Patchwork Show Oakland Fall 2014

The night before our first Patchwork Show nearly eight years ago in Santa Ana, not only did I not think about doing another Patchwork Show but I didn’t dream that someday we’d be producing Patchwork Show in multiple cities. Delilah and I were running on empty securing the every big and tiny detail to do our best to make sure the show was a success. That first Patchwork was awesome and people started asking us when the next Patchwork would be.

We looked at each other and despite the fact that we hadn’t slept the night before, we knew we had to keep this thing going. We scrambled and said, we were planning one for the spring. Then one of our friends from Long Beach reached out about bringing Patchwork there and within a few years we were not only producing Patchwork twice a year but in two cities.

The momentum of the Santa Ana and Long Beach shows led us to start thinking about other places to hold Patchwork Show. Since I’d relocated to the Bay Area and Delilah had worked on an event at a great venue in Oakland, Jack London Square, it seemed natural to test the waters in the East Bay. At that point, we had quite a few Southern California shows under our belt and finally weren’t anxiously staying up worrying the night before a show. Then came Oakland and all the familiar fears (like, what if no one shows up?) flooded back. Luckily the show was well attended and the support from the Bay Area community was in full force!

Now that our fourth Oakland show is in the rear view mirror I’m happy to say that it was our best Oakland show yet and dare I say, my favorite Patchwork Show city. Don’t get me wrong I still love Santa Ana and Long Beach. But our Oakland show combines some of my favorite aspects of our Southern California locations. One of my favorite things about Santa Ana is that we have a bunch of great restaurants and businesses a stone’s throw away and it has an urban feel. Long Beach is awesome because it’s our largest show and the ocean is right there, so you get this awesome natural beauty while you’re shopping. (Check out this episode #25 of Adventures in Design where Mark Brickey of Hero Handmade Goods and I talk about the radness of Patchwork Show Long Beach). Our Oakland show is right on the water, so you get the loveliness of nature but it’s also at Jack London Square, which has tons of awesome restaurants and businesses. You can pop out of Patchwork Oakland and grab your groceries for the week at the farmers market or have an awesome dinner overlooking the sea. It’s kind of perfect. If you haven’t been to Jack London Square yet I highly suggest you add it to your ‘must-visit’ list. There’s a great boutique hotel there, you can take the ferry to San Francisco and your biggest problem will likely be deciding which restaurant to have dinner.

Big thanks to all of our awesome vendors, sponsors, staff and attendees from Patchwork Show Oakland. We can’t wait to see you in the spring!