hosting both trunk shows from my book!  Thanks, Michelle for the beautiful display on your blog!  So if you do plan on being in the Vista neighborhood, make sure to drop by and say hi to Michelle and get a close-up look at the quilts.

And leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win a free copy of my book!  The book giveaway ends next week so this is your second-last opportunity!  Good luck everyone!

At Market

So, what does one do at Market?

Well, there are always amazing quilts to admire and be intimidated by, such as:

"Flower Market, Guatemala" by Meri Vahl

which won first place in the Art category:

And this one which won second place in the Traditional Applique category,

(sorry, I didn't get the title or the quilter's name), 

 Here's a close-up to give you an idea of the size of the applique pieces.

No wonder it took 3 years to make!

 This one is called "Majestic Bugs" by Irena Bluhm and won third place in the Quilting category.

The quilt was stitched first and the color was applied with colored pencils afterward.

 Here's a close-up of the amazing machine quilting.

 This one, "Mission Impeccable" by Kumiko Frydl

won first place in the Miniature category.

 Can you believe this?

 "Mini Log Cabin" by Thelma Robbins, won third place in the Miniature Category.

Each block is only 1 1/4" square and the quilt has over 1600 teeny-tiny pieces!

 For me, though, the best part of Market is meeting up with friends,

such as Brenda Mercado from Pumpkin Patch Primitives,

 and Michelle Joyner from Fat Quarters Quilt Shop.

 And in between, I sit in my booth and stitch on the bindings of future quilts to be published.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend, wouldn't you say?

To Market, to Market

Here I go again... off to my ninth Quilt Market.

This time, it's in Salt Lake City and I'm driving there solo.

I loved the scenery in eastern Oregon.

The "before" picture of my booth. 

 And here's the "after".

 A view of the Convention Center.

Can you find me?

I'm about halfway down on the left.

 There's my booth, "muslined off" at the lower left.

A very, very tiny fish in an ENORMOUS ocean.

Again I ask, "What the heck am I doing here?"

 A beautiful day in SLC, so after I finished setting up, I went exploring.

 Aren't the flowers gorgeous?

 Several bridal couples were getting their pictures taken.

Is it just me, or is the temple tilting?

It's been a very long day!

More soon!