Galway Food & Craft Fair Recap

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As you may remember, this past weekend was the Galway Food & Craft Fair.  Once again, it was an absolute hit for the local crafts people.  We had a wonderful time getting to know the new-to-us folks and seeing old friends from last year. It is always a great opportunity to make new connections, discuss ideas and pick up tips and hints from those more experienced.  

The Galway Enterprise Board did a wonderful job in balancing food with craft and choosing vendors that nicely complimented one another.  There were jewellery makers, knitters, potters, felters, wood turners, bone carvers, boat makers and blacksmiths to name a few. A little something for everyone.  I couldn't resist and did a bit of Christmas shopping myself.  Thanks, Lynsey!

On Friday night I had 3 super fantastic helpers move my display from the back of two jeeps into my 3m x 2m space.  They set up shelves, hung quilts, put up bunting and even arranged my thread in color order.  Who could ask for more?  They were wonderful.  In exchange, I treated them to dinner....at McDonald's across the road.  We had a great laugh together :)  Thank you Brian, Paul and Luke.

The left of my booth was for quilts as folks tend to come from the right.  I wanted that to be the first thing the visitor saw.  The Kona solids threw in a bit of color to catch the eye.  In the little central white baskets there were FQs galore highlighted with little mini hanging lights.  Love them.  Kat, the logo was shining bright on a sign above the stall.  You can kind of see it in the image above.  I didn't forget to brand, brand, brand!  You taught me well...and to use white table cloths.  Genius.

The right of the booth was filled with prints, more FQs, bundles, precuts and perle.  I wish I had a bit more space to cut fabric, but I could not dedicate much more space without compromising the quilter eye candy.

I am so sorry these images are fuzzy.  I was taking them at opening on Saturday morning and I was jittery with excitement.  How childish, right?  I couldn't steady myself!

On Sunday, though I re-arranged the left side of the booth to make the six hanging quilts more approachable and accessible.  I found lots of lookers on Saturday, but people did not want to bother me to take them down...and we all know the best part of a quilt is touching/feeling its softness.  Sunday there were many more hands-on investigators so it was a good move.

It was a wonderful weekend.  It was so great to see many of you, to meet new-to-me quilters in Galway, to renew friendships with local craftspeople and to work on my display for future events.  I thank all of you who came by and made this event such a success as well as the Galway Enterprise Board for hosting.  For you, blog readers, I would love to hear what you think of the shop stall.  What would you change?  What do you think works or does not work?  I am always looking to improve so I am entirely grateful for your suggestions.  Thanks, guys!  xx

Galway's Local Food & Craft Gift Fair 2013

I am delighted to bring the entire Fluffy Sheep Quilting shop to the super fantastic Galway Local Food & Craft Gift Fair this upcoming weekend.  I have been cutting FQs, creating bundles, stocking up on perle and I think I am finally ready for show time!

For those of you in the Galway area on Saturday or Sunday, please do stop in and support your local artisan.  As you see from the press release below, there is something for everyone.  I did a good bit of my Christmas shopping there last year and met some really wonderful crafters in our local area. You are in for a treat.

Pop down to stall D8 and say hi, please.  You'll know me from the gigantic shelves of Kona solids and modern fabrics, from the gorgeous quilts hanging on the wall and from the bunting made at the latest minute possible.

PS - If you're not in the Galway area, I'll show you lots and lots of photos next week.  You won't miss out...except for the shopping of course.

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The Galway County & City Enterprise Board in conjunction with the Galway City Council; Galway County Council and The Galway Advertiser in 2012 held the very first LOCAL Food & Craft Gift Fair which showcased Galway designers, handcrafted goods and artisan produce. This year again, there will be over 40 stands featuring local crafts people and artisan food producers which will be held on the weekend of: Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th of November in the Blackbox Theatre. 

When: November Saturday 16^th from 10am – 6pm and Sunday 17^th from 11am – 5pm.

Where: Blackbox Theatre

These local crafts and food producers will be selling their products which will range from a selection of homemade and artisan foods; ceramics; jewellery; textiles; quilts; pottery; wood crafted pieces. Many of the crafts people will be giving demonstrations of their work at various times throughout the weekend and the Galway FM outside broadcast will be there on Saturday morning with Valerie Hughes.

There will be a children’s play area with Jumping Clay Galway who will have lots of workshops for your children so Mum and Dad can have some time browsing the many stands which will be showcasing the best of local Galway design, craft and food. There will be many other local products available to buy and gifts for any occasion. 

The fair will have over 40 stands featuring local crafts people and artisan food producers which will include:

·         Ambrose and Brid O’Halloran - Wood turners

·         Away with the Fairies – Fairies in Jars; bags; cushions

·         Bake – Cake Pops; Muffins; Cookies

·         Boladh Mills Candles

·         Bone Carving Studio and Gallery

·         Bowl-a-granola – Homemade Granola

·         Breege Walash Design – knitted accessories from lambs wool

·         Coco Loves Flo – Textiles; Childrens clothes; cushions

·         Curry & spice – indian Meals

·         Denise Hogan – Glass products /paintings

·         Fluffy Sheep Quilting – handmade childrens/ baby quilts

·         Friends and Family Trees – Mounted prints and Hand Drawings

·         Galway Hooker Brewery

·         Galway School of Boatbuilding and Lettermullen Heritage Centre

·         Goodness Cakes – Baked goods and confectionary

·         Helen Griffin Ceramics – hand thrown earthen ware ceramics

·         Juliet Ball Cloonmore Pottery – functional and decorative pottery

·         Inishbofin Artisan – Seaweed artwork

·         Katy G – Handmade teddy bears and dolls; cushions and handmade plaques

·         Kinvara Skincare

·         Kinvara Smoked Salmon

·         Knit Spin Felt – handcrafted felt and knitwear accessories

·         Lizzies Homemade Jam – Homemade jams and chutneys

·         Lynsey de Burca – Silver contemporary jewellery

·         Made In Aran – Furniture and handmade wooden accessories and gifts

·         Louise Spokes – Art, glass; jewellery

·         Matrix Custom Interiors – Solid timber picture and photo frames

·         O’Rourkes Farm – Breads; Cakes; Christmas pudding; scones

·         Olyart – Animated prints

·         Pangur Ban – Quiches/pies/tarts/breads/baked goods/woolly hats

·         Mariposa Textiles – Fabric upholstery/original print Irish linen cushions/office organisers

·         Reborn Art – Sculptures; Christmas decorations; lamps; kitchen utensils; gifts

·         Roundstone Music and Crafts

·         Solaris Teas

·         Slow Food Galway

·         Stephen Quinn – Blacksmith

·         The Soap Room – handmade soaps; hand and foot creams; soap dishes

·         The Friendly Farmer – organic turkeys

·         The Loft Studios – ceramics and textiles

·         The Cake Studio [Irene Bohan]

·         Turnstone Pottery – Tamaru Hunt

Galway Food & Craft Gift Fair

Calling all Galwegians!  This weekend Fluffy Sheep Quilting will be at the first ever Local Food & Craft Gift Fair open 17-18 November in the Black Box Theatre.  The fair is open from 10-5 each day with 40 exhibitors confirmed.  There will be local foods (from smoked salmon to baked goods), jewellery, wood craft, textile designers and potters.  Their work is just amazing!

To get a glimpse at the amazing local crafts that will be highlighted, hop over to the Galway County & City Enterprise Board Facebook page.  This is going to be a super event to see friends, to have your eyes opened to the talent Galway holds AND to get your Christmas shopping done!  If you are roaming around town, please stop over and say hello!

Happiness!

I am continually amazed at how creative and generous my online community of quilt friends can be.  There are several little things that are making me happy in this theme.  I thought I would share them with you too. 

I just joined Sew Happy Geek's Sew Blissful quilting bee.  I have not joined into a bee before, but I see such great blocks and quilts being traded on several blogs I just could not resist.  Hopefully Jenna will tell me what to do as we go along, but for now I am just happy daydreaming about what type of quilt Iwould like to make.  If you are interested in joining too, have a look here for more information. 

I met my online friend, Fiona from Patchwork Delights, in person this past weekend. We had a great chat over a cappuccino and a piece of carrot cake at Irish Patchwork Society's national exhibition (which I will tell you more about on Thursday) in Dublin.  Fi brought along a special gift for me which has kept me smiling for days now....my very first mug rug!  I am in love with it.  You can see more of her work in her Etsy shop, so stop on over and pick up something nice for yourself!

I recently also received a nice little package from Mary Emmens for the Japanese Fabric swap.  Tucked inside with her charm pack was this piece of happiness! I can't wait to pin this on my winter coat to brighten up each chilly day.

Last, but certainly not least, is a little chat I had with Katy (AKA Miss Pixie) over the past few days.  Katy was nice enough to nominate me for the Versatile Blogger award, which is super cool.  If you hop over to her blog, she has the most beautiful needle books.  I have been toying with the idea of making one myself.  So, I asked Katy for instructions and she was nice enough to guide me along.  Most importantly, she had great patients when I asked really stupid questions.  Anyway, she got me through my first needle book.  Here it is!  Ta da!  I love it.

That's the news here at Fluffy Sheep Quilting.  I hope there is something out there quilty that is making you happy too!  As usual on Tuesday, I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!

Today is a big, big day fellow quilters and crafters!  It's Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day!  Be sure to check out Sew, Mama, Sew and have a blast browsing through the list of participating blogs and shops for goodies. 

I am really happy to offer my giveaway: this lovely handmade (by me) bag.  It is a quilted bag with a patchwork exterior and a chocolate brown lining with little delicate flowers.  The bag is 16 inches across and 11 inches deep.  There is one pocket on the front of the bag (left photo) that is a good size for your keys or your mobile phone.  The back is similar patchwork and quilting.  There are two large (8.5 x 8 inch) pockets on the inside of the bag to keep special things handy (right photo).







To enter the Fluffy Sheep Quilting giveaway, leave a comment below and tell me what sort of things you like to make.  If you are a follower, leave a second comment giving yourself another entry into the giveaway.  I will chose the winner at random on Wednesday 25 May at 10PM Galway time (or 5PM for the eastern coast of the US).  Be sure that I can reply to your comment or leave your email address as part of the comment.  I will contact the winner by email to arrange shipping, domestic or international, later in the week.  Good luck!

Why not me too?

I love spending a bit of time each evening having a quick look at my favorite crafty blogs. Often in the evening I am too tired to craft myself (except for a little embroidery while watching TV) but I love the color, creativity and happiness of crafting each day.  So, I have a peek to see what others have been up to!  Since I find inspiration in viewing your blogs, I thought maybe hosting my own site may motivate me to craft more regularly on the weekend.  We'll give this a try anyway :)

I have always been attracted to color and crafting, but I would not classify myself as creative or artistic.  I know my saying that will bother some of you.  What I mean to say is I am happiest coloring in the picture that someone else drew; I would rather follow a published quilting pattern instead of crating my own; I like to trace an embroidery pattern and then try as best I can to follow the guide. 

That being said, I still love to craft.  I like bold colors and geometric or nature-inspired patterns.  I am primarily a process person, but am certainly happiest when I have a good product at the end of an afternoon.

Hopefully with time I will have a few good stories to share and pretty pictures to post.  Please let's make this an interactive blog - I am curious to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what is posted here, so please do leave comments.  It would be really nice to be part of a community of crafters via this blog, so I will try to post photos and updates often here and I will be peeking at your blogs each evening!

Do you have a blog too?  What made you start writing?  Please leave your link so I can peek at your page too!