Famore Cutlery at Spring Quilt Market 2010

By now most of you know Brint, Famore Cutlery, "The Scissor Man" at Quilt Market.  You already know that I think his apron is "scissor porn" and I've fantasized about stealing it from the first time I laid eyes on it.  I know lust is typically frowned upon in most religions.....but I've not found one yet that said I could not lust after some of the best scissors made that  all attached to one apron.  If there is one....I'll just change the post to read, "strong desire."

So, you can imagine my shock when I rounded the corner to find Brint stark naked.  OMW (oh my word) I could not believe he was standing there completely "undressed."  Did someone beat me to the goods?  I played it cool.....I took a very deep breath and casually inquired about "THE APRON."  Apparently Mr. Brint had shoulder surgery a few months ago and it is best that he gives his shoulders a break.  So I say, " Hi Brint....oh I'm so sorry to hear about your surgery."  The entire time all I could really think was......OH YES!!!!  (just like Meg Ryan in When Harry met Sally.....just the exact same feeling :)

Much to my dismay Brint just had the apron put away.  I imagine there are armed guards like Mr. T watching the thing all the time....again just my imagination....I did not ask.

Notice the close up.....I zoomed in on his apron while he was doing business with some man from another country.  I'm thinking.....thank you Mr. Foreign Man....keep talking.....I've got some work to do here.  James Bond has nothing on me.....I'm thinking about Jason Bourne type action now....I'm ready for the music to start playing with that heart thumping drama type noise.

Just after the man walked away, Brint sat down and invited me to chat for a bit.  Imagine my incredible luck when he needed to excuse himself for a minute.  "No problem Brint....I'll smile and be welcoming to all passersby and I'll let them know you will be right back.....I just need to have that apron for just a minute however....go on and take care of your business....I'll be right here when you get back."  See....I'm a good tricker....I learned it from my youngest co-worker!!

The security cameras caught me with this "Cat ate the Mouse" smile wearing "The Apron."

I hate security cameras.  When I go to Houston I'm going to send in Inspector Gadget to remove all the electrical wires from the cameras and paint the light on them red so folks think they are really on .... but actually they have been dis-armed!!

I was caught going for the "goods"....I mean the "best scissors at a great price."

So....when you are caught....what do you do?  Dance of course....throw them off a a bit.....do a IHAN Ninja move on them......

 

Evilness lurks within the IHAN scissor hands.....theft and lies are my destiny.

 

Who honestly cares that I'm 46 and have a little more IHAN than expected?  Come on....Life is too good to waste at home when I can be feeling the "wild Yoda" playing with all these incredible scissors.  I may be a little nuts....but I ain't crazy you know!!

A contortionist move before the finale........

Wahhhhhh Lahhhhhhh......I emerge the Scissor Queen of the Universe.....feel the joy and the elation :)

Oh yeah......It's my birthday.....oh yeah.....it's my birthday...( I spent forever looking for a you tube of that dance....you know the one where you say-"oh yeah it's my birthday and you move your hands around your mid-section like you have a shower curtain there?  I'll find it and put it on here :)

These are wonderful for machine embroidery....so I tell Brint I need to buy some of these for my Machine Embroidery customers but I need the points to be blunt.  "Ok, I'll just machine them for you and make them blunt"....says Brint.  You don't get better than that!!!  Famore Rocks Planet Earth....but gently because of the hot lava flows...LOL

Ok, now you know why I love Famore Cutlery.....excellent scissors.....great prices......THE APRON and a guy who will machine scissors for you.....can't beat that even with a big stick.  Oh, yeah did I mention....he is not too hard on the eyes either!!!

Oh, dear.....how ever did that lovely apron get into my bag?  Hmmmmm.....I'm so sorry I misplaced it Brint.....I'm still looking for it....maybe Gene knows where it is.....then again....maybe not....oh I'm bad.

So, what did I do?  I gave Brint my new camera strap that I made the night before Quilt Market.  He does not quite look the same does he?  A little girley at that.....but.....I had to offer something up since I "lost" the apron.

Smile for the camera IHAN bloggifers.  You've been

You can check out all of the Famore Cutlery at IHAN, just click here :)

As you can tell, I had a great time....both at Market and with writing this story....fiction of course :)

Smiles,

Kelly

Hoffman Challenge and Hands All Around XXV: International Quilts at Spring Quilt Market 2010

(Edited 6/9/10 6PM)
Someone out there is a psychic that can levitate objects....who ever you are...THANK YOU VERY MUCH!  I woke up today and the camera card that I turned the house upside down for was on my kitchen counter (100% truth).  Where?  When? Why?.....Who cares right?  I'm just glad it is present and accounted for :)

I'm now able to bring you the ever beautiful Hoffman Challenge entries and the Hands All Around XXV: International Quilts that were shown at Quilt Market.  There were more but since I am in charge of taking photos.....I just take pictures of the ones that grab me.  That is not to say the others that I saw were not absolutely amazing too.....but in that moment they did not grab me.  (Guess this is my blog and I can write what I want right?  My thoughts too....glad we think alike :)  The photographs below each piece is the Designer and information about the quit above the photo. 

Are you starting to gather why they call this a "Challenge?"  Yes....amazing clothing and I only wish they were made in tall because you know I would have been walking around sporting one of these outfits and that poor manikin would have been stuck with something plain and un-exciting that is For Sure!

What an interesting and eye catching bag!!!  Way tooo cool.

Who needs Hollywood's Designers? Or should I say Paris?  This is when ignorance is bliss :)  I would wear this beautiful outfit right down the red carpet in one hot second with a big smile that would break cameras for sure....I think Annette Benning needs to wear this too.  Just taking advantage of being the author again...oops.

I tried a close up of this to show the beads and the pattern on the fabric.  It is difficult to tell from the photo above.

Sarah Vedeler needs to pop into the Houston Quilt Market wearing this...don't you think?  I think it is definitely her.

How does this grab you? 

 

This makes me think of summers....beautiful dandelions everywhere.

Stop and look at this one for awhile....check out all the leaves and details....incredible.

 

I love this one too...especially how the quilting makes the entire quilt just pop....gently without you almost even noticing....like a watercolor.  It was available for purchase.....so if you have a spare zillion....feel free to hand deliver it anytime....yes....anytime!!

Just a few more shots to give you the feeling like you were there....standing back....gazing upon beauty and absolute life force energy....the gift of human creation.  So next time someone cuts you off in traffic or steals your parking spot....just remember that could be the person who made one of these beauties and they got a creative stroke of genius and they had to hurry to get where they were going so we could all admire their work.  No?  Well........just get over it then :)  LOL

Thanks for walking along with me....I love good company. 

Edited here: 

 

Gene, my editor, would have caught this if he had known it was my plan....unless he is the clairvoyant and he knew but just wanted it for himself....I'm not sure.  Nonetheless, I was planning on giving this autographed copy of Quilt Life Magazine on this post.  So if you would like to have the lovely autographed copy...leave a comment.  When I feel like it.....I'll do the random number generator thing.....unless I get the best comment ever read....then I'll just give it to that person....I'm feeling a little wishy washy today :)  I can be bribed basically...LOL.  By the way, autographed copies of this magazine are not just handed out here and there at Market.  I had to approach these grizzly folks and fear for my life while asking them to autograph it....so it came at a very high price. (Seriously though, these are not autographed, I had to request their autographs and they are so gracious and unassuming.....no "I'm a star" attitude at all.....just as lovely as they appear on this magazine.

Smiles,

Kelly

TrueCut Rotary Cutting System by The Grace Company at Spring Quilt Market 2010

I am pleased to be able to say I got some stitching done today!!!

Unfortunately it was not Quilt or Embroidery Stitching :(   Poor Wall-E needed his head stitched back on.  Every have one of those days?  Where you just need your head stitched back on?  Wall-E did.  Good thing Momma IHAN knows how to replace heads.  After all, it isn't brain surgery you know.  Just cranial replacement without any spinal cord complications.  LOL

On to Quilt Market purchases....a bit more fun than head surgery.  Although I might need head surgery or at least  seek some sort of professional organizer or psychic because I have lost one of my camera cards and can't find my pix from Market of the TrueCut Rotary Cutting System by The Grace Company.   Doesn't really matter because....that's right....I bought the system while I was there!!!  Lucky for me that I drove because otherwise I would not have been able to bring it back on an airplane. (If you find my head or camera card...please ship it back....thanks a million :)

I'll start with the non-skid mat.  It goes down on the table first so the mat does not slip or move.  I'm certain it can be used for other projects as well.  (I'll use mine when I do my Shiva Paintstick rubbings:)

Then comes the two sided cutting mat. I got the 24"x36" cutting mat because that is the size I like working with. One side has markings for Bias, True Bias, Lengthwise Grain and Crosswise Grain.  And the other side has the angles marked as well as the inches divided by 1/4 inches.

I'll upload a pix from The Grace Company here so you can see the mat markings close up....

well....I guess if you really want a close up you can click here.

This is the TrueCut Ruler.  It is 6" x 24" and it has a lip/edge on both sides so it is great for both right and left handed people. 

Thin grips, True Grips, can be used on this ruler and any other ruler.  I liked them because they were thin and really gripped my fabric and the mat.

Majorly cool is the new TrueCut Rotary Cutter.  Now can you see why I like the ruler so much?  No chance I'll cut my finger tips off.  Every time I see or hear about someone doing that I cringe.  I know it is possible and I'm always careful....but there is always that one time when it might happen and I figured this cutting system was much cheaper than an ER visit every day of the week.  I get to enjoy it too....as opposed to going to a hospital....which I hate!

Yes, this time I read the instructions. The TrueCut Rotary Cutter has a lock at the bottom and then the slide thing (Tension button) in the middle adjusts how much pressure it takes to cut through your fabric.  For instance, if you were cutting through several layers of fabric you may want to loosen the tension.

Now you did not actually think I would iron a piece of fabric for a demo did you?  Good, you are finally getting to know me better.  The TrueCut Ruler has a lip on the edge that you can see here in the photos.

Here you can see the blade cutting down the lip of the ruler, like a track on the edge.  It keeps the blade steady so I'm not moving away from the edge.  Not like I've ever done that before....don't believe me?  Well, you shouldn't because I do that all the time and that is why I have to re-square up my fabric all the time.

 

The extra cool thing is the TrueCut Rotary Blade Sharpener.  It has a honing stone in it and sharpens rotary blades (most brands) by running the blade back and forth in the sharpener.  You don't take the blade out of the cutter and risk an accident while sharpening the blade.  Now keep in mind no sharpener will take out a chip or nick in a blade.  It does however sharpen dull rotary blades. 

Now you know why I bought the entire system.....cuz I don't want to find my phalanges on the mat when I turn around to start my sewing machine.  I like to feel safe around here....you saw what happened to Wall-E.  IHAN can be a rough and tumble sort of place sometimes....those co-workers can be real caballeros.

I put The Grace Companies You Tube video here so you can see the TrueCut Rotary Cutting System in action.  Besides, do you have any clue how long it would actually take me to make a video and upload it here?  Perhaps the rest of my life....or at least the rest of my sane life :)

So, that was one of my purchases while at Quilt Market in Minneapolis.  Each item is available separately at IHAN. There is a special IHAN price (you'll save $42.00 smackers) for those who would like to get the TrueCut Cutting System.  Since I bought it I figured there might be some other folks who have been wanting to avoid the ER too :)

Smiles,
Kelly