More Market

The blogosphere is just stuffed full of posts about Market, with everyone offering their thoughts on what and who they saw. And that’s the cool thing, because no two stitchers are going to wander through that sea of booths, products and people and see the same thing.

Of course we love the juxtaposition of colors, patterns and prints, but we also love seeing the diversity of the crowd. When ultra-conservative Mennonite women in their simple dresses and modest caps can shop alongside studded and pierced women with streaks of pink hair or stitchers wearing the latest Valori Wells print in a sweeping skirt, well, it’s a good thing.

Spring Market was the mother lode for new patterns, too, and new designers. We’ll highlight some of those in a separate post this week.

Right now, relax and sit back for more Market musings, this time from Melissa’s notebook.

In the House!

The nationwide housing industry might be slumping, but you’d never prove it by seeing all the charming fabric houses and house prints at Market. Many distinctive designers showed patterns for houses that could be constructed from your choice of fabric or from specialty printed panels. Here’s quick run-down:

Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish showed a darling dollhouse using her Apple of My Eye collection for Riley Blake. The pattern for this can be found in Amanda’s new self-published book, Petite Maison, due out in a few weeks.

This quilty dollhouse is the centerpiece of the upcoming book, Petite Maison by Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish.

Atkinson Designs is noted for its appealing project patterns, and it strikes gold again with its collection of Glitter Cottages. This is the sewist’s answer to the ceramic Dickens holiday village. These unusual fabric houses give you yet another way to lavish your home dec with touches of great fabric. Plus they fold flat for easy storage.

Shea Henderson of Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio had many fun new patterns, but a stand-out was—you guessed it—her best-selling Card Table Playhouse. It was actually created a couple of years ago, but it was so on trend, we just had to mention it.

Shea Henderson's Card Table Playhouse (Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio) has been out for awhile, but it was still creating a buzz, especially with all the other house action on the floor.

Motif/print trends

Here are just a few random glimpses of things that caught our eye….

* Nautical/seaside themes were popular in several collections, including Sarah Jane’s new Out To Sea for Michael Miller. And look for a few friendly Vikings, too.

We love the Deep Sea Jewel colorway in Sarah Jane Studios' new Out to Sea collection for Michael Miller.

* Geometrics and dots, including Michael Miller’s metallicky Mirror Ball prints in a gazillion colors, which will be released soon on a handy card, much like its Cotton Couture cards.

* Monsters (but cool, fun and friendly ones)

* Owls are still out there, but elephants are showing up again, and foxes are still strong.

* Story-telling in fabric collections, either literally or as the backstory to a design direction. Tula Pink has done this for years in many of her collections, but other designers are now also tapping into their inner novelist as they create new collections.

* Script, text and newspaper images, as well as maps with a vintage vibe

* Gnomes are making a wee comeback, but in a stylized, more graphic presentation

* More designers are freshening up and re-releasing highly popular motifs. Of course the biggest we’ve all heard about are Amy Butler’s Gypsy Caravan and Denyse Schmidt’s Flea Market Fancy. But Monaluna riffs off this strategy by reprising its popular scooters in a new collection, Havana.

New or expanded fabrications

Laminates continue to show up in most fabric companies’ lines, but there were other notable newbies:

* More organic solids, including a “basics everyday” collection from Clothworks

* PUL laminate prints from Michael Miller that blend water resistance with actual style.

* Linen blends (and more colors in linen-blend solids)

* Organic, 200-count cotton sheeting from Cloud 9 that’s perfect for crib sheets and other projects

Interesting new colors and combos

Neutrals that look fresh and not fusty and boring. Timeless Treasures is mixing these with a dash of ochre and charcoal. They look “uptown,” not “old town.”

More glorious orangey reds, including some fine florals from In The Beginning Fabrics.

We could go on and on. And we will, later this week, when we bring you highlights on some of the new patterns and designers we met.

(On a Memorial Day note–We’d like to take a moment to honor the brave  men and women who have served and died while protecting our freedom and way of life here in the United States. Have a safe, fun and thoughtful Memorial Day!–The GenQ staff)