BuzzinBumble

Lots of good advice here! Glad you posted the question. You might also find success selling on Etsy.com
Even in hard economic times, some things stay with us... like weddings and new babies, etc. Perhaps you can focus your crafts in these areas.

solstice3

You have to be unique. Noting like seeing booth after booth of similar items The Godmother use to sell quilted reversible place mat sets. I made some scented neck wraps that you heat in microwave for aches and pains. Good luck!!

mrs. fitz

Covers for tissue packs (include the tissues). They take no time to make, you can use scraps and I've sold them for $3 each. It adds up. Also if you can get inexpensive panels for children's or baby's quilts, do some quilting on them and in my area I've sold them for $25, the highest I price anything. But you never know. One year I sold five. The next year I sold zero.

ksdot417

Nasville Wraps has a large variety of bags, boxes etc. and seem pretty reasonable.

Tink's Mom

Yes...the legitamate promoter's have to hand out tax paperwork to all crafters in the show...they have to report a list of crafter names and sales tax ID#'s.

vjjo743

What is a quilted t-shirt, I have not hear of this. Thanks

beatys9

Great advise Lori S. I've been selling at craft shows for about 10 years. I have a mix of quilted items in the $20-$50 range then many items $12 or less (grapevine angel & stars & whatever else sounded fun to make & looked catchy). The lower price items almost always sell very well; sometimes sell out and they draw people into my booth, when, occasionally, someone buys a higher priced item.
I often have customers tell me my items are very reasonably priced, but in this economy, they're just not spending that kind of money. Around the holidays, I sell lots of grapevines pieces as the smallest ones are $10 & under - the price limit for many office or other gift exchanges.

mucky

All covers for iPads,kindles, etc. be sure it have a pocket for cord storage. Also the iPad,kindle stand that was just on the board last week. I took one I had made to my quilt group this week and there was a lot of interest in it. One can often find upholstery samples for free.

primbears

I have done them all. Big,small, local, mostly national shows. The idea of staying home and selling is the way you will make the most money. Yes, hotel, GASeeekkkk, boot fee and most important, bedding license. When I did shows in Ohio I had to purchase a license to sell anything with stuffing, batting , filler. I had to send in a sample to be fireproof tested, be approved, they send you a license and you have to label every item with the info the require. It wasn't fun and after I did my license I think they skyrocketed in price. A govt. person checks the booths at the Ohio shows. Think a few other states have that law, Washington and Penn. used to. Check with the govt. as they make you take your booth down if you are nasty with them or at least take out your product that has stuffing, batting etc. I think the most money would be in the Tshirt quilts right now. There is always a market for them. Any personalized product sells, people like to see their name. Good luck but do your homework. Shows are nothing like they used to be. I provided a living income for years from shows plus all the extras we bought but not in this economy. I pulled in a few yrs ago as I could see that shows were dying.

LynnVT

Some great ideas here. I'm in exactly the same boat, but looking at local gift shops to place a few items instead of shows, which I did years ago. As stated above, costs often far exceed profits. Also consider Keepsake Quilting:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/retail/consignment.aspx