Friday, May 16, 2008

WOW! I have done this a few times and this is still overwhelming. There is a record number of vendors this year and the convention center is huge. I got lost more than once - where is my GPS :-) The one really great thing is that while there are alot of people here, it is not chaotic like Rosemont. I am able to walk the aisles without fighting crowds to get in an out of booths. My appointment schedule is pretty hectic so I we have to view and pick pretty quickly.


I programmed my phone to keep me on task this weekend. I got snuck in before the show at 9:00 a.m. with my rep Margaret. She is too shy to have her picture taken. We had a whirlwind tour of Wilmington, Alexander Henry, Kaufman, and Free Spirit all before 10:30 a.m.! I planned to just walk the show until noon before I saw any rep, but time is too precious and I had to cave and make appointments right from the start.

I spoke with Kaye England about her newest quilt program. Check out this really cute suitcase for the full size quilt kit!


At the Robert Kaufman Fabric booth I had a special treat. I met Debra Lunn! The one from Schoolhouse yesterday. Margaret helped talked to her and she is going to help us with our August Batik Club. THIS IS SOOO AWESOME!!! She will send us more information on her design process and we should have a trunk show of at least a couple of her FABULOUS quilts! Who knows what goodies the company might send us for club!

Next up, Hoffmann! MORE yummy batiks. They cam out with a fabulous new product "Bali Pops" (rhymes with lollipops). 40 - 2 1/2 strips wrapped in cellophane. Due out this summer, the reps tell me to hop back on Sunday to see if there might be one or two I might be able to bring back to show you.

After a little bit to eat, back to the trade show floor. At the P&B booth, Jennifer shows me Alex Anderson's latest Redwork fabric line. I don't know how many of you remember Janine's fabulous Red - "Blue Willow" quilt with the FABULOUS red and white toile? WELL I found some red and white toille!!! WOOHOO!

A few more fabric manufacturers and a sneak peak at some pattern booths before the show closes.

I found these really cute aprons from Apron Lady Designs. I have a couple samples to bring home to show you! I got the Flirty Skirt Apron in Fresh Squeezed the great new Sandy Gervais line (check out her booth).

Now that my work is done for the day I am off to a couple cocktail parties. Unfortunately I do not have a full photo journal of the parties... what do they say... "what happens at Quilt Market STAYS at Quilt Market" ahahahahaha

I did run into our friend Lisa Swenson Ruble (right) and her colleagues. Lisa moved to Harris Publications from Fabric Trends Magazine. She is with Marilen Forneas and Elaine Sexton.