A Last Minute Decision

About a month ago, I decided to ask to become a vendor at the Mohawk Valley Quilt Club show September 6-8 in greater Utica, NY. The show’s being held at the Utica Curling Club, and since I am quite the curling fan, I felt this was a very good omen. The guild had space for me, so I’ve been scrambling to get ready for a three-day show that’s a mere week before one of our largest shows of the year.

What does it take for Bucklebee to prepare for a quilt show? First, we need merchandise, whether it’s handmade handbags, handcrafted tools, or retail goods. Those things must be packaged, labeled, counted and inventoried. Then we create a custom floor plan for each show. Our goal is to make our space look like a retail shop. Every detail matters. Then we get the store supplies ready: bags, flyers, free patterns, doorprize donations. Linens are washed and pressed. When that’s all done, we pack everything so that it fits in the SUV, which I like to call the Bucklebuggy. Packing is like a game of Tetris, but we must consider weight as well as physical size.

If I’m on top of my game, I’ll label our big gray and green bins, and then spend the afternoon before departure for the venue baking a treat for the weekend (this show, it’s molasses cookies) and sewing the seam samples that I will spend all weekend ripping out again during the dozens of demos I’ll give.

Please come by the show! There will be 200 quilts on display, lots of vendors, Grandma’s attic, and some other special features. The Utica Curling Club is located in Whitesboro, NY, at 8300 Clark Mills Road.

See you there!