Well, the last week or so has been nuts. A good nuts, but a little crazy nonetheless. This past weekend was Quilt Market - the spring trade show for the quilting and sewing industry where companies debut and show-off their upcoming wares for the next 6 months to shop owners. I've been busy behind the scenes preparing for Market and spent 3 days last week attending in Portland, Oregon.
Here I am arriving on the first day. Doing my best to get a selfie of me and the sign, wearing my new #QuiltNerd t-shirt. As you can see, selfies are not in my skill wheelhouse. Fortunately someone took pity on me and offered to take my picture. Thank you kind stranger. xo
This Market I displayed as part of the Riley Blake/Penny Rose booth to give a sneak peak of my 3rd fabric collection that will be available in November. Meet Gretel. A little bit German/Alpine/Scandinavian inspired collection and I'm pretty smitten with it! I'll be sharing so much more as the time gets closer next fall! (Be sure to tell your favorite shop owner to order it. 😉 )
As in Markets past, I like to give a bit of a quick (?) recap of what I saw and Market and what's up and coming in the Quilting industry. It always feels like a whirlwind to me - especially now that I've got a booth to be responsible for and stay at as much as I can - but I shot some quick photos when I could, and hopefully you'll get a feel for what's new in the quilting world. (This post contains affiliate links.)
More from Riley Blake: coming next month (June 2018) from Tasha Noel: Seaside. Another sweet collection in Tasha's popular color palette featuring her adorable illustrations.
Also coming soon from Riley Blake: Autumn Love by Lori Holt - a new fall-inspired collection from Lori. And true to Lori Holt style, she's got another amazing quilt-along planned this summer. Another fun fall collection is Calico Crow by Lauren Nash - a vintage-inspired fall collection. I'm smitten with so many of the colors in that line! Both collections play together so well.
Let Them Be Little is a darling, modern collection from the girls at Simple Simon & Co. It has a fresh, graphic modern Scandinavian feel with adorable cheater panels for quilt baby gifts! Arrives in stores in August. (Check out their blog to see a fun time-lapse video of their booth set up. Makes you appreciate all the work that goes into it even more!)
Gorgeous paper piecing inspiration from Sue Daley Designs. Sue's next collection, Floral Hues will be available in shops this month. I'm excited because I picked up some of Sue's templates for an English Paper Piecing project for the summer! (Sue is an EPP whiz. You can find her how-to tutorials here.)
Other future Riley Blake collections include Summer Blush by Sedef Imer (August), Let's Be Mermaids by Melissa Mortenson (November), Kiss Me Kate by See Kate Sew (July), and Home Again by Jill Lilly Studios (October).
Other cute upcoming collections from Riley Blake: Wild Bouquet by Citrus and Mint (September), May Belle by Pleasant Home (October), Harry and Alice by Amanda Herring (September) - I think it would be fun to remake my Land that I Love pattern with this one! -, and Date Night by Heidi Staples (June).
More upcoming fabric to inspire and entice: Road Trip by Alison Glass. (I always love her color palette!) And check out those teeny-tiny paper pieced patterns by Guiseppe - aka Giucy Giuce!
I never get over the creativity of Elizabeth Hartman and her signature animal quilt patterns. Her latest patterns feature Arctic (and Antacrtic) animals to coordinate with her latest fabric. SO adorable.
Speaking of animal patterns - Violet Craft does it again with that delightful cow pattern! Does she have some personality or what?! Plus a bunch of other cute patterns. New from Robert Kaufman - Polk is the latest from Carolyn Friedlander and Forage is Anna Graham's (aka Noodlehead) first collection with RK.
Free Spirit (glad they are still with us!) always has colorful inspiration! On the left is the latest from Tula Pink. On the right is my Double Crossed pattern made with Flora Folk by Library of Flowers. I love seen my patterns made in different fabrics - and it's so pretty in this subtle palette!
SO much pretty inspiration in the Creative Abundance booth from Australia. Left: floral wreath quilt by Carolyn Murfitt of Free Bird Designs, The Daisy Quilt in gorgeous Liberty lawns made by Emma Jean Jansen. Right - I'm still smitten by Gertrude Made's Outback Wife barkcloth repro fabrics as well as Jodie of Ric Rac's adorable felt animals.
One of my all-time favorites to see: Jen Kingwell. Her quilts never cease to inspire and amaze. Plus, she is just a gem of a person.
Other favorites: April Rosenthal, who actually lives quite close to me, but we seem to see each other more frequently when we go out of state to Maket! It's pretty pathetic, but hey, at least we can catch up somewhere! April has a new collection called: All Weather Friend.
And the ever-wonderful Sandy Klop. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I've been a die hard Sandy fan for over a decade. She informed me that I am her favorite stalker, which I take as the greatest of compliments. 😉 Sandy has some SUPER cute new patterns (of course!) including this teeny-tiny pieced blocks that will be released soon. Sandy is pretty much a pattern genius!
Shannon Gillman Orr - loved her cute little mini trees and houses and Corey Yoder who's quilts are always amazing!
More Moda fun from Sherri McConnell and daughter, Chelsi, the latest from Fig Tree Quilts, and cute Vannessa of Lella Boutique. (I love that muted color palette for her next collection, Garden Variety!)
Top row: Fabrics and details from the Tilda booth. (I think the Tilda fabrics are SOOoooo pretty.) Bottom row: latest collection from Sarah Jane Studios - Peter Pan for Michael Miller fabrics. Sarah Jane's illustrations are always so beautiful. And I love that London skyline!
Always fun to see what's new at the Cotton + Steel booth. The newest collection from Rifle Paper Company is called English Garden. Love that main floral print. And the butterflies. Sarah Watt's newest collection is called Front Yard with whimsical mushrooms and garden gnomes. Melody Miller's latest is a fun retro floral collection (think vintage sheets!) called Freshly Picked.
This is the last Market where the original C+S founders will create collections for Cotton + Steel. They are moving on to do something new in the industry. It will be interesting to see what becomes of C+S without them and what those collective artists do next.
I do feel like the quilting industry is in a state of flux and probably some self-correction. Market seems less busy each time I attend. Obviously the internet makes it so that shop owners have more flexibility and the capacity to see what's coming without having to spend time and $ away from their businesses.
A few more details + fun faces. I'm so excited for Mathew Boudreaux (aka Mister Domestic) and his debut fabric collection for Art Gallery, Loved to Pieces. He is the king of amazing detailed sewing. Check out his blog for so many more projects with this beautiful new fabric! Another fun face is always Heather Givens of Crimson Tate. Heather is a joy to be around, as evidenced by the constant stream of people in and out of her booth! She is a shop owner in Indianapolis and is releasing a new collection for Windham Fabrics called Jot. So pretty! Also a joy: a quilt featuring JOHN DENVER!
Final faces: I love seeing Edyta Sitar - she is another lovely and kind soul. Bottom left, my lovely friend (and giant helper behind the scenes), Erika of Hello Erika Bea. I didn't get a picture with her, so here she is with the uber-talented Giucy Giuce. And last, but never least, but hilarious Lee Monroe of May Chappell designs. Lee is a hoot! I get a great abs workout every time I talk to her because she keeps me laughing constantly. (Did you know Lee and I have an official hashtag on Instagram? Be sure to check out #LeeandAmydoQuiltMarket for a history of our Market experiences.
The chance to see people I've come to know and love really is my favorite part of going to Market every year. After going for 8 years now (!) many of these people have become real life friends. Even though we only actually see each other about once a year, it's so fun to pick up where we left off the last time. I feel the same about many of you who have become such kind supporters and real-life friends! It's my favorite part that this whole blogging/quilting/designing adventure has brought me.
Well, there you go. Spring Quilt Market 2018 in a nutshell. If you're feeling it was all a bit of a blur, than I did a good job of giving you a feel for what it's all really like!
Barbara Opett
Nice look at quilt market 2018, thanks for sharing with us. ???
Robby H.
You always do a nice recap of market. Just enough to tempt us, but not so much it's an overload. Thanks!
Amy
Oh, I'm glad!!
Little Quiltsong
You did a beautiful job of recapping so many of the lovely booths and giving us an overview of all the talented designers out there. Thank you, Amy! So many pretty fabric lines to look forward to. Yours is especially heart warming with the Scandinavian touch to it - love it!
Amy
Thank you!
farmhousequiltsblog
I love it when you share so many pics from Quilt Market...makes it seem like we were there in person too! I am very intrigued by your new fabric line! I love all things Scandinavian and my cohost and I are actually doing a Scandi-themed Christmas ornament sew-along this year....your fabric might just have to be used in some of those 😉
Amy
OH yay! That would be so fun!
Martha
Thanks for the quick peak with this overview!
Evy
Thank you for the photos, Amy, you're the best! <3
Rosemaryflower
Thank you so much, Amy, for sharing QM with us. I love the photos and so so much inspiration. Everything is so beautiful
Connie Rademacher
Love the market recap. Can you tell me if a pattern is available for the John Denver quote quilt?
Amy
Isn't it great?! I don't know if there is a pattern. The quilt was part of the booth belonging to Heather Givens. Definitely check with her!
https://heathergivans.com/contact-heather/
Mary A Crowther
I was happy to see your new line. Gretel is a great nod to your ancestors. I wanted to have a Selfie Picture, but missed getting one. I loved that Market was close to me in Portland. I saw a LOT of fabrics I'm drooling over...
Susan Rink
Great recap, Amy. Looks like a lot of fun and exciting new fabrics and patterns will be coming soon to my local quilt shop. Thanks for the sneak peek!
Stephanie Woodson
Thanks for sharing, I missed some of these booths on IG and enjoyed reading your recap!
Denise Little Clappier
Thanks Amy. I was following Karen Miller Redbird Quilts on a tour and Scott Fortunoff. Looks like a great show and I love your commadarie. Really nice to see.
Patty
Great post - thanks for all the eye candy and insights!
Pam
The pictures are so pretty. Helps to inspire me to go finish my Christmas quilt now. ?
Karen Seitz
I always enjoy your Quilt Market recaps. Thanks for keeping them going!
Lara W
wow, I feel like I was there without the 18 hour plane trip! Thanks!
Traci Gardner
I just ran across you blog, I'm totally in love! I'm new to quilting and all the information I've learned just by reading your work is amazing. I love this piece on the Quilt Market. Your amazing, God Bless you always.