For the second year in a row, Ken and I have skedaddled away from the store and rushed off to Quilt Market, at the end of October, meeting up with our Digital Marketing Director (aka, son), Steven Woodard, to see what we could see.

It really is a big deal for the “back end” of the quilting industry. Years ago (44, to be exact), a couple of people decided to see if they could get all the movers and shakers in the industry (fabric companies) come together to show off their wares in the same place. They chose Houston.

In previous lives (pre-Covid, we’re told) the market was much bigger than it is now. I can’t even imagine people being able to “get through it all” if it were much larger.

As it was, all of the major players were there:

Andover

Robert Kaufman

Timeless Treasures

Northcott

Jaftex

Riley Blake

Clothworks

Hoffman

And just about every other company that you could imagine. We were sad that Loralie did not go this year. I love that lady! Unfortunately, her company is VERY small, compared to these other ones.

But I regress….

It’s a Trade Show, really. Every kind of merchant selling anything even remotely related to quilting, seemed to be there: Fabrics, Notions, Threads, Tools, New Inventions, Pattern Makers and more.

So, what did we do?

We went to school!

The day prior to the official beginning of Quilt Market is a full day of dedicated learning. It’s called SCHOOLHOUSE.

We pay $30 and can go to as many classes as you can cram in. Some classes were 30 minutes, others 15, and one was a full hour long class. Ken and I sat down, as soon as we got our class list, available around 8 a.m. on Friday morning with the opening welcome at 10, and tried to schedule ourselves. We didn’t feel like we had a lot of time to plot and plan, especially since Steven was in a paid seminar that happened to be early on Friday. Those seminars were mostly going on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but this particular one, for some reason, was held Friday morning PRIOR to schoolhouse starting.

At 10 a.m. we met in a large “ballroom” and listened to Tilda, from Norway speak. Before anyone gets too excited, we are not going to bringing her fabrics in. She has MAP (Minimum Advertised Price which is enforced) pricing of $14.99, and though it’s gorgeous, I feel like many other companies have fabrics just as gorgeous without having to raise my prices by $2.49 per yard. She seems to be a lovely person, but my line is drawn, due to the price point. So, we dismissed with our first class at 11 a.m, and for the next solid 6 hours, we went to one class after another with just 5 minutes in between, for us to get to our next class.

Each was a very informal type class. At every class, someone collected business cards, and there was usually some kind of give away. Of course, that was to entice people to come in, as well as to get your vital information, so they could sell you something later.

Between the three of us we managed to cover sessions like: Using AI in your business (for those not in the know, AI (artificial intelligence) is now a huge thing, of which I’m largely unaware; using panels; what’s new in the “little” pattern company, Villa Rose; Amanda Murphy showed off her new lines with Benartex, Kaffe explained his new Mystery Quilt program, which I am going to do; the 3 yard quilt ladies showed off their new books; and I even went to a thread seminar.

Between the three of us, we hit probably 35 seminars. Steven takes copious notes, as our digital marketer. I take tons of photos.

There is ZERO time for lunch and if you don’t have water with you, you’re just thirsty! Needless to say, by the end of the day, we were both tired, hungry and thirsty.

The whole time were in the Schoolhouses, other people were running around the Convention Center setting up their booths to hawk their wares to us, beginning the next day, and still others were fixing up sewing machines for actual quilters to begin taking classes on Monday, the last day of Market.

All in all, it was exhausting, but educational and fun. I found this year to be a lot more of a sales pitch than last year. Possibly it’s because last year was my first year and whenever you’re brand new to something, you have to take everything in, and I had ZERO foundational experiences upon which to grow.

This year it was easier to navigate everything from the check in to the going to classes, and definitely having picked out our classes ahead of time was preferred to last year’s “just wandering around looking at the schedules posted outside each door,”, as we had no printed schedules last year. (They ran out and we had no way to plan ahead as they don’t release a list ahead of time)

All in all, our first day was fabulous. I probably ran into famous people that I didn’t even know were famous. But now that I realize that all of the designers get up in the morning the same way we do, eat at the same tables we do, and so forth, I’m not really star struck like others might be. Since most of you are far more interested in the designs and the looks and the colors on the fabrics, rather than the person behind the design, I have opted to be the same way!

There is ZERO time for lunch and if you don’t have water with you, you’re just thirsty! Needless to say, by the end of the day, we were both tired, hungry and thirsty.

Look forward to Part 2, when I show off some of the beautiful fabrics we saw!

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this.

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

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