Traveling Diary: Journey to Quilt Town
As I announced in my previous Travel Diary blog entry, I traveled to Kansas City, Missouri to film crochet tutorial videos for One Big Happy. Now I’m going to reveal how the experience went!
When I first flew in, I had a day of rest and relaxation and it was lovely. I had some time to go out and get some essentials (and by that I mean food) and I got a good day's rest before starting work the next day. I was so appreciative that One Big Happy set me up in a nice hotel, which allowed me the space to decompress after work.
In the morning, I got some breakfast and coffee, then I was on my way! I met up with the host of the show we were going to film and it was great getting to see her in person. We’d been communicating online for a while, but there’s nothing like that face-to-face interaction.
We traveled to Quilt Town and...it was like a dream I had no idea this quilting paradise existed. There were so many quilt shops featuring fabric, sewing, notions, templates, and more crafty goodies. It was like a sensory overload and I understood why they call it the Disneyland of Quilting.
Jenny Doan is a Quilter who gained success through online videos and eventually founded The Missouri Star Quilt Co. The original plan was for the company to help out the Doans family through some financial issues, but the project eventually grew into Quilt Town. Sometimes I forget how big the handmade community is, but this was a big reminder.
We went to the studio location and went over how the promos and tutorials would go. It was such a lovely setup with so much yarn and tools and an inviting decor. It helped make the process all the more easier. I was a bit nervous going into it, but I found out very quickly that it wasn’t so scary. I get to talk about what I love and help others on their crochet journey, what could be better than that?
The series is called “Colorful Crochet” and the featured items include a cape, a drawstring pouch, and a mini-skirt. I wanted to pick simple designs so anyone can do them and experiment with their own color combinations. Crochet is all about self-expression and finding out what you like most.
We had a nice lunch (and I got a great cup of coffee at a local cafe), took some pictures, I went back to the hotel where I could rest for the next day. When I shot the last tutorial video, it went even easier than the first two because I had grown accustomed to it. We did some more promo (I got some more coffee) and we were done! I got to talk a lot to the team at One Big Happy producing this project and they were so nice and helpful, it really made this special for me!
On the last day, I had a photoshoot where I modeled the garments and showed off the bag. This part was easy and fun too and the photos came out so lovely. I can’t wait for you all to see them! I had some lunch, then I went straight to the airport to catch my flight back home. It was kind of a bumpy ride and we were on the tarmac for a while, but I’m glad I got home safe.
My trip for One Big Happy went splendidly and I’m finding that now that it’s over, I miss it.