Can you spell exhaustion?

Market is finally over and I am exhausted.

I think that everyone that was here for the convention has left town. We had a few shop owners visit the store today and I put my best friend and fellow fabric designer Bernie, on a plane back to Florida this afternoon. Slowly but surely we are getting back to normal. There is far too much to try to tell you about in just one post, so here is an overview of just the first two days.

It has been a week like no other. I had intended to snap photos throughout the week to share with you. I even got off to a good start by taking these shots of our store on Wednesday morning as we did the last minute prep before the visitors and the bus load of shop owners arrived.

I don't know what I was thinking. Once the front door opened and visitors started streaming in, there was absolutely no time to take photos!

We were very excited that everyone from magazine editors and publishers to owners of our favorite shops across the country to Moda designers and international visitors from Brazil, England, New Zealand, Ireland and everywhere in between stopped by to say hello.

Once we closed the shop at 5pm it was time to hit the convention center floor and start setting up our booth. My most wonderful husband and best friend Bernie had already schleped an over stuffed van of furniture, carpet, drape and merchandise to our space. We just had to get it organized and make our 10" by 20" home for the next 3 days say "wow" and stand out against the competition.

Getting noticed in the convention center isn't as easy as you might think. Here is a glimps of just half of the convention floor on set-up day. Imagine 3 full football fields of nothing but quilting products, fabrics, patterns, books, notions. When you are a pattern designer, that is pretty humbling competition!

Thursday is not only the second day of set-up, it is also Schoolhouse and Sample Spree day. We are in the booth getting things ready by 8 A.M. Classes run from 10am to 6pm and Sample Spree is from 8pm until 10pm. It is a LONG day

I always try to take time out to hear my favorite speakers and friends give their presentations. This is Deb Welsh from Quilting Possibilities talking about the class program that she created.

My presentations were a bit later in the day. Here is what it look like from the podium as people stream into the room to hear me speak.

After class it is back to the booth to hang the quilts and schlep the Sample Spree merchandise to our table location. Sample Spree is difficult to describe. Photos don't do it justice. Without the sound of stampeeding quilters headed for the Moda booth you don't get the full effect!

Once the bedlam was over we went to the hotel, had a well deserved lemon drop martini and went to bed! We needed a good nights sleep. Friday I had an 8 am lecture to give and the Market floor opened at 9:30.