A Wonderful Market Day

Yesterday was my debut as a vendor at the Sunday Morning Market, right here in my own neighborhood.  This was a long awaited, and much anticipated event for me.  I'm happy to report that, truly, the day could not have gone better.

First things first.  You'll recall that after my last event at Wiregrass market I had a revelation about my display, and what was going to need to happen for it to be really good.  I needed a  better hanging system for my quilts, and the smaller items like place mats needed to get OFF the tables and onto some sort of hanging system that could go up front, to be seen easily as people walked by.

The quilts are hanging on 8 ft. closet poles.  The poles are hollow, so we ran rope through them.  We hung the poles on all 3 sides for a total of 24 ft. of hanging space, plenty of room for at least 6 quilts.  Plus the poles are lightweight, but strong and waterproof.

The rope running through  the poles was then knotted onto the big carabiners, and simply clipped to the tent.  Super quick and easy to take up and down.   Once the poles were hung, I just folded the quilts over them and secured them with clothespins.







Addressing the smaller items:

Wire shelving, also from the Closet Dept. at Home Depot.  I stood the shelves on their sides and hinged them together with plastic zip ties.   Then placemat sets and mug rugs were simply clothespinned  in place.

The shelves need to be attached to the tent leg so they don't fall over.  You could do this with a bungee cord.  But why not put leftover quilt bindings to good use?

A second set of shelves was on the other side, holding Office Lunch Sets and a Selvage Bath Mat.

So all that was left for the table were the extra bath mats that I brought, coaster sets and pincushions.


Much to my amazement, I sold 2 quilts, among other things:  The "Fruit Salad" one on the right side of this picture.

  And this one, called "A Little Surprise", due to one of the red fabrics bleeding slightly onto the back when I washed it.  (Hopefully, that's the last time for a surprise like that, and yes, that fabric was pre-washed before being put into the quilt.)  Well, the customer who bought it appreciated the discounted price and was unconcerned about the back.  I knew that quilt could find a good home!
  I usually figure that, at a neighborhood market, people like seeing the quilts but end up actually buying smaller items.  So selling 2 quilts was an unexpected surprise.

Also, all 4 selvage bath mats sold, which didn't surprise me too much.  I KNEW those were going to be a great product for this artistic and somewhat bohemian neighborhood.  (Note to self:  make a lot more of those!)
But the day wasn't all about sales, although that was certainly nice! Here's a great thing about being a vendor in your own neighborhood:  you get to see friends and family all day.  What could be more fun than that?  So it ended up being the type of day that not only did I see my dad (he came early), but also his cleaning lady, next door neighbors, and massage therapist (who lives across the street from him).  Orchestra friends came, and quilting friends, and they brought THEIR friends.  And of course, quilts attract other quilters.  I always meet new quilting friends when I'm doing a market.
One more thing that enhanced the day:  it was a little cold early in the morning but by late morning the weather could most accurately be described as perfect.  You can see by the pictures how bright and sunny it was.  So I guess yesterday sets the standard as A Great Market Day.  Maybe if I'm really lucky, I'll have more of them!