Portland International Spring Quilt Market 2008

International Quilt Market, a wholesale trade show, is held twice a year in the U.S. Fall Market is always in Houston in late October. Spring Market moves between several cities in the northern areas. Last week Market was in Portland, OR. Portland is a beautiful city located in the Pacific Northwest on the Columbia River. Mount Hood and Mount Adams are visible, and Mount St. Helen's is northwards.

My husband Sid came along to help, and we arrived a day early to explore downtown Portland.

The first amazing visit was to the Portland Chinese Classical Garden, also known as the garden of awakening orchids.The other wonderful experience was spending a couple of hours in Powell's Book Store, the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. We filled our packsack with books of all sorts. What a treat!

The next day was booth set-up.

My booth - Botanical Art Quilts

And lastly, a photo of Sample Spree - a wild frenzy of shopping!

Tomorrow I'll show photos of friend's and neighbor's booths.

Leaf Magic Little Quilts

The Leaf Magic Little Quilts are my latest pattern which use real leaves. I discovered how to preserve leaves for use in my art journals a number of years ago. The leaves are not indestructible, however they remain pliable enough ( even after years) to attach to stable surfaces. Just lately I've begun to use them in my quilted work. This is a photo of my first prototypes. This pattern will be ready for sale this spring at the Embellishment Village booth at Quilt Festival in Chicago as well as International Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon.

I am using Blank Textiles Rock Candy, Guilded Greenery, Bali Rain, Floret and Lava fabrics. I am also using the gorgeous Glitter, Metallics and Rainbows threads from Superior Threads . Embellishment Village is creating little kits of leaf beads to sell with this pattern. I'll post more about it when I get the final pattern published!