Not the greatest picture of my booth recently at International Quilt Market & Festival- so I truly wish you had been there! Ha! It really was a great set up, and we had it brimming over with ALL kind of cute creative goodies! Many of the details (that I live for!) are not showing up in this shot, unfortunately.  The lighting in the George Brown Convention Center in Houston is playing havoc with my camera (great excuse, right?!)

 I was very happy that the fabric designs I showed at Market for the first time were so well received! Thanks to all for your supportive comments.. they keep me going!

Please do step into my world at the upcoming International Quilt Market & Festival! Planning on a fun little corner for you to shop in Booth #533, so don’t miss me!

Lots of NEW being shown and sold! Just to name a few… NEW! Fabric by Ellen- “The Butterfly Collection”, (hence the butterfly nets in the above image), Picture This Bag Pattern, The Napkin Ring Set, The Interchangeable3 Bag Pattern & Set, Nifty bag hardware such as Purse Feet, 16″ Chains, D-Ring and Swivel Snap Hooks, Gorgeous ribbon to go with your Napkin Rings, Graphic Panels for the New Picture This Bag!, Patterns for all three Interchangeable Bags sans hardware,  and neat-o new packaging for all patterns now.. plus whole new logo I might add! Not to forget- Parisville theme kit for the new Picture This Bag!  Know I forgot something… oh well, you’ll just have to come see!

-ellen

An outstanding fabric collection based on the charming turn of the century artwork by Cicely Mary Barker was recently debuted at Quilt Market by Michael Miller Fabrics. I was so enchanted with the darling alcove bed (above) the Michael Miller team constructed near the entrance to their booth! It was one of my favorites this year!

-ellen

Thank You to all who made the trip to Houston for 2008 Market & Festival!! Had a blast making new friends and renewing friendship with so many ! We were swamped, and so beat by the end of the day, that even posting an updated blog seemed too much! I hope you can relate! Here is a picture of my booth this year…

Today I realized I had neglected my blog a bit due to what I can only call the onset of “Market/Festival Madness” which occurs about this time of year! Due to Hurricane Ike, Houston’s Fall International Quilt Market was a bit up in the air! Glad to report that all is GO! I have just retrieved my booth number from the Quilts.com website, and am pleased to invite you all to join me in BOOTH #524 for both MARKET & FESTIVAL, Oct. 25th -Nov. 2nd!!! I will have 2 super cute (sorry for the bias!) new bag introductions. I am so excited to share this recent work, and send it out into the creative world! I have fallen in love with these new ones, and can’t stop making samples!

-ellen

A quick update on a new fabric line that was just released by Michael Miller Fabrics at Spring Market last week featuring Route 66… and my bag that celebrates it! A perfect opportunity to showcase off the new Preppy Mini-Tote Set with Black Handles as well!  The kicky fabric is featured in a quilt by Verlinda Magby of OK Quiltworks  (www. okquiltworks.com ) in Oklahoma City called ”Memories on Route 66″.  Both bag and quilt were displayed in the Michael Miller Fabrics Booth in Portland during Spring Quilt Market, and are now “home” at OK Quiltworks. Love those graphic icons!

 -ellen

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3942008n

Wanted to share this link to today’s CBS “Sunday Morning” segment on the 4 Billion dollar strong quilting business! I found the piece fascinating, and thought it really captured the feel of the whole International Quilt Festival in Houston. There is a bio on quilter Ricky Tims as well you will enjoy. If you attended, be sure to look closely for yourself, and please leave your thoughts!

~ellen

Welcome, and thanks for stopping by for a moment! I am thrilled to be able to now add a “voice” to my website via the Blog! What a fun resource for sharing! I am so happy to have a way to showcase new products from the studio immediately before they are incorporated into the main website. With the addition soon of a Gallery link, I will be able to present my sample bag images too. If it is not present on the left, please check back in a day or two, for a bit of inspiration hopefully. Many of the Gallery bags were on display in my International Quilt Market/Festival Booth in Houston last fall. While there, I had the proverbial light bulb moment and realized the need to share these with sewing friends who could not stop by in person! Soooo… please view my blog as a kind of “Virtual Booth” where we can share ideas, news, and indulge our collective interest in unlimited handbag creativity!

~ ellen