After I sent out my July newsletter, I received many emails from you, and they were all so kind and sweet! I've been a bit tired from my non-stop schedule since the beginning of this year. Your support means a lot to me. I appreciate you all!
I traveled to Birmingham, UK last week to attend the Festival of Quilts, and I had a great time promoting my book, teaching workshops, and meeting many like-minded people! The workshops were planned from the start of the year, but deciding to have a stand and promote my book was a spontaneous decision I made just a week before leaving for the festival. I booked the stand, printed posters at a local UPS store, and packed a bagful of tools, including thumbtacks, pins, packing tapes, and more. Setting up the stand (booth) was a bit challenging, but I managed to fill the walls with posters and my work. My book delivery from the distributor took me some time to locate, but I finally got them stored under my table. When I was teaching workshops, my friends helped me out and took care of the stand.
There were dozens of Textile Galleries showcasing special exhibits that were worth spending time on. One of the most beautiful exhibits was "The Space Between", a two-person show by Sarah Hibbert and Jaeyoung Eom. The quilts were made by two quilters in different parts of the world, one in the UK and the other in Korea. The two artists had never met until the Festival of Quilts this year, but their works complemented each other so well. I've heard the artists discussed and shared ideas over time, and I felt like I could hear their conversations as I looked at the quilts. The competition exhibit showcased creative and well-executed quilts in many categories. Finding works of my favorite people was fun and exciting.
Did I tell you that I sold all 100 copies of my book that I brought to the festival? Since the decision to have a stand was made at the last minute, my information wasn't included in the catalog, but many people came to see me nonetheless. Thank you all! The first 20 people who purchased a book got theirs wrapped in my "Remnants of Memory" printed bojagi. I should have brought 100 bojagi wraps, but I wasn't sure how many books I would sell. I even bought an empty suitcase just in case I had leftover books.
Thank you all for pre-ordering my book since I announced the release date. I've started shipping your books and hope you receive and enjoy them soon. Unfortunately, international shipping is very expensive, and I will be contacting those who ordered internationally to request extra shipping costs.
