1. Clover introduced a number of new products this fall including a 18 mm rotary cutter. The cutter is slender, easy to hold and perfect for cutting out small curved pieces. Also from Clover are “Door Knob TIps” by Judy Hansen. This series of six sewing and quilting reference guides hang like “Do Not Disturb” signs on a door knob. Topics include Binding, Machine Piecing, Machine Quilting, Paper Piecing, Fusible Machine Appliqué and Quilt Measurements.

2. YLI has introduced a new set of threads from Elly Sienkiewicz to celebrate her new book Elly Sienkiewicz’s Beloved Baltimore Album Quilt and the exhibit at International Quilt Market and Festival “Baltimore Album Review II: Baltimore’s Daughters – Friends Stitch Past to Future.” The threads are designed to be used for embellishing after appliqué and are available in at set of four 30-weight silk in variegated colors and also in a set of six that adds two 100-weight silk twisted with metallic. Plans are for the threads to be sold individually.

3. New from designer Robyn Pandolph is her “Scarborough Fair” collection influenced by street festivals, carousels and maypoles. Robyn has also opened a studio in Galveston that features her fabric collections, quilts and other treasures.

4. Pinmoor is a product from Loretta Ivison that lets you use straight pins to baste. After pinning through the fabric you push the pin into a small, pliable plastic tube. This system is easier to use, takes less time to use and also easier to remove than safety pins.

5. If you missed Quilt Festival, you can still get some behind-the-scenes looks at some of the exhibits, new fabrics and ideas for small projects and quilts in International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene, a special publication from Quilting Arts and Interweave.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Every few years Quilts Inc. (producers of International Quilt Festival and International Quilt Market) and Creative Crafts Group (publishers of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine) commission the Quilting in America ™ survey to determine the size and dollar value of our industry. They also look in-depth at 2,500 qualified “dedicated” quilters to learn more about their buying habits. Here are some of the key survey findings:

• Total U.S. quilting industry value is $3,580,000,000 ($3.58 billion).
• Total quilters exceed 21 million, an average of 1.3 quilters per household
• Quilting households spent an average of $219 on their craft in 2010, up 27 percent from 2006. Dedicated quilters spend on average $2,442 per year on quilting for a total of $2.5 billion.
• Dedicated quilters estimate the average dollar value of their “stash” to be $3,677 and their quilting tools and supplies to be $8,542.
• Dedicated quilters own an average of 2.7 sewing machines and 25 percent own more than four machines. In the last 12 months of the survey period, 19 percent purchased a new machine spending $2,679 on the machine.
• Currently 91 percent of dedicated quilters own a personal computer and 73 percent regularly access the Internet. They average two hours per week on quilting websites, 56 percent go online two or more times a day and 28 percent belong to Facebook.

You can read more about the survey, including additional results in the Summer issue of The Professional Quilter.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join

This also reminded me of an experience I had many years ago vending at a major regional show near my home. I knew lots of the area quilters, and they stopped by the booth excited to show me all their new finds. One product in particular – and I can’t remember now exactly what it was – was a new notion. Everyone who saw it wanted to know where to get it. The receipt had the company’s name and nothing else. The show catalog listed the vendors, only not their locations. I didn’t know where they were, and the only option was for someone to go up and down all the aisles until she found this particular vendor. As I recall, the vendor ended up being in my aisle, though I didn’t know it at the time. I suspect this vendor missed a lot of follow-up sales during the show.

How can you put my experiences to use? When I did that regional show, as well as other larger shows, including Quilt Market and Festival, I had a stamp made with my booth number on it. I think the stamp cost less than $5. Since I used handwritten receipts, I pre-stamped that booth number on the customer copies in my receipt book. I hoped that when all those quilters went back to their hotel rooms and shared their purchases, anyone who wanted to purchase from me would be able to easily find my booth.

Today many people use computerized or printed receipts, and you have the ability to print a message on those receipts. You can add your booth number if at a show, your website, or some other message to encourage repeat sales. One idea that came to mind for a shop was to advertise an upcoming sale or even to offer a small discount for a return visit with the receipt.

As for the shopping bag idea, this would be easy to accomplish when you need to reorder bags. Another option would be to print adhesive labels with the additional info and add them to the bag.

I’m sure you have other ideas to let your customers know how to find you after the sale. Please share them here.

Do you remember the first time you entered a quilt in a quilt show? I do.

I was a member of the Charlotte Quilters Guild in 1977, and several of us decided to enter our work in the annual NQA show, which was held at Georgetown Visitation Prep in Washington, D.C. Of course, it wasn’t enough to just enter, we had to go to the show. It was very exciting stepping into this larger venue. I remember that my grandmother met me at the show. I was thrilled she could see my work, and she was quite impressed with all the variety of quilts. (Of course, she did cast her viewer’s choice for one of my quilts!)

Of all the reasons to enter a show, though, I think the best is the opportunity to grow as a quilter and an artist. Why do you enter shows and how does this stretch you?

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

Why did you decide to start Lazy Girl Designs?
I started Lazy Girl on a whim. I was between jobs in my  planning career due to relocating for my husband’s job. Sewing, quilting and writing patterns were something to do while sending out résumés and waiting for interviews. When quilt shops showed interest in my designs, I decided to give it six months and see what happened. That was 1997, and I haven’t looked back.

I think your business name is quite creative and distinct. How did you decide on it?
I was struggling to find a name that fit my style and approach. I searched high and low. I read the dictionary for inspiration. I checked out the thesaurus, too. One day, I picked up a cookbook and started reading. I saw a recipe for Lazy Girl Soup and my search was over. Lazy Girl fit.

How large is your product line?
In addition to 50 patterns, I have three books and one DVD. I also created the Lazy Angle ruler and market a “no math needed” Flying Geese x 4™ ruler. To complete the bag line, I also designed Bag-E-Bottoms, acrylic bases in several sizes to give our most popular bag, purse and tote patterns a sturdy bottom, and Handy Tab™, ready-to-sew fabric strips used to attach accessories, such as handles or D-rings, to the bags.

What has been the biggest challenge in your business?
The single biggest and ongoing challenge is achieving my goal of not having the business force life changes on me. I structured the operation and functioning of the company to fit me, not the other way around. For instance, I don’t want to manage employees. I’ve done that in my previous career. It’s administrative and emotional overhead and takes away from the time I need to run the company. I hire contract labor as needed for specialty tasks. For instance, I pay my acrylic manufacturers to package my items for me rather than create warehouse/assembly space and hire workers on my end.

You can read more of the interview with Joan Hawley in the Summer issue of The Professional Quilter. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page.

Just a bit of what I liked: The Authentic line by Sweetwater Design from Moda. It’s filled with typography and newsprint fabric; must reflect my journalism background!

Also showcasing Moda‘s line is Joanna Figueroa with Fig Tree & Co.

Avlyn fabrics also has several nice new lines, including Belle Fleur, a white, green and black graphic collection from Karen Combs. Karen also introduced here Batik Cascade line.

And always a favorite for me is the Michael Miller booth, with bright happy colors.

And, while I didn’t get a photo, Kona Bay always has a wonderful fabric selection.

And I liked what Valori Wells did to decorate her booth. She took swatches of her lines and sewed them onto a canvas cloth and hung that. It was simple and effective.

One of my favorite designers is Robyn Pandolph, who designs fabric for RJR. Here she is with Barbara Bradley. They’ll work together from a new design studio soon.

I caught up with a couple of my favorite bag makers. Joan Hawley from Lazy Girl Designs was delivering her newest girl Claire for display in several booths. And Terry Atkinson has two new books, including Big Bags, little bags, which includes ideas for using yo-yos for a little zing and for using oilcloth for your bag. Both Joan and Terry have great tutorials on their blogs.

Here are a few shots from my row at the show. Susan Cleveland with Pieces Be With You was on one side of me and Karen Montgomery from The Quilt Company was on the other. Karen’s got some great shots of the floor on her blog.

Across the aisle were Janine Burke and Amy Walsh from Blue Underground Studios.

And here’s one last shot with quilt artist and author ReNae Merrill and Leslie O’Brien, PQ advertising rep.

I did pick up some new notions, so look for some reviews in the future. The big item I think was the bias binding maker from Simplicity/Wrights/Ez.

And, what coverage of Quilt Market would be complete without a mention of Sample Spree? This is the most hectic event, everyone’s first peek at what’s new. People line up early to get first chance to buy fabric in particular. Here’s a shot of the line waiting to get in. The doors open at 8 pm; the first person was in line at 2:30!

And, as for our location, we were at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. It’s a fabulous facility with lots of natural light; everything looks good in that lighting. Pittsburgh is a great city, too, with friendly people and terrific food – any city that puts French fries on a sandwich or salad ranks high with me! I hope we’ll be back next time we go to the East Coast.

One of the niftiest new products I saw was Clearly Perfect Angles from New Leaf Stitches. This vinyl template sticks to your sewing machine table via static cling and lets you sew 45 degree angles. It also has 1/4 and 5/8 inch seam guides. These static-cling products remind me of the Colorforms I had as a child. My favorite was the repositionable fashion model. I remember drawing around the model and then creating dress designs on paper.

Quilts Inc. has released the following attendance figures for Market: 3,321 attendees and 551 exhibitors taking 1,144 booths.

The quilt show featured a number of special exhibits, most notable the more than 30 quilts in the “The DAR Museum Collection: Quilts From a Young Country.” These quilts have never traveled outside the Society’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. I feel fortunate that I live in the DC area and have seen quilts in the DAR collection.

As for attendance, final figures from Quilts Inc. show that total attendance was 52,542, down 1,704 from last year’s recording-breaking numbers. Considering the economy and Hurricane Ike, the drop in attendance was surprisingly moderate, said Karey Bresenhan, president of Festival’s producer Quilts Inc.
I’ll share more of my thoughts and other products in the upcoming issues of The Professional Quilter. If your subscription expired with the Fall issue, be sure to renew shortly.

Got set up some Thursday and continued on Friday morning. Here are some before shots of the hall. First up is the Superior Thread booth. Guess the crates are filled with thread! The second shot is the Michael Miller Fabrics booth, which in its finished state won one of the booth prizes.

Friday was filled with Schoolhouse, classes geared to shop owners to help them market products in their shops, and a variety of educational lectures. Friday night is Sample Spree, a hugely popular event. Here’s a shot of the masses of people waiting to get in. The spree opens at 8 pm and attendees get in in two waves. The first person was in line at 2:30 pm!

The show opened to the trade on Saturday morning at 8:30. It’s such a transformation from vast open spaces to small shops and displays. I saw several new notions. Anyone need a whacker? It’s a hammer to use to whack those pesky seams flat. And, everyone seems to be eating at the same bakery: lots of jelly roll, turnover and layer cake fabrics, books, patterns. Still fun decorator prints in bright colors, though I did notice some browns creeping back in. Overall, you can find colors that appeal to anyone’s desire. Plenty of people stopped by the booth during the show. Here are some shots.

Here’s Jake FInch, who is has a new book on Community Quilts with C&T and was just named Managing Editor for Mark Lipinski’s Quilter’s Home.

And speaking of Mark, he popped in, too.

Did some walking on the floor and ran into Jay McCarroll, Project Runway’s 2005 season winner. Jay has now designed two fabric lines for FreeSpirit Fabrics. You can see bits in the background of the photo.

I’m lucky to have area quilters loan me quilts to hang on display in the booth. One of those quilters is Kim Ritter. Here we are in front of her quilt “Trowel and Error.”

The last two issues of the The Professional Quilter included articles on blogs by Maria Peagler. Maria stopped into Market to make contacts and sales of her book Color Mastery that comes out in early 2009.

Ricky Tims also stopped by.

And, my booth was catty-corner across from Linda Taylor and she stopped in for a visit.

Since I’m the editor of The Professional Quilter, I know lots of the editors at other magazines. Jan Magee, editor-in-chief of Quilters Newsletter and I compared notes on the show.

We have a break between Market and Festival, starting back on Wednesday evening at 5 pm. I’m looking forward to seeing the quilts, something I save for Festival. More in a couple of days.

How did you come to quilting?
I made my first quilt in college for an art class project because I couldn’t afford paint. I had lots of fabric around the house. Later, I took an adult education class about quilting and began teaching quilting to my home ec students. I think the teaching skills translated into my ability to write easy-to-follow instructions.

What led to the business?
I was teaching quilting at a local quilt shop. Soon, my students asked to buy my class handouts, and I adapted my most popular class handouts for my first two patterns. Initially, the patterns were sold in local quilt shops. A pattern distributor picked up those first two patterns that year, giving the patterns exposure across the United States. In 1997 International Quilt Market was held in Minneapolis, and I exhibited for the first time, giving my patterns even more exposure to shops and distributors. They started to take over on a larger scale at that time.

One of your patterns, “Yellow Brick Road,” has been in the Checker Top 20 for seven to eight years. Why do you think it remains so popular?
“Yellow Brick Road” is a quilt that looks good in any kind of fabric. It’s fun to sew, and people like the fact that it uses up all of each fat quarter so there are no leftover scraps. Each time you make it it looks like a brand new quilt because it takes on the personality of the fabrics used. From what I hear, longarm quilters end up with lots of these to quilt for their customers.

You have 27 individual patterns and 14 books. How do you decide whether to issue a particular design as a solo pattern or as a part of a book?
For a pattern, we have only four pages of instructions, so a book provides more flexibility. The pictures are larger in a book as well, so sometimes I make the decision based on if the quilt would look better in a larger or smaller photo. I also will use books to showcase new fabric collections. And, if I want to work with a theme, I’ll go with a book. For example, Let’s Do Lunch, which came out earlier this year, includes a variety of table runners, napkin rings and a few totes. Most of the patterns have food-themed names.

To read more of the profile on Terry Atkinson, you can purchase Issue 105 or start your subscription here.