Galway Food & Craft Fair Recap

Looking for the FQ bundle giveaway?  Click here.

PLEASE be sure you leave your email address if you're a no-reply commenter. I must have deleted 20-25 entries because I can't get in touch with entrants.

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.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

Fluffy Craft Fair Table

Looking for my Sew Mama Sew giveaway?  Just click here.

It is official.  It has rained for the last gazillion days in a row.  I have so many great finishes to show you, but I just can not get photos in the dry/light.  Instead you get inside pictures today.

You may remember a few weeks ago I held a stand at the Galway Food & Craft Fair.  I had a 3 meter by 2 meter space to fill anyway I'd like.  What great fun!

I brought in shelving units for the back and then hung quilts all around the walls.  Each space came with a table, too, so I set up a little sewing space to both conduct demos and to occupy me when footfall was quiet.    Made quite a few bee blocks right there!

You might notice an Oh Deer bunting hanging from the table.  The three quilts you see above were all created by Erin of Billy Button Design.  They were so beautiful!  And the wonderful Sarah of Fairy Face Designs contributed iPhone covers and zippy bags.  They were beautiful!  On the shelving to the back you'll see cut FQs, perle and lots and lots of Aurifil.  It was all topped off with my antique sewing machine.  Nearly needed a crane to get her up there!

I tucked a few bolts in there too just in case someone was looking for yardage.  Couldn't let them down!

And on the other side I hung Granny Mania and Chaos.  Granny Mania sold and is now on its way to a newborn little fella in the US.  Yippee!

It was an absolutely wonderful day.  Fantastic to meet new-to-me quilters in Galway, so fun to see familiar faces and a great creative buzz from the other vendors.  Thank you, Galway, for such a fantastic weekend.

Experienced craft fair hosts: any suggestions of how to improve next time?  I'm always open to an idea or two!