The First Ever Quilt Show

Yesterday was the first ever quilt show for my guild.  Last summer we were invited to participate in a "quilt tour" fundraiser for the local domestic abuse program and I was tasked with following up on the email. I actually moved myself into the position of coordinator of our part of the tour--something I've had no experience with at all!  Without going into the details, 5 of the 6 ladies who were on the team were real troopers and went full speed ahead and got everything done that they had to do--it was amazing to see it all come together. The 6th lady we'll not say much about other than even though she didn't attend the planning meetings and had no idea of our plans, she arrived on Friday night when we were setting up, and proceeded to tell everyone what they were supposed to do. That kind of thing really burns my butt!  Fortunately, the other ladies know her pretty well and for the most part, ignored her and went ahead with the plans we'd already made.

The tour was held yesterday and Yea, there was no snow, always a risk in November in NW Wisconsin. The turn out was overwhelming!  The thing was set up that 5 guilds or quilting groups set up quilt shows in 4 area churches. We were in one of the larger churches and shared the space with another guild which worked out very well.  People bought a "passport" and were allowed into all the churches on the one passport.  The domestic abuse program also had a raffle in conjunction with the tour and they had some wonderful items in the raffle. Each guild donated a lap size quilt and area businesses donated wonderful things.  I didn't win anything, but that's okay.

We had a store set up where guests could buy items made by members of the guild. We were given 1/2 yard pieces of fabric that the guild bought, and made items using the fabric--mostly table runners, pot holders and other small items. Almost everything sold and we shared the proceeds of the store with the domestic abuse program.

We also had a cafe where we had coffee, cider, punch and cookies for the guests. We set out a good will offering basket and again, shared the proceeds with the program.

I was busy all day on the floor of the show, mixing with guests, answering questions, and so forth. I was a "white glove lady!"  The last time I wore white gloves was when I still lived at home with my mother and we had to dress up for Sunday church--and that's a very long time ago! I heard so many compliments over how we'd set up our quilt racks and how beautiful the quilts were. We had a section of antique quilts that was a big hit. I displayed my husband's great-grandmother's quilt which looked so beautiful now that it's all quilted up.

When it was over and the raffle winners drawn, I helped take it all down and load everything in cars and trucks and came home with a very good feeling in my heart.  My hips and knees, however, had a very bad feeling in them from all the standing and walking as well as heavy lifting so I spent the evening in a comfy chair with my feet on a footstool.  Today, I'm back in the routine and hope to be spending some time working on quilts instead of looking at them and talking about them.

I think the quilt tour was a big success and I know our part of this show was a big success! I would definitely do this again, if we're invited next year.