Day One - October 29, 2010

Greetings from Houston. There is a festive Halloween spirit at this Quilt Market. Even the hotel staff is in the spirit. Grandly displayed in the hotel lobby are a dozen Halloween themed pieces designed by each department with a set budget, theme and other rules. #11 - The Haunted Pincushion is my favorite!

Starting the day at the Hilton, it is the hotel to see and be seen. It is like a who's who of the quilt world. What is even better is that I am no longer anonymous. It is great fun to sit in the dining room and wave to fellow shop openers, designers and our friends from manufacturer corporate offices.

So much about the hotel... We had a big day at School House today.

For those of you who have not followed us before, School House is the day before the trade show floor opens for Market. The manufacturers and designers have the opportunity to provide infomercials on the latest and greatest products in the marketplace.

I wanted to make sure that I kept up on providing information nightly. I have a few photos to share tonight however I have a ton of photos that I am collecting.

The schedule is mind boggling! Sessions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ranging from 15 - 30 minutes. 15 plus offerings each time slot!!!

X Block ruler... You asked for it, we researched it. The X Block ruler is a funky widget to transform simple strip sets or blocks into complex units. Tips and tricks galore. A fun tool to check out on the trade show floor.

Clubs, clubs, more clubs. Designers and manufacturers have clubs to promote their goods. Darlene Zimmerman's 30's club has been reformulated and is more exciting than ever! Everyone who attended her session received an amazing sampler box of charms previewing all 2011 lines! Projects from 2011 range from aprons and totes to tablerunners and quilts. Look for more info on this club in the days to come.

Strip Club - Daniella Stout - Queen of the Strip Club debuted her latest patterns for strip club. You would think they have figured out every way to slice and dice the 2 1/2" strip... NOT EVEN CLOSE. More inspiration keeps coming!

Kim Schaefer previewed her new seasonal fabric lines. I love that all four seasons are represented. The spring line is shown in fabric to the left. I love the accent yo-yos in the pinwheel centers.

MODA had a fun session featuring all of their designers. To celebrate 35 years of great fabric, they handed out commemorative hankies with a family tree print. We will be collecting stamps from each booth. Each designer was challenged to create a pillow which described themselves. Such fun getting to know the designers more personally. I wasn't able to get great pictures of all them in the session, however I will get them this weekend.

The day would not be complete without a stop at Sample Spree. Sample Spree is a CRAZY 2 hour event where shop owners have the opportunity to purchase fat quarter packs or precuts of fabric lines early.

Although always tremendously exciting, this Market's offering seemed a bit on the shy side. DON'T WORRY - I still have plenty of loot! It is a great way for me to touch and feel the fabric prior to hitting the trade show floor. Among the great finds, a sweet kit from Me & My Sister, Dilly Dally!

Sweet fabric dreams!

Julie

Market Time Again

So... it is time to head off to Fall Quilt Market in Houston again. I packed my bags and finished the dishes. Let's see if I can keep up with some posts this year! We have market appointments galore lined up and I am super excited to share goodies with you along my journey.

We have just a couple spots left in the post Market review November 10th. If you haven't called the store for reservations, call soon while space is still available 262-786-1523. This is a must attend event of November, 2010!

More from Quilt Market

So what's the next big thing?

Well I am not sure if we have identified "THE" next big thing, but we are really excited to have found a new vendor Blue Hill Fabrics. We may have missed out on some paper dolls to date, but these are really awesome. Dollies and coordinates will be fun to cut out and play, stitch panels together for a memory filled treasure or just grab some to sit on your sewing table to admire and pet.



Quiltie Wrapping Paper!!!

Get ready for the holiday season. We have Sock Monkey, Figgy Pudding and traditional quilting designer wrapping paper.



Wizard of Oz Update

The final installment of The Wizard of Oz fabric is on its way! We have had quite the adventure with Dorothy and friends following the Yellow Brick Road. As we come to a quiltie conclusion to coincide with the 70th Anniversary of the movie, Fons & Porter is issuing a quilt challenge! We will pass on the full details as soon as they are available. Be certain we will have a local challenge as well!



Other License Updates

Quilting Treasures is lining up a list of heavy hitters this winter season:

Saggy Baggy Elephant - Little Golden Books



Monopoly



Candy Land

Barbie

Hot Wheels

Veggie Tales



Lorelei Nurses!!

Thanks for reading. More updates to come. To see all of the goodies and register to win door prizes. Sign up for our post-Market review 10/21 at 6:30 p.m.

More from Quilt Market

Okay, so I have been quiet the past few days. It is not for a lack of good finds... quite the contrary!

We have been not only finding great stuff, but finding new ways of bringing it to you. Lots of meetings, late nights and scurried note writing.

Have no fear, while not in sync with live action, I still have lots of goodies to share with you!

This is the this is the loot from Sample Spree.




I absolutely love the "Box of Candy" from Moda.



Summary:

Hot Colors:
1. Orange - need I say more.

2. Taupe/gray nuetrals




Craziest Novelty Theme:
Michael Miller Gnome




Most Fun Notion Item:
Make Your own "Ugs" like boots with these Simplicity bottoms



Are we done with birds?

Birds and owls, while still prominent did not overtake market. I didn't feel like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie this weekend. Still fun and whimsical, just selectively positioned.

School House & Sample Spree

What an exciting pre-Market day! I haven't been coming for that long, but it is so amazing to see this through the eyes of someone new.

Frank and I started the day picking out School House classes. School House is a series of 15 - 30 minute classes ranging from manufacturer commercials to high level business training and everything in between.

First up - Kim Schaefer (local designer) debuting her upcoming Bunny Hop line and her new book Cozy Modern Quilts (which we already have at the store).

Next - American Quilt Retailers Trend Review. Here is the word of the day: "Zakka" - depending on who you talk to or where you look for the definition it is anything and everything homemade that you make out of enjoyment for yourself or to give. Alot of the crafty fun stuff that we have been seeing - only more of it. (Apparently it is a phenomenon that has surfaced out of the ORIGINAL Hello Kitty generation. Note - I have a Chococat License Plate Holder on my car - Chococat is the techno cousin of Hello Kitty) We are all young at heart and this Japanese inspired trend has grabbed ahold of the quilting community with great strength. I love the homemade gift look - so bring it on!

Scurrying from room to room we had a lot of stimulation to keep us going.

Countless sessions later we paused for a quick dinner and then back to the convention center to get in line for Sample Spree (with Frank - big grin). Always fun seeing Quilt Market friends in line. Lisa Swenson Ruble from Quick Quilts came by to say "Hi".

Once we were into the madhouse - straight to the MODA booth - oh so many yummies!

Off to sleep - big day tomorrow - more posts and pics to follow... Good night for now!

Countdown to Fall Market

The countdown is on to Fall Market in Houston. It is going to be a little different experience for me this trip as I will be accompanied by my husband and business partner Frank. He has never been to a Quilt Market. This will be quite the trip!

I finally made our hotel and plane reservations last week. Frank has been scouting some good eats while we are gone. So we should have some extracurricular posts on our journey.

Hopefully I can convince him to be our photographer this trip! :-)

Stay tuned...

Final Market Day

Market wrapped up today. A crazy busy day.

I have much to write about and am busy working on an overview wrap-up.

Getting a few zzz's before I have to get back to reality..

Talk to you soon!

Julie :-)

p.s. Correction from last night - Valori Wells has "REALLY FUN" t-shirts - (not rally run - although that might be interesting too ;-) )