Welcome to Camp Moda!

Or Spring International Quilt Market 2016 - in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Where the power went out last night sometime after 10:00 pm - and stayed off for I'm not sure how long.  (I fell asleep.)

Yesterday was Schoolhouse - I'll tell you more about that in a few days - and Quilt Market officially opens today.  (Market is not open to the public, it is a trade show open only to credentialed companies and individuals in the quilt, sewing and textile industries.)

Most everything is done but the carpets in the convention center need to be laid and the last-minute finishing touches done.  But I know you want pictures.  Chairs are still on tables so no full pictures of the booth just yet - but Holly and Lissa decided that we needed to go to Camp this time.

So Holly built a boat.

I'll be telling you more about this after Market for now, let it suffice to say that the girl built a boat from cardboard in a day... from "blueprints" in her head.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

You can't go to camp without a tent - a really cool tent.  With a cot and pillows.

There are quite a few of us and we are expecting company so we added a teepee for additional accommodations.

A macrame cot - I told you Holly was amazing - complete with quilts and a few pillows.

There will be a lot more pictures in the coming days but I know you want to see the designer booths.  After input from all the "creative types", Lissa and Holly decided to try a different floor-plan and fabrication for the booths.  Cardboard.  Yes, cardboard!

The sheets are 4' x 8' and about 2" thick.  Four sheets of cardboard were attached to each other to form a large "X", giving each designer almost 8 feet of wall-space.  The "X"s were then positioned so that there is an s-like flow through the booths.  Designers are next to each other - and across from each other - and it's a really cool change.  And yes, the floors are cardboard too - a thinner sheet that also measures 4' x 8'.

Quilts can be pinned directly to the cardboard - which can be pained, covered with paper or decorated.  Beth Snyder of OneCanoeTwo is a painter so she painted flowers, the name of her new collection - Hazelwood - and then filled in the wall with quilts, pictures, fabric and such.

Hazelwood by OneCanoeTwo - that spiderweb quilt is gorgeous.  (You should know that while I love all the new collections, this is one of my favorites.) (Yes, I'm sure I will say that a dozen times or more.)

The lovely Sweetwater ladies - Lisa and mom, Karla were in Salt Lake City - covered their walls with a paper that looks like tree-bark.  It's a perfect backdrop for their The Treehouse Club collection.

These mini blocks were made using Sweetwater's new Designer Series bundles of 12 Bella Solids - chosen by them in colors that coordinate with their collections.  (More on those soon.)

Sandy Klop - American Jane.  Sandy's new collection is Hop, Skip and a Jump.

This is Four Grand - and it's gorgeous, huge (90" x 90") and so very much better in person.

Handmade by Bonnie & Camille.  This is Bonnie's side - Cotton Way.  Camille is around the corner on the right.

The Spool Quilt is one of Bonnie's new patterns - it's also going to be a kit from Moda.  As you can see, there is also a variation done with Bella Solids - Bonnie & Camille also have a Designer Series bundle.

I hope those pincushions - and that sewing machine - is nailed down.  Gorilla Glue.  They're that adorable.

Kansas Troubles - Lynne Hagmeier.  Oak Haven is Lynne's new collection - it is gloriously Fall.  Acorns, vividly-colored leaves and pumpkins.

That table - Lynne made it from cardboard and the edge of the table is made with spools of Aurifil thread.  How clever is that?

A Quilting Life - Sherri & Chelsi.  The new collection is Desert Bloom and the quilts are all new patterns from A Quilting Life.  The colors in Desert Bloom are beautiful - Navy, Aqua, Citrine, Pumpkin, a gorgeous Coral-Persimmon shade and Cream.

If you see on the left, that's how the booths are next to each other - that's Shannon Orr with Acreage.  And that's tomorrow.

Barb & Mary - Me & My Sister Designs.  (I'm begging forgiveness with the lighting in some of these pictures, not all the interior lights were on yet.). But Barb & Mary will definitely try to Brighten Up! our little Camp with their new collection - Brighten Up!  Me & My Sister - also a Bella Designer Series bundle - coming soon.  It's there in the picture - top shelf, in front of the framed picture.

Minick & Simpson - Polly & Laurie - with Grand Traverse Bay.  The glorious quilt on the right is Portage Lake.  It's a Block of the Month that includes pieces from Miss Scarlet - it's also available as a kit.  Laurie's is hand-appliquéd, machine-pieced and hand-quilted.  And there is a little bit of embroidery.

Betsy Chutchian is their neighbor on the right - tomorrow.

Corey Yoder - Coriander Quilts - and Sundrops.  Yellow, Coral, Red, two shades of Gray, White and Green - it's quite wonderful.

Do you see the picture of Corey on the left-side - at the top of her "waterfall" of fabric?  Instead of a sign with just their name on it, this year, all of the designers are identified with their pictures.  The tags on their collections will also use these images so you can get to know the people behind the designer names - the faces of Moda.

This is the Make & Take area - with all the designers' pictures on the wall.

The entire designer booth space is 20' wide and 80' long.  There are thirty designers with booths in the space.

Flight by Janet Clare - inspired by the spirit of adventure that embodies flying.  More about Janet's beautiful quilts in the coming days - she wasn't quite finished with her booth but I snagged a picture anyway because I love the colors in this collection.  Do you see the pieces that look almost "peach" colored?  They're actually red prints on a cream background - perfection!

Olive's Flower Market - by Lella Boutique.  Vanessa Goertzen's booth is one of my favorites.  I love the "wood" walls.  And the fabric.  And those pillows.  And the flowers.  And this...

The girl thought of every detail.

Chestnut Street by Fig Tree & Co. - Joanna Figueroa.  This collection is a riff on the hugely popular Farmhouse - tweaked just a bit.  It's classic Fig Tree but still different - vintage but not old-fashioned.  (Wait for it... one of my favorites.)

The quilts on the right feature Joanna's Bella Designer Series bundle of 12 fat quarters - she's made several yummy quilts using the palette that she calls "Sherbets and Creams."

A new feature in Camp Moda is our Moda Basics Booth - featuring our popular Grunge fabrics, Bella Solids and a few other things.

The quilts on the racks are all made with Bella Designer Series bundles - there are seven different designer assortments.  In addition to Me & My Sister, Fig Tree, Sweetwater and Bonnie & Camille, there are bundles from Zen Chic, Vanessa Christenson - V & Co. - and Kate Spain.

Most of the quilts shown are made with Moda's 12-Pack patterns.

At the other end of the booth - Katy Perry.

Made by... Holly Hickman.  It's the first quilt she made entirely by herself - design, layout, sewing and machine quilting.  Boats, booths and quilts.  It's all about the power-tools, isn't it?

More tomorrow!