craft show done for another year

Yesterday was the final day of the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair for 2013. It was a great show for me, well exceeding my expectations.

I met so many lovely stitchers, and had so many interesting conversations! I met many past students which is always lovely. I also met many future students – particularly from Wollongong, where I will be teaching next weekend, and those who are going to be at the Berrima Patchwork “Quilting in the Highlands Retreat” at the end of July.

Of the Berrima Patchwork people, there were many who said that they had wanted to do my Mountmellick class but were unable to because it was already fully booked, and then there were the lucky ones who HAVE made it into the class! It looks like it is going to be a great retreat!

My most popular pattern was definitely the Hardanger Needlecase pattern. I kept restocking, and it just kept selling and selling!

Many people told me throughout the show how much they love my books, particularly my stitch dictionaries. So many people said that they refer to them all the time. And it was lovely to meet people who said, “I have all your books.” To them all, thank you! I am very grateful for your support!

People enjoyed seeing the examples of stitching from my next book. They really loved the cushion I had on display. I have been telling everyone that I hope the new book will be available this time next year.

One of the things I found surprising was the amount of interest in Hardanger embroidery. I would say this is definitely up on interest levels from previous years. Of course, there was still the same amount of interest in Mountmellick – it is a perennial favourite! And there were still many exclamations about the beauty of the Portuguese Whitework and Merezhka.

I have rebooked for next year’s show, so you’ll see me again there next year. Next year the show will actually be in a new venue. The State Government, in it’s wisdom has decided to demolish the exhibition centres and rebuild them. So for the next three years, the craft show will have a temporary home at Glebe Island. There are going to be free bus services from the CBD, and free ferry services from Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. I think the idea of arriving by ferry is lovely and I’m looking forward to that!

Thank you to everyone who came and said hello at the show, and to those who added my products to their stitching stash. I hope that they give you many hours of embroidery enjoyment. See you next year at Glebe Island!