Australian Quilt Market

I can't believe a week ago I was in Melbourne visiting my first quilting trade show and it didn't disappoint.  This was a great opportunity to see what is new.   Even though I don't currently sell fabric, there were certainly some gorgeous fabrics from all the major manufacturers that will be hitting down under in the new year.  Besides just enjoying my first experience at a quilt market, I was on the look out for some new designers, new tools and basically items I thought you would enjoy.  I can certainly say after about five hours of wondering around, there are some very creative people out there!

A new pattern designer I found is Max & Louise two great friends with six kids between them.  They started quilting more than 20 years ago and their passion for Antique quilts has led them to designing patterns and fabric for Andover together. If you like your quilts more traditional but scrappy then these will be the designers for you.  I've purchased a number of their patterns and will have them up on the website in the next week.

Another designer, I found is Petals & Patches.  What drew me to their booth was their gorgeous Mermaid Garden quilt that was hanging up on the wall (and of course I didn't think to take a photo!).  If you enjoy applique along with very picturisque designs then you'll enjoy making one of the quilts from this designer. I've got my eye on the Dream Weaver quilt...start small I think.

I also used the opportunity of visiting the quilt market to pick up some patterns for Michele Hill.  If you are interested in William Morris then there is a good chance you would have heard of Michele Hill.  She not only has designed fabric based on William Morris designs but also has designed a large number of patterns following the William Morris design ethos,  I have purchased a large number of her patterns and will be uploading them on to the site as well.

And the highlight of the market? Meeting Daniela Stout from Cozy Quilt Designs who was at the Market working with Victorian Textiles who have undertaken a licensing arrangement with Cozy Quilt Designs to produce their Strip Tube Ruler in Australia. What this means is that once I've sold the current stock that I bought from the States, I will then sell the new ruler.  And what's new about it?  Firstly, it'll be yellow rather than clear.  Secondly the lines and the wording is etched into the ruler rather than stamped.  What this means is you'll be able to use the ruler on dark fabric and be able to see the lines and numbers.  It also means the line and words will last longer as they're not going to rub off over time.  And on top of that, I brought a large number of Cozy Quilt Patterns to add to what we already have in stock. 

Let me know if you have any questions otherwise have a great week!