Am BAD blogger with GOOD excuse...

Hey.

We have been at the Maine State Quilt Show and I am sooo zonked. We had a booth and sold our wares and I had no idea what to expect (with the economy being so bad and winter coming up with oil bills looming large), but we had our best quilt show ever.

Now, I know I said that LAST year, too, but what can I say? Last year WAS our best quilt show ever. Until this year. So, I am a pretty happy camper. Happy to have had such a good experience (we always meet the nicest people at the Quilt Show- more about that later...) and happy to be back home. However, I must remember for next year that the real work begins AFTER you get home when it takes you two days to put your store back to rights and it looks like a fabric bomb went off.

Of course, being my OCD self, the store in dissarray upset me more than anything, but it's all pretty much back together now. Looking fabulous, too, I must say, as George has built us some new shelves that hold MORE fabric in LESS space and it's a "Rhea-arranging" dream come true.

I must pause and give a shout-out to our new friends, Peggy-Anne and Jessica from Peggy-Anne's Quilting & Sewing Co. in Concord, New Hampshire. I met them on the very first day of the show and I do believe we belong to the mutual admiration society. Peggy and Jess were the only other people at the show whose booth was what I would call "Amy Butler-y." Yes, there are other booths with Amy's fabrics besides just ours and Peggy-Anne's, but they were not "Amy Butler-y." They were more traditional whereas our two booths were a walk on the wild side. I was checking out the other vendors, perusing the merchandise, wearing my Anna Tunic, when all of a sudden I spot two other gals clad in Anna Tunics. These turned out to be Peggy and Jess.

Over the course of the next three days Peggy, Jess and I were always wearing garments we had made ourselves, usually from an Amy or Kaffe print. We talked about what it's like to be a shop with a younger vibe, what was good about it and what was hard about it. The Monday after the show I'm driving through Damariscotta and who should I see crossing the street but Peggy-Anne herself. I continued on to the shop and not a half an hour later Peggy and Jessica are in the shop with their husbands in tow. Just a little visit on their way back to Concord. Hi ladies!!! Thanks for stopping by!!!

If you live in the New Hampshire-ish area and want a good source for all things Amy, you should definitely give them a look-see. Their website is www.peggyannes.com and for goodness sake, tell them that Rhea sent you.

So, what I really want to say is that I am a bad blogger. No pictures of the quilt show. No pictures of our booth, even. Paul Marcus, who is one of our fabric reps, wanted to take my picture on Sunday but I declined. Oh boy, did I ever decline. I said "Paul, if I LOOK as tired as I FEEL then I do NOT want this moment recorded for posterity." He backed away slowly.

It was a hard-working weekend, but definitely worth it. I know some shops do all kinds of shows in the summer and God bless 'em. We just do this one show every year, and one is enough. Call me crazy, but I like to have YOU come to ME.

See you soon (with pictures, too, maybe even!!!), and thanks for the best Quilt Show ever!!!

XOXO

Rhea