A year ago - Quilt Market

I'd forgotten how AWESOME this moment was! Thank goodness for pictures!

 The International Quilt Market is this weekend.

A year ago I was madly preparing my portfolio to show at International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City. I had also been privileged to help my friend Shelley set up her booth for her first fabric line debut.

I was terrified. Excited beyond belief. I could NOT believe I had actually made it there. It was going to happen. I was going to Market! I was literally fulfilling a dream.

Quilt Market was incredible. I was offered a contract my first day. Ultimately I turned them down. I was also offered a job as an in house designer. I turned that down as well. I ended up with a scheduled phone interview with another company only to have a fire break out in the New York skyscraper just before the interview time. We were never able to reschedule. I have had the chance to contemplate my decisions and the events that have resulted in today's outcome throughout the year. Although I still do not have my own fabric line, I don't feel discouraged.

I can very clearly see the Lord's hand in all of this. Because I was not otherwise engaged I work for Pick Your Plum. Something I would not have the time for if I was preparing for my own line to launch. Because of Pick Your Plum my little dream of a fabric line has become bigger than I could have thought. It will still take some time, but I have no doubt I am where I belong.

The thing that amazes me, no matter how many times I learn this lesson, is how wise Heavenly Father is. He knew what was ahead and so, even though it was painful at the time, the door for my "opportunities" for my own line kept getting shut just before I put my foot through the door. Just so I wouldn't miss out on what is REALLY in store. Incredible.

I feel rather silly about how much I might have whined about it all. Will I never learn?

And so, on this, the year anniversary of the biggest step of this journey, I do not feel embarrassment that the journey is still continuing. I do not feel discouraged or deflated. I feel blessed. I feel in awe that my Father in Heaven loves me enough to give me what I need. I feel excited! It's so good right now, I can't even imagine what the end will be like!