A Forced Eviction

OK, so a totally weird and scary thing happened last week in my studio. I shared a picture afterwards on my FaceBook page and have been so inundated with questions since, that I figured it best to go ahead and post the whole story to put some of the crazy rumors to bed.  :)

The King of the Studio

First a little background info;
The picture on the left is of Joba, the younger of my two tuxedo cats. Even though my cats are strictly indoor cats, Joba has a fierce hunting instinct. I've had no need of a fly swatter since adopting Joba, because he will not tolerate a flying insect in the house... he catches them on the fly, usually with the 1st attempt. He also hunts down and disposes of anything that crawls into this house. Ants... beetles... millipedes... spiders...are all easy prey. If for some reason he can't reach the intruder, he stares them down until a) they come within reach, or b) I notice his hunting stance and remove/kill the offender myself. I can tell at a glance when he's on the hunt. He's motionless, eyes fixed and large, tail swishing, and sometimes ( and I love it when he does this), he makes cute little "chuckling" noises.

And now, let's go back to last Thursday night;
It was about 10:30 pm on a routine Thursday evening. My husband has to get up early on Friday morning for work, so he had just gone to bed and I was in the studio working on my shipments for the next morning. When I noticed Joba in his hunting stance over by the file cabinet I strolled over to see what he had cornered, but I couldn't see anything. A few minutes later he started making those cute little noises and his tail was whipping wildly, so I went back over to take a second look. It seemed to me that he was looking at the top of the file cabinet which is located UNDER the counter top. So I knelt down to get the same view he had... and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was night so even with the great studio lighting, it's dark under the counters, especially back in that corner, but what I saw looked an awful lot like..... a SNAKE!  Holy moly!

Got im!

I sprinted upstairs and woke up the hubster who was grumbling something about cleaning my glasses as he came down the stairs, but OH NO! When I looked the time... He... was... GONE!!!!! Now I KNEW it was a snake, but how could I prove it, and worse... where was he now? Lucky for us all, my husband came in and squatted on the other side of the file cabinet, just in time to see a long tail slithering INTO one of the holes in the metal sidewall. He quit grumbling! Now what do we do?

We figured he was in one of the drawers, so we (and I use this term loosely) began pain-stakingly removing everything from the drawers, piece by piece by piece. Actually, the only thing I was doing was screaming from my perch on the opposite counter top each time something in the drawer was moved. But this was to no avail because we removed EVERYTHING and STILL... no snake.

So we laid the cabinet on it's side (and I helped do this, while screaming of course) and my husband carefully pulled each drawer open. as he opened the last drawer he saw him... well, his head anyway, wedged up in the upper housing. So I got a long plastic yardstick and from as far away as possible I ran the ruler under the cabinet in his area, in hopes of driving him toward my husband, who was waiting with putter in hand to stop him. And this worked! Out he slithered... straight at my husband, but he had been so busy concentrating and I had been so busy screaming that we had both forgotten one crucial piece of the puzzle... Joba! who at that very moment came barreling out of where ever he had been (where HAD he been?) to make his kill!

Gosh, what a scary little guy he was!

Somehow my husband clamped the snake to the floor with the putter, which only infuriated him. He was whipping around, hissing and snapping, which only made him more tantalizing to Joba, and by the look of those markings, I knew this was no garter snake. As a matter of fact, in the heat of the moment we both  thought he was a copperhead. So since my husband was obligated to hold the snake down, it was MY job to catch the elusive Joba and not get bit myself, which I did without screaming because by now I was too scared to even scream.

With Joba safely sequestered, NOW WHAT? The hubster sure couldn't hold that snake down all night. So we considered the possibilities and decided on an empty kitty litter box (the plastic kind with the snap-on lid). Don't ask me how Bubba got that snake inside that box, because i do not know. My eyes were closed, but it sure was sweet relief once that lid clicked shut.

My husband put the box in the garage, went upstairs and was in bed and asleep within 10 minutes! MEN! How do they DO that?  I think I may have finally drifted off to sleep somewhere around 3am.

Some further some closing info.
1) We've since found out this was no copperhead. Our best guess is that this was a juvenile rat snake. Mean tempered? yes. Scary? yes. Poisonous? No.
2) My husband is adamant about not killing a snake. To me, all bets are off when a snake is foolish enough to invade my territory, but the hubster will not. So, he took him to work and let him go in the woods out back.
3) How long had he been in the studio before Joba found him? I shudder to think about that. Remember, we had just come back from a week in Missouri for the Quilt Market and since snakes can live a LONG time without eating and based on how ill-tempered he was, he might have been there awhile.
4) What if he had been in a drawer when I opened it? I can't think about that!
5) And HOW in the world did he get in? That's the 6 million dollar question!

So... what questions, thoughts, ideas or comments might you have? 

We welcome any and all advice you might have, so feel free to share in the space provided below!
 :)

Market Wrap-up

Well, the Quilt Market was great, but it's time to wrap it up. 

So if you think you can take one more post on the subject, here's my final thoughts on Spring Market 2012.

The Square Card Reader- 

As you might recall from a previous post, we used a Square Card Reader for the very first time at this Market. We were warned that we might experience reception problems with my smart phone in that big convention center, and that the process might be slow and the payments to our account even slower, but guess what?
I LOVED IT!
It was one of the best things I've ever done for myself while at Market. I performed ALL of my credit card transactions on the floor in minutes (including 3 with Discover and 2 with American Express) with absolutely no problems. Now I have heard that for retail shows (which can be crazy, with almost non-stop transactions), it's best to have a more traditional credit card system), but for us at Market, it was just what the doctor ordered.

StudioKat Designs- Spring 2012-style

Our Booth-

I was pretty happy with our booth this time. I really liked the lower height of the table on the left. It opened up the sight lines more and was super for demos.
I've had mixed reviews about the posters being up above the bags at this Market.
Was it spur of the moment? Yes.
Could we have used the posters more effectively? Yes
But were they effective?  YES! so you'll most likely see them again.
It's amazing for example how many people STILL do not know we've started a notions line and this is the perfect place to let that be known. And folks are STILL walking up to our booth and saying, "WOW, You guys did the PortaPockets Insert? What's new this Spring?"
So since it's more important for us to get the word out about out products than to gun for any of the Best Booth awards we'll probably be including some posters in our Fall display. Stay tuned and see how we use them next time.  :)

And then there's the interesting people!

We've met lots of fabulous folks over the past 5 years and while Market is not generally know for fashion trend-setting, it's still a fun place to do a little people-watching.

This little gal was working in the award-winning Moda fabric booth. She was cute as a button and my husband and I nicknamed her Lady Gaga. Check it out... if her hair was blond, and if she were instead wearing an emsemble of beef products, you might think she WAS Lady Gaga. Right?


And if you're thinking that images on this young lady's hose (above) are eye balls... well you would be RIGHT!  And the fellow on the right was especially interesting. He wore a different kilt for each day of Market to match his extremely unusual footwear (which also was different each day). He also assured me that those shoes were extremely comfortable, so maybe I need to check them out for the Fall Market.

And the celebrities!

There's always a few famous people floating around. At last Fall's Market, it was Ty Pennington, but look who made an appearance this Spring, pictured here with hubby dearest.

And I was THRILLED when I looked up and actually saw that Jane Sassaman was in my booth checking out the PortaPocketsPLUS sample that I had made out of fabric which she had designed!
What's more, I think she was honestly tickled that it had been chosen to grace the cover!

Then there's the FABRIC!
    (the REAL stars of the show!)

Quilt Market is a true "Feast for the Eyes" if you love creating things with fabric. Everywhere you look you see beautiful colors and prints and I adore walking down aisle after aisle of exquisite cottons.This year there was a lot of black and white prints (which i am REALLY excited about), and a lot of bold graphic prints.
The predominant colors this Spring were yummy enough to eat with  aquamarines and oranges (similar to the color palette above) being prevalent. 

 So in conclusion...

It was a really good Market. It was in fact the best Spring Market ever, for us. The attendance was good all 3 days and the general mood in the convention center seemed upbeat and positive.

 So now that we're home, what comes next? 
And here's the deal, it seems like after each and every Market, we receive questions like this;

"So do you come home exhausted or exhilarated?"..."pooped or pumped?"..."overwhelmed or inspired?"

 

And you know what?
The answer to ALL of these questions is:

YES!

It's true that Market is physically challenging. It's hard to be on your feet for 10 straight hours every day and it's difficult to eat right and sleep right, 
BUT...
since I almost always work alone, it's such a treat to be in the presence of so many creative people. I love seeing what everyone has come up with for this Market and having the opportunity to bounce ideas off my peers is priceless. 
But here's the thing I probably enjoy the most about Market, and that's having the chance to mix and mingle with actual customers. I love having the chance to get actual, realtime feedback from folks who have actually used my patterns as well as those of other designers. Hearing what they like about our designs and especially what they'd like to see us add in the future is invaluable.

So yes, I come home tired... wiped out in fact. But I also come home chomping at the bit... ready to get "back at it"... because one Market just kick-starts the next, and after all, Houston (and Fall Market) will be here before you know it!

So how about it? Any thoughts or comments?
As usual, I'd LOVE to hear 'em!

KC- What's Great, What Needs to Improve, & What's Just Plain UGLY)

Kansas City, Missouri
It may have been a new city to us, but not to the Spring Quilt Market, which was held here sometime in the late 90's. Unfortunately though, the city really didn't get too many good pre-market reviews from the old-timers who had been there previously. But you know what? A lot of those same people told us similar stuff about Pittsburgh and Minneapolis too. But you know what? We loved being in those cities, so we arrived with an open mind, ready for an adventure!  :)

So what's our verdict after having spent almost a week there? I would have to say that our experiences can be separated into

The Power & Light District

• the GREAT
• the Needs to Improve, and
• the JUST PLAIN UGLY!

FIRST- 

Let's talk about the GREAT!
The downtown area of Kansas City can be summed up in one word... FANTASTIC. We found it to be vibrant, modern, clean, and orderly with a diverse selection of restaurants to choose from and lots of fun places to shop.

The Country Club Plaza area

The Power & Light District is relatively new to the Kansas City scene and we enjoyed the outdoor dining at the Dubliner, an Irish Pub which was very convenient to the Bartle Convention Center.

great shopping

Our hotel was located adjacent from the Country Club Plaza area, (about 3 miles from the convention center) which is a fantasticly beautiful shopping/eating area with  unusual architecture and shady tree-lined streets.

even better eating!

We enjoyed decadent treats at The Cheesecake Factory and on Friday night we visited  
M & S Grill where we were served a pot roast dinner that rivaled my grandmother's (and I am NOT exaggerating!)

For these reasons and many more, we would have to say that the downtown area of Kansas City is GREAT, among the best we've visited since we started vending at Market. I don't know what the old Kansas City was like, but the 2012 version was terrific and we really loved it!

Next-  Let's talk about what could use some improvement.

Kauffman Stadium- from our shady vantage point at Arrowhead Stadium.

My husband and I LOVE baseball. Anytime we're in the vicinity of a major league park, we always make an effort to see a game. It's safe to say we've been to a LOT of ball parks. So when we came up with a free afternoon on Wednesday and found out the Royals were in town playing Baltimore, we quite naturally headed out to the park, which coincidently will be the site of this year's All-Star Game.

Fantastic water works displays in the outfield

 We deliberately got to the park early (around 4 for a 7pm game) thinking we'd soak up some of the local pre-game ambience (as is our custom), or at the very least, take our supper at the park.
Mistake #1- there is NO local pre-game ambiance.
The park is in the middle of NOWHERE. There's not even a vending cart in the parking lot. Admittedly, I should have done more homework on this issue, but no biggie, the park must open around 5pm, right?  WRONG!

The park did not open to the general public until 6pm, a mere hour before the first pitch. Really??? And this makes sense HOW?
So...the whole time we could have been inside the park eating, drinking, shopping and in general spending money, we were instead, camped outside the FOOTBALL stadium (the only shady spot we could find) waiting for six o'clock to come.

Once we finally got inside Kauffman  Stadium, quenched our thirst & got a little food in our guts, our attitudes were adjusted back to normal and we had a great time. It's a unique facility with fantastic fountains and a young, enthusiastic team. BUT in view of the fact that even with this fabulous park, the attendance at the Royals baseball games is among the 5 worst in all of baseball, I'd wager that the management is probably looking for ways to improve "the gate", and I have a logical suggestion for them.

Improve the PRE-game Experience for your Fans!

I realize you can't magically transport your stadium downtown, which of course would be ideal, but since you have a cool stadium... Why not let your fans in earlier? Why not give them a REASON to come earlier, because guess what? The sooner you can get them in there, the sooner they'll be buying food and drinks and souvenirs and interacting with your team! If that's distasteful to you (and I can't imagine why it would be), how about setting up an IMAX in the parking lot or some tents where fans can get some food, drinks, and listen to a little music before the game... because afterall, ANYTHING is better than camping out at the Chiefs venue waiting for the doors to open!

And Finally-   
Unfortunately, there's one thing about KC that's Just Plain UGLY! and that's  THE AIRPORT!
First of all, I don't know when this airport was built, but my guess would be about the same time that "Leave it to Beaver" was the #1 show on television. Worse still, by the looks of things I doubt there's been many capital improvements made since then.
With that said, none of this would have mattered much to me except that when we got to the Kansas City airport on Monday morning (a full 2 1/2 hours prior to our flight), we found the line thru security to be over 50 ft long and 8-10 people deep. There were no orderly serpentine aisles to move thru, just one big mob scene. It was awful. There were two flights (one to LA and one to NY) scheduled to depart within 15 minutes and MANY of the people in that mob needed to be on those planes. A security officer kept hollering out how many minutes were left before the flights left, but offered no way for the passengers to move to the head of the line. Quite honestly, we were packed in so tight, I doubt there was much was to move them forward. Most of the time I could hardly make out what she was saying anyway because she had no microphone. These passengers were desperate. Some were crying. Many of them missed their flight that morning. Lucky for us, we made it thru security (with only 30 minutes to spare) only to find out that not only were there no restaurants beyond security, but even worse, that the lines for other "facilities" we might have wanted to use before we boarded the plane were just too long to take a chance on.
So in summary- 
I have two pieces of advice for the multitudes of baseball fans that will be descending on Kansas City to attend the All-Star Festivities this July, and that would be

1) DON'T bother showing up for the ballgame more than an hour before game time, and
2) DO plan on arriving at the airport at least 2.5 hours prior to your return flight home...  
     with a full stomach and an empty bladder, if at all possible!  

 ***********************

                                                                                  

Quick-style Quilt Market

Did you know that there were over 1000 different vendors at the International Spring Quilt Market? So it would of course be totally impossible to show you ALL the booths, but since so few of you are really able to go to Market, I thought you might enjoy seeing a few more than just the winners from my last post.

The booths pictured below were noteworthy to me. Some had incredible curb appeal, some had some amazing new products I fell in love with, and others I just thought you'd be interested in seeing.
So... let's get started!

One trend I noticed in this Market over past years was a BIG increase in the number of booths devoted to children's clothing patterns. Evidently this area of pattern design has become quite competitive because they all have cute things! (My favorite was the Muddy Maxx patterns though, maybe because I have a grandson, who knows!)

 Booth #3018- Fishsticks Designs

Booth #3380- Olive Ann Designs

Booth #1938-  Green Bee Designs

Booth #1133-  Marie-Madeline Studios

Booth #411-  Izzy & Ivy Designs

Booth #411- Muddy Maxx patterns

(a new division of Izzy & Ivy Designs...
and one of the 1st with a pattern line for BOYS!)

It didn't seem like there were quite as many Accessory-type Vendors at this Market. Of those present, these were the booths I found most interesting.  :)

Booth #1741-  Pickle Pie Designs
fellow North Carolinians with some super cute projects!

Booth #3212- La Todera Sewing & Crafting Patterns
featuring the coolest pin cushions ON EARTH!

Booth #3462-  Cook Collection Mannequins
I think these mannequins are actually supposed to be jewelry holders.
Regardless of their use, I thought they were cute.

Booth #512-  Eazy Peazy Quilts
Margaret has a brand new stocking pattern that was adorable.

And of course it's no surprise that there's lots and lots of booth featuring beautiful quilts and quilt patterns. I have often wondered how in the world the retailers can possibly choose between them because they are all so fabulous, but here's a few that appealed to me.   :)

Booth #425- Jililly Studio
Look closely at the floor of this booth. It's REAL grass. I never got
back down this way to see how it held up to traffic and the lack of water.

 

Here's a closeup of the grass "flooring".
As the girls were setting this up they mentioned to me that this seemed like
 a whole lot better idea at home than it did now that they were actually
trying to "make it work", so I've wondered since how market went for them.
I do hope they weren't sorry for this choice because it was a bold,
creative choice and EVERYONE was talking about it, and in that regard,
I guess they succeeded, right?

Booth #2540-  RavenSpeak Quilts
featuring Rose Hughes, Quilt Artist
(whose work is really quite extraordinary!)

Booth #2917- Sarah Vedeler

Booth #3441-  Absolutely Positively Quilt Designs
LOVED the color in this booth, but couldn't find a website for them
(I would have to recommend that they remedy this, right?)

Booth #3319-  Mouse Blankets
Miniature quilts (for mice), All very cute!

Booth #730-  JayBird Quilts
consistently beautiful quilts with vibrant color!
Julie has a great Blog and does a super job at marketing her work.

Booth #105-  Such Designs

  I loved the quirky spirit of whimsy in this work  

So....there you have it!

These were just a few of the booths and products I liked best. 

Did you see anything that tickled your fancy? 

If so, there are hotlinks under almost every picture 

so that you can investigate further!  

ENJOY!

The "Best of" Parade

If pressed to say what I enjoy best about Quilt Market, I would have to say that

it really is a blast to be in the midst of THAT many creative people. I know of no other
occasion in my life where this has been so! I LOVE strolling up and down the aisles and
 marveling at the sheer genius! And THIS time, I made sure I had time to enjoy it!
We made a special trip back to the Market floor Thursday night around 7:30.
Most of the booths were done and the floor was pretty quiet because most
everyone was getting ready for the wild and wooly "Sample Spree" to begin!

I'll show you some of personal favorites in some upcoming posts, but in the meantime, 

pictured below you will find the booths that were judged to be the "Best of the Best" 

by a panel of experts. Let's see what YOU think!

1st place in the Single Booth Category

Bari J
(this booth was diagonally in our sight line)

2nd place in the Single Booth Category

Ever Kelly

 1st place in the Double Booth Category

Pat Bravo
(this booth was directly across from ours)

2nd place in the Double Booth Category

Anna Marie Horner

Best Booth by a new exhibitor

Lauren & Jessi

1st place in Multiple booth category

Michael Miller Fabrics

2nd place in the Multiple booth category

Alexander Henry Fabrics

Best Booth for Creativity

Sarah Jane

Best Booth for Merchandising

Moda Fabrics
(and this booth was also diagonally in our sight line)

So... did the judges get it right? 

I don't know about that, but I've seen enough
to know that I would NOT want their job!
AND-
since 3 of the winning booths were within sight of ours,
we obviously had one of the BEST seats in the house!

And what are YOUR thoughts? 
Which one do YOU like best?