Tell me what you think!

I have just spent two day driving from Wisconsin to Utah for the Home Machine Quilting Show. When you are in a car for over 25 hours there is not a lot to do except read, think or drive. Oh, yes there is the inevitable snacking.  And I did see more snow on the ground than usual for this time of year.  The farmers are way behind this year.

Since you are not interested in what I snacked on or what I was reading, let me tell you what I have been thinking about!

There are a lot of new shows being announced and will be in the marketplace in the next two years. AQS and OCS have both announced multiple new shows.  Quilts, Inc. has reopened Chicago and MQX has announced Springfield.  Other shows like Quilting with Machines are closing citing too much competition.

1                   From the consumer’s point of view this is probably a good thing.  More shows offer more choice some will be in new locations and closer to their homes and they can get to the shows with less expense.  Will they spend those savings or pocket it? Will they attend more shows?  Will spending increase?

2                   From the vendor’s point of view there will be increased expenses to attend all these shows.  Some of them will be in locations that have been overlooked and that will be a good thing.  Will revenues increase sufficiently to justify the increased cost of attending more shows?  Will vendors attend more shows?

3                   The show promoters where locations double up might see dilution of attendance or vendors who cannot handle multiple locations or who do not want to return to the same area relatively soon after they were there previously.  If there are more shows with contests, will sponsors step forward with more money?  The logistics of moving quilts will get more difficult.

4                   The baby boomer generation will start to retire in earnest over the next 10 years.  The stock market is booming right now.  But there is a sense of uncertainty that has depressed consumer confidence and spending for years.

5                   The work force participation is lower than it has been in many years.  Where is all that money coming from to support these people? Taxes? Savings? Charity? Family?

6                   Our industry is not based on need, it is based on want.

I have formulated several scenarios of how this will play out.  Before I share them, I would like to know what your think?  So you can respond directly to this post or if you would rather have your identity preserved respond to my email at jim@quiltersrule.com  Let's start a conversation.

I would like to know if you are a consumer, vendor or show promoter.  Personally I work on two sides of the problem as a vendor and a show promotor.

Lancaster, PA

Where does time go?  Today is Wednesday and the show opens in a couple of hours.  Let me catch you up on the last couple of days.

Monday we traveled to Lancaster, with a stop in Chicago so they could pick up an 18 wheeler laying across all the east bound lanes.  Picking up the wreck turned the whole road in to a parking lot for several hours.  Finally got to an exit and we detoured around the wreck.  Downtown Gary, IN is not my favorite place.  Then it was off to Richmond IN to visit with a vendor who supplies us with mat material. 

We left home at 4:30 Am and it was now noon and it has not stopped raining.  In fact the entire drive was in the rain.  We should be thankful that the weather was in the 50’s.  It could have all been snow.  We accept our blessings for the little things in life.  We finally arrive at midnight.  Checked in, and got a short 6 hours of sleep.

Set up went very smooth.  But as most of you already know, the Host Hotel is not available for us for the next three years.  In fact for the next several year many of the hotels in Lancaster are tied up with events not associated with quilting at the same time we will be here.  So we are seeking a new home in Lancaster.  We believe we have found a new location but we have not signed a contract, so it is not in the bag. 

Met with some local leaders we will be working with next year.  We will be making an announcement about that shortly.  But today the show opens.  The quilts are great, the vendors are ready and don’t forget Friday evening for our Gallery Tour with the Curators.

Home from the MId-Atlantic

Well we arrived home yesterday after 16 days on the road.  Was the trip a success?  I think so. 

This trip out we did a retreat and the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival at Hampton.  Hampton was an interesting show.  There seemed to be a lot of people there, the number of sales were not down, but the total sales were off the mark a bit from last year’s average.  Many of the folks who live there are in one way or another connected to a pay check dependent on the Federal Government.  Sequestration has scared many of them to the point they were willing to come to the show and look around but not really ready to spend a lot of money.  Oh well, next year is another year.  And sequestration starts tomorrow and the news cycle will start reporting the world did not end.

We left Hampton and went to Lancaster to check on a few details for our show there this year and of course of the next several years now that AQS has signed on for three more years.  The dates they choose happen to coincide with the week that many Pennsylvania school children are in Lancaster and soak up a huge number of rooms in the hotels.   Should make finding lodging an interesting problem, for example the Host is full for next year already. 

Leaving Lancaster, we started to hit rain in western Pennsylvania and the wet snow started in earnest in Mid-Ohio.   We were just inside the Indiana line when we pulled in to a rest stop and realized just how much ice had fallen.  We slipped back onto the Toll Way and then exited at the next exit to sit the rest of the storm out.  Well it was still snowing the next morning but the salt was working and the roads were in much better shape, plus everyone has slowed down a bit.  So we were home by 1:30 PM. 

Saturday it is off to Iowa for a wedding.

Hampton, VA

Just put the finishing touches on the booth in Hampton, VA.  For many of our friends this is their first show.  Not sure what it make me feel like since this is our fourth since the New Year.  It was a little cool this morning, but now it is sunny, windy and about 50 degrees.  In about three hours we will need to be back over for the preview. 

We are looking forward to a good show.  There was TV advertising on this morning.  So maybe!

Our Quilts of Valor Challenge is hanging at the front of the 400 row so go by and take a look.  I will try to post some pictures later on this evening.  Stand by!  Don’t miss out check out www.quiltersrule.com for the rules for this year. 

Raliegh, NC

Saturday Patricia and I finished a Quilt Retreat with Memory Lane Quilting at Greenbo Lake State Park, KY.  I was not expecting too much and was pleasantly surprised by the response to our products.  Just 16 participants and three teachers, but everyone got personalized attention and they had all their questions answered.  That made everyone happy.

Sunday we drove over the West Virginia mountains and down and east to Raleigh, NC.  We had it all, rain, snow and wind, then sunshine.   About 100 miles from finishing we found a Girl Scout Troop selling cookies.  Add milk and we had a late lunch. Really healthy and all that!  But it did bring out the sunshine even if it was a bit cool.  Not cold by our standards, but cool enough to need a jacket, which I forgot to bring on this trip.  But I brought two on the last trip and never put them on so go figure.

Today we are in downtown Raleigh sitting in Starbucks hoping it will warm up enough for a stroll around the city center.  Since there are trees blooming this cold snap has to be unusual.  At least there is no snow on the ground, just some ice in the shady side of buildings.

This afternoon we will head for Hampton, VA for the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival.  Then home for a week before the Lancaster Spring Quilt Show.

Raliegh, NC

Saturday Patricia and I finished a Quilt Retreat with Memory Lane Quilting at Greenbo Lake State Park, KY.  I was not expecting too much and was pleasantly surprised by the response to our products.  Just 16 participants and three teachers, but everyone got personalized attention and they had all their questions answered.  That made everyone happy.

Sunday we drove over the West Virginia mountains and down and east to Raleigh, NC.  We had it all, rain, snow and wind, then sunshine.   About 100 miles from finishing we found a Girl Scout Troop selling cookies.  Add milk and we had a late lunch. Really healthy and all that!  But it did bring out the sunshine even if it was a bit cool.  Not cold by our standards, but cool enough to need a jacket, which I forgot to bring on this trip.  But I brought two on the last trip and never put them on so go figure.

Today we are in downtown Raleigh sitting in Starbucks hoping it will warm up enough for a stroll around the city center.  Since there are trees blooming this cold snap has to be unusual.  At least there is no snow on the ground, just some ice in the shady side of buildings.

This afternoon we will head for Hampton, VA for the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival.  Then home for a week before the Lancaster Spring Quilt Show.

Between Shows

 

This blog has been hard to write this year.  Yea, I know you have heard this from me already this year.  But I think I am getting over it.  I want to show you why.  These flowers were waiting for me when I arrived home. 

The first two shows this year, Road to California and the Rusty Barn Phoenix Show were much better  than last year.  That of course makes me feel better.  But the 1700 mile drive from Phoenix to the plant was a bore.  On the other hand, nothing on the vehicle broke!

We are home this week but next week we leave for Greenbo Lake, KY for a longarm retreat at the resort at Greenbo State Forest.  We will be helping the Nolting dealer for a few days putting on the retreat.  If you want to have some fun and get a good close look at a Nolting, without a lot of people watching over your shoulder or you just want to come and attend a class or two.  We will be having a great time.  Of course our products will be there for sale along with the Noltings. 

After Greenbo we are off to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA.  We hope to make three in a row that are better than last year.

Come visit us at Greenbo or at Hampton.