Market Wrapup

Monday morning and we're driving home from Minneapolis. Here are a few last looks at the Spring Market Booth. I'm tired but pleased to have seen so many quilt shop people! It was a good market.

One photo shows projects from our new book. Then you can see a hi-lo driver as he moved carpeting rolls in the aisles.

Onward and upward!

Saturday At Market

Here's Ed in the GW booth at Minneapolis Market. We can hear thunder and it's raining hard outside this noon.

We've been visiting with colleagues in the quilting industry. The dominant word -- "we are looking forward to a good summer." It's good to hear how positive people are as we roll out of a recessive retail cycle.

Market Prep Day

Good morning, dear readers. It was a long drive (570 miles) from Gaylord, Michigan to Roseville, Minnesota yesterday. I'm finally getting my second cup of coffee and my first awareness of the day.

Ed and I oohed and aahed at the many clumps of lilacs that we saw yesterday. We spotted a clump in the wild about five miles south of the Big Mac Bridge and kept seeing lilacs all the way into Minnesota. Our absolute favorite place for lilacs (besides our yard) is the Royal Botanic Garden in Hamilton, Ontario, pictured here. Yesterday's spots of purple, lavendar and white reminded us of the wonderful Canadian gardens which we visited last May.
Today's work will be fun. I'll be setting up a half booth (six feet by ten feet) with all of the new samples from Tapestry of Texture and some of the samples from our previous books. The half booth format is new to Graywood Designs. Business has been slow and I decided to do a half booth for Spring Market rather than skip the market.

Our photo shoot last Saturday went very well. We used the Graywood Studio Store in Pigeon for background and setting spaces. Photo stylist Danielle Damen raided the antiques collections of her family and provided stunning settings for Tapestry's table runners and table covers. Photographer Steve Jias was sprawled on the grass for garden shots. Steadicam operator and photo guru Will Eichler assured us vertical and horizontals of most shots before a set was broken down and we moved to another spot.

All of this photography and packing and travel has been a backdrop in my life. My dear mother-in-law moved to assisted living on Monday. While Ed and I cared for her transition along with his family, my staff has rallied round the tasks at hand that needed to be done to get Graywood Designs (me) to Market.

So, off to the Convention Center to Booth #3404. Stop by when you are at Market. Thangles has their booth right next to us, too.

If you are a Quilt Shop buyer and have not received our Market email, call Lori at our office -- 888-453-4554 and talk with her about our May Market offers. She can connect you to our email list so you can see Graywood's new products now.

Packing Day for Market

Whew! It's finally packing day for Market. We travel by car and all of our booth setup supplies and the samples from the new book go with us. By Thursday I'll be hanging backdrops and figuring out the best way to display the table runners and tablecovers from our new book, Tapestry of Texture.

We'll be in Booth #3404. If you'll be at Market, do stop by and visit! I will post photos of the booth at Market sometime on Friday.

Book Delayed. . .Just a Bit!

Things happen! Our photo shoot is now delayed until the middle of the month, so Tapestry of Texture will be released in June.

Here's a look at the Cheddar Runner version of the Cut Glass Dish Runner project. I used the classic Cut Glass Dish block in this runner. Accented with 18 different cheddar orange to deep golden fabrics, the runner is 15" wide and 45" long. I sized this runner to fit on a console table in our lake house. A quilt hangs behind the table against the back of a massive natural stone fireplace.

This is the 288 half square triangle project! It has a lot of sewing and quilting time in it and it is worth every minute. The Cheddar Runner developed into a classic, showy quilted table runner.

So, dear blog readers, what do you think? I'd like to sew another sample of this runner. What color should I feature next? Blue? Rose pink? Greens -- mossey and limey? Your input is desired. Let me know what you think, okay?