Sunday, November 09, 2008

First quilt show as a vendor

Just got back from my first fabric-selling show (at a quilt show) and am pleased with the results. It was a small local show, and on top of that had changed its date and location. Sales were reasonable, though I can’t really compare to anything, but as someone wrote, hand-dyes are a niche of a niche of a niche. But I had quilt guild members ask if I wanted to be a vendor at their upcoming show, and if I wanted to speak to their guild. And I had an inquiry from a teacher who has a couple high school seniors who want to do tie-dyed shirts as a fundraiser for their senior project. I said I could teach them. I also need to impress on them the business aspects of dyeing.

People who weren’t scared off immediately by the prices said they liked my work, which was very gratifying! Even more rewarding was my first customer, who accounted for 40% of my sales! She was very excited, and so was I! Here's a picture of part of my booth.

To give credit where credit is due, thanks to the Variable Star Quilters for letting me be a vendor; to my sister who used to do tie-dye with me in the 60s’; to Carol Soderlund for her wonderful instruction and inspiration; and to my husband for putting up with all this colorfulness!

Now back to real life: paying bills, getting the DippyDyes website whipped into shape, and doing all the paperwork generated from the show while I still remember what my notes mean.