I got back from International Quilt Market in Houston on Monday. Quilt Market was founded in 1979, and I’ve been going since 1994. That’s a long time and I’ve seen lots of changes in the industry over the years. The industry continues to change with the times. We’ve seen times of prosperity and times of adversity. Yet, quilting continues to thrive. I came back inspired and optimistic about where our industry is headed. Here is just a bit of what I saw.

Michael Miller Fabrics. During its Schoolhouse presentation, co-owner Kathy Miller talked about color trends in the real world. Navy is the new black. Olive green is a new comfort color. Gold is big as throwback to the 1890s, 1990s and early 2000s. Nice blue greens show up as neutrals. We are also seeing richer colors. Kathy also shared an exciting new product. Michael Miller Fabrics has partnered with EZ Fabrics, designers of Minky, to offer a new line of its prints on a Minky. EZ Fabrics was able to reconstruct Minky to shave the pile, allowing it to grab and hold the dyes better. The design is full of saturated color with a strong definition. The fabric comes 60″ wide, has little fuzz, and doesn’t stretch like original Minky. It was shown in the Indian Summer collection, though it’s available in more 200 solid colors and 100 prints. (MichaelMillerFabrics.com)

RNK Distributing. New in the Quilters Select line are the Select rulers in seven sizes starting at 3″ x 12″ up to 6″ x 24″. Inch marks run in both directions, and I loved the way the non-slip coating held the fabric in place. Rotary mats are available in 3 sizes, They feature numbers that run in both directions and are useable on both sides. (QuiltersSelect.com)

Andover Fabrics. New from Andover is the much anticipated Outlander collection by Kathy Hall. Featuring prints from the seminal show, the collection ships in November. New from designer Lizzy House is Printmaking offered on three substrates. Printmaking is available in classic quilting cotton in 21 prints, cotton canvas in five prints and cotton lawn in seven prints. The collection marries Lizzy’s two loves: commercial textile design and fine art printmaking. (AndoverFabrics.com)

Schmetz Needles. Schmetz Needles, the premier sewing machine needle manufacturer since 1851, has introduced Schmetz® Chrome Professional Grade needles. Why chrome? It resists heat, resists wear, allows the thread to pass through needle with less friction and allows the needle to pass through the fabric with less resistance. The needles are perfect for today’s faster machines. They come packed either five or 10 needles to a pack, and the packs are color coded. (SchmetzNeedles.com)

Soak Wash. The Soak brand has introduced its newest fragrance, Pineapple Grove. It’s available across the Soak, Flatter and Handmaid ranges. The tropical pineapple fragrance features top notes of sweet orange that are fused with the scent of lilies. (SoakWash.com)

RJR Fabrics. RJR’s newest designer, Leslie Tucker Jenison Tucker, introduced her inaugural line, Urban Artifacts. With 24 pieces, the collection is shown in four colorways: curry, teal, rose and gray. The collection is versatile and works with contemporary and traditional quilts. (RJRfabrics.com).

Anything But Boring. Big Stitch Quilting Basics by Julianna Pope is the newest offering from Anything But Boring. Julianna shares the history and the how-tos for successful big hand stitching. The illustrations are clear and plentiful, including right and left handed methods to tie a knot. Bonus instructions for making bias binding when starting with a rectangle rather than a square.

If you attended Quilt Market, please share your finds below. And, check out our Facebook Live videos on our ICAP Fan Page here.

Tags: Fabric, needles, quilter, quilting, soak wash, Uran Artifacts

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016 at 10:15 am and is filed under Quilt Festival, Quilt Market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.