Monday Morning Musings

Happy Monday to all! I was debating whether or not to take the easy way out and not do a blog post for today as I am toasted from quilt market. As you can see, I opted for writing something. So with that, I am not going to write a formal post, but rather just some short and semi-long snippets or what I like to call Monday musings.

Regarding quilt market, I am going to opt for silence at the current moment and reserve judgement for later or maybe for never.

Regarding quilt market, I wanted to say thanks to lots of great people:

First and foremost, let me thank all the customers who attended market. We understand that it’s easy to just stop attending market so we especially value all those that continue to attend and reap the benefits therefrom. We also thank you very much for stopping by our booths to write orders, say hello, chat and just hang out. You all are amazing and we appreciate your support very much! Thanks!

Secondly, I wanted to thank all of our licensed designers who attended market, had booths and offered schoolhouses. You all are so greatly appreciated. Not only that, but you all are so inspiring to be around. It makes me so proud to walk around and see all the well thought out and creative booths and know that you are associated with my companies. Here is a list of all those that attended (that I can remember, sorry if I missed someone): Missie Carpenter, Gail Pan, Janet Rae Nesbitt of One Sister, Mary Jane Carey, Leanne Anderson & Kaytlyn Kuebler, Angela Lawrence, Stacy West, Anna Maria Horner & Tula Pink. By the way, Tula Pink won an award for her booth design. Congrats Tula! You can see her booth immediately below.

Lastly, I of course wanted to thank all of my employees in New York, Charlotte, Greenville & Seneca. We couldn’t have done this without you guys. There is nothing easy and market preparation and execution definitely takes an army. You are our army and we thank you for being so amazing, creative and conscientious. Great work!

You should know that while my brother Greg and I were roaming around at the market, we discovered some new products that we are going to consider distributing. Stay tuned for more info on this front as we continue to expand the offerings that we have from our Blank Quilting/Studioe Fabrics sales reps.

There has been a lot of talk about the industry and how it needs a trade association to support our cause. I am all for that and will be discussing this idea with others in the industry. This industry is too precious to let it fall by the wayside and we need everyone to do their part to keep it alive, well and thriving. Stay tuned.

And let me leave you with this little dose of humor. My brother Greg and I were walking around the market and just chatting. Then he says to me, “Do you remember when we used to walk around market and be like who is that Cafe (Kaffe) guy?” LOLOLOL.

Have a great week!

P.S. Please go to my Facebook page @jaftexpresident to see all the videos and photos from market. You will be happy you did. In addition, you should check out all the social sites for each of my companies.