Quilt Market Recap - On the Floor

The Whole Gang: Rachel, Laurie, the adorable Kelle Boyd of Ann Kelle Designs, Rebecca, and Me

Saturday we hit the floor and started visiting the booths.  Everyone warned me I would be totally overwhelmed but I must say, as a modern quilter there was a smaller subset of exhibitors that really interested me.  Those booths however we unbelievable, I still have a contact high from being surrounded by all the creativity!  You should also check out my dear friend Laurie's blog, Dodging the Butterfly.  We were at market together so I tried not to share the same things she posted and she has an amazing collection of her own work that will definitely impress you as much as anything we saw at Market.

I think I'm most excited to get my hands on fabric from dear Stella.  I want it all!!!  Maybe it was those zig-zag quilts or those pink pillows I just wanted to walk off with... they were also the well deserved winners of the "Best New Exhibitor" booth award.  I expect we'll all be getting to know them well!

Does this booth by Riley Blake have my name written all over it?  This is part of their new basics collection and I'm sure I'll buy a lot of it.  I would love to have that dress (painted) on the mannequin and the (also painted) chevron wall hanging looks suspiciously like my business cards.

I'm also looking forward to this new organic collection, Stitch by super sweetie Betz White.  I was lucky enough to get a mini pack of this which I've already broken in to to make a special gift.

I was thrilled to meet Weeks Ringle and not just because she makes me feel tall: )  I love her books (with husband Bill Kerr) The Modern Quilt Workshop and Quilts Made Modern.  They are truly some of the founders of the modern quilting movement and I still dream of the day I'll get around to making my own version of their Book Club quilt.  I got to sneak a peek at their latest offering, Transparency Quilts, coming out in January and it is every bit as inpirational.  Definitely on my wish list!

Here I met Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic fame.  I'm a long time fan of her decorating style so it was quite a treat to get a signed copy of her new book.  I couldn't resist getting a fat quarter bundle of her new fabric collection to go with it.  It's so silky and the colors are so soft.   I can't wait to start cutting... definitely another beach house quilt for me: )

Kaffe Fasset showed me the beautiful quilt he was hand stitching the binding on while hanging out in his booth.  I'm a bit of a book junkie so I also got a signed  copy of his book Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Sweden...

and the fabulous Quilting from Little Things by Sarah Fielke of Material Obsession 1 and 2 fame.  Seeing the quilts from the book in person was just the icing on the cake!

With the extremely fashionable Lizzy House and her Mom, Cherri House of City Quilts

Everyone we met was incredibly nice and willing to stop, chat and pose for pictures.  If I didn't already know that quilters (and fabric designers) are the greatest people on earth my time at market would have convinced me.  I could go on and on about the fascinating conversations I had with the utterly charming Aneela Hoey, the delightful Sarah Jane, the lovely Jenean Morrison, the multi-talented Sandi Henderson and so many others but really, you'd just hate me!