Quilt Market: Premiere Schoolhouse & Giveaway

Annually Quilts, Inc. has held an annual quilting and sewing trade show in Houston, TX. The day before the show officially begins, Schoolhouse (a series of presentations previewing products, techniques, and books) takes place. The premiere schoolhouse session was "Anna Maria Parry: 20 years of Fabric Design." Anna Maria Parry (formerly Horner) is the design director of Anna Maria Textiles (AMT), a division of Northcott. Anna Maria's collections represent specific categories of fabric, rather than being comprised of matching prints. Each line has a Bespoke pattern and three colorways: vintage, cheery, and lush. Indelible, Piecework, and Iconic can currently be found in stores.

        

                

Iconic

Indelible

Piecework

Indelible Ink adds pollinators (moths, bees, hummingbirds and butterflies) to the usual florals and the intentional use of black.

Echinacea Quilt

The Rhapsody collection was developed for the five-part block of the month by the same name, which includes free monthly color and appliqué tutorials.

Rhapsody Quilt

Cozy Christmas is Anna Maria's first Christmas collection. Trimmings is a metallic, yarn-dyed woven collection with trappings of the holiday: presents, a tree farm, and ribbons.

Cozy Christmas Quilt

We're due for a giveaway now. Up for grabs is an AMT tote and small pouch given out at the Schoolhouse event, along with a trio of temporary tattoos. leave me a comment answering any of the following questions to enter. For an extra chance apiece, like me on Facebook, follow me on Instagram, and/or YouTube, and let me know in a separate comment for each.

How do you feel about fabric lines being based around a category, rather than cohesive coordination? Do you like fabrics that include black? Do you prefer traditional or unconventional holiday prints?

Quilt Market: Christa Watson & Contempo by Benartex

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I'm a long time follower of Christa Quilts and have had the pleasure of meeting Christa Watson several times at Quilt Market. She's is as talented as she is humble and genuine. I am grateful for her savvy industry advice and generosity in uplifting fellow designers. As a Bluprint (formally known as Craftsy) instructor, established pattern designer, Bernina Ambassador, Quilt Con faculty member, and designer of multiple Contempo/Benartex fabric collections; it would be understandable for her to own an air of superiority, but that's the very antithesis of Christa. She can be found taking time to chat with customers in between a jam-packed Schoolhouse schedule, making introductions between industry professionals who have previously only interacted online, and asking other designers about their goals with a genuine desire to help.

Christa's Abstract Garden collection is a riotous parade of modern color and shapes. The yo-yos in the Mod Garden Pillow by The Quilt District certainly highlight this fact.

The Contempo booth was laden with inspiration including the pictured Mod Cat by Linda & Carl of Colourwerx, Pieced Primrose (PDF pattern here), and the Lattice Work Quilt. (PDF pattern here.)

I recognized the Lattice Work Quilt (PDF pattern here.) above from the Schoolhouse session I had with Christa.

For that matter, Pieced Primrose, a foundation paper-pieced pattern with 2 size options (PDF pattern here.) also made a reappearance. 

As for the booth, panning further right revealed Blooming Wallflowers (PDF pattern here.) and Pieced Primrose, (PDF pattern here.) Mod Dog from Colourwerx hides below the quilts.

Geese in the Garden (PDF here.) is a new pattern from Christa with three size options that features diamonds without need for a specialty ruler. All you need is a regular acrylic ruler with a 45 degree angle marking. Like many of her patterns, she includes two possible colorways, clear diagrams, and quilting suggestions.

The A Star is Born pattern from The Stitch TV Show (PDF pattern here) shows off the fabric line and takes advantage of precut possibilities.

Blooming Wallflowers is very clever in its use of Triangles in a Square units within an on-point layout. (PDF pattern here.) 

Like seeing those I admire in person, such as Christa, interacting with all of you here and on Facebook and Instagram is a joy for me. It's pretty special to know there are those who are passionate about fabric and making beautiful things who take the time to hear my musings and be a friend from afar. In thanks, I have another giveaway below to share my treasures from Quit Market. I'm including a charm pack of Abstract Garden, a FQ from the collection, and Christa's Surplus Strips pattern. (PDF here.) It's a full-color, glossy booklet with diagrams, multiple colorways illustrated, and even quilting suggestions.

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Schoolhouse:: Purple Pineapple Studio

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I bring you Purple Pineapple Studio, headed by Amy, and producer of concise postcard patterns.

Aren't we about due for another giveaway? How about a pattern for One Way, pictured below. 

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During Schoolhouse, they showed off some of their new pattern releases.

Living in the southwest probably has something to do with it, but Phoenix is my personal favorite.

The headbands make the company name quite memorable, don't they?

Pixels anyone?

This one presented a very modern use of batiks.

Sock it to Me was inspired by Keon Broxton's flashy socks.

See you soon with more news from Quilt Market.

Schoolhouse: Villa Rosa Designs

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Schoolhouse occurs the day before Quilt Market, and consists of 15-30 minute presentations during which exhibitors demonstrate and showcase their latest products.

Villa Rosa Designs, Pat Fryer's quilt pattern company, specializes in affordable postcard patterns that are perfect for creating quilt kits without increasing the cost substantially, or for charity groups to supply members with patterns that aren't overly complicated and come together quickly. 

Patterns are available digitally or printed for a couple bucks.

Like many quilters, Pat Fryer is a philanthropist who endeavors to gift those in need of comfort with beautiful quilts.

There's also some pretty sweet deals on fabric in their online store right now.

Molly, Heidi and Tamara Cook have joined the Villa Rosa Design team, and contribute patterns.

Tricia Lynn Maloney, Kate Griffin, and Jesica Darling also have their designs included.

The force is strong with this group.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'll get back to the serious business of showing you the quilts uninterrupted.