First off, congratulations to Dorothy, who won the giveaway. I’ll be in touch with you, Dorothy, to get your mailing info and get that off to you next week. Thank you to all who participated, and especially to all who commented on my yank-out-the-carpet-from-under-me fall. I’m pretty much fine, and am going forward, but you can bet I’ll look twice before coming out of an aisle. That story also made it to Carrie Nelson’s MODA blog, as I had to tell a story to her to get one of her camping badges. For a great recap of her Moda Designers’ booths, head over there.
I’ll also have another little giveaway at the end of this post, to reward you for reading, AND in honor of my mother’s 88th birthday. This is a photo of her back in the day. They apparently used to take all their birthday pictures outside because the camera couldn’t really capture the light as well inside. I think of that when I tend to use my mobile phone everywhere because its light-capturing sensors are the best.
Quilt Market is about business–the business of selling, of buying, of hawking your wares, of displaying, of meeting your buyers, meeting the designers, meeting the authors. Sometimes I would get a book at these signings, and sometimes I just snapped photos on my way past. Some publishers were gracious, not knowing who their books were going home with, yet others were a bit cranky about the whole thing. Considering that I buy from all of them, I’ll never tell who was cheerful and who was cranky, but it taught me a lot about that aspect of this business.
This talented lady’s book is part of our giveaway today. Elea Lutz designs not only patterns, but also fabrics for Penny Rose (associated with Riley Blake Fabrics). It’s a book published by Fat Quarter Shop and has charming pieced patterns, as shown in the quilt behind her.
The other giveaway (I’ll divide them into two) is the Stashbusters Book, by Sarah Maxwell and Dolores Smith, a wonderful collection of scrappy reproduction-style quilts. I’ll choose two from the comments left below; let me know if you have a preference for which book you might win.
Once I left the cocoon of my Painter’s Palette booth and ventured out, I saw this young woman modeling the skirt found in Alison Glass’ LookBook. It was like — pinch me!–as I encountered Famous People and things I recognized from all the advertising I see when I read magazines, or attend quilt shows, or wander through the web. It was going to be a day of double takes as I walked among the Business of Quilting, the other side of the quilty looking glass.
Sassafras Lane Designs, in all their colorful glory.
Renegade salespeople in the lobby of the Salt Palace. Great carpet, right?
Quilt Soup. (That’s not Barbara Jones, but a “booth babysitter,” she said.
Don’t look now, but that woman in the Kokka booth is wearing a Wookie Backpack. I was in line behind her later on at the Lucky Spools book signing, and she shared with us all the trending video of the woman who’d just purchased a Chewbacca Mask for her birthday. I thought that was a neat coincidence.
These three pictures are from Katie Cupcake, by Amy Hamberlin. I love that Midtown bag.
Jillily Studio’s booth was a sweet shop, complete with little bagged chocolate truffles they gave out.
Hoffman Fabrics are in my neck of the woods in Southern California, and first started with Hawaiian print fabrics for the local surfers.
I don’t know if you can see it, but Latifah Saafir’s booth (Hoffman Fabrics) has a pair of tennis shoes slung over a wire–so LA. I loved it!
Fun also to see Hoffman’s newest line of fabrics from Thistlewood Farms. Those blues! (And yes, that’s KariAnne Wood holding her quilt.)
Heather Jones’ line of fabric is subtle, but I bought some at Sample Spree because I think it will work well in so many quilts. One of my favorite types of fabrics are those that bring a punch of something new to the existing stash, giving it more life. She has some great designs in her collection.
Here is a series of photos from the Clothworks/Frou-Frou booths, across the aisle from each other. Maybe because I was thinking about my trip to Geneva last week, and how I was missing the small prints from Europe, but I really fell in love with these fabrics (plus I love how they feel).
I love their cans of projects. Very clever.
Now, for a complete change of pace, this is the Free Spirit Booth. I noticed more and more of this type of booth design among the big names: a central section for the business of ordering, and small alcoves for the designers.
Amy Butler’s section. She also had a larger booth:
Tula Pink’s alcove.
Snow Leopard Designs by Phillip Jacobs (again, for Free Spirit Fabrics)
Elizabeth Hartman’s booth, with the lovely creator in attendance.
Cori Dantini, for Blend Fabrics. I loved their booth:
EdMar Company, a small vendor from Idaho was selling these gorgeous rayon Brazilian Embroidery Threads.
Benartex. I think you can see where all those beautiful quilts go that we see in “sneak peeks” on Instagram (and yes, I spelled “peeks” correctly). Every booth was awash in beautiful quilts, and I must admit I hadn’t even hit the Moda booths yet, and I was already in overload. So I thought I’d better head over and see Sherri’s booth, since I’d sewn a couple of items for her and had a sneak peek myself of some of her beautiful fabrics.
I could never get a photo that wasn’t blurry of these two women, so this will have to do. The Moda designers were in clusters at this show, which didn’t give them much space, but that made meeting them easier.
That’s enough for today’s post. More is coming.
Have a safe Memorial Day (or Decoration Day, as my mother calls it). Leave a comment below to win a book in the giveaway. I’ll choose one and announce it in the next post.
UPDATE: Comments closed. Winner announced in next post. Thanks to you all for entering!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
Thank you so much for the market recap, and I look forward to more. You have shown me some booths I have not seen elsewhere on the interweb. Regarding your carpet story, I had just finished reading it here yesterday and then clicked over to Carrie’s Moda post and read about it there too! It has to be the wildest market story. So glad you are getting around okay!
Quilt Market must be positively overwhelming, given the ‘stuff’ crammed into all those booths and displays. Most would be lost on me I’m afraid- I barely recognize the fabric names/ designers, let alone the faces!!
Not sure about the girl in the Look Book skirt photo- should I recognize her too? Silly me….
Thanks for the wonderful look at market.
I’m enjoying your photo tour of the spring market. thanks for sharing.
This is my first look at Spring Market, and I must tell you, it is gret to see it from your eyes. And you write so well. Thanks for taking time to share with all of us.
I would love the Elea Lutz book!!
So many ideas, so new quilts to make, so many leads to follow up! I clearly need more fabric To help with my stash. Then I will need the book to help me with the stash! Lol. Giselle
I’ve been checking out Elea Lutz designs. I like her style! It is sort of 1930’s/ 1950’s modern, very fresh. Thank you. Giselle
Thank you so much for taking the time to give us a tour of market. I love seeing all the soon to be released fabrics and patterns and planning what I’m going to need. Your photos show booths that I can’t find anywhere else. Love it! Rina
Thank you for the fresh look at market. Your stories have made me gasp and then giggle.
I would love to win the Stash book. I am retiring from teaching in ten days and hope to play with the mountain of fabric that I have acquired over the last 7 years of working. And seeing your photos I know that I will be buying more.
Gosh….the pictures tell a great story of all of the fun you must have had. I would have been on overload too. I absolutely love that star quilt. I know that I could use a bit of stashbusting here!
StashBuster book looks interesting.
Quilt Market looks like so much fun. Thank you for posting the pictures for those of us who are not in business.
It gives us the opportunity to feel your excitement.
“Pulling the rug out from under you” was quite terrifying. So glad you were not hurt badly. Take care,
Carol
Another wonderful, satisfying post to read, Elizabeth. Thank you. I especially like those huge, beautiful flowers on stands. Fun! And, of course, seeing all the fabrics and quilts. It must be like fabric heaven to be at Quilt Market. Happy Birthday to your mom. I have Stashbusters so if I should happen to win, I’d like Elea’s book, please.
I have a very similar photo of about the same vintage of my dad. And my mom’s birthday is today as well! Elizabeth, do you by any chance know who the designer is in the “Book signings” photo with the animal Baltimore album-type quilt? Happy to hear that being swept off your feet didn’t do any lasting damage!
So fun to see all the quilts, fabrics, and designers in their booths!
It looks like you are having a wonderful time. The booths all look so gorgeous
Thanks for the wonderful “tour” 😊 I’ve seen so many quilt market photos but there’s some great booths here that I’ve not seen before! P.s: I’d love to win elena lutz’s book x
It looks so fun! One of these years… 😉
Would love to win Stashbusters.
So much fun reading your take on Quilt Market. How wonderful to have your very own quilt hanging there, and way to work the connections!
There were some beautiful quilts hanging up. I can see 20 projects I would love to make.
Thanks much for the market tour. It made me smile to see a photo of the carpet in the Salt Palace; I’m forever coming home with photos of carpets and tile floors.
In our family, it’s still Decoration Day, too. One of the most difficult things for me when we moved from our Southern California home to Oregon was that on Memorial Day I can’t visit our family graves. I do extra gardening around here at home, often planting something with personal significance on that day, but it isn’t the same. On Decoration Day I just feel I should be visiting the graves. So I’m with your mom.
Would be so kind as to share the pattern name and designer for the lovely quilt towards the end of your last post with the crows, pumpkins and stars. Thanks.
Thanks for the Market recap. Nice to see all the new ideas.
Enjoyed your market recap. Thanks
Lovely to hear about your experience and see all the wonderful photos of the market. It is also helpful to update myself, a newly-returned quilter who, up until 2 years ago, hasn’t done much quilting for a very long time. My son (who is always a bit honest in his opinions) thinks I’m not very modern in my tastes) and I realize he’s probably right! I appreciate being able to see at a glance the new fabrics and even the quilts being shown on the business level. It’s an amazing business! It has come a long way since grandma cut up her old dresses and his old shirts to make a hexie quilt. So glad to have all the choice! From the lady at the notions department in Manor, Geneva, Switzerland!
Thank you for posting so many beautiful and inspiring photos. If I win, my preference would be the Elea Lutz book.
I hope your mom had a wonderful birthday!! Thank you for all the Market posts and for the giveaways!
Such wonderful things happening today with fabric and quilting. It is so hard to pick a favorite. Thanks for giving us a peek at what to expect. Love the picture of your mom. Reminds me of my pictures.
Thanks for sharing another glimpse into Market. I can imagine the frenetic bustle of trying to see everything and meet everyone! And the opportunity to win a book! No preference, either will be awesome.
I’m so jealous of talented people! am i’m so glad they exhist to bring the sunshine of so many creative minds to the masses.
total scrap quilter here! I wish I had all the scraps of fabric left after the booth take down 🙂
Oh my. Looking through your post was a bit overwhelming. I can only imagine how fun it was to get a preview of the new fabrics, books and patterns. You were lucky to get in before the show and get great photos. Thanks for sharing. I’ve picked out a few favorite fabric lines already and will be watching for their arrival in the upcoming months. Frou Frou is at the top of the list.
What an adventure. I can see why one would be in overload! If I were a shop owner, I wouldn’t know what to order. I have loads of scrap fabric, so I would be a stash buster.
I loved seeing all the fabrics from Quilt Market!
Talk about overload. I think I would have been cross-eyed after the first hour, with no clue where to look anymore. I think this does a great job of giving at least a minor impression of the market experience. I could really use the Stashbusters book, having more stash to bust than I probably have years left in my life! Thanks for the peek (I spelled it right, too). Wanted to make a pun about the “sneak peek at the peak that piqued us” but couldn’t quite work it in.
Wow – there was a lot to see at Market! I would love to win the Stash Busters book. I love scrappy quilts!
This took me a good long while to get through because I had to study each of your photos for the various booths. So much to see and take in. I got the feeling “slightly muted” would be the phrase I would attach to quilt market this year. Loved the Sweet Shop. Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth.
Fantastic tour through. What wonderful eye candy!!! I would be overwhelmed too and probably would have to give up and rest my eyes. I don’t do well buying at quilt shows, etc. Too much visual stimulations, but I sure to love looking! Great giveaway, Elizabeth. Maybe I’ll be lucky again!!