A Lovely Day with the Patchwork People
A Lovely Day with the Patchwork People
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending one of the regular gatherings organised by Patchwork People, a lovely quilting group based near Milton Keynes.
The group meets four times a year to spend the day stitching together, listening to an inspiring speaker, catching up with friends and raising money for charity through their sales tables. They also invite a trader along to each event.
Last year, one of the team got in touch to ask whether Stitching Kitchen would like to be that trader. At the time, I politely declined. The thought of packing up a selection of stock from the shop, transporting it all and running a sales table felt a little overwhelming!
However, after such a positive experience at the Tingewick Patcher Exhibition last year, where I spent a couple of days chatting with quilters and crafters, I started to rethink things. After all, meeting fellow makers is one of the reasons I love visiting Festival of Quilts every year, so why wouldn't I enjoy bringing a little bit of Stitching Kitchen out on the road?
So, this year, I changed my mind and said yes.
The day before the event, I packed what was probably far too much stock into the car and headed off to a village hall near Milton Keynes. Setting up was straightforward, and the Patchwork People team couldn't have been more welcoming or helpful. My tables were conveniently positioned near the entrance, and throughout the day the lovely ladies kept me supplied with coffee and water — very much appreciated on what turned out to be quite a warm day!
The event was busy, and while we sold a good amount of stock, the real highlight was meeting so many wonderful quilters and crafters. I made lots of new connections and had some fantastic conversations about quilting, sewing and all the things we offer here at Stitching Kitchen, from craft kits and fabrics to sewing machine sales and servicing.
Even better, one particularly enthusiastic group has already made the trip to visit us at the studio shop and stock up on even more crafty goodies!
A huge thank you to everyone at Patchwork People for making me feel so welcome. I had a wonderful day and thoroughly enjoyed being part of it.
And if you're involved with a quilting, sewing or crafting group and would like Stitching Kitchen to bring a table of goodies to one of your events, we'd love to hear from you. If we can fit it into the diary, we'll happily pack up the car and come along!