During Quilt Market - How to Make the Most of Your Time

Quilt Market in Houston 2017 was such a great experience! It was also a HUGE experience. When you are at something that large, it is best to have a plan to get the biggest possible benefits with your limited time. Here’s a list to help you know what you should be doing during Quilt Market.

• First spend some time wandering. Then break out your plan you made with the Windham app, suggested on our list of things you should do before Quilt Market. If you’re already at Quilt Market, take a few minutes to do this at least in part. Then you can finish your list tonight after you get back to your hotel.
• Be rested! Sleep at night, which is hard if you came with a friend, but trust me, you need some sleep!
• Don’t be afraid to ask people for their opinions. Quilt Market is filled with industry experts. You can cut through a lot of mistakes by asking. Also, this is a great way to start and have a real conversation, and not just a short introductory brief.
• You’ll meet dozens of people, write something down. After you meet someone, write something down about the conversation/company/commitment to remember them by on their business card right away. Even right in front of them. No one minded when I did this.
• Talk with other people besides exhibitors. Ask people where they’re from, what they do, how many years they’ve been coming to Market. Ask them if you can talk to them later about your ideas and then get their contact info/business card.
• Be willing to approach people. You can even ask them for directions. Everyone there was so nice.
• Take pictures and videos. You can use these just to remember your time there, and for your website and social media.​​

Heather Ross & Shannon Christensen

Natalie Malan

Anthology Fabrics

Shell Rummel & Shannon Christensen

• Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep. Don’t get so caught up in the moment that you overextend your promises. If there’s a question about whether you may or may not do something for someone, let them know you’ll get back to them. That’s a promise you can keep. If you know you can’t/won’t keep that promise either, then don’t make it.
• If it gets to be too much or too tiring, take a morning or afternoon off. We came late Sunday, spent some time over in the quilt show (which was like a huge quilt museum, absolutely amazing) and then took Sunday afternoon off. Taking that break was a needed boost to work hard and get things done on Monday.

Rock Fish Restaurant

• Set up dinner or lunch with people you meet. Go out for ice cream or pie! Treat yo’ self.
• Let serendipity happen. Some things you just can’t force, and you wouldn’t want to. They turn out amazing all by themselves.

Doing these things will help you make the most of your experience and time at Quilt Market, and we hope to see you there! To know which markets we’ll be at, subscribe to our email list or follow us on Facebook. We’d love to connect with you in person!

To read what you should make sure you do before Quilt Market, read this blog post!
To read what you should make sure you do after Quilt Market, read this blog post!