2016 Fall Quilt Market Readiness

Hello Friends,

It's been a long time, but wanted to say hey and let you know I'm still around.

It's been hard days working on my first booth for Quilt Market, which is about a month away. I'm debuting so much, a fabric collection, new quilting and garment patterns, my second book, and more. You're going to love it.

I'm really excited to be an exhibitor, but it is also my first time. When it comes to design and making, I'm confident. I can talk and talk your ear off, but preparing for such an event like quilt market, it's been a guessing game. A costly guessing game. It's finding this happy middle ground where you anticipate enough to be ready for any business opportunities and yet determining what's overkill.

For example, I have these beautiful brochures and order forms. How many to print, what paper to use, color, both sides, buy online or use local?

I will admit I went overboard on my booth. It's hard walls and it's beautiful. And so more decisions. Do you ship or drive? If you ship, how will it get to the convention center. If you drive, do you rent an u-haul and if so, where do you park it. How much will it all cost?

And yet there's more decisions. How much inventory to bring? What should be preorder or what should be ready for the sale. What's my sale policy, how to price, how will I transact, and so forth.

Then the anxiety questions starts to enter my brain... Will I sell enough to at least break even? Will it be worth my time? I'm optimist, but there's no guarantees.

Overall, I'm really excited. It's been a whirlwind of everything. Designing, making, drafting, writing, photography, building, coordinating, and so forth. And also, I built an official web page.

It's been a lot. I've learned so much. I may not have been efficient this go around, but I'm improving my learning curve. I'm gaining more confidence as a business women and growing as a designer. Those are things to focus on, to focus on the positive.

In the midst of market prep,
Sandra