Thursday, May 17, 2012

Fat Quarterly Retreat Name Tag & A Catch Up

I want to first thank each and every one of you for your warm, welcoming reaction to the shop announcement.  You have been absolutely fantastic; filled with well wishes, enthusiastic, encouragement and several really great suggestions.  I am entirely overwhelmed by how amazing you have all been.  Thank you.  I am so grateful to be part of such a phenomenal community.

Now, you might have noticed that my blogging has fallen to the wayside lately.  I'd like to quickly remedy that.  Let's start with a little catch up....

You may remember that I made a name tag for a secret partner.  It has finally arrived at her house!  Want to see it?


This little tag was embroidered for Sarah, of Narcoleptic in a Cupboard...clearly.  I think she's super fantastic, so I wanted to make something that reflected her fantastic use of color and her clean, clear style of design.

Her little blog mascot is this cute wee monkey...


...so I stitched her little cutie taking a nap with quilty dreams on the back.


I think she's happy with it, so I am completely thrilled.  Did you happen to see Sarah's post when she received her little name tag?  I am so over the moon that she posted photos with Miss Ellicat.  What could be better?  If you have not already read her post, get on over there....you will giggle yourself silly.

I can't wait to meet her in just a few week's time!

In other news...do you remember Love on the Blocks?  Well, how could you forget the School Bus orange?  I still see it when I shut my eyes!


Well, it was purchased earlier this week by a lovely man from Galway.  He is a phenomenal pianist, teacher and eternal optimist.  An all around fantastic guy.  I was just absolutely shocked when he bought it...then a little sad it was leaving my home (if I'm honest), but now I am just absolutely thrilled that it will go to a new home where I know he will take great care of it.  I'm hand delivering it tomorrow night over dinner.  I just can't wait.

And...this is the last bit...honest... I hosted a little pop up shop over last weekend for the local Irish Patchwork Society meeting.  You might remember that I have an awful time controlling myself when the little shops come into our monthly meetings.   Well, this past weekend was my turn to show off the fabrics from the shop.  It was a great preview for the local ladies before the shop launched.  Want to see the little stand?



I could take a lesson or two from several of you (Kat, Fiona, Fiona, Mary, Susan) so feel free to toss ideas out there as to how I can spruce it up a bit.  Still, the ladies were happy...which made me happy.

That's the news, guys.  Again, thank you so very much for making the shop launch such an exciting adventure.  You are a wonderful group of ladies.

In case you haven't already entered our launch giveaway, you can page down to here for a chance to win a 25% off gift cert, head to Susan's for a chance to win Aurifil thread, to Hadley's to win Kona solids or to Sarah's to win your choice of FQs.....  What are you waiting for?

23 comments:

Canadian Abroad said...

I love your Aurifil stand! I think it is harder to display things when it is almost strictly fabric rather than home made items as well. Maybe lay some of the prints out with solids to coordinate to get ideas flowing, especially for those more traditional quilters who might need a modern nudge. I think Kat is the star at display so I will hand over to her.

Susan said...

Your stand looks great! I'm not expert on setting up a stall so feel free to ignore my comment, but maybe a plain tablecloth might show off your beautiful fabrics and threads better? Happy selling!

Unknown said...

Yes the stand looks great! Im with susan, since you aren't selling loads of little handmade goodies, why not put together some solid/print bundles. Maybe arrange them in little circles on the table? You might want to use a plainer table cloth if you are doing that though :o) x

Di said...

I think that your shop is just lovely. As for your stand - definitely a plain cloth, bundles are always good as it helps people match fabric and Cindy where is your logo? Would displaying it help advertise your shop? I don't have the answers but just some suggestions. I'm sure Galway is a better place with a Fluffy Sheep Quilt Shop!

Nicky said...

I think you need a plain cloth with a lovely fluffy sheep and your shop name on it - on the vertical bit! Large enough that you can see it from across the room!

Otherwise a brilliant start! You just need to look at other stands and see what you like about them and take lots of photos then develop your own style!

memmens said...

Height is always good if you're in a room with other stands (I'm guessing here it was just you). You want to catch people's eyes as they walk in the room. There are a couple of flickr groups:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/craftydisplays/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/715724@N24/
In my opinion not all the photo's show good examples! But great for ideas of how to use things you might have around the house (and great for what NOT to do too!). I always do a trial run at home too and shuffle things around each time! Enjoy!

patchworkdelights said...

Well done on the sale of the gorgeous quilt Cindy! Stall looks lovely and enticing, if I could suggest may be one thing, get a bit of height on the stall, use shoe boxes underneath your cloth and add different levels of height. I'd be over in a shot regardless tho!

Katy Cameron said...

I love the tag, the sleeping monkey is so cute!

As for the stand, for the bears, I have a plain white table cloth, so that no matter what colour the bears (or whatever) they stand out without fighting the background fabric.

You need different levels to draw people's eyes in, so grab some boxes to put under the cloth at different heights, or some of those shelf unit things you get to go in cupboards, or even pot racks. For littler things, maybe a spice rack would work.

Perhaps have a mixture of custom bundles as well as the singles and designer bundles, and keep the bundles separate from the singles.

That's all I can think of for now!

Leanne said...

I am glad to hear that you are having fun with the new shop and I love that quilt you have sold. For your little table shop, people love to handle things a little and if they are in baskets they will be reluctant to take them out. I would stack the fabric a bit, take away the baskets and encourage people to pick it up because then they will not want to put it down. Also, I agree about the banner, if you quilted a runner with your name and logo on it you would also have an handmade item to show off. The thread stand is lovely.

Sarah said...

Everyone has already given you lots of fab tips, so no need for me to say same stuff again. Except I will say again, I love my tag!! Especially sleepy monkey :-) Am seriously having to hide it from Miss Ellie tho, she keeps making a grab for it...

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

You need a stinking big quilt up behind you!! And a banner!!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

I think everyone has already suggested everything I'd thought of but I love all the colours on your stall and I'd be over like a shot to rifle through your baskets!!! Good luck with it!

P.S. I love the name tag you made for Sarah - genius!!

Judith, Belfast said...

Some bunting made with your fabrics for sale would look great on your wee sale table. Glad you've had a great start to your new venture. Jxo

Quilterbell said...

Wow, you have been busy!!!!!, the name tag is gorgeous!!!!

Erin @ Billy Button Design said...

Ha ha Hadley! Was very excited to get my parcel today. No expert on the displays sorry but hope the new shop leaves you time to do a bit of sewing too!

Trudi said...

Stall looks brill, and some great suggestions already :) great job on the wee badge for Sarah :)

Catherine said...

i love the name tag that you made for Sarah, especially the snoozing monkey!

Cherie said...

The tag is so cute!
Glad to hear the website is going so well!
I agree with some of the other comments. height is always good, it helps to catch the eye. Maybe some boards to advertise the products.
A nice bright eye popping table cloth, with the bunting. =D

mammafairy said...

They have all said it. I too would be over like there is no tomorrow. Well done you, and the best luck in the world for your shop!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't worry too much about visual display of fabric... There's not too much you can do with it and it tends to sell itself anyway. Probably my only suggestion would be a plain drop cloth. I like white for my purposes because it really makes the colour POP (and I use a single sheet ;) )

Anonymous said...

Ack that wasn't finished. I meant to say that I hope you did really well :)

Kate Brown said...

oohhh look at all the pretty fabric. I bet they were thrilled to see it all. I also love the nametag you made. It is just too sweet!

Lynne said...

I think Sarah's name-tag is fabulous - front t and back!

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