The Best Part About Quilt Market is the People (Part 3: New Discoveries)

In the midst of visiting friends and giggling like a little girl, I met some new folks who made me feel so excited and positive and inspired and ready to come home and get to work making a whole new line of sewn yumminess.

Bari J isn’t a new discovery, but every time I meet her, I’m reminded of her cheeriness and how much I enjoy time in her company.  Her first collection, Full Bloom, was a long-standing shop favorite (the A-line skirt in Stitch by Stitch is from one of Bari’s prints, and everyone who sees it asks where they can get the fabric!).  Her newest collection, Paris Apartment, is her first with Japanese company Lecien–and both Bari and I are really infatuated with her prints.She’s even got some fun toys out with the Slice Fabricque cutter–her own design card so you can easily cut pretty fancy appliques using Bari’s designs.  Check out the pillow:

 

I’m pretty sure she told me three separate times that she’d used the cutter for this chandelier design, because I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it.  I kept waiting for her to tell me how hard it had been, doing it all by hand, and how grueling it is to get ready for Market.  And she kept saying, “I used the Slice Fabrique!” and I kept not getting it.  My bad.

Also:  Loving this mini-mannequin and the selvages!  Am seeing another reason to save mine.  Le sigh.

If you don’t already know Aneela Hoey, the designer of Sherbet Pips, you’ll get to know her pretty quickly with this new collection she has out through Moda:

Little Apples is set to launch in September, just in time for those of us heading back to school.  I like that the colors are lighthearted and the illustrations have Aneela’s signature whimsical style, but the subject matter is lightly autumnal–just right for a transitional collection at that time of year (I mean, seriously, in the South it’s still 90 degrees every day through Halloween).  She’s got some super darling embroidery patterns, too, and personally (thank you, Aneela!  it was lovely meeting you!) sent me home with a teeny kit to put together a pillow like the one you see above.

Oh, Diane of CraftyPod! Thank goodness she took the time to blog that she was going to be at Market, or I wouldn’t have known she was there!  Diane’s book, Kanzashi in Bloom, is a Japanese-style folded fabric flower book that is delightful.  I confess that it looked a little like more work than I wanted to take on (what with all my other itty handwork projects I have lined up), but wouldn’t you know it?  Diane and Clover teamed up to make a genius little gadget to make sewing fabric flowers seriously easy–as in, she whipped a couple up right in front of me, and as I was leaving, another lady came by and had brought her mother from across the convention hall to see how cool these were.  Check it:

 

If you’ve ever used Clover’s yo-yo makers, these are just as cool but actually a LOT easier.  I have resisted adding flower detailing to a lot of my garments because I didn’t think I could make one in any reasonable period of time.  Bless you, Diane, for convincing me otherwise!

I had the great pleasure of meeting Sarah Jane of Sarah Jane Studios as I wandered through Michael Miller land.  I’ve seen Sarah Jane’s stuff for the past couple of years, and have always liked the sweet-but-not-sappy-ness of it, so I’m pleased as punch that she’s got a fabric line out this fall.

How darling is this booth that she and her husband built together?  I love that it has real construction details.  You know my motto: come strong or don’t come at all.  Somehow Sarah Jane came strong but still with delicacy and softness.  Perfect.

 

And the prints!  Especially the boy prints from this collection–there’s this rocket club one that I’m all starry-eyed over, and there’s a pinwheel one, and a hopscotch one…  Yum.

Now, Indygo Junction is a powerhouse and nothing like a new discovery.  But this was the first chance I’ve had to meet Amy Barickman in person, and it was such a complete joy (I was trapped in Hawaii–cough, cough–when she visited the shop during the ice storm).  You know how sometimes, you meet someone and just that very first conversation you sense that you are kindred spirits who share a worldview and will have lots and lots to say to one another? You know, no awkward pauses, no need to clarify statements, just a joint feeling of excitement and possibility?  That’s Amy.  She’s got Ideas, and I am so looking forward to getting to know her better.  A lovely woman if ever there was one.

Let’s also not forget all the amazing stuff I didn’t have time to see or get photos of, or spend nearly enough time admiring!

• Creative Thursday‘s new Meet the Gang line–I adore Marisa and am really nuts about this line, so great!
• Pear Tree from waycoolkid Thomas Knauer
• Rashida Coleman-Hale‘s collection for Timeless Treasures
• Melody Miller‘s new Ruby Star Spring collection (she and I are cooking up something thrilling–stay tuned!) 
• Peacock Lane from Violet Craft
• Tula Pink‘s Prince Charming line, which has me very excited (and is shipping now!) 
• New collections from Atlanta local Anna Griffin

There is SO MUCH out there, y’all.  Years ago, it seemed like it was slim pickin’s, and I was hard-pressed to spend my whole budget when shopping for fabrics, because there just weren’t that many from which to choose.  These days, I am often forced to make really tough decisions about what to carry based on my budget!  Here’s looking forward to a very colorful spring and summer at the shop, with plenty of guest appearances (Kay Whitt, Oliver + S’s trunk show, plus some others I have up my sleeve) and lots and lots of new fabrics.  Woot!