Let me start this off by saying, a few weeks ago, I began working for Pink Door Fabrics. Chelsea and Charlie are the owners and they’re amazing! I’ve been so fortunate to work from home, bringing in income, and having fun seeing what’s new and coming soon!
So, as part of the job, I was invited to go to Quilt Market in Houston, TX. It’s a trade-only event and I remember seeing all the photos on Instagram (#quiltmarket) and being quite envious of those who got to go! It looked like an amazing event to partake in, and never once had I thought I would be fortunate enough to go someday. Well, this fall, I got to go! I chose to drive with my friend Nicole, and while it seemed like a fabulous idea initially, I’m not so sure, haha. We spent 16 hours in the car, driving from Colorado to Texas. We thought we would have plenty to see and do along the way. Turns out, cotton fields aren’t that great after a while. 🙂
We arrived at our hotel at 2am on Friday morning, slept 4-5 hours, got up, and headed to Quilt Market at the convention center. This day was all about the Schoolhouse Classes. Basically, those are 15-45 min short classes, where people discuss their books, how to sew knits, what interfacing is best, etc. They were a lot of fun!
The first session we attended was from Cotton + Steel. Here’s where they released their new fabric lines and discussed the inspiration behind their prints and then showed off a ton of quilts and projects.
These ladies were so inspirational! They had a great back-story and all their new collections (Playful, Mesa, Mochi, Tokyo Train Ride, and Cookie Book) all work with their basics from the last collections. Fantastic, right? I’m super excited for these to ship in January! Pink Door Fabrics will definitely have the majority of the collections. In fact, they’re already up for presale and we’re working on getting more of it listed every day.
Next, I went to a session on the Double Wedding Ring quilts, namely the ones done by Victoria Findlay Wolfe for her new book, Double Wedding Ring Quilts, due out soon! I am a HUGE fan of the DWR quilt and it’s more modern movement. I’ve seen some stunning use of negative space and modern color in a few of her quilts that I hope will inspire me to brave another for myself. She was an excellent speaker and I truly enjoyed meeting Victoria and hearing her fabulous discussion on how she creates each quilt and what inspires her.
My last session of the day was the coveted Tula Pink Schoolhouse. I was anticipating this so much and incredibly excited to meet Tula Pink, herself. I am a huge fan of her works and her fabrics. The originality in all her drawings is amazing, and when she shows her process on her Instagram or Facebook pages, I’m in awe. She really is incredible. After hearing her speak, she’s also quite hilarious and entertaining. Tula has such a bubbly personality! Anyways, she showed off her new line Elizabeth, coming out early next year. It’s beautiful, as usual!
After Tula’s sessions, we got a photo with her, and then I had her sign my Tula Pink shirt. Total fan-girl moment. 🙂
Ps- we totally scored these limited edition, VERY RARE, Tula Pink Elizabeth playing cards. There’s only 250 sets available and they’re signed and numbered by Tula Pink herself. We got five sets in our little group!
Stay tuned for Part 2….