Moda-fied at Market!

I'm a bit behind on blogging, and can hardly believe it's almost been a whole week since the Market Madness in Houston! As a newcomer, I really had no idea what to expect nor did I realize exactly how crazy quilters can be. I'm referring, of course, to Sample Spree (which I'm happy to have survived). For those of you who have been there, you know what I'm talking about. If you've never been, it's almost hard to explain! More on that in a minute, but first, a confession: as a newbie, I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience that I hardly took any pictures! I'll share what few I did take and will try to do a better job next time.

Prior to heading to Houston, the inimitable Cheryl Freydberg invited me to visit the sprawling Moda headquarters in Dallas. Wow, what an amazing place it is! I was so happy to meet Mr. Mark Dunn (founder and owner of Moda), Moda Lissa (marketing visionary), Alison (one of the talented designers of Urban Chiks, who gave me a great tour of the facilities) and the whole wonderful sales team. They all made me feel right at home, but since this was the first time I'd met them, I felt a little awkward about taking pictures. So, alas, the only picture I did take there was of one of the aisles in the warehouse! But what a lovely warehouse it is:

On our way to Houston, Amy, Tom, and Stephanie (three of the fabulous Moda sales reps) told me about the "Sample Spree" and how out of control it gets with people running around to grab the newly released pre-cuts. Naturally, I didn't want to miss this! The line of people waiting to get in looped around so many times it looked like someone had just announced that Bono of U2 was personally giving out free concert tickets! One woman told me she had been on line since 3 pm. — the doors didn't open until 8pm! Here's a picture of the Moda booth just before the doors opened:

and here's one less than 30 seconds after the doors opened:

Did I take any pictures of all the clever and creative Moda displays? No!

Did I take any pictures of the incredibly talented Moda designers? Only two!

Did I even take a picture of the quilt kit featuring Verna? No!

(i know, i can't believe it either)

But, here are a few from the Moda Bingo party:

Mr. Mark Dunn, Sandy Gervais and Ms. Fig Tree herself, Joanna Figueroa

...and a closer look at their shoes:

Mr. Dunn just needs to tap his heels together three times and say "There's no place like Moda Home" hee hee! Come to think of it, maybe he wore them in honor of Sanae's new line, "OZ"? Hmm...

Here's one with two super sales reps, Jane & Gene, me, and John (the I.T. guru). At least Jane and Gene remembered to take off their name tags.

Here's me, Joanna, and Angela (aka: Moda Home Mom). It was so nice to get to hang out with them! Unlike me, Angela took lots of pictures of all the fantastic Moda booths. Check out her blog to see all the colorful sites!

I also had the chance to meet with the wonderful people from Moda's mill in Korea who work so hard to make all the beautiful fabric! Nice to be able to goof around with them in the Moda photo booth, too. Who can resist a hot pink feather boa?! (Not Jeong, that's for sure!)

and another one of Park and me...(i like these glasses because they make my nose look so small):

Other highlights include meeting the great people from Hancock's of Paducah, The Fat Quarter Shop (here's a link to their blog the Jolly Jabber), some of the Moda Bake Shop contributors, the international sales reps, and so many quilt shop owners, pattern makers and people who share a passion for making beautiful things.

It was an honor for me to meet all the Moda designers and to see their wares so beautifully and creatively displayed. So much to aspire to!

What a memorable trip. I'm so impressed by all the hard work that went into putting so many details together — right down to the Moda "playbook"! I'm very grateful to be a part of such a delightful group of people, and thankful to be able to contribute my designs to their colorful portfolio. Like I said before, "Pinch Me!"