Sweet Home Quilt Co.

I’m a day late with this post, but let me just say that it is proving very difficult to find the time and energy to write a post every day. The days begin with business classes/lectures at 8AM  and it has been after 11PM each night before I get back to the hotel room…aahhhh, but it is so much fun!

Market Thursday was Schoolhouse day, and it is truly exhausting. I didn’t count the number of sessions, but I would venture to say there are between 150 and 200 sessions from which to choose, every half hour. The schedule is made available one hour before the opening session, and then you must be prepared to move rapidly from one session to the next. The problem is that there are so many good sessions and it is difficult to choose between those that overlap; often the decision is made for you…some sessions are so popular you can’t even get in the door! The sessions range from presentations of new product, to business sessions, to ideas for marketing the products we buy, displays, etc. There is so much information to absorb and you want to take advantage of all of it…after all, that is a really big part of what Quilt Market is all about for a shop owner.

Here Celine Perkins of Perkins Dry Goods introduces a new block of the month program from her new book, Abundance.

A product display idea from Timeless Treasures featuring the new Tonga Treats pre-cut strips and squares (look for these at SHQC soon…hint, hint!)

Karen Montgomery, owner of The Quilt Company and fabric designer for Timeless Treasures, shows samples made with her new fabric line, Lauren.

After a full day of Schoolhouse, and a leisurely dinner back at the hotel, it was back to the convention center for the maddening frenzy known as Sample Spree, which is the suppliers’ opportunity to unveil their new introductions and offer Market Specials to shopowners. Many designers also offer pre-made models for their new designs, which gives shopowners a head start for being able to introduce the new products into their shops quickly without having to wait for a model to be made once they return from Market. People began lining up to get in at 4:30PM and it didn’t begin until 8PM!!! We (Julie, Noel and I) waited until the initial frenzied surge had ended before we went over, and we were able to walk right in without a wait!

Every year Moda has a new Market bag at Sample Spree…and I filled TWO of these with yummy stuff to bring back. So what did I buy?

Just look at all that Moda goodness! Just a sneak peek, though. You’ll have to wait for the Market Review Party when I get back to see it all up close and personal…SORRY!

Melisa

OK, so I think I’m mostly recovered from the Quilt Market experience – amazing what a good night’s sleep in your own bed can do! Although this market was probably the smallest I’ve attended in terms of the number of vendors and attendees, it was still filled with loads of new patterns, fabrics and other quilty must-haves! I’ll be sharing many new fall collections over the next few months, as well as new books and patterns that I purchased. Some of our favorite designers had new things to share, including local favorite Silver Thimble Quilt Co., Miss Rosie’s, Abbey Lane Quilts, Minick & Simpson, and Fig Tree Quilts. There were loads more, far too many to mention here! You’ll be seeing some of them show up soon at Sweet Home Quilt Co., though, I promise! 

Trends? I noticed lots of texture and embellishments – hand embroidery, specialty threads, wool, pin-tucks, rick rack and ruffles, and fabric textures like satin and linen blends were hot, too.  Fabric collections seemed to be really bright and funky or reproduction-type lines, not much in between. Purses/bags/totes were in abundance and children’s clothing was every where! I even noticed a number of booths featuring floor cloths and quilts as rugs – definately home dec is a trend that is here to stay.

I didn’t get as many pictures as I usually do because my camera battery died out pretty early, but I did manage a few booth shots as well as some from the actual quilts on display which I’ll share in another post.  Trust me when I say that the techno-gods were not kind to me during this Quilt Market, but I persevered!

This is a view of the Convention Center from the parking lot of my hotel. I was really lucky to get a room at the Hampton Inn, which was only a block from the show. I walked to and from every day, except Friday night after Sample Spree when Karen and her hubby, Ken, insisted that I let them drive me back to the hotel.  It was only a block, but it was nearly 10PM so common sense overruled! It is great to have good friends watching your back, especially when I have a tendency to be stubborn about stuff like that!

This is the view from my hotel room. If you know me well, you know that I am afraid of water(!) so this is as close as I wanted to get. If I remember my geography correctly, there are three rivers that come together in Pittsburgh – the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio – someone correct me if I’m wrong! There were several cruises during Market, including one sponsored by Moda, but I didn’t go anywhere near them!

The actual Market was on the second floor of the convention center, with classrooms on the third floor. The two wings of the center are connected by a glass-enclosed walkway allowing a birdseye view of the many vendor booths.  These next photos will give you an idea of the enormity of the market floor and the many, many vendor booths! It is no wonder we were all exhausted!

Remember I mentioned Sample Spree on Friday night? I don’t usually participate because in addition to being afraid of water, I also don’t handle extreme crowds very well – I’m prone to panic attacks. I always purchase a Sample Spree ticket just in case I might work up the nerve to go, though, and this time I decided to check it out. I’ve renamed this event “Sample Free-For-All” because it was a ZOO! At this event, many of the vendors offer “samples” of their new offerings, meaning that you can buy just one of a book, pattern, fabric bundle, kit, etc. and sometimes even an actual pre-made sample to use as a store display without having to place a minimum order. Moda is always the largest draw in the room, and this time was no exception! I know there were people 10 and 15 deep at the Moda tables – I didn’t even bother! There is no jelly roll or fat quarter bundle worth the pushing and shoving and grabbing that was going on! I did manage to snag a couple of fat quarter bundles from Lecien, a Japanese fabric manufacturer, along with some wool and several new books and patterns that I had on my list.  I was only in the room for about 30 minutes, and that was pretty much my limit.

Sample Spree Waiting Line

Crushing Crowds

Here’s Pat doing some last minute “fluffing” in her Silver Thimble Quilt Co. booth. You can see her three newest patterns behind her (l to r) Scrappy Nines, Tic Tac, and My Sunny Garden. Look for these at Sweet Home very soon!

One of my favorite booths, which I kept returning to over and over, was Buttermilk Basin - total yummy eye candy every where you looked!  And really terrific display ideas, too.

Maywood Studios had a really bright and cheerful booth display, too.  You can’t help but fall in love with these fun designs – you know I love black with anything!

The LizzieBCre8ive booth won the Creativity Award for the second time in a row. These girls are so much fun, and their booth certainly reflects that, too. They baked dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookies (in their hotel room!!)  for us to sample at their booth. They were promoting their new book, Whimsyland, which has the recipe included. See what I mean about creative!

There’s lots more to share with you, but I’m out of time and out of space on this post!  Watch for my next post where I’ll share photos from the quilt show that was on display during Market. As always, Quilt Market is inspiring and exhausting and fun – one of the best things I get to do as a quilt shop owner!  I’m glad to be home, though – it’s always good to come home.

It is hard to believe I’ve been back from Fall Quilt Market almost two weeks! I enjoyed the trip to Houston with Pat (be sure to check out her blog for more Market updates) and Kathy. The 1200 mile drive doesn’t seem nearly as long when you’re sharing it with laughter and fun among good friends! The bad news about this market is that I got deathly ill on Friday night and spent most of the next two days holed up in the hotel – some sort of stomach virus, I guess. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say it has been a long, long time since I’ve been that sick! Unfortunately, that means that I didn’t get to do nearly what I needed to do at Market, but I did manage to get a few photos to share with you during what little time I spent on the market floor. 

Setting up for Quilt Market is a HUGE undertaking! Consider that the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston is as big as probably three football fields, and just about every inch is covered with either vendor booths or the quilt exhibits. I thought you might enjoy seeing a few behind the scenes photos of the setup – it is fascinating to watch! Some of these companies have this process down to a science, and others, not so much!

This is the view from Pat’s booth looking down the aisle toward the back of the convention center Friday morning as booth setup was beginning. Imagine 24 aisles that look this way!

Friday afternoon and progress has been made – there’s still a long way to go, though! (Sorry, I should have cropped out that arm – wonder who that belongs to?)

Pat and her “slave” Kathy working hard to get the Silver Thimble Quilt Co. booth setup. In addition to setup, Friday is also Schoolhouse day where many of the vendors do 15 to 30 minute presentations to introduce their new products. So while Pat and Kathy were slaving away at the booth, I was fighting the hordes to get into my chosen schoolhouse sessions. The schoolhouse sessions are invaluable for gleaning new ideas and inspiration, but it is exhausting, too. Beginning at 10AM, there are sessions every 15 minutes up until 5PM. I made it to 24 sessions before my eyes glazed over and my brain shut down!

Pretty obvious they’ve been working hard. Notice Pat has a Diet Coke in one hand and water in the other – must keep the strength up! I wasn’t much help because I was trying to document the process for posterity with my trusty new camera!

Silver Thimble Quilt Co. ready for business!

Here’s an overall view of the market floor. This photo was taken from the second floor through a porthole window and shows maybe one fourth of the market floor!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes view of Quilt Market. It is fun and exciting, but such hard work, too. Just imagine having all these choices to make and a limited budget to spend! Makes the old brain hurt, trust me!

I’ll share pictures of some of my favorite vendor booths in the next post, so stay tuned!

Melisa