To Market, to Market

What a whirlwind! Last weekend was International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City. If you are looking for detailed booth shots, there are many many blogs out there that will show you lots of fabric and booth eye candy! (Speaking of eye candy, check out the quilting in the photo above! Angela quilted it for the Kona booth. It’s spectacular!)

My mission for going to Market was simple. I was investigating it from the exhibitor point of view. Booth construction, special offers, display techniques.  Fall Market is always in Houston and Spring Market rotates cities. Next spring, it will land right here in my own backyard- Kansas City, MO. Things in the Empty Bobbin world have been going incredibly well. So well that I took down my web store and am focusing my efforts on wholesale and distributor orders.  I intend to have a booth at Market next spring! More patterns will be finished over the course of the coming year and money is being stashed away to pay for a booth. I couldn’t be more excited. People who know me know I love a good project!

From left: Alissa, Victoria, Kristen, Jacquie and me.

Jacquie has a great post up about the real reason for Market. It looks all fun and whatnot from blogs you read, but it is not about parties and sample spree. It’s a trade show where people make their living. Jacquie mentioned to me that as she watched my face as we walked the floor, she could tell that I was in business mode, focused on studying the booths and how they were set up . And she’s right! I’ve never studied flooring and lighting and walls more in my entire life! But, I turned my business face into a giddy dorky grin when I saw these two booths:

That’s a sample of the Playhouse pattern in the Moda/United Notions booth! They asked me back in February if I would make one for their booth and of course I said, “YES!” It was awesome to walk around the corner and see it right there facing a major aisle.

This booth was one of my favorites- for several reasons. It’s the Kona Solids booth in the Robert Kaufman section. They asked for several of the Modern Quilt Guild Kona Challenge quilts from quilters all over the country. Several were from Kansas City. Including mine:

And below: Kristen’s, Mary’s, Jessica’s and Jacquie’s! Go Kansas City! The TV was scrolling photos from the main Flickr pool, so all of the quilts were represented in some way. Very cool.

We sent them in, knowing that they may or may not get hung up in the booth but that they would be included in some way. When Alissa told me that mine was hanging in the booth, she and Jacquie laughed about my eyes lighting up! The booth was so bright and cheery!

Lauren once joked that a Kona color card is like a gateway drug. She’s not kidding!

Jacquie and I posed for a photo to earn Kona tote bags for a guild giveaway!

When the show closed for the day, it was fun to talk sewing with the crew at dinner. A big highlight for me was getting to talk to Kathy Mack in person. We’ve e-mailed for several years and she was one of the first people I talked to about writing patterns- over three years ago! We made plans to meet for dinner one night and it was awesome to just sit and talk patterns, business and sewing. She’s a smart business woman and the growth and success Pink Chalk Fabrics (in three short years) is a testament to that.

Kathy, me, Kristen, Jessica, Angela

Jacquie, Alissa, Tammy, Victoria and Pat Sloan who table hopped to join us at the end of our dinner. I listen to her radio show when I sew late into the night and it was fun to meet her.

It was a great trip full of lists of ideas and things to accomplish and research in the coming year. I’m ready to go for it!