Carrie's Quilt Market Recap!

Hi Fabric Friends! I think I am finally ready to talk about Fall Quilt Market in Houston....it has been 6 weeks, surely enough time to process everything we saw right? I guess we will find out...here goes!
 

First, let me say that it was my first time to experience the wonders of Quilt Market. I thought I was prepared. I talked to Margaret (a Quilt Market veteran) and I had Janet with me...how much more experience could I need?

I had my schedule, a map, my rolly cart, comfortable shoes. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming amount of color, ideas, and amazing talent that bombarded me non-stop for 3 days. I love fabric...I really love fabric. I am in awe of what fabric designers can do with cotton and dye. So being surrounded by designers that I love and the beautiful fabrics and quilts they have created, it was amazing. I know that my tastes are not everyone's tastes. My favorite things that we saw were not necessarily things that we bought for the store, but I want to share them to maybe inspire you as they have inspired me. I love things that will push me as a quilter, maybe they can push you to think outside of the "blocks" too. Here are some of the things we saw.

Color Color Everywhere! What I noticed the most at Market was the use of vibrant colors in really basic ways. Clean crisp prints on white backgrounds, big chunks of color to set off more detailed prints, or really creative ways to use stripes and chevrons (super-hot right now).


Kanvas Booth

This is the Kanvas booth- Kanvas is a division of Benartex. They used solid blocks of orange with the pink and white print to add that pop of color and tone down the craziness of the print. We loved her dress and orange shoes to match the booth! This booth won a best booth award.

I love Michael Miller. I love the clean crisp colors. This booth was huge, and such a fun one to wander in. It made me happy being around the pretty colors. 

This was a quilt from Michael Miller. It uses 3 fabrics, 1 stripe that is cut into strips and shifted, and 2 chevrons. Amazing what you can do with 3 fabrics!

This is the Amy Butler booth. The solid white background was perfect to showcase the large chunks of beautiful prints cut and arranged in fun ways. It is a great way to show off favorite fabrics and beautiful quilting

Tula Pink's booth. She does such fun things with fabric, but this Anchor quilt was one that I don't think I will ever forget. It is an awesome use of grey and white stripes with a beautiful design in a contrasting color. The blue anchor is made out of little tiny squares of different prints. It was really cool.

Janet and I saw a lot of amazing applique quilts and patterns. We learned how to applique with Shannon's Cuddle Fabric (not as hard as it seems), and it kicks up a simple Cuddle blanket or pillow about 10 notches! Maybe a class will be coming in the near future...We found these 2 amazing booths for kids quilt applique patterns. 

Kids Quilts has a huge pattern collection with adorable projects for kids. We brought back a lot of the patterns with us, so if you are looking for a cute applique project for kids, come and check them out. 

 

This 3-D applique quilt was so cute from Kookaburra Cottage. The dollys and bears come off to play with and then go back on. A fun interactive quilt! We purchased this quilt pattern too, and will soon be putting a kit together for purchase.

We took a lot of time to pick out the Saturday Sampler quilt for next year, as well as a block of the month to replace the Memories of Provence quilt that we did this year. Saturday Sampler will be Amish With A Twist II: The Classics. The pattern is by Nancy Rink, the fabric is from Marcus Brothers. It was a beautiful quilt in person, great for a beginner or advanced quilter. The other block of the month will be An Ornate Garden by Maywood Fabrics. It was also beautiful, and the first block will be available in March to pick up. We will also have a sample of the quilt hanging in the store in February. There were a couple other fabric lines that we purchased specifically to make quilt kits. We have heard that it is something that you are looking for, so that is what we will do!

Amish with a Twist

An Ornate Garden

These last pictures are booths that I was really excited to see. I love the ideas I got from each booth.

 

Moda....Glamour+Camping= Glamping! A new fabric line based on very girlie camping. A bright fun way to spruce up an old camper or cabin, or just to have fun with! Moda won a best booth award with this one!

Ruffle Fabric- We might have gotten a little carried away at this booth....I told Margaret that it was Janet's fault...but I don't think that's true! They put ruffle fabrics in quilts!!!!! I was so excited. There were a ton of new ideas to do with it, come in and see what we bought- it is out on the shelves already- and come and talk to me about it! I love love love it!

Marie-Madeline- this booth also won a best booth award. I love the dresses, I love the fabrics, I love the flowers on the dresses. Really cute do-able patterns. We don't have them yet, but we will soon!

There were 2 booths that I went to Market so excited to see. One was Ruffle Fabric and one was Riley Blake...of course my camera would run out of batteries halfway through the Riley Blake booth. We brought in a ton of Chevrons; this pic shows some fun things to do with them. There will be some fun new fabrics from Riley Blake showing up soon.

I hope this look at Market inspires you to work with color and have fun with your quilts and sewing projects like it does me. Just looking at the pictures makes my fingers itch to sew. My pedal foot is twitching as I type! I have to go and get creative now, chat with you soon!

Carrie

 

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