To market, to market!

To quilt market that is!

International Quilt Market is held twice a year. It is where fabric designers, pattern companies, and all companies quilty release new fabrics and products to quilt store owners. There is much hype in the quilting world around quilt market. Designers and quilters dream of having their work at the market, and quilt shop owners flock to the market to find the latest and greatest items.

One large fabric manufacturer that reveals their newest fabrics at quilt market is Windham Fabrics.

In preparation for this year's fall quilt market in Houston, TX, Windham (on their blog) asked for 16 quilters to volunteer to make a mini quilt using their newest fabrics. These mini quilts would be displayed in their booth at the market to showcase the new prints.

Of course, I raised my hand calmly threw my hands in the air and shouted, "Pick me! Pick me!"

Then I got the email saying I was one of the sweet 16!

The catch? I would have less than one week to complete the quilt. And I wouldn't have any idea what fabrics I would be receiving. "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."

The rules? Make an 18" mini quilt with the fabrics they send in a way that highlights the patterns.

I waited patiently impatiently for the overnighted FedEx package to arrive. It came at 1:30 on Wednesday, October 1st.

 



I couldn't wait to see what exciting challenge was waiting for me inside!

 

The fabrics are from the "Jungle Minis" collection by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics.

 

Upon closer inspection, I believe the pieces of fabric that were sent to me were the "strike offs" - fabric samples made as a trial to test production methods. (I can't be the only one that thinks that is cool!) The prints on several of the fabrics were not edge to edge.

 

 

The fabrics would not have been my own personal first choice. But I was determined! I scoured the internet for inspiration, and immediately got started. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

 

The finished quilt!

I finished it Sunday night (October 5th) and overnighted it back to Windham on Monday. I am so excited to have a quilt of mine displayed at quilt market! I'll be watching for pictures and blog posts from market to see if I can catch a glimpse of my quilt!

(Windham Fabrics did a similar "challenge" for this year's spring quilt market. I found the mini quilts that were displayed here. Hope I'll be able to find a post of the mini quilts for fall quilt market, too!)

As a 'thank you' for participating, I get to keep the extra fabrics. Windham will display the mini quilts at quilt market and then in their offices until the spring quilt market. At that point, I should be able to get my quilt back.

Travel Activities

In my last post, I recapped our July vacation to Minnesota. Here is the promised follow-up post of the activities I packed for Jeremiah.

At the time of our trip, Jeremiah was about 15 1/2 months old. We split the 14 hours of travel time (each way!) into two days. Call me "old school," but I want to try and provide activities that are engaging and educational.

I scoured pinterest for ideas prior to the trip. (How did anyone survive before pinterest?! I'm kidding. Kind of.) I made sure to include several things I already knew he liked to play with, but also lots of activities that he had never seen before. I figured that if he didn't like the activity, at least the "newness" would keep him entertained for a while.

I put all the activities into one tote that I kept within arms reach in the car. We started out saying that we would not give him a new activity until we had picked up all the pieces of the previous one. This rule quickly got broken. Jeremiah turned Houdini and caused many things to disappear. We still can not find two activity pieces.

Jeremiah loves to read. So I started by packing several of his favorite books.

My mom sewed two quiet books from fabric panels. She added charms, pom-poms, googly eyes, etc. to make the books a little more interesting and engaging. Jeremiah liked these, but he did not love them as much as I wanted him to based on the time that goes into making them.

A bag of dinosaurs. We got these at a garage sale earlier this summer, and I hid them until the trip (after they took a nice bleach bath in the washing machine). The "newness" kept him engaged for a short time, and he still likes to play with them on occasion.

A bag of magnets and a small cookie sheet. At home, Jeremiah plays with a set of alphabet magnets, but they are a little small for him to play with independently. He doesn't typically put things in his mouth, but I knew in the car I couldn't keep an eye on him 100% of the time. So I bought some larger fridge magnets at the dollar store. I also took a large sheet magnet (you know, those free ones you get on the phone book that tell you the emergency phone numbers for attorneys) and glued some pictures on it. I cut them out, and Jeremiah got his own set of family magnets. Jeremiah wasn't an expert at getting the magnets to stick to the cookie sheet, but it did keep him engaged for quite awhile.

An old wallet filled with used gift cards. This was very simple to put together and surprisingly one of Jeremiah's favorite activities. I would like to add a mirror and pen (that has run out of ink) to this.

An empty gum canister with ribbon. Jeremiah enjoyed taking the ribbon out, but it didn't take long before he needed me to refill it.

A bag of foam letters. I purposely only put in letters that spelled his name so that we would know if any were missing. (This is one of the activities that Jeremiah turned into a magic trick. We still can't find one of the letters. I replaced it for the photo.) He likes to zip and unzip the bag and move the letters from one pocket to the other.

A container of wiffle and water balls. These were not that engaging during the car ride, but we've been teaching Jeremiah how to throw a ball. He would attempt to throw them to us, and we would toss them back to him.

A parmesan cheese container with straws. We have had this activity for quite awhile. I used to have q-tips in it, but Jeremiah likes to tear the cotton off the ends. So for the trip, I switched out the q-tips for straws (cut in half). He loves to open and close the lid, shake the container to get the straws out, and put the straws back in. He has very good fine motor skills and is quite successful in getting the straws back in independently. (This is the second activity that Jeremiah turned into a magic trick. One straw half is still invisible to us.)

Texture balloons. I filled four different balloons with things from around the house: flour, rice, sugar, and beads. The "newness" kept his interest briefly, but he was not that impressed.

Egg carton and Easter eggs. I filled an empty egg carton with different colored Easter eggs (two of each color). I also cut shapes out of matching colors of felt to put into each egg. He's still not ready to match shapes or colors, but I figured I could keep it around for awhile. When he is older, I will paint the matching color in the bottom of each egg cup in the egg carton for him to match as well. Jeremiah loved this activity. The egg carton itself kept his interest for a long time. We had to replace the egg carton after he had played with it the first time, but we're still on the second egg carton now.

A baggie of various plastic lids. I just raided that one cabinet (you know you have one, too!). Jeremiah LOVED these. Several of the lids were translucent, and he liked to hold them up to his face and look through them. These kept his attention for much longer than expected.

Other miscellaneous objects. I threw in some plastic measuring spoons, my old flip phone, some play eggs, and Altoids tins. Out of these, the Altoid tins are his favorite. He likes to open/close them and put things inside and shake them. The old stand-by of water bottles made several appearances too.

Another favorite activity of his on the trip home was to poke mom and dad with a pool noodle. My mom had given him this to swim with on vacation (no such luck), but once he got hold of it in the car, it kept him entertained for MUCH longer than anything else I had packed. Since Jeremiah is right handed, he had a much easier time reaching my head in the car. Josh thought it was hilarious and kept egging him on. (Look at that evil grin on Jeremiah's face!)

These activities are now in our rotation of tricks we take to church (okay, not the pool noodle!). I think the key was to have numerous activities and a lot of variety. The first of (hopefully!) many successful road trips!

Summer Vacation

Last month we headed out to the Land of 10,000 Lakes for a week-long vacation. (In case you're not sure, we went to Minnesota.)

Jeremiah finally hit the 20-pound mark (at 15 months), so we were able to switch him from his infant car seat to his toddler seat for the trip. He rode for the first hour holding on with both hands and mesmerized by the fact he could see out the front.

I knew that the two-day, 14 hour trip (each way!) would be difficult for Jeremiah, so I stalked pinterest for activities to entertain him. This was well worth all the time I put into this! He traveled very well and loved the activities. Watch for a follow-up post with the specifics on what I packed.

I also got about a dozen snacks for Josh and put each one in a brown paper lunch snack. Then about every hour along the way, I let him open a surprise. Along with some of his favorite store-bought snacks, I made puppy chow and Andes Mint cookies. I also threw in some lotto tickets and fishing lures. He really enjoyed this and is definitely worth doing again.

We stayed at Brindley's Harbor Resort on Leech Lake. We shared a two-bedroom cabin with my parents. They even took a crib for Jeremiah so he would sleep well. (They think of everything!)

Josh and I have been to the resort four times, but this was Jeremiah's first time. (Here we are back in 2007.)

A little family history: My dad vacationed at Leech Lake (same part of the lake, just at the neighboring resort) with his family when he was a young boy. My parents honeymooned at Brindley's. They went back for their 25th wedding anniversary (the same year Josh and I got married), and they have been every year since. This is them on their honeymoon!

The resort is set up to allow for a great vacation with little planning. Each cabin has a full kitchen, so we (okay, my mom) planned all our meals in advance. The resort has its own harbor where my dad can keep his boat. There are also planned activities each day to promote meeting the other guests and having fun.

Jeremiah was in awe of all the new things to see and do.

We spent quite a bit of time fishing and have a freezer full of fish to show for it. We even caught some crayfish and clams (those were not keepers).

 

 

Each day, starting on Monday, the resort posts clues for a scavenger hunt. You look for a 2" brass anchor. By Thursday, no one had found it. So Josh and Jeremiah set out to find it. A few mosquito bites later, Jeremiah claimed the prize: $10 and a free pizza.

 

Tuesday evening, the resort hosts bingo. Each round costs $0.25 per card. The winner gets all the money in the pot and a free ice cream treat from the resort. Josh tied on a round towards the beginning, winning about $10 and a root beer float. I won a round later on, getting about $14 and a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. My mom won "crummy card." This round is unique in that everyone stands and once two numbers are called on your card, you're out. She has won this in past years as well. The last round is "blackout" and costs $0.50 per card. The winner gets the pot and a free pizza. We did not win, but this year the pot was over $30 for that round!

The resort holds turtle races for kids on Wednesday afternoon. This was the first year we've ever been able to participate in the activity. Each kid names a turtle (you don't have to bring your own turtle, the resort keeps quite a few). Jeremiah named his turtle, "Pi" (he had a little help). One of the resort owners, Greg, runs the event. He places all the turtles in the center of a painted circle and announces the event as if it was a horse race. He makes it so much fun! The first turtle to reach the circle wins. The kid who named that turtle wins an ice cream treat. Then that turtle is removed from the race, and a new race is started. Every kid is a winner!

 

Can't you just hear the excitement as you look at the pictures?! "Harry Potter is in the lead! No, wait! Pi is emerging from the pack! Squirt is coming up from behind! Who's it going to be? It looks like Pi is going to win! Yes! Pi is the winner!" Then all the kids clap and cheer. So much fun!

Thursday is the fishing contest. There is a kid's division and an adult division. The fisherman with largest fish by weight wins a fishing lure and a trophy. Sadly, the fish were not biting for us, so we did not win. My dad has won several times in past years.

Jeremiah attempted feeding the ducks. He would point at the ducks from afar and get quite excited when they would come close. However, every time we would hand him a piece of bread to feed them, he'd put it in his mouth! (Notice how chubby his cheeks are in the second picture!)

 

He also got some good walking practice (still won't do it on his own though).

 

Jeremiah also had his first taste of bacon. We were eating breakfast, he grabbed the plate of bacon, took the paper towel off the top, and began eating a piece before anyone even noticed. And what did he think of the candy of meats? He loved it, of course!

 

I think Jeremiah had a great time! He experienced many new things during the week and laughed a lot. (The neighbors even commented on how much he was laughing!)

 

 

The week flew by, but we made lots of memories! Thanks to my mom and dad for all their planning to make our time fun and relaxing!