I had the pleasure of joining the Sizzix team in their booth for Quilt Market this past weekend.  

This was the booth!  For those of you not familar with the Fabi, it is the latest Sizzix die cutting machine.  Basically, it is a redesigned Big Shot made to appeal to quilters.  It has stitching details on the sides and a Cathedral Windows like pattern.  So many people have the misconception that the Big Shot only cuts paper.  This machine intends to make it clear that it is also for fabric!  In fact, you can cut up to 8 layers of fabric. You can still cut paper with the Sizzix too, without worrying about dulling the blades.  This allows you to cut paper hexies, for instance, with the smaller 1″ Hexagon die and your fabric with the slightly larger 1 1/4″ Hexagon Die for English Paper Piecing. The product is very versatile.

**Edited to answer some questions I am getting. The Fabi and the Big Shot are the same exact machines. They use the same 6″ Bigz dies. The Big Shot Pro is the larger machine. It takes 12″ wide dies. You can use it for the smaller 6″ dies too but the 12″ dies obviously will not fit in the 6″ machines (Big Shot and Fabi).

The Sizzix team made me feel very welcome on this trip. I spent time in the booth showing people how to use the machines and letting them give it a try. With the pieces they cut out, they could design a block on the design wall. I spent much of my time sewing the blocks together on a nice Bernina machine borrowed from the folks in the Bernina booth. We joked that it was “Survivor” sewing because I was without an iron or a seam ripper but those blocks got done just the same! They will be assembled and the finished quilt will be donated to some lucky girl.

I was happy to have a number of online friends come visit me in the booth and become “real life” friends. In this picture you can see Katy from The Littlest Thistle. She is one of my most faithful blog readers and commentators (much appreciated Katy). She stopped by to design a block. It was so fun to meet all the people who I have chatted with through email in person! That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I realized once I got home that I still missed finding a few people I had hoped to say hi to but I did see so very many!

I designed and sewed one quilt for the booth. It’s the green, white and grey quilt seen here in the booth. I was asked to design a pattern using the 6 1/2″ square and 6 1/2″ HST dies.

Here is a quick picture that I took of the quilt before sending it off. I am calling it Ombre Vibes. As you can see, the fabrics move from lighter in the center to darker on the edges.

Here is a close up on the quilting. I did some pretty tiny pebble quilting in the center square using a perfect minty colored Aurifil thread. Then I quilted with radiating wavy lines.

Sizzix has some fun new dies that were debuted at market. I think that the Crazy Quilt Die is sure to be a hit. It works perfectly with a layer cake. You cut up to 8 layers and then shuffle the fabrics to make 8 unique blocks. Repeat till your layer cake has disappeared! There is basically zero waste involved.

It was a lot of fun sharing the wonderful world of die cutting with people. It’s quite fun to see people’s reaction who have never tried it. They are so surprised at how easy it is to turn the handle on the machine and are excited to see all the perfect cuts.

Tim Holtz came to do some demos in the booth. He is certainly a crowd favorite. So many people asked for pictures with him! Tim designs dies for Sizzix but he also has his own booth, sharing fabric from his second collection for Coats. It was fun to meet Tim and his crew-Mario and Paula. They are all so fun to be around.

Here is a peek of my tablet cover and pillow in Tim’s booth. I twisted Becca’s arm and she has ordered several bolts from Tim’s first and second collections so look for them at Sew Me A Song in upcoming weeks/months.

I am so wiped out today. I am not used to sleeping through city noises so sleeping was hard for me! I arrived home last night to 3 very grateful children and my husband. I think that they are all glad to have me back, which is a nice feeling. I am sure many other mothers feel as I do normally–completely unappreciated. So, it’s a nice feeling that I will enjoy for a day or two perhaps before things go back to normal!

I shared more pictures of market on Instagram but I will blog about the other booths later on this week. Now, it is time to catch up on laundry and school field trip permission forms and school pictures, oh my!