The mastermind behind children’s clothing patterns Oliver+S, Liesl, is genius.  I would probably take advice from her on anything, anytime.  Luckily, she’s given some over on the Oliver + S blog over the last several months with her principles for fabric selection.  She explains how to use color, prints, solids, and a little restraint to get the most sophisticated look for the children’s clothes you sew.  Most of these principles can be applied to patchwork and other sewing as well. A summary:

• See the child before the outfit
• Think sophisticated and understated
• Look at the supporting fabrics in a collection, not necessarily the central prints
• Solid colors and neutrals can ground a bright, busy print
• Be eclectic; don’t be afraid to mix collections
• Look for updated versions of traditional prints
• Tonal and two-color prints look very fresh
• Approach juvenile prints with caution

Read about them in detail here (and start from the bottom).  I’d like to add a “hear hear” to Liesl’s tips.  They mirror the way we approach fabric choices for projects in the shop, perhaps we’ll talk about some of our own principles for picking fabric for quilts one of these days.

I think Suppose’ own Oliver+S outfit passes the test.  Meet my aunt Marianne, a clever lady and an adept seamstress.  She made this Birthday Party Dress in Westrade’s classic Tiny Posies print with the button tab in Kaffe Fassett’s Shot Cotton in Watermelon.  Don’t you just want to make a whole bunch! What would you choose to make it in?

The days start to blend together during market as we hustle to see and do everything we can. Today we had a minute to stop and visit with Julie Popa at her booth for Sunflower Hill Designs.  Her debut fabric collection Sunshine Serenade arrived in the shop Thursday and we can’t wait to get home to see it. She’ll have a bunch of new patterns available soon too.  Oh we are so proud of our local talent!

Plus, how exciting to see hanging in her booth, the quilt she made with fabric she picked up at Suppose. I love her mix of colors and prints here.

We are big geeks at market when we run into our idols. At the American Jane booth we oohed and ahhed over Sandy Klop’s new quilts with her new fabric colleciton Happy Campers, which we will carry in it’s entirety.  For her booth display, Sandy got her hands on a vintage viewmaster with family vacation type photos, which we all had to try out.

And I totally geeked out with Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S. But how can I help it when she is so talented and so kind? As always their booth looks like perfection.

I wish we had photos of all our favorite booths, but there just wasn’t time. The big news today is that… drumroll… Suppose will now carry Liberty of London prints! We’ll be getting select Tana cotton lawn prints, and word is Liberty will start producing quilting cottons. You have no idea how excited I am about all of this!

Tomorrow: Market winds down and we make a huuuuge purchase.

Oh boy oh boy. Quilt Market always proves to be such an inspiration.  Our second day here we went to Schoolhouse Series in which you get to choose up to 15 mini-classes/lectures to attend.  It lasts all day and is just a flurry of excitement.  I decided I’d better just pick a few highlights of the many things we saw, otherwise you’d probably feel just as overwhelmed as we are.

The Kaffe Fassett Collective shared quilts from their new book Quilt Romance and showed off some new fabrics.

Confession. I have a total art crush on Kaffe. His talent with design and color is just unreal. I think I have to make this Kaffe Log Cabin.

I learned about the process of making Batiks, and now they are even more alluring to me. The painstaking labor, time, and skill that go into these hand-dyed fabrics is unbelievable. This is the type of stamp that can be used to stamp a wax design onto fabric before it is dyed.

Eleanor Burns, creator of Quilt in a Day series and author of Victory Quilts is another idol of mine. Her charisma and energy are infectious.

Electric Quilt and Amy Butler showcased bags and projects from their new pattern software. If you are a fan of Amy, this program will be a must-have: 22 new patterns plus customization and other cool tricks.

Sue Spargo spoke about how she uses silks and texture in her creations. I love Sue’s identifiable folk art style and have lots of ideas for new projects…

And oh, Leisl Gibson of Oliver + S patterns! Showing off some of her designs using new fabrics, Leisl lectured on her principles of fabric selection. She has impeccable taste and is a fine example to this industry. Her presentation might just have to be another post unto itself because it is such good advice.

Walking back and forth to classes, with anticipation building, we stopped to spy on the exhibits being set up down below.

And finally, the day ended with Sample Spree, a 2 hour rampage of voracious quilt shop owners clawing for the prettiest, newest fabrics and products of limited availability. People queue up early, and this is the view from our spot in line which was not at all close to the front. No end in sight.

And oh boy we took home a lot of loot to put in the shop and make samples with. We can’t wait to get it home and start playing with it all!