Market Review

Spring Quilt Market 2018

Recently I spent a busy weekend in Portland, Oregon for the annual Spring Quilt Market. This is a business-to-business show, where quilt shop owners come to place orders for their shops for the coming months and to see the latest and greatest products. Vendors set up booths showing the newest fabrics, patterns, batting and fiber, threads, sewing machines, notions and cutting tools and so much more; anything you might find for sale in a quilt shop. Come with me as we walk through the show...

Patrick Lose Fabrics

I spent much of the weekend helping to set up the Patrick Lose Fabrics booth and working it; in addition to the team writing shop orders for by-the-yard fabric collections and quilt kits, we also sold precut fabric bundles and rolls, many of which I had cut and assembled in Rock Hill for months prior to the show. Booth setup continued Thursday morning and early afternoon.

In the late afternoon was the Schoolhouse event, where Patrick presented to interested customers two new quilt kits available now and two new fabric lines which are targeted to be available later this year.

On Thursday evening was the Sample Spree (a buying frenzy free-for-all), where vendors have tables with goods for sale at blow-out prices; we had a near sell-out with customers sometimes 4-5 deep at the Patrick Lose tables. Customers were lined up in the lobby hours before the event, waiting for the doors to open. Quilters' Black Friday!

The show was open for business 9:30-6:00 on Friday and Saturday, and 9:30-4:00 on Sunday. At 4:00 on Sunday booths were dismantled, with everything (fixtures, samples and unsold product) packed into crates for shipment back to the point of origin.

Vendor Booths

During the show I saw many former fabric vendor partners from my JO-ANN buyer days; it was fun to reconnect with these old friends! Most vendor booths featured both fabric and finished samples (i.e. quilts or garments) made from the fabric.

This was my first Spring Market as a vendor (I've attended other Spring and Fall Markets in the past as a buyer and Fall Markets as a vendor), and I'm told this was a smaller market than in the past (smaller booth sizes for some of the key vendors, and lesser attendance), but we were very busy in the Patrick Lose booth and had a successful show.

Oregon Convention Center

The event was hosted at the convention center in downtown Portland. Our walk there each morning from the nearby hotel was made more pleasant by the blooming rhododendrons across and around the front of the building.

Across the street was a legal recreational opportunity (of which we did not take advantage).

Quilts on Display

During the vendor show there is also an area where some amazing quilts are displayed and judged. Check back next time for a review of these incredible works of art! (teaser above)

Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming, and be sure to include a visit to a local shop in your area when you shop for fabric. They are small community businesses and need your support!

danthefabricman@yahoo.com

@danthefabricman