Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | By Lisa Swenson Ruble | 0 Comments

Market: A Quilter’s Dream

I’m back from Fall Quilt Market in Houston—a trip that’s always as satisfying as visiting a candy store! Twice each year at Quilt Market (fall and spring) fabric companies, pattern designers, and tool makers get together to show off their latest designs and ideas to quilt shop owners making purchases for their stores. As a magazine editor, my job is to see as much as possible, finding new fabric collections, patterns, designers, and tools to bring to you, our readers. Tough job, huh?  

What’s a typical day at Market like? A lot of walking as we visit twenty-four rows worth of booths, that’s for sure! Our staff begins with a breakfast meeting to discuss the day’s plans and then heads to our booth, where Linda Smoker, our technical editor, hands out magazines to shop owners. 

Then the meetings begin. We meet with as many fabric companies as possible, where we see sample swatches of upcoming lines. We take notes, choosing fabric lines to be made into projects for future issues of the magazine. In between meetings with fabric companies, we walk the floor, looking for new designers for the magazines and products and ideas we’d like to showcase. During the year, so much of our contact with pattern designers is by phone and email; this is a great opportunity for face-to-face meetings and chit chat as well. I stopped by a few of my favorite booths and took pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Since one of my jobs is to write a quilting trends article that appears in the February/March issue of Quilt, I keep my eye out for popular new ideas and themes. You’ll have to read the magazine for the full article, but let’s just say that sweets, shortcuts, and wearables are three categories you’ll be seeing more of in the coming months. 

The other part of Quilt Market is the gallery section, filled with different exhibits of juried quilts. I didn’t get to spend much time over there, but I did get some great pictures. I’ll share some of those in my blog next week.