The Rather Blustery Sales Day

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a booth at the Backyard Quilt and Craft Show in Middletown, Delware.  The show was hosted by the owner of the Lil’ Country Shoppe in Middletown.   It is not often that I do a retail booth, preferring of course to concentrate on the designing and writing of the patterns... but this weekend I made an exception.  

On occasion it is really nice to be able to mingle with people and show them my designs.  I love hearing your feedback.  Some of you are even kind enough to make suggestions on possible future projects and I love the inspiration.   Everyone seemed to really enjoy both the artisan booths at the show and the quilts under cover.  But there was nothing they enjoyed more than the weather.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a gorgeous breeze.  I think strolling along in the sun with a little wind on my face and shopping for quilt stuff sounds spectacular.  I wish I could have joined all of you.  

Unfortunately for me... I was actually running the booth.   It was my job to make a presentable and inviting booth for you to want to stroll through.  Someplace to linger and look at quilts and browse the pattern rack.  This is quite challenging on a gorgeous and breezy day.

For those strolling along the “avenue” the breeze was wonderful.  After all, the weather the previous day was sticky and hot and topped at about 98 degrees.   So the customers couldn’t have been more thrilled to feel a little wind at their back... and occasionally their front.

But... for the lady with the quilts in her booth... The wind was a disaster.  I could not stop the quilts from blowing in all different directions.  They turned around... they fell down... they blew into people’s faces... into the pattern rack... and on several occasions caught the wind and tried to take both tents with them.  At some point in the day... Susan, my trusty helper, and I just gave up trying to make a beautiful booth and were satisfied with not blowing completely away into the parking lot.  When we left the show that day, after packing all the tents, tables and wares away... we felt like we had spent the entire day sailing on the bay... only without the relaxation.  

I thought I would share with you the photos I tried to get of the booth... it was useless... but still a great story.  I would also like to give a hearty thank you to all the customers who came out that day to meet me... you were all very nice and very generous and I thank you for that.  I would absolutely love to come back next year with some new designs... however, I think next year... I will take Doris’ advice and set up behind the barn...

Enjoy!

New Patterns are so exciting

Releasing a new pattern is always so exciting.  Coming up with the idea is the easy part... and then sitting down and writing out the cutting instructions... that part isn't so bad.  It's the writing of the steps that really get to me.  Remembering to add every detail so that even a new quilter can do it.  Ugh!  

It's hard to think like a new quilter.  I spend a couple of days writing all the instructions and then going back and adding the drawings just right so that the instructions are easy to understand.   I check it and recheck to find all the mistakes... and sad to say... I usually find a new one each day.  Then taking the printed copy up to the studio and start testing it from the beginning.  First the cutting instructions and then the piecing instructions.  It's very time consuming.  

Once the quilt is done... it's time to take it to the quilter to get it completed and once it comes back and the binding is on... it's time to get it photographed.  Phew!  It's a lot of working putting out a pattern for you.  But once it's out... I am just so excited to share the new design and see how much you like it.  

What's even better?  Putting out a new pattern with a brand new cover.  I am standardizing all the covers this year on all patterns both old and new... and these are the new patterns from this year... the first to sport the new covers. 

Of course... as of this posting... all the new covers are done.  But I thought it would be nice to put to share only the new patterns from this year.  

So here they are!

   

Don't you just love those cute little aprons?  I had so many requests for table runner patterns... or small projects that can be complete very easily.  So I made the aprons and the spools patterns into table runners for those of you who like that sort of thing... and of course we are showing off the new covers.

Make sure you stay tuned for the new designs coming out soon.  Two new BOM's and a brand new quilt.  I have the greatest job in the world!

Nobody's Perfect

When you are the owner of your own business it seems the work never ceases.  Ideas for designs come in the middle of the night and the desire to get them onto paper and begin that glorious stitching process tugs at me daily.

But... so does the desire to create a well-written product.  So many quilters tell me that the patterns they buy sometimes are the worst written patterns.  The instructions aren’t clear and diagrams are confusing.  There just simply isn’t enough instruction included in the pattern.  I have never heard anyone complain that there was TOO MUCH instruction.  So I am constantly reminded that just sitting down and sketching out an idea simply isn’t enough.  You must be clear and concise, you must provide adequate diagrams and you must make sure that your product is free of mistakes.  


This seems simple and obvious but so many pattern authors neglect those important details.  So I do my best to try to write clear and concise patterns with lots of instruction.  I test each and every pattern to make sure there are no mistakes (an important lesson that I learned early on.)  Although every now and then when I attempt a new printing on an old design I find little typos here and there... and I can’t tell you how frustrating this can be.  


While rechecking a pattern for a new print run I found about three typos where I simply left out the letter on a word.  I realize on the whole... this isn’t that big of an issue.  But for me, it feels like I have let you down as a designer.  So... I would like to say I’m truly sorry.  If you have purchased a pattern and were forced to read through a typo... I apologize.  I try to do a much better job of editing than the local newspaper... but alas... I am not perfect.  


During the new marketing process that we are going through we are taking care to re-edit many of the patterns... just as an update.  It’s always good to back over what is written and see if there is any way that it can be improved.  I have actually found a few other things to correct... a few methods that I have learned over the years that are more simple and easy to use.  


So if you are new to our designs I am sure you will find the patterns easy to use and simple to understand.  If you are a faithful follower you will be pleased to see the new logo and new cover designs which we are hoping will make us more eye-catching to the quilting world.  


Thanks so much for your support and patronage.

~Penni