Prep, prep, prep

This weekend, there will be a Community Festival in our town - three city blocks worth of crafts, music and food.  I always enjoy going, and this year, I am going to stay all day because this year, I am going to have a booth.  I am going to demonstrate hand quilting, and have some of my creations there for sale.

Gulp!

It is one thing to put things I make online - I can't see the people who look so it isn't scary.

It is another thing to put the things I make at the Farm Store - again, I'm not there to see who looks and how they react to my stuff.

My two booths at the Old Middlebrook Village Days these past two years were a bit scarier, but I only saw about 3 people I knew both years, so it was strangers who looked and asked questions and bought or didn't buy.

But this time, I'm going to know the majority of the people who stroll by.  In a way, that is good because people around here tend to be friendly and supportive.  But in another way, it scares the crap out of me.  If they think poorly of what I make, I really don't want to hear about it or see it on their faces.

I need to dig around in my drawers at home to find my Big Girl Panties.

My Pick and Choose Quilt will be there.

So will my Pink and Green Scrap baby quilt, which now has a complete binding.  I need a name for this quilt.  Any ideas?

I put this fabric on the back even though I think it is hideous because I wanted it OUT of my stash.  Wouldn't you know, as I was sewing on the binding at lunch one day, a woman commented on how pretty the backing fabric is!  It just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I've made 20 Travel Tissue Covers to sell there, since they were a hit with my family and since I've sold some on ETSY.  Here are the 12 additional ones that I am taking to leave at the Farm Store, plus one for a friend who is going through a rough time.  They are all empty of tissues currently, except the pink one up top, but I'll fill them up first.  These are ridiculously addictive to make.  I have used up so many fabric scraps this way!  I keep saying, "I wonder how THESE TWO fabrics will look together..."

I have about 10 Crayon Rolls to sell since they have sold well at the Old Middlebrook Village Days.

I have about 10 upcycled aprons, since that's what I've sold most of on ETSY so far.

I hope to have 5 or so travel neck pillows ready.  I've sold one on ETSY, but they were also a hit when we flew to Bermuda.  These aren't made yet, but they are pretty quick and easy to assemble.

I'll have some of my corner bookmarks and my upcycled denim bookmarks.

And, of course, I'll have a bunch of Scrabble Tile earrings; I have nearly every letter in a pair, plus some singletons to mix and match.

The woman at the Farm Store thinks I should sell some of my upcycled pillowcase shopping bags because she is always coveting mine when I come in.  So far, I've only made one for sale because I regularly use (and love) the other 6 or 7 that I've made and my husband requested some (manly ones - I chose pillowcases with big maroon, hunter green and white stripes) for him to keep in his car and use.  Maybe I'll get around to making more this week, but I don't really want to turn my sewing room into a sweatshop this week in preparation.  What I have done, I have done.

Because really, what I want to do is hand quilt.  The days have been lovely and the nights cool, and it is perfect weather for quilting.  Since I took the Orange Creamsicle quilt with me to Bermuda, I started quilting it without a hoop, and it turns out, I really like not using a hoop now that I'm used to it.  It certainly means that the project becomes even more portable!  Right now, I am just doing triple lines around seams - one in the ditch and one on either side - but I think I am going to quilt some butterflies in some of the larger areas.  We'll see.

Now the fun part, deciding which tops to hang as the "walls" of my booth.  It is so hard to decide!  Do I use the same ones I used at my last booth, or do I give some new quilts some time in the sun? (Please, please, let there be SUN on Saturday!)