Market, Baby! — Part 1

It takes a village. And no, we’re not talking about raising children. We’re talking covering Fall Quilt Market. Our active staff of six was in constant motion during the recent international quilt industry gathering in Houston, soaking up trends, new products and new ideas, and even then, we probably missed something. What we did gather up, though, will totally jazz you. Let’s just say there’s major fun ahead of the quilty kind!

Today, GenQ Creative Director Megan Dougherty shares her take on Market:

This was my second Market, and for me it continues to be an overwhelming sensory overload.  Sending a major introvert such as myself into a maelstrom of people and lights and quilts pretty much guarantees a general state of catatonia by the middle of the first day. Nevertheless, there were some things that were so awesome that they made it past my deer-in-the-headlights gaze.

• Hexagons, parallelograms and trapezoids. Quilting is basically geometry, and there is so much more than just squares, rectangles, and triangles (and their wonky versions). I saw a lot of quilts employing different shapes to great effect. Modern Quilt Relish introduced a great block of the month quilt using parallelograms, and almost all of their new patterns employ that shape as well. Here’s just a couple of new patterns the Modern Quilt Relish team revealed at its Schoolhouse marketing seminar:

* Hexies have been popular for a while now, but you know a trend is really at its peak when you see it all over Market. One new book, Pieced Hexies by Mickey Depre, didn’t seem to me like it was being marketed to the modern quilter, but just look at the solids! This looks like a book every modern and contemporary quilter who wants to expand their skills should check out. Here are a few glimpses of Mickey’s take on pieced hexagons, and the excitement it can add to a design:

• Solids. Of course, solids have been the mainstay of the modern quilt movement, but when you hear shop owners asking more about it, you know the trend is spreading beyond just the modern quilt world. I was thrilled to see Pippa Eccles’ new book, Stripes, Circles, and Squares (and even more thrilled, perhaps, at the Oxford comma contained within that title), because she has been my solid fabric quilting idol for quite some time.  Not only does Pippa only use solids, she comes up with the most amazing and vibrant color combinations, and no white anywhere!

• Folk Art. I think the patterns and motifs of folk art are going to find their way more and more into modern and contemporary quilt and craft styles. Marianne Byrne  www.thecinnamonpatch.com showed some adorable folk art-inspired designs  and I may or may not have squealed out loud when I saw folk art fabric at Robert Kaufman designed by Sue Spargo and Wendy Morris.  Naturally, I spent some time drooling in Sue’s booth as well.

Marianne Byrne

Robert Kaufman's folk art fabric by Sue Spargo and Wendy Morris

Sue Spargo's folk art designs

• I think I went the most gaga over Carolyn Friedlander  (and I got to have dinner with her!). Her new fabric line, Architextures, for Robert Kaufman, uses motifs from blueprints and other architectural documents. In her booth (and I was so excited by this I forgot to take pictures) she had a block of the month pattern of paper pieced houses – and not cutesy little cottages. Modern houses. It’s breathtaking, trust me. Keep your eye on her; she’s gonna be big.

Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander

• Romantic colors and prints. I really felt like there was a proliferation of soft pinks, blues and greens with very delicate and romantic floral patterns, but which certainly didn’t seem stuffy or fussy at all. Blend Fabrics had many of these kinds of designs from Sarah Watts and Amanda Murphy. Alchemy by Amy Butler, (6951-6952) and Rock n’ Romance by Pat Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics and Splendor 1920 from Bari J for Art Gallery Fabrics fit right into this trend.

Stay tuned this week for more Market coverage, Q-Bies!