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Really Big Craft Show:
Wednesday night:
Uncle finally comes clean to Gma that he doesn't actually has a job *gasp* *shock* and actually hasn't since he took over Gma's house. Of course I already knew this since Gma pays for all the bills on his house and gives him money when he asks for it, so why the hell would he get a job? (Also Gma's house is on the way to the fabric store and every time I drove by all the cars were in the driveway, no matter what time of day it is. Kanalah is not stupid.)
Anyway, so surprise surprise - he doesn't want to help with loading or set-up. Big whoop. But now he's decided that since we're using "his" truck and trailer (for those keeping score at home, this is the one that Gma bought for him on the condition that he MUST help us with Really Big Craft Show) that he has to be there to supervise so we don't damage his stuff. :O
Mom's Boyfriend has been helping us setup for the past few years and he really works his butt off.
For the rest of the stupidity, I will just type up mom and my text conversation from that evening.
Mom: Would you rather have Uncle or Boyfriend help us load? They are fighting so we have to choose.
Me: Omg, seriously?
Mom: Can't seem to convince Gma that it's not all of us, it's uncle causing the drama. He totally blew up and had a screaming fit because boyfriend had a key to the house and took care of things while we were in Florida.
Me: Sweet Jebus. You think he'd learn to man the hell up.
Mom: Not sure he understands the concept.
Me: Well I bought my own tie downs, so I don't need uncle. (Seriously that's the only thing he bitches about is the tiedowns.)
Mom: Boyfriend just got off work and is tired so I guess we're stuck with uncle - as long as Gma will pay his fee of $25 per hour.
Me: I would like to know what the hell he's smoking.
Mom: His unemployment pay amount went down and he "has to make his time pay"
Me: O_o (Brain just blue-screened there)
So then they show up at my house to load up my quilt racks. Uncle stands there all aloof, smoking while mom and I haul them out and load them onto the trailer. Mom said "I don't think he's going to be a lot of help." I replied. "Well I don't even get out of bed for $25/hr."
So mom and I got the stuff all loaded up and Uncle wants to see my son Seige. (Hubs thinks it has something to do with him being the youngest male in the family - Uncle used to be the youngest, and he has 2 girls.) Weird, but whatever.
Thursday:
Uncle stands around watching us work, then decides he will take Gma out to lunch (She's buying). Of course they go to one of the most expensive places in the area. ($50 per person lunch) Uncle says it's because he's "working hard and deserves a nice lunch." Uhm, you stood around and WATCHED two women unload everything. Working hard my butt.
We actually got set up early this year. Things moved a lot quicker once Uncle left and mom's boyfriend showed up. Everything was set up at 5:45. I think it was because 95% of the booth was my stuff, while Mom only has 1 6ft x 2ft table. Mom made plans to meet someone at the show at 7pm and we joked that was why we actually finished early. Felt surreal walking out of the building in daylight.
Friday:
Huge crowds lined up outside waiting for the doors to open. Mom and Gma showed up late because Gma forgot we had a booth. She actually got upset that we didn't tell her! Pretty much the entire day she'd ask what was going on every 10 minutes. She kept wanting to work the register and we had to keep turning her down. Tons and tons of people shopping. For some reason the booth next to us completely packed their space full. There was barely any room for the staff, much less customers. It caused a huge traffic back up in the building and the staff did speak to them. It's always awkward when you have people ducking into your booth to try on an overpriced pair of jeans. We also had a lady nurse her baby in our booth, but she asked first, so we set her up with a chair and everything. We had a lot of people come into the booth just to talk about what they wanted to buy from the booth next door. I saw a mother and daughter walk in and start touching, lifting the quilts up, checking price tags, etc. So I walk over to say hello and ask if they have any questions, want me to take the quilt down so they can see the whole thing, etc.
Daughter: Ugh (She rolls her eyes)
Me: Good morning. Did you ladies have any questions about the quilts?
Mom: No, we're just looking, thanks.
Daughter: We don't want these stupid things, God. Just leave us alone!
Mom: Jennifer..
Daughter: I just wanted some f-ing jeans! Nobody wants stupid overpriced blankets from China, you stupid bitch!
Me: :O
Mom: Okay that's it Jennifer, we're leaving!
Daughter: But Mooom!
I should note that daughter was in her 30's. Ugh.
Some other highlights from Friday:
People say "oh I love all the stuff in this booth, it's all just so wonderful!" and then walk off without buying a thing.
"Is this your booth?"
"Did you make all this stuff?!"
"Well these are all just simple patterns!" Said 5 minutes to closing. I was tempted to respond, "What do you think sells first?"
Saturday:
Insanely busy. Hardly any SC's aside from the typical "Why so much for just a blanket?" people. One highlight was a
couple brought in all the parts to a quilt that had been through the tornado in Moore and asked me to get it quilted for them. They even happily paid a deposit.
Sunday:
A lady came into the booth looking at baby quilts. I had one that was just perfect for her, right colors and size- everything. She said it was too expensive. "I can't justify spending $90 on a baby quilt." My profit margins on baby quilts are already pretty thin because I try to keep them at a reasonable price. I told her I do payment plans. She pointed to a $300 quilt and said she'd rather pay $90 for a quilt of that size. She decided to think about it and walked off. She was very condescending, and acted as though I was a reseller, even though I told her that it's only me doing all of the sewing. Mom sent me out to get lunch and I walked a bit to cool off. While I was gone she came back and asked mom if she would haggle. Mom said that I am an awesome quilter, and I already price them as low as I can. She decided to pay full price.
Show closes at 5 and we packed up as fast as I've ever seen us pack. I guess because it was mostly my stuff and no breakables. Managed to drive out of there at 6:45 and I was able to have dinner with my kiddos.
Because of the sheer variety of quilts I make and the somewhat recent trend of people planning shows and then taking booth money and skipping town, I have severely cut down on the amount of shows I do in the fall. It lets me have time to work on custom orders (and I had a ton this year!) plus I can afford a bigger booth at the shows I already do well at.
Smaller shows:
One show that I do, they are really picky about the sales tax forms. Every other show I just bring my paperwork from the tax office and they understand. This show makes me file a separate tax return for their show specifically. I totally understand not wanting to piss off the tax office, so I try to roll with it. I was setting up and needed to ask the organizer a question. She was busy with another vendor so I waited.
This other vendor was in her 50's. Her daughter makes wreaths and she helps her at shows. Apparently she didn't understand the concept of "sales tax".
"So like do I just pay it?"
"Do I charge it to the customers?"
"Do I have to change my prices? Cause my daughter prices her things so low that she's not really making any profit."
"Do we have to pay sales tax if we're not making a profit?"
The poor organizer kept saying "I don't care what you choose to do, but you will fill out this form and pay sales tax for this show."
I walked by her booth the next morning to check out those wreaths. Honestly I think her daughter is lying to her. She's most definitely making a profit.
People came in to my booth and spend time looking over quilts, asking questions and genuinely acting as if they want to purchase a quilt. After 10+ minutes of this - they tell me they themselves are quilters and then they walk off. Argh. I honestly don't mind other quilters coming in to look at my work and talk shop. Most quilters will tell me first thing, but taking up 10+ minutes of my time acting as if you're going to purchase a quilt and then saying "Oh yeah I sew too." and then walking off is so rude.
Several people came to shows just to sign up for the freebies and giveaways the other booths were doing and ignoring all the others. One such man walked by my booth and explained to his wife that he drove out here to the show and he wanted to make it worth his time.
People keep asking if I make T-shirt quilts. I always hang one up behind the register so I can point to it. Most people just say "That looks too cool to be made out of T-shirts." This year was a little different.
Lady: "Excuse me, do you make T-shirt quilts?"
Me: "Yes ma'am, I do. The quilt behind me is made of T-shirts."
Lady: "Yes I see your t-shirt quilt, but - do you make them for other people?"
Me: :O "Um.. Yes of course I do. Would you like a flyer about the T-shirt quilts?"
Lady: "No thank you." *walk away*
The rest of the show I kept thinking: "Nope I don't sew for other people, I'm just a show off! I wouldn't sew for you if you paid me! Really?"
Custom orders:
This year I have tons of custom orders, more than I've ever had. One of my clients is thrilled that I can put photos on a quilt, but can't figure out how to email them to me. I explain multiple times, in person, on the phone and email. She finally demands that I come to her house and do it for her. I had to explain that I am a quilter - not tech support.
One lady actually laughed that my t-shirt quilt contract actually has a clause about "your t-shirts will be cut up and no longer wearable. Quilter will discard t-shirt scraps unless told to return them"
Another client apparently thinks that I print my own fabric or something, because she DEMANDS fabric that doesn't exist for her quilt. I was very lucky and found something similar enough to keep her from going nuclear.
A semi-local friend of mine orders some custom stuff.(She lives in the same state) She asks to meet me in a store's parking lot while she's in town. I arrive early and send her a text. She responds by telling me she's in a nearby restaurant eating with her kids and for me to wait. 20 minutes after our scheduled meeting time, she pulls up. No apology of course.
Let me preface this next part with a little background. I don't give out my phone number to clients for two reasons - 1, I have a phone phobia with strangers on the phone. Sometimes I even have problems with people I know. 2, If I put my phone # on my cards, I get phone calls late night/early morning on Black Friday. So this lady comes up to me at a show, and whines and pleads about how she doesn't have email and please please please can she just call me. Not wanting to turn down work or look like a weirdo - I give her my number. She calls twice while everyone in the house has strep and doesn't let me get a word in edgewise. She's very forceful and demanding that I do everything a certain way. She wants me to finish a quilt that she's made. On the phone she tells me that the quilt is a twin size, so I tell her no problem, I can finish it before Christmas. When she finally (a week late) drops it off at my house, it's suddenly a large queen size. I work my best and fastest to get it done on time for her. Call her and set up a time for her to come pick it up. She decides to call me at 6:30 am on a Saturday to tell me that she'll be here in 15 minutes. Told me she really wants to get this quilt done before Christmas and keeps talking about a "huge bonus" she'll give me for finishing it on time. Well the bonus? I get to keep the leftover fabric. Which is honestly something I would never use. She bought the cheapest fabric she could find to make the top from and it was all warped and wonky. When I quilted it I made it nice and smooth. At least she was thrilled with it. *sigh*
Had a lady email me December 12 wanting a quilt made for her mom for Christmas. I asked her what size, colors, etc. She responded that she can tell me that tomorrow and she needs the quilt done by December 20th. She got nasty with me when I told her no. Apparently she didn't understand that I had other orders ahead of her. I have a strong feeling that she wanted a queen size for way cheap.
And now all the people who asked me about quilts that didn't need them for Christmas are contacting me, so I've been way busy.
Wednesday night:
Uncle finally comes clean to Gma that he doesn't actually has a job *gasp* *shock* and actually hasn't since he took over Gma's house. Of course I already knew this since Gma pays for all the bills on his house and gives him money when he asks for it, so why the hell would he get a job? (Also Gma's house is on the way to the fabric store and every time I drove by all the cars were in the driveway, no matter what time of day it is. Kanalah is not stupid.)
Anyway, so surprise surprise - he doesn't want to help with loading or set-up. Big whoop. But now he's decided that since we're using "his" truck and trailer (for those keeping score at home, this is the one that Gma bought for him on the condition that he MUST help us with Really Big Craft Show) that he has to be there to supervise so we don't damage his stuff. :O
Mom's Boyfriend has been helping us setup for the past few years and he really works his butt off.
For the rest of the stupidity, I will just type up mom and my text conversation from that evening.
Mom: Would you rather have Uncle or Boyfriend help us load? They are fighting so we have to choose.
Me: Omg, seriously?
Mom: Can't seem to convince Gma that it's not all of us, it's uncle causing the drama. He totally blew up and had a screaming fit because boyfriend had a key to the house and took care of things while we were in Florida.
Me: Sweet Jebus. You think he'd learn to man the hell up.
Mom: Not sure he understands the concept.
Me: Well I bought my own tie downs, so I don't need uncle. (Seriously that's the only thing he bitches about is the tiedowns.)
Mom: Boyfriend just got off work and is tired so I guess we're stuck with uncle - as long as Gma will pay his fee of $25 per hour.
Me: I would like to know what the hell he's smoking.
Mom: His unemployment pay amount went down and he "has to make his time pay"
Me: O_o (Brain just blue-screened there)
So then they show up at my house to load up my quilt racks. Uncle stands there all aloof, smoking while mom and I haul them out and load them onto the trailer. Mom said "I don't think he's going to be a lot of help." I replied. "Well I don't even get out of bed for $25/hr."
So mom and I got the stuff all loaded up and Uncle wants to see my son Seige. (Hubs thinks it has something to do with him being the youngest male in the family - Uncle used to be the youngest, and he has 2 girls.) Weird, but whatever.
Thursday:
Uncle stands around watching us work, then decides he will take Gma out to lunch (She's buying). Of course they go to one of the most expensive places in the area. ($50 per person lunch) Uncle says it's because he's "working hard and deserves a nice lunch." Uhm, you stood around and WATCHED two women unload everything. Working hard my butt.
We actually got set up early this year. Things moved a lot quicker once Uncle left and mom's boyfriend showed up. Everything was set up at 5:45. I think it was because 95% of the booth was my stuff, while Mom only has 1 6ft x 2ft table. Mom made plans to meet someone at the show at 7pm and we joked that was why we actually finished early. Felt surreal walking out of the building in daylight.
Friday:
Huge crowds lined up outside waiting for the doors to open. Mom and Gma showed up late because Gma forgot we had a booth. She actually got upset that we didn't tell her! Pretty much the entire day she'd ask what was going on every 10 minutes. She kept wanting to work the register and we had to keep turning her down. Tons and tons of people shopping. For some reason the booth next to us completely packed their space full. There was barely any room for the staff, much less customers. It caused a huge traffic back up in the building and the staff did speak to them. It's always awkward when you have people ducking into your booth to try on an overpriced pair of jeans. We also had a lady nurse her baby in our booth, but she asked first, so we set her up with a chair and everything. We had a lot of people come into the booth just to talk about what they wanted to buy from the booth next door. I saw a mother and daughter walk in and start touching, lifting the quilts up, checking price tags, etc. So I walk over to say hello and ask if they have any questions, want me to take the quilt down so they can see the whole thing, etc.
Daughter: Ugh (She rolls her eyes)
Me: Good morning. Did you ladies have any questions about the quilts?
Mom: No, we're just looking, thanks.
Daughter: We don't want these stupid things, God. Just leave us alone!
Mom: Jennifer..
Daughter: I just wanted some f-ing jeans! Nobody wants stupid overpriced blankets from China, you stupid bitch!
Me: :O
Mom: Okay that's it Jennifer, we're leaving!
Daughter: But Mooom!
I should note that daughter was in her 30's. Ugh.
Some other highlights from Friday:
People say "oh I love all the stuff in this booth, it's all just so wonderful!" and then walk off without buying a thing.
"Is this your booth?"
"Did you make all this stuff?!"
"Well these are all just simple patterns!" Said 5 minutes to closing. I was tempted to respond, "What do you think sells first?"
Saturday:
Insanely busy. Hardly any SC's aside from the typical "Why so much for just a blanket?" people. One highlight was a
couple brought in all the parts to a quilt that had been through the tornado in Moore and asked me to get it quilted for them. They even happily paid a deposit.
Sunday:
A lady came into the booth looking at baby quilts. I had one that was just perfect for her, right colors and size- everything. She said it was too expensive. "I can't justify spending $90 on a baby quilt." My profit margins on baby quilts are already pretty thin because I try to keep them at a reasonable price. I told her I do payment plans. She pointed to a $300 quilt and said she'd rather pay $90 for a quilt of that size. She decided to think about it and walked off. She was very condescending, and acted as though I was a reseller, even though I told her that it's only me doing all of the sewing. Mom sent me out to get lunch and I walked a bit to cool off. While I was gone she came back and asked mom if she would haggle. Mom said that I am an awesome quilter, and I already price them as low as I can. She decided to pay full price.
Show closes at 5 and we packed up as fast as I've ever seen us pack. I guess because it was mostly my stuff and no breakables. Managed to drive out of there at 6:45 and I was able to have dinner with my kiddos.
Because of the sheer variety of quilts I make and the somewhat recent trend of people planning shows and then taking booth money and skipping town, I have severely cut down on the amount of shows I do in the fall. It lets me have time to work on custom orders (and I had a ton this year!) plus I can afford a bigger booth at the shows I already do well at.
Smaller shows:
One show that I do, they are really picky about the sales tax forms. Every other show I just bring my paperwork from the tax office and they understand. This show makes me file a separate tax return for their show specifically. I totally understand not wanting to piss off the tax office, so I try to roll with it. I was setting up and needed to ask the organizer a question. She was busy with another vendor so I waited.
This other vendor was in her 50's. Her daughter makes wreaths and she helps her at shows. Apparently she didn't understand the concept of "sales tax".
"So like do I just pay it?"
"Do I charge it to the customers?"
"Do I have to change my prices? Cause my daughter prices her things so low that she's not really making any profit."
"Do we have to pay sales tax if we're not making a profit?"
The poor organizer kept saying "I don't care what you choose to do, but you will fill out this form and pay sales tax for this show."
I walked by her booth the next morning to check out those wreaths. Honestly I think her daughter is lying to her. She's most definitely making a profit.
People came in to my booth and spend time looking over quilts, asking questions and genuinely acting as if they want to purchase a quilt. After 10+ minutes of this - they tell me they themselves are quilters and then they walk off. Argh. I honestly don't mind other quilters coming in to look at my work and talk shop. Most quilters will tell me first thing, but taking up 10+ minutes of my time acting as if you're going to purchase a quilt and then saying "Oh yeah I sew too." and then walking off is so rude.
Several people came to shows just to sign up for the freebies and giveaways the other booths were doing and ignoring all the others. One such man walked by my booth and explained to his wife that he drove out here to the show and he wanted to make it worth his time.
People keep asking if I make T-shirt quilts. I always hang one up behind the register so I can point to it. Most people just say "That looks too cool to be made out of T-shirts." This year was a little different.
Lady: "Excuse me, do you make T-shirt quilts?"
Me: "Yes ma'am, I do. The quilt behind me is made of T-shirts."
Lady: "Yes I see your t-shirt quilt, but - do you make them for other people?"
Me: :O "Um.. Yes of course I do. Would you like a flyer about the T-shirt quilts?"
Lady: "No thank you." *walk away*
The rest of the show I kept thinking: "Nope I don't sew for other people, I'm just a show off! I wouldn't sew for you if you paid me! Really?"
Custom orders:
This year I have tons of custom orders, more than I've ever had. One of my clients is thrilled that I can put photos on a quilt, but can't figure out how to email them to me. I explain multiple times, in person, on the phone and email. She finally demands that I come to her house and do it for her. I had to explain that I am a quilter - not tech support.
One lady actually laughed that my t-shirt quilt contract actually has a clause about "your t-shirts will be cut up and no longer wearable. Quilter will discard t-shirt scraps unless told to return them"
Another client apparently thinks that I print my own fabric or something, because she DEMANDS fabric that doesn't exist for her quilt. I was very lucky and found something similar enough to keep her from going nuclear.
A semi-local friend of mine orders some custom stuff.(She lives in the same state) She asks to meet me in a store's parking lot while she's in town. I arrive early and send her a text. She responds by telling me she's in a nearby restaurant eating with her kids and for me to wait. 20 minutes after our scheduled meeting time, she pulls up. No apology of course.
Let me preface this next part with a little background. I don't give out my phone number to clients for two reasons - 1, I have a phone phobia with strangers on the phone. Sometimes I even have problems with people I know. 2, If I put my phone # on my cards, I get phone calls late night/early morning on Black Friday. So this lady comes up to me at a show, and whines and pleads about how she doesn't have email and please please please can she just call me. Not wanting to turn down work or look like a weirdo - I give her my number. She calls twice while everyone in the house has strep and doesn't let me get a word in edgewise. She's very forceful and demanding that I do everything a certain way. She wants me to finish a quilt that she's made. On the phone she tells me that the quilt is a twin size, so I tell her no problem, I can finish it before Christmas. When she finally (a week late) drops it off at my house, it's suddenly a large queen size. I work my best and fastest to get it done on time for her. Call her and set up a time for her to come pick it up. She decides to call me at 6:30 am on a Saturday to tell me that she'll be here in 15 minutes. Told me she really wants to get this quilt done before Christmas and keeps talking about a "huge bonus" she'll give me for finishing it on time. Well the bonus? I get to keep the leftover fabric. Which is honestly something I would never use. She bought the cheapest fabric she could find to make the top from and it was all warped and wonky. When I quilted it I made it nice and smooth. At least she was thrilled with it. *sigh*
Had a lady email me December 12 wanting a quilt made for her mom for Christmas. I asked her what size, colors, etc. She responded that she can tell me that tomorrow and she needs the quilt done by December 20th. She got nasty with me when I told her no. Apparently she didn't understand that I had other orders ahead of her. I have a strong feeling that she wanted a queen size for way cheap.
And now all the people who asked me about quilts that didn't need them for Christmas are contacting me, so I've been way busy.
But seriously, she started off working in a dress shop. Then, when she started a family, she made most of the clothing. Until her mind and sight started failing in 2006, she made several dozen quilts. Most were built up of squares of various colors, usually tied together with a white 'grid.' Others, used up leftover scraps, and featured some sort of designs--checkerboards, diamonds, butterflies, etc. After seeing how much effort (not to mention the material), I know what goes into making one of those quilts. Grandma didn't make very much selling them--she did it to keep busy, and because she enjoyed it. With that said, I got lucky, in that I not only have one that she made for me...but I swiped another when her house was sold.
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