International Quilt Market 2010 Report
Jake Finch
Jake Finch - QCN
06/08/2010
International Quilt Market, the tradeshow for those in the Q-Biz. For newbies walking the floors of whichever convention center is up for the industry show-and-tell, it’s a wondrous gorge fest of all things quilty.
In late May, fabric houses, tool manufacturers, sewing machine companies, pattern designers, media types and other purveyors of quilting contraband gathered in the Minneapolis Convention Center to lure quilt shop owners and other buyers to stock the shelves with Market offerings.
But Market isn’t just about spending the annual shop budget. It’s also about pinpointing trends and taking in what’s hot and what’s cold.
This year, with my eyes opened wider in a deliberate Q-reconnaissance for the most popular, I saw scads and scads of modern. Fabric houses small and large showed off big print fabrics with luscious, sophisticated and fresh color combos. Pattern designers offered not just quilts, but wearables, bags and cute gifty projects for quilters to play with. Publishers promoted books with a definite youthful edge, from C&T Publishing’s new Stash line to Interweave’s cross-over sewing books.
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And even more exciting was the huge influx of younger guys and gals walking the floors. Whether they were shopping for product or showing off their designs in patterns and fabrics, youth was way more prominent than it has been before.
Another trend seen was the increase in quilt celebrity thread lines. Yes, Superior Threads has marketed specialty thread collections from Libby Lehman and Caryl Bryer Fallert, among others, for a long enough time now to pass notice, but others are jumping on the endorsement wagon, including FreeSpirit Fabrics with threads from Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler and Aurifil with new lines from Pat Sloan and Edyta Sitar. It was thread heaven for us string-addicts!
Of course, for those lovingly entrenched in the tried-and-true, new fabric collections, notions, books and projects from our fave quilt celebs were easily found. Jo Morton, Amy Butler, McKenna Ryan, Robyn Pandolph, Alex and Ricky (do we separate their names anymore?) and Eleanor Burns were all in attendance, both in person and in product.
In all, it was a delightful Market, with plenty of creative inspiration found to pass on to our crafters and quilters. Viva la Quilt I say.
--Jake Finch is an author, writer, quilter and teacher who has worked on several of the leading publications in the quilting industry. You can more info on her website: www.jakefinchdesigns.com.
