To Market, to Market, to Market I Go

I'm at the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. It's my first time at a trade show so I had no idea what to expect. I knew it would be as big as Festival which begins in a few days. The quilt exhibits are set up and I've had a couple hours to take in some of the exquisite textile ART on view. Two hours and I think I made it up and down three out of the 20 or so isles of displays. Last year I had two hours total to see the exhibits - didn't make up and down all of them - even at a running pace. An amazing thing is that there is no crowd in the exhibit - I feel like I had it all to myself.

Here we see the "Fabric Forest" coordinated by an amazing group of artists, the Groebenzeller Quiltgruppe from Germany.

I had it all to myself because everyone else here is WORKING! The vendors or promoting their stuff to the shops and designers. The shop representatives and designers are here looking at everything and ordering stuff.

Here is Pokey and John Bolton, with http://www.QuiltingArts.com - working hard to get their publications into even more shops and stores.

It's very interesting to see the rows of tables with seats at the big fabric manufacturers. The shop reps sign up for a time, go sit and look through stacks of samples of the new lines and fill out order forms. Pattern designers will have a small booth with samples made up handing out brochures. Lots of smaller fabric designers have incredibly clever little booths that draw you in with their colors and quilts.