Sacramento Quilt, Craft, & Sewing Festival

Thursday March 14th, my quilt guild friend Renée and I went to the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival in Sacramento. Our husbands came along for the ride and for dinner afterward but they spent the day at the California State Railroad Museum only 5 miles and 15 minutes away, in Old Town Sacramento. They dropped us off at the show shortly before noon and we "shopped til we dropped" up until show closure at 5:00 pm when they came back to retrieve us. My sum total of purchases was 16 yards fabric, 4 fabric panels, 4 patterns, 1 ruler, and 12 yards of an 8 inch high border fabric.

We started out meandering in the smaller of the two buildings and worked our way from the upper right on the following vendor map down toward the lower left. The  booths where I made purchases are highlighted.

 

Patti Cakes Booth 833, 834, 835

I'd brought along with me a sample of the striped fabric I used to make drapes in our master bedroom. My husband has been asking for a quilt for our California King size bed (mattress 6' x 7 '). Since it has been over two years since the curtains have been hung  – and my husband fell and broke his hip in the process of doing so (post for 12/21/16) – I really do need to honor his request for a quilt in there. I have not been able to come up with a design I want to pursue, but the quilt colors do need to go with the drapes and have the feeling of an amusement park seaside theme. I found a one yard piece of coral Grunge and one yard piece of periwinkle toned fabric that I also thought was Grunge.

 

The way it was folded, the periwinkle color matched those stripes perfectly. As it turns out, when I got home and opened up the "lavender Grunge", it was not. It was an ombré soft floral muted print and varied from a pale tone down to a very deep purple, not the periwinkle I was shooting for. I will still be able to use parts of it but I was a bit bummed it was not what I thought I'd bought.

At the same booth I also bought two 1-yard lengths of lighthouse fabric. It is pretty and does have the coral and periwinkle overtones, not the typical red white and blue of New England type lighthouses. I may be able to incorporate into some quilt squares or at least make some pillows. The print runs the wrong way for pillowcases.

At the Patti Cakes booth if you bought 4 yards of fabric you got a panel for free. The colors in this free panel are not what I will put in the master bedroom, but it is bright and cheerful and fun-themed. The price was right;  or maybe not once I add the borders, batting, backing, binding ...

With only one booth under my belt we broke for lunch. We would need to pick up the pace! This notion caught my eye at a nearby stand and I bought two boxes, one for me and one for my daughter. I have shown the front and the back of the box. The grand kids need to know that these bandaids are for Mommy only. They have their own Marvel comics, Paw Patrol, and Disney bandages! 

After a break for lunch we proceeded toward the larger building. Just before leaving the smaller building I stopped at Twisted Scissor. I have shopped there every show trip she is present and I love to hang out and talk with the owner Karen.

Twisted Scissor Booth 827-828

First off, I fell in love with this series of dandelion themed fabrics. The coral birds (on the left) were the first to catch my eye but then, when I saw the dandelions (on the right), I was hooked. All these memories of reading the I Am a Bunny book by Richard Scarry to my youngest son came flooding back to me.

My friend Renée was laughing because I stood there transfixed and recited the pages prior to the dandelion scene out loud from memory. And my son is 32 years so you can understand how many times I must have read that book to remember it from so long ago! Alex and I would "blow the dandelion seeds" each time we got to that page. I bought five ½-yd pieces of fabric from this dandelion series.

A am a bunny. My name is Nicholas. I live in a hollow tree.
I chase the butterflies and the butterflies chase me.
In the summer I like to lie in the sun and watch the birds.
And I like to watch the frogs in the pond.
When it rains I keep dry under a toadstool.
I blow the dandelion seeds into the air.
In the spring I like to pick flowers.

The illustrations in the book are awesome and the text simple. The entire book is read out loud and all the pictures are shown at this YouTube link.

In the fall I like to watch the leaves falling from the trees.
I watch the animals getting ready for the winter.
And when winter comes I watch the snow falling from the sky.
Then I curl up in my hollow tree and dream about spring.
(Sorry... I just had to finish it!)

At Twisted Scissor I also picked up this fabric set of line drawings on solid Christmas blenders. Why is it that fat quarter bundles packaged this way are so irresistible? I spread out the "bunny ears" for the photo of this set of six fat quarters, but then I carefully observed the folding process before refolding them to fit in my cabinet drawers.

Fold in fourths along the length of grain and tuck in the ends at 45° in opposite directions .

Continue to fold in those 45° ears several times before stacking the fabrics and tying in the middle.

Here is a better view of the prints once I folded them to store in my consistent, but unexciting, way.

I may not use these prints in this pattern, but since Starry Way supported my seasonal mood, I bought it. It is basically sawtooth stars and log cabins made from a charm pack. I probably could have figure it out for myself, but I like to reward a pattern designer's creativity rather than just copying their design by winging it on my own.

In the bargain bin I also picked up two ½ yd rolls of fabric  – one red with funky, hip, happy dots and one in a practical solid coral.

I had already checked out and paid for my purchases when one other sunny, perky fabric caught my eye. I got in line again and bought a 1-yard piece of what I call egg yolk fabric.

The Calico Cupboard Booth BB

In a corner of this vendor's booth I saw a piece of cardboard wrapped with this 8" high blue and white print of ladies in fancy dresses and bonnets. There was 12 yards of it and I bought it all. It will make cute tiered skirts or dresses or add on ruffles for my granddaughters.

There was a Bambi panel named Hello Little One made up into a soft cover book. It would be very subtle as a book but I thought the colors were so calm and muted that it would make a lovely, small baby quilt. 

I have  a fair amount of border prints and striped fabric at home in my stash. This pattern, configured from a clever arrangement of 60° triangles, will make up into some nice table runners or placemats. 

   

The Quilt House Booth 608-610 

A quilt on display in this booth was very striking. It was made from the very fabrics in this Blue Onion pattern. The curved piecing was fun for me when I made it on my Blue Hues quilt (post for 12/30/18). Blue Hues was made from a kit of laser pre-cut pieces and it went together very smoothly. This is a pattern only and I will have to cut my own pieces. I talked to the lady in the booth who had made the sample and she said the oval ruler was not necessary but made the cutting easier. 

The pattern echoed the same sentiment. I bought both pattern and ruler. My color choices will be very different, though. According to the pattern six blocks are made at once so I am guessing it is a bit like a stack and whack method. I look forward to the adventure.

Just as the dandelion print from the Twisted Scissor booth conjured up a story in my mind, so did this pattern. In our church one Sunday, the priest told in his sermon the story of an old woman who was given a second chance at getting into heaven. She had been quite nasty throughout her life but St. Peter said he would lower down from heaven a string with a red onion attached at the end. If the woman bit into the onion and clamped down hard, St. Peter would draw her up to heaven. When the dangled onion appeared, the old woman bit down hard and found herself being lifted off her feet upward, heaven bound. When another sinner saw what was happening, he too clamped his jaw on the RED onion. The old woman upon seeing this, opened her mouth and barked out. "Let go! This is MY red onion!" Ever since that day my husband and I referred to that priest as Red Onion. Hmm. Perhaps I may have just provided myself a color inspiration for this quilt when I make it.

The Rabbit Hole Booth 506-509

We were nearing the end of our festival tour. My bundle of purchases was getting heavier and heavier but my resistance was also getting lower and lower. I bought two 1-yard pieces of this rather large scale Christmas ornament fabric. I think the various ornament shapes and combination of pink, lime, red, and purple colors appealed. Besides The Rabbit Hole vendor is someone I always buy something from!

Custom Creations Booth 212-215

I bought 4 yards of this whimsical fabric where Santa is snorkeling, fishing with candy cane bait, golfing, hunting for seashells, inner tubing with Rudolph, and napping after building a sandcastle Christmas tree complete with sunglasses at the top. How could I pass up that? I intend to make a shirt for my husband. He already has a Christmas shirt with Santa surfing but it is getting worn out and a bit smaller with each laundering.

 This sun dress pattern seemed simple and cute. It's reversible and comes in a range of sizes.

Fabric Chicks Booth L

My last stop of the day was at Fabric Chicks - another vendor from whom I always buy something. I think some vendors share similar tastes with me, plus we tend to build up a rapport of familiarity. I bought 2 panels of this Stacy Iest Hsu design containing four friends dolls each.

I love just about all Stacy Hsu designs and I have all of her doll panels. I did not want to break a perfect record. I used to make one set per grandchild of each design. I cut back to one set of each design per household. I have already made up:

• 2 sets Hansel and Gretel (August 24, 2018)(October 11, 2017)
• 2 sets Goldilocks (August 2, 2018)
• 1 set each Madeline and Westly Cowboy and Cowgirl dolls (December 21, 2017)
• 3 sets Lil' Red doll (May 20, 2017)(March 8, 2016)
• 3 sets Coral Queen of the Sea mermaid (May 14, 2017)(May 20, 2017)(May 23, 2017)
• 1 set each boy and girl Lil' Superheroes (April 14, 2017)

Each panel of this friends design has four dolls on it. I'd better stop blogging and get busy. I hope telling the tale of my shopping spree was enjoyable for my readers. I know I like reviewing my purchases almost as much as buying them.