Julie's Adventures at Quilt Market

Day One - October 29, 2010

2010-10-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-13T19:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

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!!!!

2009-05-15T20:17:00.001-07:00

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 :-)

Welcome to Spring Quilt Market 2009

2009-05-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

What an action packed day!

The first day of Quilt Market is called Schoolhouse. We have an action packed day of education provided by manufacturers, designers and fellow shop owners. Everything from the latest trends in fabric to how to teach a Beginning Quilting class. There are over 200 classes to choose from among 20 or so classrooms. Classes run 15 - 30 minutes and you better run in between sessions.

This is one of the biggest reasons I come to Market. It is great to hear new ideas, be exposed to what the manufacturers think is the next big thing and to get a little preview of all the goodies that will be available in the exhibit hall over the next few days.

One of the great bonuses is the "freebies" - just like we tempt you with goodies, the vendors lure us with yummy fabric to see what they have to offer.

Lunn Studios showcased their Kaufman Artisan Batiks with a theme "Permission to Play" - I absolutely love it! Debra and Michael talked about how there are not many self proclaimed art quilters, yet so many of us like to dabble in the "creative" side of art quilting. Do you know what she said? "There are no art quilt police!" How liberating! I don't know about you, but I do get quite concerned about is something "artsy" daring enough... WELL - guess what? IT DOESN'T MATTER. She continued, "It's just fabric" HA!!! So go ahead - give yourself permission to play. We have seen her striped batik patterns before and they only get better. 3 1/2" strips cut on the bias or on the straight. Subcut into squares or simply resewn together, this fabric is absolutely magical in creating works of art out of simple patterns.

Local favorite Kim Schaefer showed off her holiday lines and debuted her newest "Folklorika". Christmas themed "Partridge in a Pear Tree" is classic Kim and perfect for your whimsically primitive project. One of my favorites for this Christmas line is her pear table runner. The whole gang at Andover Fabrics gets into the act at the class. Company owner David proudly parades quilt samples and one male staffer even struts down the catwalk with a tree skirt as a man kilt. We were lucky enough to grab a sample pack of Partridge and a matching coveted Andover tote bag. (These will be part of the loot on the Post-Market Review Night May 27th at 5:30 - have you reserved your spot yet?)

Kaye England hosted a Hoedown! Retro and kitchy (I love that she uses that word too), this fabric line demands a closer look. We will see what goodies she has tomorrow! Back Home Again with Diane has been such a hit at the store, I do like to see what Kaye has to offer.

Maple Island Quilts have this really cool technique for stripe fabrics. We'll be checking this one out tomorrow.

Electric Quilt Company featured a fascinating Kaleidescope add on... make a note - more research. Very cool twist on paper piecing projects.

Tonight, we had Sample Spree. Now I didn't have to scalp a ticket this trip... I actually got in line at 5:00 p.m. (I know the doors open at 8:00 p.m.) See Pittsburgh is a great city, but the hotels are not connected to the convention center, so where else was I going to go? The funny thing is, jockeying for position totally didn't matter tonight, they opened doors on several entrance doors for efficient entry for all to the event. (grin) Regardless the swarming and elbowing was on! I was as ladylike as possible and somehow ended up with an amazing amount of stuff by 8:15. You know we get bolts delivered by the case to the store, yet I still find tremendous joy in acquiring an amazing fat quarter pack or two (or three or... Frank isn't reading this is he :-) ?) I have the packs spread out on the bed in the hotel room.

An incredible bonus, our buddies from Me & My Sister Designs GIVE charm tablet samples with orders. We are the proud new owners of their latest design Fiona. More challenging than Emma, This sixth offspring is a GREAT baby quilt or basis for a larger quilt.

The classes today were held above the exhibit floor. In between classes we could see the exhibit floor take shape. AHHH all the goodies to take in tomorrow...

Must rest... Sweet fabric dreams from Pittsburgh...

Julie :-)

Get Ready for Spring Market 5/14-5/17

2009-05-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Check back 5/14 to follow my every move at the Pittsburgh Spring Quilt Market!

Market Wrap Up

2008-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

After a whirlwind in Houston, I have returned back to the shop.

Top 5 things I have seen:
1. Green
2. Birds
3. Fairies
4. More pre-cuts
5. Everything homemade

Green
From soothing sage to electric lime, all things green are hot!

Birds
Birds, birds and more birds - even some owls. Birds are still hot. Mostly "contemporary" representations of birds over true images.

Fairies
Alexander Henry was a bit ahead of the trend with some showing last market. Fairies were everywhere.

Pre-cuts
Some new language for you:
Turnover: 6 inch squares cut on the diagonal
Honey Buns: 1 1/2" strips cut width of fabric

More and more patterns using combinations of pre-cuts instead of only one cut.

Everything Homemade
I haven't been going to these things for too long, however there seems to be more of a focus on creating homemade everything. Easy home decorating ideas, more totes (if that is possible), aprons, and lots of little gifty items.

Lots of the newer designers are talking about ETSY. (A crafter's EBAY type online community. www.etsy.com)

I can't wait to see you tomorrow night for the big Post Market Review!

Julie

Sunday, October 26, 2008

2008-10-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

Another busy day of shopping!

As I downloaded my pics today I realized I had "dim light setting" on my camera for most of the day. So we have only a few pictures to share today.

I started the day running into the one and only Mark Lipinski. (quilt media mogul, personality, a.k.a. the quilt god) . He blogspotted us the other day! HA! After a fun chat I rushed off to my appointment to buy his upcoming fabric line "krakow" from Northcott. As a note of clarification - his lecture the other day would not have made a truck driver blush, just my mother. :-) She would have thought it was entertaining nonetheless.

Lots of fun finds today at Northcott! Trick or Treat Street for Halloween 2009 (okay okay my weakness is Halloween).

The Sisterhood of Quilting which is a a fun Quiltie Lady find. Jody Haughton is the artist and has teamed up with Mattie from QuiltSmart for a great quilt!

Speaking of QuiltSmart, we have some great finds to share with you. Caren has been teaching the QS Lonestar for months now, however that is just the beginning. I have a sampling of products to share with you when I return. The apple core pattern and tumbling blocks are my favorite new discoveries.

I also love the fact that they have some great new product packaging and standalone instructions to match up with additional bolt yardage.

I finally had my appointment to order the "Fish Lips" from the Kaffe Collective at Westminster. The polka dot on the left is a different print from the collection.

New from Quilting Treasures - the new installment of Wizard of Oz is on it's way and I Love Lucy will be making it's way into the quilting world as well. Lucy's Chocolate Factory is absolutely spectacular! They have coordinated a new Lucy's Chocolate Factory chocolate line from Rocky Mountain Chocolates as well. I got a WHOLE bar to sample today. OMG - it was so yummy - no skimping on quality there. I have a great Lucy apron as one of our doorprizes on Friday.

I got to meet Keri Beyer from In the Beginning. I got some flair - real flair - I LOVE flair! She has a cool new "rocket scientist" line. I wish I lived in a dorm again! Girls can be Rocket Scientists - WE CAN!! WE CAN!!

I have a final day tomorrow. I still have more to share. If you are local make sure you sign up to come in on Friday night for our Post-Market Review.

Happy Quilting!

Julie

Saturday, October 25, 2008

2008-10-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

Day One has come to a close.

So last night it seemed like I really didn't know anyone here. Starting the day at 8:15 a.m., breakfast in the hotel lobby became a who's who of the quilt world. Me & My Sister's invited me over to their table, but I had already finished my bowl of corn flakes, so I declined - maybe tomorrow. Off to the show...

I have some really awesome fabric reps... one of my favorites got me in early this morning - before start of the show with coffee (shh don't tell anyone) Everything is so nice and peaceful right before the doors officially open. There are sales meetings at some of the booths, other booths are still "roped off" as the vendors have not all yet arrived.

I got to survey a few booths without the crowd and then it was down to business. At the Free Spirit booth, some the designers are lurking about the booth. Unbeknownst to me, Jenean was standing behind me with other members of the design team while I viewed her debut line. I started petting the fabric and I heard some giddy giggling. I turned around, saw her nametag and said "are you...?" We briefly chatted and she graciously posed for a picture with me. This is the absolute best part of market. The designers being just like you and me. They design fabric like we experiment with quilts. Market for them is like show and tell for us... with the small difference that their livelihood depends on us liking (hence buying) their fabric.

Keeping a tight appointment schedule, I saw all the new fabric offerings at Kaufman, Hoffman, Free Spirit, Andover, Benartex, Alexander Henry today. I had just enough time to walk around a bit.

Me and Nicole (Designer for Alexander Henry)

New fabrics from Hoffman

Fun "Lights, Camera, Action" from Andover - will be just in time for those Oscar parties.

Kim Schaefer's new line

Brown Bear - a followup to Hungary Catapillar

Something a little different was the amount of "contemporary funky" panel type pieces. These are 45" pieces that are appropriate for duvet covers or "convenience" quilts.

I found this really fun company Sweetwater (we carry some of thier black and white fabrics). She has some really fun "Pottery Barny" (yes that is a new word) patterns. We will be incorporating the ornaments in our after Thanksgiving workshops. I just think they are so FUN!!!

I picked up some great goodies today as well. Authors with book signings, Kim Schaefer got me a tote bag for her new fabric line, Anna Maria Horner autographed a book for me and gave me some other goodies.

Anna Maria Horner signing her new book for us!

Linda from Craftapple chatted with us and her new purse the chemisette.

Kaari at the Moda booth (she is originally from Milwaukee and will be a future fabric designer)

Tonight is the night for party hopping. Moda always has a great spread and Kaufman has a sophisticated intimate soirée. At the Kaufman party I had a great time connecting with different shops and chatting up the corporate execs and fabric designers. I had a really great chat with Debra and Michael from the Artisan Batik line. They have heard about all you batik club ladies and were asking what else they can do to help our club along! I don't know if you know it, but you ladies were the impetus behind getting that trunk show out and about to different stores!

Lots more stories and pictures tomorrow!

Julie

What a day!?!?!

2008-10-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a day!

The day before market is dedicated to education and promotion. We have 15-30 minute segments from many vendors.

Each of the time slots offers over 10 unique sessions so there is absolutely no way to take in everything... but I try.

First Highlight: Black & White & Red All Over

Cindy Hershy hosted a trend session discussing the continuation of Black and White with a splash of color. We have seen black/white/red, black/white/yellow, and black/white/pink for several seasons now. This classic combination is still strong with new fabric offerings. I love the use of red ric rac on this sample of charm party totes. Remember you can make "charm" patterns with fabric you cut yourself!

Second Highlight: Fresh Ideas from Fig Tree & Co.

Joanna dazzles again. Fig & Plum debuted at the store last week for Moda University. Fig Tree has published a great new series of "Fig Tree Threads" patterns that focus on quick projects. I am absolutely in love with her slipper and duffle bag patterns. Her upcoming fabric line Patisserie, will be shipped in all the latest Pre-cut shapes (Honey Buns and Turnovers). She has a great vision for using precuts in a sophisticated way.

Third Highlight: The Kaffe Collective - Kaffe, Liza, Brandon & Philip

Kaffe's debuts his new concept book "Country Garden Quilts" and welcomes Brandon into the Kaffe Collective. Brandon had been a Kaffe understudy and now debuts his first line. For the first time Westminster Fibers is marketing the Kaffe, Brandon and Philip lines together. While textures are very different, the look and feel is very fluid between the groups. My favorite new fabric is "Fish Lips" by Brandon Mably (I think I just like it because of the name and he made a fish lip face when he shared how he conceived of the design.)

Kaffe also took a moment in this extended session to discuss his quilt design process. He uses a single shape (a diamond in this case), 300+ cuts of this shape from various fabrics, and a twin size sage flannel sheet. Playing with fabric placement he focuses on the aesthetics of fabric placement before a single seam is sewn.

Fourth Highlight: Edyta Sitar - Spectacular Fusible Applique

I have seen Edyta before and I am awe struck EVERY time. She can make fusible web dance! In this session she discussed her upcoming book as well as her upcoming fabric lines. In addition to pattern designing, she designs batiks for Moda under the label Laundry Basket Quilts. She is the designer of the fabulous "Let it Snow" collection. Her upcoming "Dreaming in Color" is so yummy as well.

Fifth Highlight: Quilt-O-Grams

A twist on quilted postcards - this new book by C&T focuses on playing with surface embellishments to create personalized cards to share while learning a new technique and playing with different mediums.

Just announced C&T is bringing back Timtex!

Sixth Highlight: A Chat with Mark Lipinski (Creator of Quilter's Home Magazine)

Mark is such a radical... he told stories which would make a truck driver blush. Humor and business savvy makes Mark a great addition to the quilting world. Love him or hate him, he is turning the quilt world upside down. Less of a consumer session, this shopowner meeting focused on how we need to keep up with the changing complexion of the "average" quilter. This "ain't" your great-grandmother's quilt world anymore.

Seventh Highlight: Best of Show Product Review

An Oprah style presentation, a top trade magazine reviewed their top 30 picks for market. At the end of the session, we all left with a goodie bag!!! More to come from this session...

The day ends with what is called Sample Spree. This is where shop owners have the opportunity to buy "designer cuts" of fabric to make our samples before the fabric lines are shipped. We also can buy special packs of patterns from pattern vendors. Then there are a few sought after booths that actually sell samples with a group of patterns!

A true madhouse... it is rumored that fights have broken out in previous years. I waited in the hall for 70 minutes to experience this venue. Chatting with shopowners and designers, the wait seems hardly more than 5 minutes.

Tomorrow - the trade show floor opens and buying begins...

Signing off until tomorrow!

Julie

Fall Quilt Market in Houston

2008-10-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow quilters...

Let the Quilt Market Adventures begin again!

I am getting ready to go to Sample Spree. I have lots to post from today's informative Schoolhouse sessions.

More in a few hours :-)

Sunday, May 18, 2008

2008-05-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

Market has been spectacular. A little bit of history - Obama stayed in our hotel last night and Chelsey Clinton was in the hotel across the street. Quite interesting to be in the middle of the political hype while attending our tiny little quilt market in comparison.

It has been exhausting and exhilerating.

Check out all the goodies I am stuffing in my suitcase!

I will finish posting my finds on Monday.

Make sure to make your reservation to attend the post-Market wrap-up at the store on Wednesday evening, May 28 at 6:30. I will have new patterns and books to show you. Some fabrics to preview as well I will be able to answer all of your questions. They sent me home with some good bling - it will be worth your while to come!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

2008-05-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

Day 2 on the trade show floor.

An early breakfast in the hotel, a merchandising session with Mark Dunn, President of Moda, before the show - we start the morning running at 9 a.m. at the Moda Booth. (I think I need more coffee)Sooo many pretty lines. I shop for the Moda U lines through November! :-) I was treated to the delightful ginger snaps we serve at our Moda U club at my appointment. However I must be careful to not start the sugar rush too early!

11 a.m. - time to run over to Timeless Treasures. Much to my surprise our favorite hot designers from Blue Underground have teamed with Timeless Tonga Batiks for a great quilt program. SOOO of course we had to order that program! Black, white and yellow are the latest hot twist on Black & White. Taxi (or as I like to call it "Yellow Pages") will debut early this fall... it is stunning!

At noon, I hit Benartex. For those of you who liked Baby Genius... Baby Genius Grows Up! The great educational brights have a sequel. Black and White are HOT this spring!

Not too many pictures this afternoon as I was on a speed mission...

Island Batik, Clothworks, Andover, Michael Miller.

As we are relaxing in our room tonight - much is going on in the city of Portland. Our hotel is hosting a local high school prom and the Presidential candidates are floating around town! All in all a very eventful night!

I must get a good nights rest.. only one more day. Tomorrow the focus shifts from fabric to pattern and books. I have already found a few really cool things. However I have a HUGE to do list... wish me luck!

Friday, May 16, 2008

2008-05-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

2008-05-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Schoolhouse

It’s a bright sunny day in Portland and Quiltie Ladies (and men) from all over the world have converged on the Portland Convention Center. The ballroom is a buzz as we wait for the opening session of our Schoolhouse Day.

Schoolhouse is a day where shop owners get a preview of all the new goodies from designers and manufacturers. A chance to hob-knob with the quilt elite while we elbow for chairs in each mini-session. A total of 226 classes are offered between 15 sessions. You can’t possibly hit them all in this day of stimulation overload.

First Up Me & My Sister Designs

We learned about their mini-charm tablet patterns. You can make mini table runners or crib quilts to make the pattern to size or you can expand the size by making multiples of the quilts.

Amanda is a great pattern to make out of holiday fabric to make a quick and easy decoration! They have been making patterns with Layer Cakes as well. We will visit them at their booth!

Ooh – I ran into Alex Anderson in the hall – she said “Good Morning” to me.

Next up Darlene Zimmerman fabric designer, author, and gadget maker.

I’ve met Darlene before so we caught up in the hall. She will be talking about her latest 30’s line from Kaufmann. We will be joining her Clothesline Club, so this will be exciting!!! I got a really fun sweet treat fabric goodie just for coming to her class!

Check out these awesome projects!

We got bumped out of Mark Lipinski’s class (he is the crazy Quilter’s Home magazine guy). SOOOO many shops here, there must have been about 100 of us that didn’t get in. He is such the rock star! We will see him tomorrow in his booth. He has a great new fabric collection with Northcott. I can’t wait to get it!

Instead I popped into Eleanor Burns’ Victory Quilts session. OHH what a treat! Eleanor was in classic style and had a whole multimedia spectacle put together to showcase her new book. She was in costume as Rosie the Riveter. A little history, a little song and dance… and 20 great blocks make for some awesome quilts.

After lunch, Erin McMorris introduced her new line with Free Spirit, Park Slope Inspirations. A textile designer for over 15 years, Erin is breaking out on her own with her second fabric line. I love her use of fabric. It is such a great way to get those non-sewers into quilting. She uses raw edge appliqué without fusible web to create soft “organic” designs with pillows, wall art and other home dec items.

Local favorite Kim Schaefer was featured in the Andover classroom. Andover Fabrics has one of the best classrooms, each attendee receives a great fabric goodie bag out of the class featured fabric designer. Her husband Gary did most of the talking while she showed off her latest fabrics and patterns. I just LOVE her snowmen. Her latest is Cottage Blooms (which we have in the store right now). Plus we got a preview of her winter and upcoming children’s line. I didn’t win the door prize of a fat quarter bundle… better luck next time.

We saw the coolest thing with the latest from Lunn Studios Artisan Batiks. Using simply the elements of the fabric, foundation piecing 6" diagonal strips of ONE fabric side by side, they created a quilt. No horizontal seams in this quilt. It is unbelievable! I can't wait to make one.

Last but not least we made sure we stopped by the Blue Underground Ladies session. Janine and Amy have great new designs to share with us! I can't wait to show you!!! The quilt shown is done in Dupioni Silks.

2008-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

It’s Wednesday in Portland. Today is the day before festivities begin at the Lloyd Convention Center. Walking the streets downtown you run into quilters from all over the world. Everyone is so friendly! I am rooming with Rosemary from Bigsby’s and we have hit the famous Button Emporium. Vintage and new buttons, ribbons and trims. So many yummy things! I HAD to get some Halloween trims and buttons. I still have no clue what I will do with them but I had to pick them up!

Next we traveled to this decadent coffee and chocolate shop. We indulged in a Mexican Mocha to hold us over until dinner. Fresh cinnamon and nutmeg dancing with the chocolate caffeinated concoction hit the spot.