Finally! The market post!

I didn't mean for it to take me so long to post about market, but home just felt so good when I first got here and then life threw us a few curve balls....and well, now it's Thursday. Dawn and I had so much fun! It was all so overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. We stayed up late, got up early, ate food that we didn't cook and didn't have to clean up after! We walked to Starbucks EVERY morning and ate chocolate without sharing! We talked and giggled and dreamed and got inspired. We had a blast and I miss her already!

 I decided to tell you about one of my favorite moments of market first....Meeting Anna Maria! I always thought from reading her blog that she would be such a sweet and down-to-earth mama, and believe it or not, she was even better than I ever imagined! She is such an inspiration, really. She has really MADE IT doing what she loves to do and her family is still her main focus...and to me that's the best kind of success!

This is her beautiful assistant Allie! She rocks. We were instant buds, because that's how we red heads roll.  

Now for the Riley Blake booth....Oh my! I fell in love with this set of fabric! Farm Fresh? Are you kidding me? Whoever designed this must be my twin separated at birth or something. It is PERFECT in every way. Soon, very soon, I hope to be sewing up some dresses for my girls out of this stuff!

Then we hung out with Amy Butler and the only bad part about that was that she insisted that I be in this picture with her. I told her "Girl, I don't want to stand next to your skinny tail in a picture!" But really, who's going to argue with Amy Butler? She talked me into it and now I'm glad I did it. I mean if you have to look like a whale next to someone, it may as well be Amy freggin Butler, ya know?!

So here is the part where I fell apart. Molly called and said that she missed me really bad, it was the last hour of the last day of market for me (so it was already sort of over in my mind), Dawn had walked back to the room already and I stayed to get a couple more pictures to show you, and I was starting to feel really homesick walking around alone.....then I walked up to Jackie Clark's booth and said "Can I take a picture of you in your booth?" She did that look. Do you see it there? That sweet oh-hunny-are-you-okay look and she said "Are you Okay?" And that was it. That's all it took. The next thing I know my eyes are welled up with tears and all I could say was "I'm just a long way from home and I miss my babies. I know it's silly...but I just miss'em." I couldn't have been at a better place just then because she is just the sweetest person. She gave me a tissue, and I quickly pulled myself together, and from now on I will always think of her as a friend. She directed me to another booth that she thought could help me out with my patterns and she took a few fliers to hand out at her own booth. Now isn't that just the perfect ending to a wonderful market experience?

 There were lots of other wonderful and talented people there of course that I didn't think to get pictures of. I finally got to meet Tiff from Creative Smocking face to face! After working with her for almost  three years it was nice to finally get to give her a big hug! I also got to meet the Long Ladies from Marie Madeline Studio! I loved talking with them. I hope that one day when my girls are older that The Handmade Dress will be run just like that! It just seems heavenly to have mothers and daughters working together each using their talents for the same goal. They are just a beautiful family. 

Well that pretty much wraps up Quilt market! It was great fun but this little hillbilly is glad to be home. I'm tellin you, I must have stuck out like a sore thumb too! If I had a dollar for every time someone said "Where are YOU from?" it would have completely paid for my trip! You wouldn't believe how this southern accent draws attention! I have a little surprise for you too. This last week marked my THREE year anniversary here on this blog. Can you believe that? Three years. So I'm planning a sweet giveaway. Stay tuned.....