Work

Don't let all the pretty pictures fool you, Quilt Market is work.

If you are setting up, staffing, or hosting a booth it takes a lot of work to plan, build, and staff that booth. It isn't all pretty stuff and chit chat with friends old and new. It's a lot of water, standing on your feet and sell, sell, sell.

If you are shopping for a store it is days of A LOT of walking, digging, spying, and appointments. All while keeping your customers and trends in mind.

If you are simply "walking the floor" it isn't just about looking for pretty things and scoring a conversation with a designer you adore. It is about selling yourself, your own product - whether that be your design skills, your book, your patterns, your event, you.

This isn't to say that it isn't fun and there aren't a lot of great, giggly conversations with people you've always wanted to meet. There is the excitement of meeting a designer who makes fabric you love to work with or catching up with your publisher (that you've never met in person before). Then there are the dinners and parties where you might get to talk about your kids a little, but you are still plotting and planning your next steps, literally at Market and after. Then, of course, there are all the pretty things.

It's work, and don't let the pictures fool you.