Spring Quilt Market 2014 – Pittsburgh

So, two three weeks after Quilt Market and I’m finally posting about it! As usual, it was a whirlwind, especially this time around because I packed up my booth, my baby and all the baby’s stuff to catch a plane to Pittsburgh! I had so much help making stuff for my booth, this go around, the amazingly talented ladies of my local Houston Modern Quilt Guild came through like gangbusters.

I actually had so many lovely things that I had to rotate some of the displays because I just didn’t have enough space! (I plan to blog about them separately in future posts). If you follow me on Instagram you’ve might’ve seen a lot of these pics as Market was happening, but there are some new ones as well.

Overall, I didn’t take a lot of pics because, well, I don’t actually have a good reason other than I was kinda busy and most of the chances I got to walk around, I was holding a happy, but squirmy 1 year old! I did however, get to meet two lovely Spoonflower alums and it was a highlight of my trip. I’ve actually been to two Markets with Samarra Khaja, a licensed fabric designer for Timeless Treasures, but we never seemed to cross paths. I’m so glad we did in Pittsburgh!

I knew she was a super talented creative force, and a hoot to boot, but she was everything I expected x 10. We chatted for a good while, but I wished I’d had the chance to hang out a bit more. Maybe next fall in Houston, when Market’s in my neck of the woods again. You can check our Samarra’s hilarious blog here, and her line of novelty fabrics here. I definitely want me some of that line drawn NYC print she’s wearing, just because.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Katarina Roccella, a licensed fabric designer with Art Gallery Fabrics. Super, super sweet, and easy to talk to, I felt like I’d known her for a long time.

Her first collection with Art Gallery is called Indelible and it’s stunning. You’ve probably already seen it bouncing around the blogosphere, but you can check it out here. I’m already excited to see what she comes up with next!

Michael Miller’s booth was romantic and springy and gorgeous, complete with topiary hedgerows and a working fountain in the very center. They always come up with something fantastic and the view from my booth was awesome!

Couture Collection, I want some of that ruffles fabric.
Lots of great new modern basics.
You may have also heard a little buzz about Violet Craft’s new fabric collection, Brambleberry Ridge, well, it’s gorgeous. Soft pastels and shimmers of gold; trees, deer and birds, oh my! And her new Forest Abstractions patterns… pure paper-pieced perfection.

Emily Herrick, of Crazy Old Ladies has a new collection out as well. It’s called Rustique and it’s full of trophy deer, geometrics and silhouettes in two fabulous color palettes. Many of which would look quite lovely along side some of my new fabrics. I sense a fabric play date in the near future! Her booth even had a mascot, isn’t Harvey handsome?

I also got to meet super-cute Emma, she was working the Swirly Girlsbooth.
I did manage to walk the floor a bit and snap a few quick drive-by pics. I was pretty excited to visit Violet Field Threads to check out their new clothing patterns and found out that they’ve used some of my fabrics on the cover of one of them! Can you find it?
It’s the yellow shirt with the purple bow on the back, right in the middle of the display table. eek! Definitely wanting to try out some of their patterns, especially the pleated pants.
Cute wall in Art Gallery’s booth, love those paper flowers!
And of course, the much anticipated Cotton + Steel collections.
Overall, Pittsburgh as a city kind of blew me away: friendly people, charming location and architecture, and really great food. The convention Center was also kinda’ beautiful and there were rivers and bridges everywhere. So, yeah, Market was fun and I came away with some new friends and lots of inspiration and projects to follow up on. There were many people I would’ve liked to have met, but will just have to be on the lookout for the next go around here in Houston.
Spring Quilt Market 2014 – Pittsburgh