It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've entered a quilt show. I took a couple of years off to have my last kidlet and get him up on his feet. I've recently pulled out my show entry book and gotten it up do date. It's amazing what you can do sitting at a child's practice/lesson/concert.

I do have to figure out what I want to do now. It's so tempting when you've been rewarded in the past to go the quilt show route again. The accolades are wonderful. You don't get a "good job" ribbon very often in the world of motherhood.

Before my "sabbatical" I was spending a lot of time filling out entry forms and shipping quilts around the country. It was fun and my goal was to break even which I did. It costs on average $60.00 per show to enter when you include a jury fee and shipping too and from the venue. I won just enough awards and made just enough sales to keep my work in circulation. I'm not sure that's enough for me any more. It would be nice to make a profit.

I think that is why I'm going to back off from entering quilt shows for the time being. I'll concentrate on getting more local showings where I can hang more of my work in one place and not have to ship it. Hopefully sales will happen. One of my small pieces, my favorite Daisy sold last week from Cindy's House Cafe. Didn't cost a thing to hang that show.



All the same, it was nice when I was getting ribbons. They look so pretty lining the walls. I'd love to hear any experiences you all have had with local art venues. What price point sells the most? What have been your best experiences? What have been your most successful venues?