I am so excited to be attending Quilt Market in Houston this year! I will try not to put exclamation marks after everything, but I am very enthusiastic about everything I have seen and experienced so far. Market started on Saturday, November 3 and runs through Monday, November 5. Quilt market has been held for almost 20 years (1979) and is the only wholesale trade show for the worldwide quilting industry. Did you know that the quilting industry is worth an estimated $3.7 billion yearly (yes, with a B) in the US alone?
There are many educational classes, demonstrations, business seminars, and opportunities for networking with industry professionals. Each morning there are numerous Take and Teach classes offered. Basically, these classes are designed to teach shop owners how to use a new product, often providing hands-on opportunities to create samples to take home. The biggest down fall on these classes? There are so many to choose from and you can only take one each morning. This morning I took “All the Secrets for Ultimate Handbag Construction “ by Cheryl Kuczek of Paradiso Designs.
She brought virtually every handbag hanging on the wall behind her to our Take and Teach class. She went over all the important construction details for the basic construction of the bag and then the different design features of each pattern. She patiently answered questions and passed around all the bags so we could closely examine them. She also has cool skirt/clothing patterns available.
Paradisodesigns.com is her website and she can be found on Facebook at Paradiso Designs.
There are almost 900 exhibitor booths in the convention center offering wholesale goods. Most were
very busy taking orders, answering questions, and giving demonstrations.
Here are a few pictures of exhibitors that caught my eye:
This was one piece of fabric (no patchwork or blocks). It was colorful abstract design with some white spaces. The white spaces were each creatively quilted and the pink areas were all quilted alike.
The following photo shows the fabric unquilted on the left and quilted on the right.
This would be a great way to enhance a neat piece of fabric and practice your quilting at the same time.
Here is some gorgeous hand dyed wool.
Mary Flanagan’s wool fabrics are hand dyed. You could purchase a bundle of her woolens that were dyed together in the same batch. They are such beautiful colors.
She also had patterns of her own designs available
Lots more info tomorrow!!
H
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