It was 3:00PM and 85 degrees, which is particularly unpleasant when you are on hot asphalt of a parking lot and have 90 minutes to kill. Cee was still busy setting up her table and wares.
Other vendors were setting up their tables. Some of them had tents. Most were just modest tables and had large plastic bins. There was free water and lemonade. I had a little lemonade with a lot of water and then I walked around to see what other vendors were doing. At least four jewellery vendors, one hair accessories, one mascara/eyelashes, one gaming etc., one Halloween outfits, one cupcakes, one self-defense for women.
My first impression - Where are the others? Woodworking, Homemade Soaps, Handmade Bags, Lotions/Creams etc. Birdhouses, Gardenware?
It was a very small festival with few vendors.
And that is Paul's towel rack in the foreground.
I went and sat in the shade of a tree at the edge of the parking lot from where I could keep an eye on my wares. I began listening to a TED talk on my iPhone and imagined interested people oohing and aahing over my quilts. That is when I saw Paul return to the parking lot.
What happened?
Why did he come back?
He had returned with a tent, a bag of chips, and a cooler full of ice and water bottles. I was dumbfounded.
After I rolled my eyes at him for spending money unnecessarily, I helped him set up the tent over my table.
Paul: I could not let you wilt in the sun, my delicate flower.
Me: Thank you. I love you.
Paul's sweet gesture that provided cool shade also warmed my heart. I am such a lucky duck!!!
Honestly, that was the high point of the day.
Yes, it was.
No, I did not sell anything. Nobody said that they were interested but did not have the cash.
Because I would take checks.
There were a few people mildly interested, three moderately interested, one asked if I made t-shirt quilts, and only one who wanted to see every quilt that I had on display.
"Are those crib quilts", one woman asked.
"No, these are smaller; baby quilts", I answered.
I gave away about a dozen of my business cards. I still have all the grocery bags.
I sat on my plastic chair, under the brand new tent and doodled on my sketchbook.
A dear friend Mauna stopped by and that definitely lifted my spirits.
At 6:35, I texted Paul - please come get me. He showed up just before 7:00 and we were packed and ready to leave shortly thereafter.
Me: Let's go to Olive Garden for dinner.
Paul: Sure.
Paul was very supportive and offered comforting words. I understood that the size of the event was not conducive to selling quilts. May be this whole setting up a booth etc. was not for me. Atleast not yet.
Me: I am sorry. I could not recover the cost of the tent.
Paul: I had been meaning to buy something like that for some time now. Set up in the backyard for a barbeque etc.
Me: I am glad, I provided an excuse for you to buy a tent.
Paul: Yes, you did. Can I have my towel rack back now?
When we got home after dinner, we brought in the quilts. But left the cooler, the folding table and the chairs in the car for the next day. They were just too heavy to move right then.
I had spent the first part of September frantically working for the festival.
After the festival, I was so disappointed that I did not touch my sewing machine for a whole week. I am such a "All or Nothing" kinda gal...
I organized my scraps, arranged and rearranged fabric, doodled a few designs but was unable to get into a mood to sew...till I saw this post on M* forum.
... established a group in 2013, for providing a remembrance quilt for grieving families experiencing a loss of a newborn, (or too young to be born).
Your response and generosity was overwhelming.
I can't BEGIN to tell you what it means to parents, to have a tangible remembrance!
And for nurses, to offer up any kind of remembrance, in the moment is PRICELESS!
Since then, our hospital has grown. Another building going up, offices being shuffled around.
Somewhere along the line, my quilt cupboard was displaced. I have PLENTY of minis, mediums, etc...I'm REALLY low on the 32X32, (Newborn sized).
32 inches square? That is tiny. I can do that. This is just what I needed. A quick project to lift me out of my funk because there are others in the world with bigger problems.
Get over it, Preeti.
Life (piecing, quilting, and binding) must go on.
I gathered my scraps and got back to work.
These purple/cream scraps belonged to Sylvia. Remember Sylvia? She was probably working on a rail fence quilt and she gave me these slivers left over from her rail fence blocks. I added some green strips and it began to look like a quilt top. Paul approves of the purple-green pairing. I agree.
When I pulled out the greens strips, I noticed that were other colored strips. Hmmmm who said that I cannot make more than one. So off I went sewing, cutting, squaring, matching, trimming and arranging.
Some of you asked about the quilts I made for the Festival. Yes, I will share them. Each one of them.
Out of the 15 that went to the Festival, I have 14 (already blogged about Whispering Window) quilts that are waiting their turn to be shared with the blogland. And that is exactly what I will do. In the coming weeks, I will discuss two-three quilts per week. I am sure that each one of them will find their way to the right recepient in due course of time. Actually, five out of 14 have already gone, but those details belong in following blogposts.
I apologize to all of you - my dear readers, for this anti-climactic end to the Sugarland Fall Festival. Forgive me for raising your hopes and then crashing them. Please let me know if you ever lost your sewing mojo and please please please tell me how you got it back.
Other vendors were setting up their tables. Some of them had tents. Most were just modest tables and had large plastic bins. There was free water and lemonade. I had a little lemonade with a lot of water and then I walked around to see what other vendors were doing. At least four jewellery vendors, one hair accessories, one mascara/eyelashes, one gaming etc., one Halloween outfits, one cupcakes, one self-defense for women.
My first impression - Where are the others? Woodworking, Homemade Soaps, Handmade Bags, Lotions/Creams etc. Birdhouses, Gardenware?
It was a very small festival with few vendors.
 |
| Tentless Booth & Me |
I went and sat in the shade of a tree at the edge of the parking lot from where I could keep an eye on my wares. I began listening to a TED talk on my iPhone and imagined interested people oohing and aahing over my quilts. That is when I saw Paul return to the parking lot.
What happened?
Why did he come back?
He had returned with a tent, a bag of chips, and a cooler full of ice and water bottles. I was dumbfounded.
After I rolled my eyes at him for spending money unnecessarily, I helped him set up the tent over my table.
Paul: I could not let you wilt in the sun, my delicate flower.
Me: Thank you. I love you.
 |
| With the tent!!! |
Honestly, that was the high point of the day.
Yes, it was.
 |
| Quilts - Arranged and Rearranged |
No, I did not sell anything. Nobody said that they were interested but did not have the cash.
Because I would take checks.
There were a few people mildly interested, three moderately interested, one asked if I made t-shirt quilts, and only one who wanted to see every quilt that I had on display.
"Are those crib quilts", one woman asked.
"No, these are smaller; baby quilts", I answered.
I gave away about a dozen of my business cards. I still have all the grocery bags.
I sat on my plastic chair, under the brand new tent and doodled on my sketchbook.
A dear friend Mauna stopped by and that definitely lifted my spirits.
At 6:35, I texted Paul - please come get me. He showed up just before 7:00 and we were packed and ready to leave shortly thereafter.
Me: Let's go to Olive Garden for dinner.
Paul: Sure.
Paul was very supportive and offered comforting words. I understood that the size of the event was not conducive to selling quilts. May be this whole setting up a booth etc. was not for me. Atleast not yet.
Me: I am sorry. I could not recover the cost of the tent.
Paul: I had been meaning to buy something like that for some time now. Set up in the backyard for a barbeque etc.
Me: I am glad, I provided an excuse for you to buy a tent.
Paul: Yes, you did. Can I have my towel rack back now?
When we got home after dinner, we brought in the quilts. But left the cooler, the folding table and the chairs in the car for the next day. They were just too heavy to move right then.
I had spent the first part of September frantically working for the festival.
After the festival, I was so disappointed that I did not touch my sewing machine for a whole week. I am such a "All or Nothing" kinda gal...
I organized my scraps, arranged and rearranged fabric, doodled a few designs but was unable to get into a mood to sew...till I saw this post on M* forum.
... established a group in 2013, for providing a remembrance quilt for grieving families experiencing a loss of a newborn, (or too young to be born).
Your response and generosity was overwhelming.
I can't BEGIN to tell you what it means to parents, to have a tangible remembrance!
And for nurses, to offer up any kind of remembrance, in the moment is PRICELESS!
Since then, our hospital has grown. Another building going up, offices being shuffled around.
Somewhere along the line, my quilt cupboard was displaced. I have PLENTY of minis, mediums, etc...I'm REALLY low on the 32X32, (Newborn sized).
32 inches square? That is tiny. I can do that. This is just what I needed. A quick project to lift me out of my funk because there are others in the world with bigger problems.
Get over it, Preeti.
Life (piecing, quilting, and binding) must go on.
I gathered my scraps and got back to work.
 |
| Purple + Green = Magic |
 |
| Purple (looks bluish) backing |
When I pulled out the greens strips, I noticed that were other colored strips. Hmmmm who said that I cannot make more than one. So off I went sewing, cutting, squaring, matching, trimming and arranging.
 |
| 8" blocks, arranged 4 by 4 = 32" quilt!!! |
This is the same pattern as Life's Embrace, but uses white strips. Life's Embrace for Stillborn Bereavement Group - yes it is bittersweet.
I do believe that it is life that we celebrate, however short it may be...
No, I do not work on one quilt at a time. I am not capable of it. So, here are three quilts in process.
 |
| Three quilts in process |
 |
| Orange Backing, Paisley Binding |
 |
| Completed tops - Ready to be quilted |
I will complete these three little ones and send them to their destination before the end of the month. Thank you Sue. I needed this.
Out of the 15 that went to the Festival, I have 14 (already blogged about Whispering Window) quilts that are waiting their turn to be shared with the blogland. And that is exactly what I will do. In the coming weeks, I will discuss two-three quilts per week. I am sure that each one of them will find their way to the right recepient in due course of time. Actually, five out of 14 have already gone, but those details belong in following blogposts.
 |
| Waiting to be blogged... |
