Minnesota Market

Last time I wrote, I was working at a feverish pitch getting ready for the big quilt industry trade show, Quilt Market. Well, I'm back now and just wanted to offer a very quick recap of the trip.

My booth had two main focus areas: the new book When Bad Things Happen to Good Quilters and the 9-patch block in three sizes to match the three ScrapTherapy 9-patch interfacing products - the Mini Scrap Grid, and the new Middle Scrap Grid and Little Scrap Grid.

It's a leap of faith and a couple of days (many hours) that turn a plain space into something fun. I was thrilled when I saw the lime green carpet. I was told that there would be only a limited quantity of the lime color for the booths at the show, so I got lucky!

Thanks to a little help from my friends Gail and Barb, the booth really put a focus on the 9-patch. I had a contest to see who could guess how many 9-patch blocks were on display on the walls of the booth--including the 99 Bottles quilt. I'm still weeding through the results. . . What's your guess?

And a hand quilted sign kept the interfacing names straight!

After the show floor closes, it's time to relax a bit. On the walk over to the pub to meet some friends for dinner, Traveling Tap was parked briefly across the street. I snapped a pic and texted my husband--I think he was ready to jump on a plane to experience a bar on the move. The bar-on-wheels is powered by bicycle peddles at each bar-stool.

At The Local, an Irish Pub, there's no traffic light with green on top, like you would find on Tip Hill in Syracuse, but some pretty darn yummy pub pie!

The Pin Keep I mentioned in my last note was very popular as were the Hummingbird Highway pins! By the end of Market, I had accumulated quite a collection of pins!

Back home, the lilacs (my favorite) were reaching full bloom. Made it home just in time to gather up a bunch to make the house smell like heaven!

In the sewing studio, next up is testing the Ribbon Star Swap pattern so it's ready to roll soon! Maybe by the time next week's newsletter is published.

Oooh! And look what arrived in the mail while I was gone. I created a custom die for my Go! Cutter with--you guessed it--a hummingbird shape. I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this, but it's a fun way to combine scraps and hummingbirds, don't you think?

Until next time. . .

Happy Stitching!
joan