As a behind the scenes person who has been involved in the quilting industry for quite a few years, venturing out from underneath my fabric stash and pulling myself away from the computer has been an interesting and rewarding experience. Honestly, I don’t know of a better bunch of people than the “quilting community” to be vulnerable to. You see, prior to Old Growth, I worked the business side – human resource, accounting, giving my two cents in the design process… but now this is our creation presented for public critique and comment and we want you to love it as much as we do. Frank and I pour over the design choices: artwork, interpretation, fabric and the whole gamut of decisions that need to be made for every pattern. Once done, we are satisfied (even proud) of our work and then we present it to the public and wait for the response. Scary!!!!
Taking that a step further, I now have to MARKET the pattern. I have to actively pursue quilters and let them know that our product is easy (our detailed patterns make it so), rewarding (the finished product speaks for itself) and worth the investment of time and money. Honestly, I am a little timid about this part. It isn’t that I don’t think all the a fore mentioned points are valid, the fact is salesmen, for the most part, make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, my skin gets the crawly feeling, my legs want to run and my suspicious meter goes wacky. If I even come across in the slightest as a salesman… So with the support of two very amazing friends, Traci and Jane of Woolen Rouge off we headed to Eureka Montana. I threw together a booth without any personality, hung my quilts on the wall, set out Old Growth Art Quilt original patterns and fabric kits, presented my “I have way to much fabric than I can ever use” stash at killer prices, plugged in my cash register and began to sell! Amazingly, people oohed and awed at my quilts, asked questions about the patterns and their fabric kits, dug through my fabrics and spent money. They were happy I was there, wanted me to sign up for the “Big Show” in August and made me proud of what Frank and I have accomplished. The main negative input was that the wildlife designs must be too hard but that isn’t true. I just have to teach how easy they really are. The main positive were the comments, especially from husbands and sons, “I don’t know how to quilt but that elk makes me want to learn how to” or “that moose is breathtaking!”
So to Eureka Montana, thank you for making a personally difficult task easy. Your enthusiasm of what we do and your kind hospitality makes me look forward to vending at the Eureka Montana Quilt Show in August.
Oh and Dorothy Goodwin won the Batik Sample Pack! Congratulations! We will have another giveaway at EMQS.
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