Quilt Market, Fall 2008

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I’m back from Houston, TX –the home of the annual Quilt Market trade show. Encompassing the entire convention center, this show is where shopowners come to buy fabric for their stores, and this year there were 551 exhibitors with fun booths to show off their wares. And the good news is that 60 of them were new exhibitors–that certainly makes a positive statement in this economy about the commitment to sewing and quilting!

Walking the 1, 141 booths is no easy task, and definitely not one taken lightly as I’m trying to eek out new product information. The booths are fun, colorful and often laden with elaborate displays of not only quilts, but garments, small projects, and of course innovative tools, trims and notions that will be available to us as consumers in a few months. The companies are now taking orders from store buyers, and some things will be shipped in the next few weeks.

With this many booths, it’s sometimes hard to soak everything in, so I find that it’s helpful to take some time to stop and visit with friends along the way and ask what they’ve seen that’s new and that I shouldn’t miss. I reciprocate and share new things I’ve seen as well.

So, what did I see that’s new? Lots of things and I’ll be writing about them in future blogs. In general, I saw lots of crocheted trims–on garments, quilts, aprons, bags, etc. If you can crochet, you’ll be able to put this skill to some fashionable use this coming season. If not (I can’t), look for these great trims by the yard in your fabric store.

I also saw lots of rickrack–mostly the very GIANT version that you purchase by the yard, as opposed to being pre-cut in a package.

Kits were also a popular item–whether pre-cut strips in a “jelly roll” package (narrow strips rolled up), or pre-cut triangles or squares, the manufacturers really want to help those of us with limited time so they’ve taken some of the work of the cutting process for us. Good idea…and perhaps a bit more accurate as well since they’re die-cut.

Animals seemed to be a theme of many booths–from bugs, fish and butterflies, to bunnies, chickens and zoo inhabitants. Another popular theme in fabrics was fairies.

I went to a class on making fabric beads, and I’ll share some of that information with you soon. For now, I’m going to put my feet up for awhile, and then be happy to sleep in my own bed!