I almost forgot why I went to NYC to begin with. Of course. The show. Work, right. I explained a little about my process of developing product before I left. This is the fourth year that I've exhibited my design work here. The first year or two it was extremely instrumental in gaining my first clients. This is where Donna found me too, and expressed interest in me developing my first line of fabric with them. I remember thinking,' yea, fabric, always wanted to do that'.
So this booth is a little 10'x10' piece of me and what I'm about as far as design goes. Unlike Quilt Market, most of what is up on the wall are the very latest designs that aren't even on product yet. So its more like an idea bank, or your copyright vault. I do always have examples of my already produced items up to show a range of ideas and forms.
So that I don't let any big cats out of the bag, I only get to show you the one wall with mostly finished product. Is that so annoying!? Image piracy is rampant in this industry and its no fun to see your designs hit someone else's portfolio (trust me) and product before you even have a chance to get it out there. Just part of it though. There are a couple of finished product surprises up there, and maybe if I don't talk about them yet, it won't be like I'm really showing them to you. Snicker.
And speaking of securing things, I tacked the heck out of that quilt front to back to discourage anyone trying to lift it once my booth was set up and I was away. It's a drag to think about, but it certainly does happen if you have something valuable displayed. Having the quilt, one of my dining room benches, tons of my fabric and such felt very cozy. That backdrop you see is one single 30ft x 8ft handpainted piece of canvas covered in my signature pattern. Yes, that took a while, but I've used it for 3 years now, so it was very worth it.
Oh look its me again. Another logo sign for the passersby to spot me down the long aisle. And when they turned the corner they could see me standing in the midst of me. And when we started a conversation it was about me. When we looked at stuff it was all mine. I spent a lot of time talking about me and my ideas and my art. I did it lots of times for three days in a row. It was a relief to see and talk to people who already know me, and I could save the story of me for the next poor soul. Me. Me. Me. I got so sick of me.
However. I got to gaze over at someone other than me in between chats. Pretty sure he was kinda sick of me too. But that's one of his jobs. He's been subjected to me-ness for more than 16 years now. Lucky me. Yowza.
The most enjoyable part of my trip was spending it with two of the best people in existence. My mother for the first few days and my sweet husband for the final four days. The show was great, and successful. I am passionate about my work, but it is work. When 6 o'clock hit each day, Jeff and I were out of there like high-school seniors at dismissal. We just walked and walked and ate and drank and laughed and taxied and trained and everything else we forget is possible when we are raising five children together.
He did manage to snap a sliver of me in my birthday dress. I guess he wasn't entirely sick of me.
xoAM