My First Trip to Market!

I've hardly been home since International Spring Quilt Market a couple of weeks ago. The entire trip - the experience of sample spree, meeting up with friends old & new, cycling around Minneapolis, checking out upcoming fabric lines, admiring gorgeous quilts, helping Lee set up her booth, signing books, delivering my schoolhouse to a packed room (they actually sat on the FLOOR!) - ALL of it was simply fantastic. I didn't take my camera, so I only have cell phone images, most of which I shared on Instagram.

Finally, we meet!! Pat Sloan!! I love this picture. Pat was at market promoting her 31st book - we were at the beautiful Martingale booth for her signing of Teach Me To Applique.  

What a thrill to meet industry lovelies like Pat Sloan, Pam (Kitty Morning) Vieira-McGinnis and Alex Anderson. These women are professional, successful, kind and supportive. I could not believe their enthusiasm for supporting a relative newbie like me. So nice.  I find myself smack in the demographic middle of the modern quilt bloggers in their 30's and the industry mavens with years of experience ahead of me. I must say that the example set by the likes of these three women is something to strive for. There is definitely room in the industry for all of our creativity to co-exist and it was exciting to share my work with positive, successful role models like them.

A tiny portion of the Sample Spree line up a full 2 hours before the doors were set to open!

If you aren't familiar with the twice yearly International Quilt Market, it is a "trade only" event. It is an opportunity for buyers to see all of the new products and place orders with suppliers. The entire day before the show floor opens, schoolhouse presentations take place in conference rooms.  They cover everything from industry trends, new fabric lines and new publications, to point of sale systems.  Since this is my first book and my presentation was at the end of a very long day, I was worried about talking to an empty room. I begged all of my blogging buddies to come and fill seats....I needn't have worried as most of them ended up sitting on the floor!  My heart rate went up when I saw how many people were cramming into the room and I ended up talking a mile a minute about the book projects and finishing up way early!  Feedback from shop owners was excellent, though - they love the projects and appreciated the companion sales sheet with workshop suggestions that I had prepared for them (if you are a shop owner and would like me to email you a copy, please let me know in a comment below!).

Sharing my windowed zipper demo

Having the opportunity to meet more of the wonderful staff members of Martingale was really great. So many people there have helped me, and continue to do so, with Make It, Take It. Their experience and preparation for Market was very evident in the smooth running (and massive attendance) at all of their schoolhouse presentations and book signings.  They had shop owners sign up in advance for the book signings at the Martingale booth. This gave authors the opportunity to share a quick little demo to about 5 people at a time, sign their books, then greet the next folks. I showed step by step how to create a windowed zipper since that is a pocket feature in both the Ultimate Equipment Tote and the Knitting Needle Clutch projects in the book. One friendly shop owner from Newfoundland made my day when he said "If I get nothing else out of Market, the trip was worth it just to learn how to do this!" Awww, smiley face.

Speaking of smiley faces, these guys made tissue carnations ALL DAY during set up of their point of sale software booth.

There were many, many first time meetings of people I've been friendly with on line which was so much fun. I knew that Amanda was going to be at Market on Saturday, so I brought my version of Christina's Macaron Delight pattern made with Amanda's Spring Bloom fabrics. She's an absolute delight and I cannot wait to see what she'll design next for Windham. 

I'm going to call it quits there for now. I've got a day retreat to run on Saturday and it is only 11 sleeps until we depart on our Stitch at Sea Alaska cruise. My to do list is a mile long! I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into a first-timer's trip to Market.

Sample Spree Big Tote

With the release of Make It, Take It, I decided to make the trip to Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis to help promote the book. I've never been to a Market before, but I've seen enough photos and video of Sample Spree to know it is mayhem. If you haven't heard, it is a giant ballroom filled with FQ packs of all of the soon-to-be-released fabric at wholesale prices or less. You have to buy a ticket in advance for $15 to get in and some people wait in line all afternoon for a chance to be the first at the fabric manufacturer's tables.

There are a couple of new lines that I'm interested in and truth be told I am not planning to go crazy (because really, do I need more fabric?), but I do want to be prepared. Just in case. Since you are not allowed shopping carts or rolling luggage at spree (haha!!!!), I thought a large tote would be a good idea (and experienced friends advised this, too).

So I give you my Sample Spree Big Tote.  This is a project in the "Take It" section of my book, designed by the very clever Ayumi Takahashi. The construction is so quick and painless! It makes a great gift and there's a companion Little Tote that is perfect as a lunch bag, loot bag or small project bag.

It is made with some of my favourite prints (that Martha Negley Farmington feather is just so incredible!) and I quilted the outer panels to some fusible fleece. There is a fitted sheet of heavy weight interfacing quilted to the flat base panel as well. There are no pockets, zippers or closure. Just maximum fabric-buying cargo space!

The opening is topstitched with my go to triple-stitch in a variegated pink/yellow 28 wt Aurifil thread. The bag and handles are lined with two excellent Lu Summers prints, Alphabetty and Weave. I purchased multiple yards of both and only have bits left...so sad!

I've made a second one to gift a friend with of some of her favourite fabrics, too. All Anna Maria Horner prints.

I hope I get lucky at Spree. If so, you'll be the first to know!

Just in case there are store owners reading who may be at Market, my schoolhouse presentation is in room 210B from 4:55 - 5:25 p.m. on Thursday.  I'll be signing books and doing a little demo for folks pre-registered with Martingale at their booth #325 from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Friday. A second signing takes place at the Brewer booth #2019 from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Saturday.  I hope to see you there!

People of Minneapolis (or those who have visited before) - What should I do/see/check out downtown if I have some time? I've never been!