|
Rashida Coleman-Hale stands in front of her new fabric collection for Timeless Treasures.
Liesl Gibson, of Oliver + S and Sew Lisette fame.
Hanging out with Amy Butler in a display for her newest collection, Organic Soul.
|
|
|
|
I have just returned from another exciting Quilt Market
trade show in Salt Lake City previewing all the new fabrics, publications,
patterns, tools, and notions that will be appearing soon in a fabric store near
you. My role during the show is to meet with key Stitch advertisers, meet with designers, see the new products, and
check out the trends. It's a crazy three days of visual overload that inspires
me for months to come.
I'm still sorting through all my notes, but here are my five
favorite trends from Quilt Market:
- New
fashion fabrics - Finally many popular quilting cotton designers are
creating fashion fabric lines for garment sewists. In addition to the launch of
an organic fabric line, Amy Butler previewed rayon
and corduroy fabric lines, and Anna Maria Horner
is launching a line of velvets. Even the designers that specialize in cottons
are diversifying into cotton sateen, voile, and laminated cotton.
- Needlework
is back - As a big fan of handsewing I'm happy to see new embroidery
pattern companies popping up with really cute stuff. Plus there is a trend
towards creating sewing patterns with embroidery mixed in. My favorites include
Penguin & Fish embroidery patterns and the
launch of needlework kits and clothing patterns that include embroidery from
Anna Maria Horner.
- More and
more indie sewing pattern lines - With every Market there are more
independent designers coming out with clothing and accessory patterns. I'm
impressed by the range of what is available from new and established designers.
Some of my favorite new releases are coming from Kay Whitt at Serendipity Studio, Amy Barickman at Indygo Junction, and Joel
Dewberry's debut line of patterns.
- More
modern fabric prints - The contemporary sewing and quilting movement is in
full swing and even traditional fabric companies are taking notice. As a result
you'll see a broader selection of contemporary prints in stores this fall.
- Small is
in - Small projects and cute patchwork are all the rage so look for a
healthy crop of stashbusting project books in bookstores soon.
In addition to walking the show floor, I was very excited to
meet lots of Stitch designers and
contributors, several of which I had never met in person (only over email)
including Rashida Coleman Hale (I Heart Linen),
Jacquie Guering (Tallgrass Prarie Studio), Betz White, Melissa Frantz, Linda Griepentrog, Alissa
Haight Carlton (Handmade by Alissa), Steffani K.
Burton, Cheryl Kuzek (Paridiso Designs), and
Donna Babylon. I also had the opportunity to catch up with some of my favorite
designers and see what they are up to, from Liesl Gibson, founder and designer
for Oliver + S and the new Sew Lisette pattern line who was featuring her new
Cape Ann fabric line, to meeting up with all my book publishing friends from my
days on the book side. And to top it off I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Modern Quilt Guild party which was super fun.
Look for more indepth new product reviews and trend stories
in upcoming issues of Stitch. With so
many exciting things happening in the world of contemporary sewing, we will
have lots to share with you!
Happy sewing,
Tricia