Participating in a Craft Festival

(Click here for the August One Monthly Goal Finish link-up)

I've written before about how much I enjoy being a part of my local Modern Quilt Guild - the Triangle MQG.   This past weekend, we took advantage of an opportunity to participate in the annual Lazy Days Arts & Crafts Festival.  This festival is a huge 2 day outdoor event with hundreds of vendors.  It attracts 50,000 visitors!

And we were so happy for any of those people who stopped by to visit us.

We were in a good location for foot traffic as folks were dropped off by the shuttle buses and I sat where I could great people if they glanced over at our booth.  For my own amusement, I enjoyed putting people into categories based on how they responded to my greeting about raffle tickets:

First, there were the people who are not quilters -

• But appreciated quilts and bought lots of tickets
• Or they took pity on me sitting there on a very hot day in the sun and donated a dollar.  (This happened twice.) 
• Or were doing their holiday shopping.  I overheard a wife say to her husband "This will be perfect for Janie for Christmas!"
• Or (the largest group in this category) people who want to learn how to quilt and wanted to know if we teach how to quilt at our meetings  (I referred these folks to the local quilt stores.)

Second, there were the quilters.

• Those who already have too many quilts - most couldn't imagine even spending a dollar on a raffle ticket 
• Or a few who looked at the quilt, told their friend they could make it themselves so why would they spend a dollar?
• Or (my favorite kind) those who stopped in their tracks, eyes lighting up as they came over.  I knew what they were thinking.  "I've found my people!"  Some shared photos of their latest projects or talked about new techniques.  Other loved the photos on our handout of other of our quilts.

I was exhausted by the end of each of my shifts but really did enjoy myself - meeting new people and chatting with fellow guild members staffing the booth!

We are selling tickets for our quilt on-line if you are interested.  The quilt measures 70 x 70'' and we call it Cardinal Migration.  Tickets are on sale through end of the year and the winner will be chosen in our January guild meeting.  You can read more and purchase tickets here.

Have a wonderful day! Patty