Amazing things I saw at Quilt Market

OK, I’ll start with a disclaimer/apology: I saw Quilt Market at pretty high speeds. I snapped as many pictures as I could of the amazing things I saw, but I did a terrible job of getting the pertinent details. Chalk it up to a brain that’s trying to process thousands of new pieces of information at once these days.

Anyway. Quilt Market – Wowee! It was huge (800 exhibitors)! And I had a great time demo-ing the new Kanzashi Makers from Clover. People loooooooved them. I had the gratifying experience of seeing people’s faces light up over and over again. And I can now say authoritatively that it’s possible to make Kanzashi at top speed, upside down, while talking.

The product is making its way through the distribution chain right now, and will likely be hitting your local craft stores within the next 30 days or so. When you’re there, look for the free Clover project sheets – I designed one of them!

…And check out this art quilt, which uses Kanzashi petals as dimensional elements. Absolutely stunning.

Another highlight of the Clover booth for me was meeting Nancy Zieman, of Sewing With Nancy fame. She’s releasing an awesome new quilting template that helps you do supersized versions of several traditional quilt block patterns. It’s crazy-easy, and the results are gorgeous. Check out these giant hexies:

(For you quilters, Nancy’s template allows you to easily strip piece this design – no Y seams!)

From here, my details are fuzzy so I’m just going to show you pretty things and share what they made me think about. My sincerest apologies to all the uncredited artists here. You deserve much better treatment than I’m giving you.

Will someone please, please, please, please make me one of these for Christmas?

I thought this little handbag block was really adorable, and I especially love the spiral quilting pattern between the blocks.

…Speaking of totally amazing quilting! Apparently this piece was quilted and then color was added with colored pencil and artist’s medium on top.

I was struck, looking at these incredible works of craftsmanship, with the idea that this is what comes of focus. So many of us in this community are dabblers, as am I, but I was moved to appreciate the heights of quality a crafter can reach if they stick with one thing and practice a lot over time.

This piece combines applique (all those triangles) with ribbon embroidery. And again, the quilting pattern is so beautiful! Look at this stuff up close, and you can’t see a single flaw.

I remember taking Home Ec classes in high school (because that’s how dang old I am), and being taught to sew seams over and over until I could get them perfect. These days, we’re a lot less about perfection and a lot more about joyful experimentation. Both avenues of making are wonderful and important, of course, but it’s a real treat to stand in the presence of a piece like this.

And I like thinking about the fact that it will last for years and years. I wonder how long many of the things I’ve made will last.

Actually, there was a lot of embroidery on the quilts I saw at the show. I love this trend! In this piece, the appliqued flowers are edged with stitching, and the basket is made from a series of fabric strips, woven together and appliqued. The flowers are velveteen, which adds a pretty contrast.

…And lastly, I loved this graphic black and white quilt. What a gorgeous mix of patterns!

Whew. Next stop, Maker Faire, this weekend!