Quilt Market opened on Friday morning. Here's a view from the entrance to the left.



To the right.........

Down the middle.

Think the largest quilt show you've ever been to and then multiply. Twenty-eight rows, at least 40 booths per row. That's over a thousand different things to look at. Can you now see how 3 days is physically exhausting?


Here's a photo of me and Heidi Kaisand from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. They held a nice ceremony for the Quilt Sampler shops, but my camera fritzed during the actual presentation. Heidi was kind enough to pose with me after the fact. And yes, she's really tall! They were handing out QS magazines, which was kind of fun because many of my vendor friends had yet to see it - so we sent them over for free copies.

Spent time visiting with many friends - Tricia Cribbs (Turning Twenty), Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie's Quilts), Debbie Bowles (Maple Island Quilts), Mattie Rhoades (Quiltsmart), Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins (Piece O' Cake), and Mary Beth Hayes and Pat Mullen (Thangles)as well as many contacts we've made at the fabric companies like Andover, Free Spirit, and Moda. It's one giant networking event!

The Kaufman party was the first one we've ever been invited to - open bar and hors d'ouvres. We spent about an hour there and then headed to the Moda party. Picture the Hilton's largest ballroom with 4,000 of your closest friends. Open bar, buffet lines, a 70's theme with dancefloor, DJ, line dance instructor, and disco ball. We danced until they ran us out! It was one of the most fun Moda parties ever.

Saturday was spent at the show, and we went to dinner with Mary Beth and Pat from Thangles. They used to live in the Minneapolis area and took us to one of their favorite restaurants in St. Paul. The restaurant was in an upscale neighborhood and we took a stroll after dinner. It was fun to look at all the plants and flowers I can't grow here because it's too darn hot. It was a very pleasant and relaxed evening.

Sunday was spent finishing up our orders and I bought so much that Mary Beth and Pat agreed to ship a box back for me! I've heard horror stories about what the airlines charge if your luggage is overweight and didn't want to risk it. All the bags were full enough as it was.

So, that's Market in a nutshell. We did pick up some new patterns, but overall we realized that we are very current in our merchandising mix and we need to do a better job of sampling what we already have. The worst part about coming home from Market is the intense desire to sew and sew and sew! I'll get to some of it eventually....