Fall 2010 International Textiles Expo

Due to travel and trade shows and summer and family, there will be no pattern of the month for September. Aww, shucks you say! What I can give you instead is a preview of some fabric that will be delivered in October & November...

Josh and I drove up to Las Vegas this past Sunday to attend the Fall International Textile Expo at Bally's on the strip. It's always a trip to go to Vegas and see all the people and look at the crazy hotels & shops. We walked around for a bit, had some dinner & headed back to Bally's to rest up for the show on Monday morning.

First stop, Alexander Henry and the lovely Miho! She pulled out the newest prints that will be at the Fall Quilt Market and of course we ordered a bunch ("Bone Bling", anyone?). I can only show you guys pictures of what is already on their website, not the very newest stuff. So here are a few prints we'll be carrying from the Matisse collection that will be shipping soon!

Next on the list is Robert Kaufman, where everyone will be happy to know that we were able to re-order most of our lovely chambray colors. This will probably be the last time, so we'll let you all know when it comes in! We grabbed almost all of the colors of a gorgeous new canvas, some velveteen (so soft..) in black, white, camel and a lovely deep forest green and YES BETH I did order some corduroy - jewel tones and neutrals. All of our basics should be shipping within the next month or so, along with some beautiful vintage style prints from a group called 'Betty Dear':

And these to be delivered in October: Halloween hearses and MONSTERS!

And lastly, this super-cute print with tiny bunnies, spaceships and macaroni...

So that takes care of our regular vendors, now the exploration begins! One of the reasons I love this particular trade show is that it is smaller and more specific than many of the other ones we attend. Most of the vendors and attendees are family operated businesses that have been around for years, so we get to see people we know and there are ALWAYS good stories at lunch... plus some dubious green cheesecake:

We stopped in at Renaissance / Blue Moon Buttons to replenish our stock and chatted for a bit about their move back to Santa Fe. They had some CRAZY beautiful vintage buttons and we grabbed as much as we could. New metal & glass buttons on their way along with a bunch of buttons with eyelets because they are so cool! Looking around at some new fabric vendors that specialize in designer bolt ends, we found some great french linens, silks & woolens (three words: Lady Grey class!):

And this crazy Marc Jacobs canvas print!

I was totally distracted by a company that I hadn't seen before called Art Gallery Fabrics - they had some beautiful prints, and we spent some time talking with the designer's husband, who was happy to get some garment sewer feedback. Wait till you feel these fabrics! They have a luxuriously soft hand.

We spotted an anonymous attendee with Alexander Henry's new "Mirage" print - the one we were wondering if it was a little too racy for people to wear out of their house - question answered!

The last new fabrics that caught my eye were a bunch of yarn dyes from Diamond Textiles. You can see how much I love this stuff already by looking at my shop! Well, the collection is growing just in time for the Button Down Shirt class...

By 6pm, the show was winding down and we had to get on the road back to L.A. A quick stop to grab some gas, water & caffeine then back through the desert. It was a lovely drive with the sun setting and the moon rising - here's a rest stop shot of the moon to wrap it all up. Tune in at the end of the month when I promise I'll do a fantastic pattern for the Pattern of the Month!