A lot of people are doing a lot of good work, that's for sure!
And many of those new creations are now arriving at Owl & Drum. Every week, more and more fabric, books, gifts and supplies are winging their way to our midtown Tulsa store.
"It was great to see all the interesting work being created by so many different designers and companies," said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.
"A lot of the new fabrics are now being designed by artists - such as Tula Pink, Leah Duncan, Charley Harper and Eloise Renouf - and not just traditional textile designers.
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| Dani and Bianca with the lovely Tula Pink |
"So, some of these fabrics are, well, actual pieces of art. I love how they look and feel."
One artist who really caught the eye - with her great fabrics, her sense of fun and her colorful booth at the Portland Convention Center event - was Tula Pink.
"We are excited about Tula Pink's Acacia, which is her new line for Free Spirit Fabrics," Howell said.
"We love her color choices and her signature raccoon print. It was very hard to decide which fabrics to order from among the eight great prints she created in three different colorways."
Owl & Drum also ordered some of Tula Pink's needlepoint kits, which feature designs named Parisville Sky and Night Shade Absinthe from her previous fabric collections.
"Tula's got a great eye for design, detail and bold colors," Howell added. "She was great to work with and she's got a charming personality."
Harper is a well-known wildlife illustrator and Birch Fabrics have licensed his images for a range of fabrics named after the late artist.
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| Charley Harper for Birch Fabric |
Duncan is an illustrator and textile designer based in Austin, Texas, whose first fabric collection has been unveiled by Art Gallery Fabrics. Her artwork (and now her fabrics) are inspired by nature, folk art and Duncan's love of children's illustration.
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| Leah Duncan for Art Gallery Fabrics |
Renouf's latest collection for Cloud 9 Fabrics - featuring names such as Birdsong, Winter Woodland, Forest Floor and Passing Clouds - is a journey through woodland through the four seasons, with dense greens and golden hues in late summer and early autumn to paler, cooler colors in winter.
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| Eloise Renouf for Cloud 9 Fabrics |
The International Quilt Market, which was established in 1979, is the only wholesale trade show for the worldwide quilting and soft crafts industry. It showcases quilting supplies, decorative crafts, textile arts, needle crafts, computer software and doll-making supplies.
The market, held each spring and fall in different U.S. cities, is the catalyst for the development of the quilting industry, which now boasts gross annual sales of about $3.6 billion in the U.S.
The International Quilt Market is staged by Quilts, Inc., which produces three consumer shows and two trade shows each year that “set the standard for both the art and the business of quilting,” according to its website, quilts.com.
The fall International Quilt Market will be held from Oct. 26-28 in Houston. The next spring quilt market will be held from May 16-18 in Pittsburgh, PA.
For more information about the International Quilt Market, check out its page on Facebook.
Owl & Drum, located at 2810 E. 15th St. in Tulsa, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, and from 12-4 p.m. Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.
For more details about Owl & Drum – which stocks more than 250 different bolts of fabric, unique handmade gifts, craft books and equipment/supplies – visit www.owlanddrum.com or call Bianca at 918-742-1404.
