Well, we made it to Houston and back! (the “back” part was a challenge, but more on that later). My fabulous husband not only built my booth but left 2 days early to drive it out to Houston. I flew there Thursday before the show and he picked me up at the airport. He had already gotten a big head start on set-up. Friday we worked on the rest of set-up most of the day, stopped by the Fabric 2.0 party for a little socializing then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

And here we are Saturday morning when the show opened! He did such a great job on the booth, I couldn’t have been happier! (Click on the photos to see them larger) The structure was sturdy and the lighting was fantastic. All of the samples and signage just shined. We even had several people peeking around the back of the booth to see how my husband constructed it, haha!

Would you like a tour? This is actually a “half booth”, measuring 10 feet wide by 6 feet deep (a single booth is 10’x10′).

 The left side wall showed my Wildlife with Love™ collection. The Polar Babies quilt got a lot of attention as did the hooped appliqués and stuffed felt animals. I was thrilled that people reacted so well. I felt like it was something very new and different and I wasn’t sure how it would go over. Now I am amped up to do another series of animals for next market.

For the floor we used wood grain foamy tiles that made 3 days of standing in one spot a little easier. The thrifted table and chairs you should recognize from an earlier post! They were a big hit and were photographed frequently. On the table we had an ipad playing a slide show of the patterns, business cards and post cards, and a candy bowl. To the left of the photo are some pretty daisies given to us by my sweet booth neighbor, Jan of Daisy Janie! The prefect touch!

All in all, we felt the show was a success. We met a ton of shop owners and collected many business cards from interested buyers. I loved hearing from people that already carry my patterns as well as meeting people that said, “How come I never heard of you?” 🙂 It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends and industry favorites, although it was a little harder to connect being tied to a booth instead of making the rounds myself! I’m pretty sure the crowd was thinned a bit by the threat of Sandy, but Sunday held steady. Monday was slow, but that did give us a chance to venture out of the booth which was nice. I also had the opportunity to speak with the folks from Creative Bug, who put together this beautiful “field report”. I was thrilled and honored to be included in it!

Creativebug Field Report: Quilt Market 2012 from Creativebug on Vimeo.

Now I’d like to say a special thank you to my sweet husband who basically sacrificed his entire fall for me and this crazy adventure. Between pattern layouts, photography, graphics, booth building, hours of driving and a million other details, this would not have happened without him. Thank you, Honey! Although it wasn’t without stress and exhaustion, I’m proud of our teamwork and ability to pull this off. WE DID IT. We rocked it. You are my hero.

And I cannot wrap up this post without one more thank you to some behind-the-scenes heroes, my parents. Grandma and Grandpa held down the fort for us back in Maryland, making sure our boys got to school, soccer games, were fed, safe and happy. We were worried but so fortunate that Hurricane Sandy took it easy on them. Our family stayed safe and warm. School was cancelled but G&G kept everyone entertained. Thank you Mom and Dad! You are the best.

I was supposed to fly home Tuesday but after my flight was cancelled, I opted to ride home with my husband. After 2 days and 24 hours of driving, we made it home just before midnight on Halloween. We missed trick-or-treat but the boys are old enough to understand and had a great time with their friends. Now we are all together and happy, catching up on hugs, sleep, and swapping stories about our week apart. It’s good to be home!