Ready for Philly!

 (Above:  Me with one really large fiber vessel filled with wooden thread spool Christmas ornaments.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Today was "hunter-gather and pack-the-van" day.  Steve and I hunted all over the house to find everything we will need for booth 119 at next weekend's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.  We put everything near the back door.  What are these things?  Well, the walls for our Pro Panel booth, the lighting system, the interlocking carpet tiles, the red curtain, price tags, extension cards, power strips, the PayPal chip reader, invoices, bags, bubble wrap, a shelving unit, a hand-held vacuum cleaner, glass cleaner, touch up markers, a two-part pedestal table, business cards, the rolling cart, tape, scissors ... and of course all the artwork!  It's a big job!

 (Three fiber vessels filled with wooden spool Christmas ornaments.)

We pack four Large Stained Glass Windows, four Large In Boxes, four Lunette Windows, a series of Seasonal Leaves, and four In Boxes with limited palettes ... plus the smaller works.  I don't remember how many small In Boxes, Windows, Peacock Feathers, and Lancet Windows went into the van.  I didn't count the fiber vessels either but three of them are overflowing with wooden spool Christmas ornaments.  I've been making them since summer.  Most were finished while at the Rensing Center during an art residency.  There's nothing like spending the evening with a hand stitching project!  At 5:00 when we closed Mouse House, our business, everything went into the van. We are ready to head north at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning!  

(Above:  Top: All the Wonder Under from my local Joann Fabrics Shop do Thursday. Middle: The new stash of polyester stretch velvet from Spandex World.  Bottom:  The stash of fabric nicely ironed with the Wonder Under on the reverse.)

It does seem a bit strange not to be in the studio making more work.  It is "what I do".  Yet, doing a big show like this does mean putting my focus elsewhere.  I've got to be prepared.  Speaking of "prepared".  My last blog post included "prep work" ... as in ironing nearly eighty yards of Pellon's 805 Wonder Under onto the reverse side of a new stash of polyester stretch velvet.  It took all day on Saturday but the task is done.  Finished prep work means I'll be ready to make more after the show in Pennsylvania.

(Above:  All the velvet nicely ironed with Wonder Under on the backside!)