CHA 2014 Trends Report

The Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) held the Mega show in sunny, blue sky California last week. QuiltWoman.com’s   social media expert, Melony Bradley attended the show and offered this report on the sewing and quilting trends she saw in Anaheim. Read on to find out what she saw in her CHA 2014 Trends Report.

CHA 2014 Trends Report

Innovative Machines and Tools

Although it’s not really new, the Needle Felting Machine  by Simplicity Creative Group is really innovative. No more spending hours with a manual needle felting tool and wool roving! The Needle Felting Machine  makes needle felting a large piece, such as a scarf, easier than ever. Before I never would have considered needle felting anything as large.

Another machine I saw that would be perfect for quilting and sewing projects is Brother’s new ScanNCut. The ScanNCut  has a 300 DPI scanner. This scanner can take scanned images, photos and hand drawn sketches and turn them into unique cutting designs. Quilters can create custom quilt blocks and cut several fabric pieces at a time.

Interesting “New” Mediums

One new technique that I noticed was the return of the 1970’s and 1980’s craze, macramé. It was all over the place. I talked to several publishers that were specifically looking for macramé books. Many companies were introducing new macramé tools and supplies. I guess everything returns at some time or the other.

 

Nancy’s note- This is interesting since, in the 80’s in my craft shop I was macrame “Queen”.  I made macrame everything, designed patterns, taught classes. In my house I had a macrame Christmas tree and nativity set!!  Watch for new macrame patterns coming soon from QuiltWoman.com!

Bling is Still Big

Like my friend said, “clearly bling is not going anywhere when companies are selling entire sheets of the stuff.” How true! Many companies were selling rhinestones sheets or selling them on large mesh rolls. Project samples were decked out with rhinestones like never before.

Hot Topic: Going digital

Education is an important part of the show each year. This year, the topic of social media was “the” hot topic. The educational offerings were comprised mostly of social media as attendees learned how to use Twitter and attended a two hour Social Media Boot camp. Almost all publishers have decided to go digital in some form or fashion. One popular crafting magazine announced that they would cut back their print issues in favor of offering more digital content.

Hexagons Still Going Strong

The hexagon still rules as the most prominent motif at the show. Anyone who makes anything out of shapes had the hexagon. Project samples, such as the table covering above, were full of hexagons.

We hope you enjoyed hearing about the trends at the CHA show! Which trend is your favorite?