Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Quilt Market/Quilt Festival 2014

  Are you sick of all the Festival posts yet?  Without my laptop I wasn't able to blog about everything going on in Houston soooooo I hope you have space in your brain for just one more Market/Festival post.   I will start with Spree.  This summer I had the brilliant idea to actually make samples of some of my designs (14 to be exact) and prepackage them with 3 patterns or kits.  By the time I was ready to leave I had 65 of these quilt shop starter packs completed.
 So I filled my table with all my handiwork and waited for the hordes of buyers to rush in.  The lack of photos following the doors opening hopefully convey just how crazy it got.  By the end of the two hours I had a dozen of these sample packs left!  
 A picture of my booth and neighbors with nice clean isle carpet and anxious sales people waiting for the onslaught of Market.
 There was a nervous tension in the air as we waited...
 The veteran vendors obviously know that display means everything.  Some reach for the homey atmosphere, and achieve it.
 Every morning the vendors are allowed to enter the quilt exhibit for a private showing.  
 The hall was the size of a football field and filled with the most amazing quilts.
 I loved the serenity of the morning amongst the creativity of some amazing quilt makers.
 I would ready myself for the long days by taking a moment upstairs on the patio.
 Swapping out my booth for Festival took a few hours.  I needed to add all the finished goods I had driven out from California.
 And then the doors opened...
Once again no more photos after they announced the show was open.  I have one regret regarding both Market and Festival, I didn't bring anyone along to spell me so that I could go out and schmooz with fellow vendors, possible distributors and potential customers. I was adopted by several of the vendors, who took pity on me, and came by often to check on my needs.  So a huge thank you to Rusty Crow, Sew Graceful, Bits n Pieces, Heart to Hand, Bird Brain, Pinwheels and Quilters' Treasure Chest.   What great shows!  I can't wait to do it again, better get back to the design board.

3 comments:

paulette said...

WOW!! Your booth looked amazing!! You just rattled off all of my other favourite booths!! Thanks for sharing!
P

dorothy erdely said...

laural, it was so nice to meet you last week!!! susan & i are so excited for next year -- we definitely want to "work" for you!!! today i made my tin pan pin cushion -- it turned out beautiful!! i'll be doing a blog post tomorrow & i will showcase your booth & products & i'll show you my pin cushion!!! hope you had a safe trip home & have been able to get some rest.

Charlotte said...


It sounds like it was exhausting but very worthwhile.

Charlotte