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 ;-) )

Market Day 2

Saturday - May 16th...

The day started bright and early with a breakfast meeting. I was invited to participate in a shop owner focus group. One of the great things about this industry is that it is a tight group. Input, good , bad or indifferent can be voiced and heard.

After breakfast it was time to head off to the show. I road a trolley to the exhibit hall with Mark Lipinski. Everyone buzzing about what might be the next big thing.

Greens and rust with BIRDS - It is like someone read my blog last night, printed fabric and quickly make a quilt. Let's take funky birds, green and some fabric leaning towards curry. Put in a non-traditional shape of a circle and call it a project! I LOVE the new Timeless Treasure line "Apple". Of course, it was here all along. I don't know if we will make this quilt for the shop, but it sure is eyecatching and fun!




While we are shopping for new things - it is great to see how things we already have are done up. "Natural Effects" by Marcus Brothers had some really fun stuff in their display. Bags, quilts, a fun little dress and whimsical artsy pieces.

In between appointments I need to do some celebrity spotting. I stopped at Valorie Wells' booth. We have her fun collection arriving any day now. She is merchandising some really fun t-shirts that coordinate with her fabrics, I just needed one for myself! (I like to shop too!) While I was putting my wallet back in my bag I heard a voice from behind ask "Is that Julie from Julie @ Quilt Market?" Quite confused I turned around to find Jenean Morrison designer for Freespirit/Westminster. For a brief moment I was the "psuedo celebrity" - ha, how crazy is that?

Today we previewed her newest line Picnic Parade.

Some fun news for you scouting fans. Kaufman is following up the popular Boy Scouts line with a Girl Scout line!!! I also put in the word that a group of you are looking for "Girl Scout Green" in a solid.

So I placed our Kaffe Collective fabric order prior to Market, however you never know what I might find. Precuts are now available, so I thought I would try some out for size... They should arrive in a few weeks. I wandered over to check out Kaffe's new book and Rachel, my rep, introduced me to Liza, Kaffe and Brandon. How fun! They were working on a creative project while I thumbed through a proof of the upcoming book. I spotted a quilt that I thought would be a fun project and Liza pulled out a picture of this great quilt, Flower Basket Medallion Quilt. Let me know what you think? I think this would be a great monthly group. For anyone familiar with Lollypop Trees, this is Kim's latest quilt pattern.

Back to fabric shopping. Michael Miller has this great new line. Amy from Blue Underground was really excited about this collection. Maybe we can coax her into making something for us! Wouldn't that be fun! :-)

Lizzie B is so fun. We don't do much with her patterns, but I have such an admiration for her work. She won the booth award for Market. She quilted a tree around the booth pipe!!!! She told me she actually sewed the branches on at the show. WOW talk about sewing under pressure! Great job!!

I ended the day with a great dinner from Lidia's. For those of you who watch PBS cooking shows, Lidia covers all her pans with foil paper and bakes in a "hot" oven for 30 minutes. The pasta was absolutely fabulous tonight. What a great way to finish a busy day!

So much work left to do and only a few more hours tomorrow!!!

Good night from Pittsburgh!

Julie :-)

SHOPPING!!!!

Day One of Spring Market...

The exhibit hall officially opens at 9:30. My appointments start a bit earlier. Margaret meets me and we do some quick work in the quiet before the "storm". Few stores have early morning meetings, it is a privilege but definitely makes the day longer.

The booths are perfect and pristine and the candy dishes are all overflowing!

So much to see with little time to look, absorb and plan. (Do you see the bird on Jennifer's shoulder?) I make lots of notes and take pictures. Some familiar designers are simple, merely plug them into the delivery schedule. If only it all were that easy. I saw all the reps within the last month or so, yet they all seen to have no fewer than 300 new fabrics to show me - from EACH company!!!

I had a busy morning with no pictures to share... I am working on some really cool things to bring back to the shop. Still fleshing out details...

BUT... I have LOTS I can tell you! :-)

GREEN GREEN GREEN. I will say it again. From celery to olive and everything in between. Green is hot. One of my male reps asked me if I really like it, or if I just order it. :-) I love it and I know a lot of you do as well.

Curry that we see in Pottery Barn is creeping in, but I predict it will be AT LEAST another 6 months before we see it.


Birds are everywhere!!!! Stuffed birds, marshmallow birds (peeps), silly birds, pretty birds.

Whimsical more than lifelike, the quilt world is enamored by our winged friends.

Mixed media concepts going strong. Mixing textures is huge. (You can see some quilts at the shop that play with batik, print, solid and even corduroy all in the same quilt.) There are more lines with a variety of textures to use together. Sweetwater (we featured some really cool patterns from them last holiday season) is now with Moda Fabrics. Here is a preview of their fall line.

All work and no play make Julie a dull girl...

Tonight was the big Moda bash. Mark Dunn chartered a river boat to entertain the customers, designers and Moda employees.

What a great time! Great food and drink. A fun tour of the Pittsburgh area by river and a great networking opportunity for all as we were at sea for 2 1/2 hours. My Moda Rep arranged for her Wisconsin and Illinois shops to sit together. It was a great time to sit with my neighbors.

Here are just a few pictures of a few of the great support team at Moda. Each time I travel to one of these events, I gain more quiltie friends. It is so cool to be able to be on a first name basis with all the great people in this industry. Just another reason to love my job.

Time for rest. Tomorrow I have the most buying appointments. Tough job, but someone's gotta do it. :-)

Dreaming of all the quilts I will make with all the new fabric...

Julie :-)