Three products of note (to me!) at the Houston Market
I love going to the International Quilt Market at Houston each year. It is a luxury for me to attend since I don’t have a brick-and-mortar shop. But I like to see what’s new and what I might add to my online shop. You can read about the quilts here in Part 1 and Part 2, and a post about the Festival experience here.
There is a huge added advantage of being at Market – the show is already hung and you can get in to see it! There are very few attendees viewing the quilts during Market.
I didn’t get photos to show the general feel of Market, but it looks similar to the Festival except there are fewer people. Serious attendees will make appointments at the vendors that hold their interest and there is a lot of business going on.
There were 3 products that got my attention. Just so you know, I buy very little cotton fabric so I don’t have any scoop on cool new fabric lines.
Here’s what piqued my interest:
505 Adhesive in a stick form
Okay, this is not a new product, but it IS a new-to-ME product. I have not seen this at my local quilt shop, but apparently it’s been around for a while:
How handy it will be to have 505 in a STICK ! If you’re not familiar with 505, it is a high quality temporary basting spray, the Gold Standard of temporary basting sprays in my opinion. I will be handy for situations when I don’t want to have to protect surrounding surfaces from the spray can.
Magnetic Cutting Mat by Sew Tite
This is slick and new:
The Sew Tites folks have come up with a a 20 x 24″ double-sided, 7-layer self-healing magnetic cutting mat. It holds your fabric firmly without a death grip. And it HOLDS!
This will help you cut more quickly, more accurately, and easily. So, if you have trouble getting good cuts, if you have any kind of arthritis/wrist issues/carpal tunnel, or want to cut out patterns without pins, this might be a great tool for you.
It is pricey at $379 and, it is heavy; I’d guess maybe 10 lbs? But you presumably would not be moving it around. You can easily add more magnets for an even firmer grip. I tried it with lots of magnets and barely even holding the ruler with my left hand and it stayed firm as a rock. Cool!
It is a system and includes the cutting mat, ruler and 12 magnets. Bottom line, great tool for getting accurate cuts.
The Glow Ruler
This is totally a game changer for fussy cutters:
The Glow Ruler is the coolest thing! The lines on it glow brightly from the internal light. The bottom of the ruler has an on/off button and a (I think) USB C port for charging. This one is sized 6″ x 6″ and its creator is working on other sizes.
You won’t be able to find it for a while as it is sold out until Feb. I do intend to carry this in my online shop once it’s available.
All you English Paper Piecing people will love this!
I probably missed some cool stuff, but this is my idea haul.
Oh, man — good thing I was NOT at Quilt Market, because clearly I would have gone broke if this is just a taste of what was on offer. Does that 505 glue stick come in a skinner version or just the fat one? And are those magnets permanently attached to the ruler that comes with the magnetic cutting mat, or can you use them with the other rulers you already own?
I think it just comes in the fat one and the magnets move and yes, you need one:-)