In case you’ve never been to the International Quilt Festival let me clarify a big misconception – there’s more than quilts there. There are a lot of quilts, but then there’s also classes to be taken and vendors.
One day when my children are grown and gone and I have the life of luxury I would like to spend the week at the festival taking classes. But for now I enjoy just going for one day and taking it all in.
There are over 1000 vendors at the festival. Some are huge and some are small. Some are quilt and fabric based and some are not. But they are all amazing.
There was a couple from San Antonio who made jewelry out of vintage buttons and typewriter keys. They’re business name is Prize Possessions but they don’t appear to have a website.
I was really hoping that Anna Maria Horner would be there. She has a new book out that I’ve been wanting and thought maybe I could just get it there. But she wasn’t there….boo hoo…
When we stopped by the Janome booth they had some of her patterns and fabric displayed. I picked up this Paper Fan Dress pattern to make for Esther.
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I met some super nice ladies from Polar Notions. They sell some great fabric organizers – you use them to make your own bolts of fabric. Since I’m trying to cram all of my sewing stuff into one 4′ closet I thought these would be helpful. I really, really like them. But I realized that I really need to get sewing if I’m ever going to fit everything in my closet. Right now I still have 3 large open boxes in the garage.
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A lot of the vendors are companies that are helping impoverished people make a living. Sometimes it’s making fabric in Uganda or baskets in Ghana and selling them here in the states. One such company is Laga Handbags. These handbags are made in Indonesia by people who were affected by the tsunami in 2004. The bags are beautiful. I had the opportunity to talk with the owner’s wife. They really have a heart for the people of Indonesia. It’s truly inspiring.