2015 Fall Market Review November 10 2015
A bit of a lag in reporting to you on the 2015 Fall Market in Houston this October, but hopefully worth the wait.
Quilt Market is a bi-annual trade show for the quilting industry that is not open to the general public. On the show floor, you will find shop owners, fabric and pattern designers, fabric companies, distributors, media, publishers among other industry professionals.
With 28 aisles of vendors to explore and only 8.5 hours to do it in, I can truly say that I was on a mission! I was in search of new color trends and new ideas for quilters on the go, and I can say that I was not disappointed.
Here are the trends that I saw on my whirlwind tour:
Blue hues are heading this way
While there were plenty of bright, modern rainbow colors on display, blue was a dominating theme this Fall. Whether it be denim, indigo or hues leaning toward aqua and sea glass, you could find examples at nearly every fabric company.
My mind is swimming of the possibilities for quilting and certainly a modern take on Sashiko!
Left: Cotton and Steel booth highlighting the new collaborative line BlueBird.
Right: Art Gallery Fabric's new denim line.
Left: Boomerang quilt in Kona Designer Palette by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts.
Middle: Handcrafted Indigo and Sunprints by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics.
Right: Firelights Lane by Sassafras Lane Designs in sea glass.
Sea creatures and coastal themes join the ranks of elephants and woodland creatures
Perhaps because I am a Florida gal and because of the growing trend of toward blue, the sea life and beachy themes resonated with me this year. Maybe the harsh winter last year left us dreaming of warmer days.
Top: Into the Deep by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller Fabrics.
Middle left: Coastline by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics.
Middle right: Surf's Up by Dear Stella.
Bottom: Mendocino by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics.
Handwork like embroidery and English paper piecing continue as the comeback kids
This is probably the most exciting trend for me since I personally love handwork and it caters to my Mommy-on-the-go lifestyle. I also enjoyed seeing all of the texture and new specialty threads.
Left: From Katja Merak's book The New Hexagon
Right: Adapted from Katja's book, The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt Along
Top Left: Samples made using Sue Spargo's Eleganza collection.
Top Right: Thread eye candy at the Aurifil booth.
Bottom Left: Surface embroidery on her new fabric line Abacus by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics.
Bottom Right: More surface embroidery using Cosmo thread on First of Infinity also by Lecien.
And finally, just because this was a jaw dropper. An amazing quilt showcasing Mostly Manor by Victoria Findlay Wolfe for Marcus Fabrics.
What quilting, stitching or fabric trends are you loving?