Quilt Knit Stitch event in Portland

[lkl]

Did you attend or know someone that attended the first Quilt, Knit, Stitch event in Portland? Any thoughts?

I was hoping to attend MQX in Portland this fall but apparently it has been cancelled in favour of a new location in Springfield IL.

Leslie

[ffq-lar]

One of my friends was a vendor and another attended on Saturday and both said it wasn't well-attended. The operators are on the hook for two more years so it'll be back next year. We discussed this at length and decided August is a bad month (especially in the warmth/sun-deprived Pacific Northwest) to stage a quilt event since if the weather is good, we're out in it! Too many reunions, vacations, and day trips to spend it indoors when summer is so unpredictable here! I'm sure when this was planned, they had to work around the other big shows in order to get enough quilts entered. Professional show-quilters know a quilt has a two year window for shows and have to pick and choose shows carefully so the entry can hopscotch all over and so no shows overlap. 

 

The quilt show was small but had great quilts on display, according to my friend. And my vendor friend said she broke even, so that's a good thing.

 

There are several shows/sewing Expos in Portland, but few have extensive longarm classes.

[lkl]

Thanks Linda, I didn't attend for some of the same reasons you listed. I prefer to focus on shows/ events that also have a good selection of LA hands-on classes or lectures to choose from.

The September MQX has a great faculty line-up. Unfortunately travel time, even by air to Springfield IL can't be done from my home in one day. Travel by air to Portland is do-able though in a day. The Portland convention centre was an ideal location for MQX. Moving the event around is good for others too.

Leslie

[QuiltGuy]

I thought MQX was alternating between Portland and Springfield...is that not true and it is in Springfield for good?

[srichardson]

MQX didn't have a show scheduled for this year in Portland.  They had one for next year but cancelled it when they discovered the Quilt, Knit and Stitch show was going to be held in August at the convention centre.  The theory was that they were trying to find an alternative location to hold MQX West but there have been no announcements that I am aware of.  At the moment it looks as though nothing is planned which is a shame.  I don't know why they thought the new show would be a conflict for them.  It moved from Long Beach, Ca where it was a quilt show only to Portland this year. I went every year that it was held in Long Beach so I was pretty familiar with the format.  Even when it was just a quilt show it was so different to MQX.  It was much more about the vendors than the quilts.  The quilts were pretty much all part of travelling exhibits and were not judged.  I don't know if that was true with the Portland show.

[BethDurand]

I have been wondering what people thought of the advertisement, especially locally for the show.  I live in town, and didn't really see anything about it.  I was disappointed for the vendors because they didn't seem to have very many people in their booths.  Even Superior's booth was empty when I made my run down there.  I fear that Portland is fast becoming not the town to hold events like this because of the lack of attendance.  Any other thoughts?

[ffq-lar]

My biased opinion is that it was underadvertised, as Beth pointed out, and that the name was so vague that people wondered what it was going to be like. Was it for quilters? Knitters? Garment sewers? Would the offerings be so split into different categories that if you weren't interested in one category, would there be enough of the stuff you were interested in to be worth it to attend? I think they spread themselves thin and lost attendees. My guild (120 miles north of Portland) with 200 members were barely able to fill a bus (40 people) to travel down. It was $40 per person and included entry to the show. I thought it was a great deal, but I had to work, so I missed it this year. I'll attend next year for sure.

 

My vendor friend told us that the organizers were wringing their hands on the last day, offering discounts to vendors for next years show if they signed up on the spot. And also asking them what they could have done to up attendance. 

Maybe they need some time to find a niche and build a following. 

[srichardson]

When this show first opened in Long Beach it was so disorganized it was difficult to believe that it was the same group that produce the show in Houston.  The problem the first year was that they were totally unprepared for the number of people that attended.  There wasn't enough parking, food, ticket windows open, it was a mess.  It was never as well attended on the subsequent years and the last year the number of vendors was really down.  In this area the feeling was that Road to California was by far the best show and the Long Beach Quiltfest was just OK!  

[QuiltGuy]

That is so sad about MQX. At least I got to go once...

[Feedback]

Not only is MQX gone but also the Tacoma APWQ show is gone. Likely both these shows which we all loved are victims of Quilt Inc's new show.

 

Quilt Inc believes they are premier quilt show organizer in the US and by simply being in a market we quilters will come. There failure in Long Beach was not because of parking issues, lack of hotels or food. Within 50 miles of Long Beach there are 5 million people which don't need hotels, can eat at home and fill the Long Beach Convention Center for other shows regularly.

 

Quilt Inc's problem is that they are a arrogant big business that believe they make the rules. That may work well for their B2B business at Quilt Market but does not work for consumers. Their consumer shows have no feel for the quilter community. They have no social out reach to support the vendors or consumer. I predict that once Quilt Inc's contract is up at the Convention Center they abandon the Northwest quilter, just like Long Beach leave us with far fewer shows.

[Bonnie H]

Such an odd name! I thought you all in the Portland area were forming a new friend group!!!

[HeidiP]

After paying for classes and a hotel, I was unable to attend MQX last year because of my Dad's death. I'm very sad to hear that I can no longer plan a trip to Portland for MQX 2015. So what's the best show to plan for if you live in the northwest?

[ffq-lar]

Not only is MQX gone but also the Tacoma APWQ show is gone. Likely both these shows which we all loved are victims of Quilt Inc's new show.

 

Quilt Inc believes they are premier quilt show organizer in the US and by simply being in a market we quilters will come. There failure in Long Beach was not because of parking issues, lack of hotels or food. Within 50 miles of Long Beach there are 5 million people which don't need hotels, can eat at home and fill the Long Beach Convention Center for other shows regularly.

 

Quilt Inc's problem is that they are a arrogant big business that believe they make the rules. That may work well for their B2B business at Quilt Market but does not work for consumers. Their consumer shows have no feel for the quilter community. They have no social out reach to support the vendors or consumer. I predict that once Quilt Inc's contract is up at the Convention Center they abandon the Northwest quilter, just like Long Beach leave us with far fewer shows.

 

 

 

I feel the need to comment on the statement that  the APWQ show "fell victim" to the Quilt Inc's show. I received an email this spring from APWQ announcing the end of their wonderful show. The organizers stated  that the aging group (originally a private guild) has grown tired of the huge amount of time and energy it took to run a successful show. They are returning to their own projects and time with their grandkids, the email announced.

They used to show once every two years in Seattle, then went to every year in Tacoma, with fabulous seminars and classes in the summer. No more show, but not because another entity was having a show 150 miles away. Just thought I'd clarify.

 

 

[Anniquilter]

I went to Quilt!Knit!Stitch! as it just happened to coincide with my visit with my DD! I made a quick visit on Thursday to check on signing up for a class, to meet Beth Durand (Hi Beth, it was great to meet you and put a live face to the name!) and pick up something from Diane Magidson at SewBatik. I was easily able to get into the class I wanted and, since it was 30 minutes before closing and SewBatik's booth was right by the entrance they let me in to see Beth and Diane at SewBatik.  It was very quiet then but, as I said, late in the day. 

 

I went back on Saturday morning for my class and to visit the show.  I ended up being the teacher assistant and noticed that half the class signed up for it at the show rather than registering well in advance. Significant?  After lunch I visited every booth which was easy to do as there were not many people there. I have never seen Superior Threads' booth empty but it was when I was there - sad. I talked to the 6 vendors there who also come to the Vermont Quilt Festival (I'm the VQF Vendor Chair so have got to know them quite well). They were all concerned about the exceedingly low level of 'traffic'.  With my VQF hat on I found 2 vendors who may be interested in coming east for VQF next year - we are always looking for new vendors with different products!  I also looked at all the quilts - and tagged along at her invitation as Janet-Lee Santeusanio of MQX did a guided tour of the exhibit she curated. All of the the quilts and the knitted and garment exhibits there were lovely but they did appear to be travelling exhibits rather than show entries at that show.  I think that makes a difference to who will visit a show.  We don't just go for the vendors or the classes.  We also want to see our own and our friends contest quilts and that brings people in right there!

 

It is a shame the APWQ show ended. From everything I read about it over the years it looked like a great show.  As part of the team who run the Vermont Quilt Festival, even though we board members only have to serve 3 year terms, it still takes a tremendous amount of energy to run such a show and in our case (I don't know about APWQ but suspect the same), we are all volunteers who do it because we love VQF!