Houston Vendors: Oh My!
Wow, the vendors at Houston were phenomenal.! I wasn’t too excited about them initally, since I went primarily to see the quilts.
SILLY GIRL! What was I thinking? Once I ventured into the over stimulation of major eye candy and lots of people, I discovered all sorts of wonderful things. Several of which I’d never seen before. (You HAVE to buy those, right?)
Such was the case with dyed-to-match burlap and cheesecloth. Dyed burlap? Who’d a thunk it? I had to have some!
I found it at Fiber on a Whim’s booth. They had wonderful dyed fabric swatches, various silk products, and dyed perle cotton, along with some beautiful samples and interesting books.
High on the wall was this beautiful sample by Jan Girod.
Click any image for a larger view
I’m not generally excited by the world of felt, but handbegfelts and Just Another Button Company shared a vibrant booth that stopped me in my tracks. Their display was phenomenal. It showed an abundance of ways to use felt balls, precut felt circles, and other items. Like these adorable and easy-to-make pincushions.
Quilt samples showcased more uses.
And these creative critters were just too cute!
Finally, I was very intrigued by some make-it-yourself fabric jewelry called Ficklesticks. (See images here.) I bought a starter kit which included covered wires and the metal tubes you need for turning skinny fabric tubes. After covering the wires with fabric, they can be manipulated into any number of fabric knots and used to make all sorts of jewerly, etc.
What an adrenalin surge I got from all this shopping!
Ellen Lindner
