Taking a Bite out of Quilt Market

It’s safe to say that most passionate quilters have heard of the Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival in Houston, Tx. The Market, which opens before the Festival, is a destination for quilt shop retailers who want to discover the next great thing in the worlds of quilting and sewing. Fabric designers and retailers, pattern designers and quilters, from large national and international companies like Moda and Bernina, to small, designer-owned businesses, you’ll see them all at the Market. Marsha just returned from her annual Market exploration, and shared with us some of her favorite things.

Marsh loved this booth, with the flowers made from kraft paper!

Notions

There are always cool notions to play with at Market, but Marsha’s favorite is the Quilt Ruler Upgrade Kit. This nifty kit comes in sizes to attach to 12″ or 24″ quilting rulers, and is does two things: It has grips to keep your ruler from slipping on the fabric, and a moveable guide to align your fabric for accurate cuts. The only thing Marsha didn’t like about it was that she didn’t think of it first!

Patterns

Marsha found beautiful or fun patterns for everything from purses to garments to quilts of all sorts. Some of the patterns that fascinated her were for the popular collage quilts. There were also many gorgeous examples of collage or mosaic quilts at the show. The largest, most spectacular one, measuring out at 21′ long, is our feature picture: Crocodylus Smylus, by Susan Carlson. Marsha loved these collage patterns by Laura Heine.

Something Different

Marsha said that there were garment samples and patterns in abundance this year, more so than other years. She saw lots of adorable, relaxed garments, simple or embellished with applique or embroidery, in a large variety of styles. Fabrics ranged from cottons to knits, and even some lovely pieces made from hand-dyed osnaburg. And there was no problem finding a cute bag pattern to accessorize your garment of choice!