Behind the Scenes at Martingale

On the last day of my drive home from Salt Lake City,

I stopped at Martingale's offices in Bothell, Washington,

for a quick tour and to meet more of the wonderful people

who did such a fantastic job of publishing my first book.

 Here's Mary (marketing coordinator) at the reception desk.

 Wouldn't you love to work in an office surrounded by such gorgeous quilts?
Inspiration is everywhere!

This one is "Home for the Holidays"

by Vicki Bellino

from her book, Bloom Creek Quilts.

 Another pic of Mary--this time in her office.

Mary Beth (marketing manager)
and Karen in Mary Beth's office.

I don't remember Karen's job title but I know that
 it was her beautiful home where the photographs
of my quilts were taken for Country Comforts.
Here she is in her cozy office.

Regina (designer and production manager)
and Mary (editor-in-chief).

 Martingale's "library" with copies of all their wonderful books.

 Cathy (author liason) is holding up a copy of my book.

I can't believe I'm in such amazing company!

 As a perk for being one of their authors,

I was invited to take home a copy of any book I wanted!

I thought I'd died and gone to quilting heaven!

I took all the books I'm holding--I think there were 18!
Lots of reading and quilting to catch up on!

Should keep me out of trouble for a little while.
Thanks so much for everything!

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!

Happy May Day!

Feel like dancing round the maypole today...

The sun is shining,

The temperature's rising,

(maybe I can finally pack away the flannel sheets),

And this week I head down to Spring Market in Salt Lake City

(with a few stops along the way).

Stay tuned!