My QuiltCon 2026 Recap as a First Time Vendor

Each February the Modern Quilt Guild has an event called QuiltCon which is the largest modern quilting event in the world. There is a quilt show, vendors, classes, special exhibits and probably more things I don't even know about! 

I attended in 2024 (in Raleigh) and 2025 (in Phoenix) and this year (2026) I attended as a vendor. This is the first time I've ever been a vendor at a show of this size (or even close!). Quite a few years ago I sold handmade things at a local farmers market and handmade show, but I haven't sold my patterns and books in person since I started designing them in 2021.

Last year in Phoenix I started to entertain the thought of being a vendor. When vendor applications opened in the summer I applied and in September I got an email that I was accepted! A few people have asked about my experience so I thought I would put together a post about it while it is all still fresh in my mind. So if you are interested - keep reading!

Booth Planning & Prep

When I was accepted as a vendor, the only size booth available was a 10' x 10'. At the time I was hoping for a larger booth, but now I am glad this was what was available since a bigger booth means more space to fill which means even more logistics!

Logistics

Speaking of logistics - this was what proved to be the most stressful thing about my prep and travel. As soon as I knew I had a booth, I started planning what I wanted to have in my booth, new quilts I wanted to make, kits I wanted to put together, etc. And most of all, how to get everything from Bozeman, MT to Raleigh, NC. I looked into a freight company shipping everything directly to my booth at the Raleigh Convention Center, but the estimated cost of that route made me feel a little sick to be honest. This would have been the easiest and most convenient option, but since I haven't vended at a quilt show before I didn't have an idea of how much to expect in sales. So I decided to go with the cheaper (and more difficult option) and fly with plastic totes full of fabric and things I needed to set up my booth and I had patterns, books, and quilts shipped to Raleigh the week before the show. 

I was nervous my checked plastic totes might get lost somewhere along the way.

Thankfully everything we brought came off the baggage claim conveyer belt at the same time! So relieved that everything made it to Raleigh!

Ashlee (Crinkly Quilts) traveled from Bozeman at the same time and helped me SO much! I would not have been able to do this without her help.

We arrived in Raleigh on Tuesday night since show setup was on Wednesday. 

Booth Set Up

On Wednesday morning we maneuvered several trips from the rental car to the booth in the convention center. Again, I would not have been able to do any of this alone. So grateful Ashlee agreed to help me! 

Once everything was in the booth, we arranged the booth, hung quilts, and set out patterns, books, and fabric. Even with a lunch break we were done by 1:30 that day. I definitely wasn't envious about the larger booths and their setup, but I know people that have been doing this multiple years have a much better system than I did! It's amazing to see booths go from completely bare to a beautiful space in a day.

In the midst of setup.

Feeling good everything was ready to go for the weekend!

The QuiltCon Awards ceremony was Wednesday night which I have never attended before. I had one quilt in the show and was honored to get a 2nd place ribbon in the category American Patchwork + Quilting Diamonds Quilting Challenge. It was also fun to see all of the other awards given and the amazing quilts. 

The Show

The quilt show and vendor hall are open from Thursday through Sunday so at 9am we were ready to go without any idea what to expect. There are always a handful of very popular booths that people rush to because they are always busy, but it didn't take long for the aisles to get crowded. My booth was between Sewtopia and Urban Sew which were both busy places. They both warned me that Raleigh was wild in 2024 so be ready!

One challenge with a 10' x 10' booth is when 2-3 people are in it, it feels crowded. Which is good and bad because sometimes a line draws people wondering what is there, but also turns people away who don't want to wait or be crowded. Creating a layout with a good flow was also a challenge and I'm not sure mine was laid out in the best way or not, but overall it worked fine. After Thursday I relocated my pattern rack from the back corner to the front so people could browse easier and that definitely helped move patterns a little better.

Thursday and Friday felt like the busiest days and brought in the most sales (to my booth anyway). Saturday was also busy, but seemed to have more lulls. Sunday was by far the quietest day. It seemed like that was the day more locals came just for the day. Also I heard some people left early to try and beat the snowstorm that was hitting the northeast.

What I Brought, What Sold, and the Unexpected

Something that surprised me over the weekend was what sold and what didn't. Leading up to QuiltCon, estimating how much inventory of everything was a big challenge - definitely my biggest challenge outside of logistics. I was selling patterns, my book, kits, a handful of notions, and stickers.

What made this especially tricky was the difference in popularity of each of my patterns. I didn't think bringing an equal number of each pattern made sense, but I also didn't know if people would be drawn more to different patterns in person than on my website. So I brought more of my most popular patterns (Big Sky Star, Homestead Star, Patchwork Lone Star, etc.) and fewer of my less popular patterns. 

If you are a numbers person I will share a few numbers because I always think they are interesting! I brought 650 patterns which ended up being WAY too many. I only sold 253 which was 39% of what I brought. On Thursday, my pattern rack was in the back of my booth and I think that hurt the sales a bit, so on Friday morning I moved it to the front of my booth and that helped move them better. I'd love to know why they didn't sell as well as I expected, but maybe this is typical. Consumer behavior is a mystery to me!

How many books to bring was also tricky because they are heavy and I definitely didn't want to travel home with boxes full. I sold 90% of the books I brought which I was very happy about. I also met 2 shop owners (one was in Denmark!) who bought a handful from me on Sunday to take back to their shops and also helped relieve some of the weight I had to bring home.

Kits ended up to be another surprise. When my book came out and I released a small number of kits, the most popular that sold out quickly were the Broken Trail Star and Majestic Star kits. These kits sold slower than I anticipated in person than online. Eventually most did sell and thankfully I only ended up with a small number of kits I had to bring home. Another challenge of the 10' x 10' booth was displaying everything nicely so people could see what was available.

I brought a few of my favorite tools (Sewline pencils, lead, and pins) and those sold ok, but I came home with most of that. If I am a vendor again in the future, I wouldn't bring these again. It seems like people are shopping for more "fun" things than this kind of supply. (At least that's my guess and how I shop at QuiltCon...)

The last thing I brought to sell were stickers. I had 6 new sticker designs. I only sold 25% of what I brought. But they don't weigh much so they weren't difficult to get home and are now listed on my website!

Here is a breakdown of my sales by category:

And Sales by day:

You can see how traffic really dropped off on Sunday. The best day to shop if you don't like crowds!

Would I Do It Again?

I've gotten this question countless times while I was vending and also since I got home. And I still don't know if it's a solid "Yes" or "No". I don't regret it at all. It was a good experience and I learned a lot. I also loved meeting so many people that had never heard of me or my patterns and also the people who have followed me from the beginning. This is such a solo endeavor that meeting people in real life means a lot. And knowing I don't have to explain what I do to anyone is a relief - QuiltCon people just get it!

So if you stopped by my booth and said "hi" - THANK YOU! I loved meeting everyone and it made 4 days of standing on concrete worth it. 

Also, I learned that booth take down is so much quicker than set-up. I took everything down by myself in about an hour after the show ended on Sunday. I stayed in Raleigh until Monday morning for an early flight home. I felt like I could do anything after I got all of this to the airport and checked before 5am. 

All that to say - TBD if I see you in Atlanta in 2027...