I have not been doing many Blog entries as we have been working quite diligently to get ready for the Houston International Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival. I am happy to report that the trailer Laura ordered did arrive on time and I was able to do do some electrical modifications to the LED brake lights so that we will not have to listen to warning chimes from the car computer telling us the blinker lights are burned out every time we use the blinkers as we have had to do with rental trailers. This of course was a lot more involved than it should have been and involved me laying on the concrete driveway drilling a new ground terminal into the frame in order to install the resistors and about four hours time instead of the one hour I planned.
When we purchased this trailer Laura was concerned that we might be getting a trailer bigger than we really needed as the last two times we fit everything into a 4x4x8 trailer with room to spare (128 square feet). She thought the 5×8 trailer might be overkill, but I pointed out that every show involved more and more Stuff. To give you an idea of what I mean last year when we went to Houston for the first time we had four large plastic tubs that completely filled the back of her Ford Escape cargo area with the backs seats folded down roughly 4x3x3 and all available nooks and crannies stuffed with bags and soft items and zipper drawers and a pattern drawers. In addition we had a large roof carrier about 4x4x2 that was also completely filled, so by my math roughly 68 square feet of STUFF.
We now have a 5x5x8 trailer with a V nose that has 225 square feet of cargo area. After spending about twelve hours hauling stuff downstairs and putting it in the trailer, this trailer is now about 90-95% full. Instead of four large plastic tubs we now have fourteen large tubs plus a bunch of other boxes, bags, and Paraphernalia that we could not fit in the tubs. Of course now we also have a wood grained foam floor and our own display tables and curtain poles and rods and floor plates, tables and a wooden riser that we did not have last year. When Laura looked in the trailer as I loaded in the last few items she said “Wow, this is crazy!”
I am now sore all over including muscles that have not been sore since I used to play racquet ball back in my twenties. I am just glad I am not a plucky little Ford Escape that has to pull this trailer and all our other stuff to Houston TX.
So Please if you are going to be in Houston at either the Quilt Market or the Quilt Festival, Please, Please, Pretty Please with Sugar on Top, come to booth 617 and buy something, anything, so Mr Laura is not forced to carry all this stuff back up the stairs. I am not sure I can do it.