Patchwork Show Santa Ana Fall 2017

I have to admit, I’ve been a little bit nervous about our Patchwork Show in Santa Ana this past Sunday. After four years at our previous location on the Second Street promenade, we decided to move Patchwork Show to the historic 4th street area right in front of my latest project, my cafe and market, Alta Baja Market. Although we love working with the businesses in our previous location like Grand Central Art Center, Chapter One and Black Market Bakery, we felt it was time for a move…I mean it is our 10-year anniversary!

By the way, did you check out the OC Weekly cover story on Patchwork Show?? I have to admit, I was a little verklempt reading how this whole thing started and where it is today. Looking at the crowds pouring into the streets of Downtown Santa Ana after reading that article, I guess I just never look back, I just always look ahead and see what we can be doing more of, not how far we have come.

The first few hours of load-in was so calm and quiet, I think the new layout/location helped with the flow of everything (but it also made me nervous about the move and if anyone was ever going to show up). But at 11:00 it happened: crowds upon crowds of people, all sorts of people, faces I knew, faces I didn’t but all of them something in common: an appreciation of handmade, craft, local and above all the creative life.

After reading that article…how lucky are Nicole and I are to actually have built something like this, I mean WTH!!!! We did this!

You know what else was so incredible to watch: the literal army of people helping to put it all together. All these years of hard work made a team of dedicated people who busted their butts on Sunday (and even the days/weeks before) to make everything happen and to run so smoothly. Our core team ran the event LIKE A BOSS. And everyone from musicians to the butchers from Electric City Butcher to local shop owners helped to put the event together.

Inside Alta Baja (where we were having our Pozole Sunday–the busiest day of the month), our whole team there seamlessly moved past the crowds with family, friends and even some customers who joined in to help work. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of that magical day.

Thank you to the incredible vendors, partners, sponsors, Santa Ana businesses that helped to promote and make the event bigger than ever, amazing customers and to the TEAM of people who made Patchwork Show a 10-year celebration a truly great day.

XO, Delilah