Last weekend I took part in the handwerkbeurs, the largest textile hobby trade fair in Europe. I had such a wonderful time over the four days. I heard from many people what a lovely atmosphere it was, and there was a steady stream of friendly visitors. While getting ready to exhibit I wrote the following:
Coming into the booth, I want them to look up, take a deep breath of relaxation and immerse themselves in a calm and inspiring environment. I want them to get excited again about making and about having a project to work on in between hectic times. Take a moment to relax with a needle and thread.
I’m happy to report that there was one person who came into the booth, looked around, gave a big happy sigh and said: I feel completely at home here! This was the first show where I had a whole booth to myself, and planning it felt both daunting and exciting. I really wanted to create a welcoming and cozy feeling and bought coloured fabric to cover the walls, brought along plants and wooden furniture. It was hard to envision what it would look like beforehand, but I’m very happy with the result! My goal was to combine my favourite linoprint fabric designs in warm rich colours with lots of green, wood and lace.
The week before the show my husband was overseas for work and I went into it feeling exhausted, sick and overwhelmed and without a clearly thought-out plan of how every detail would look. However, I also consciously chose to trust my intuition and trust that my brain had put in all the thinking it needed to and that the outcome would be good. Happily this worked out and is an important lesson in not overthinking things. While choosing colours and patterns and props I had a clear style in mind that I was working toward and I gathered things together that would fit and harmonise.
