Thoughts on Quilt! Knit! Stitch! Show
Quilt! Knit! Stitch! was a chance to do a new show and to have a little family vacation! The drive up to Portland, Oregon, was fun and not too long. We stopped many places along the way to see parts of the country we hadn’t seen before. I think our daughter enjoyed it, too.
I had taken many projects to work on in the “Chic-amobile,” but really only worked on the Chic-a Quilt. It was fun to sew the hexagons together. The tinted reading glasses worked really well — except when I wanted to look out the window!
We arrived a couple days before the show, so we were able to relax and spend some enjoyable time with my aunt and uncle, who live nearby. We also took advantage of the two days to set up just how we wanted: The first morning, we put up the structure of the booth, and the second morning we put out the product. This worked well, because it gave us the afternoons to relax. The Oregon Convention Center is a nice facility, and all the people who work there seem very friendly and helpful.
The show ran from Thursday through Saturday. Amazingly, our booth was close to the entrance. This was a first for us! We are usually in the back. We had a lot of traffic, and it was fun to show our products to people who hadn’t seen them before. My aunt was a huge help in the booth, and it was so nice to have her around and spend “working” time with her. My daughter has mastered the cash register, so she was the check-out person! My husband is a great sport, and he has his favorite items he likes to demonstrate. It was a great family affair!
The show itself was heavy on the quilting, with a handful of the knitting/yarn booths. That wasn’t really a surprise, though — it was sort of what I was expecting. I think there was a plenty to see and take in. The quilts and projects that were on display were amazing and beautiful. There were fashion shows, classes and demonstrations going on each day. There was a lot of fabric, tools, sewing machines, yarn and accessories to look at.
Everything was so creative, colorful and inspiring. For a first-time show, I think it was a success. There are things to work on and improve upon for next year, but isn’t that almost always the case?
By the time we were ready to leave and head home, we were pretty tired. We had spent a week with my aunt and uncle and their dog, Henry, and done a three-day show! We had originally planned to drive home in three days and see Crater Lake. That changed once we hit the road. Our minds were ready to be home, so we did the drive in two days. We just wanted to get home, sleep in our own beds and see the cats — all of which we did !