Welcome to Minneapolis!

Folks in Minneapolis REALLY like eating outside!

Our stuff arrived safely, and now we can start.

We LOVE our foam flooring.

Almost done.

Joan Hawley stopped by to wish us luck!

Our booth is ready for Market, but I'm ready to put my feet up.

Fish n'chips at Brit's Pub is a great way to unwind!

So here we are at the Spring International Quilt Market, being hosted this year in Minneapolis, MN. We've really enjoyed getting acquainted with this interesting city. It's clean and ultra-modern, with a very vibrant downtown. I've never seen so many people eating outside at one time.


I guess folks get sick of being cooped inside all winter, and when the weather finally gets nice, they want to take advantage of every moment. There's lots of street vendors and musicians, and the city has a pleasant and positive vibe.






We got into town kinda late yesterday and since it was so hot in the convention center, we opted to just relax and start fresh this morning. All our stuff arrived safely and was waiting for us when we arrived at 8am. 







We're a lot more organized about putting up the booth now and it was fun catching up with old friends who stopped by to say hello.












This year's edition of our booth looks quite similar to the arrangement we used in Houston. We've got a PRIMO position just to the right of the special exhibits and within eyesight of the main entrance, so we're pleased.










We had a very pleasant surprise this afternoon when Joan Hawley of LazyGirl Designs stopped by to chat. Joan's been a role-model for me and I'm a BIG fan, so it was a real treat to finally get to meet her and talk shop. 










It was well after 5 before we were able to call it a day. We were hot, tired and my feet were killing me. We collapsed in our seats on the bus and were on our way back to the hotel, but when we spied Brit's Pub, the idea of fish and chips seemed liked the perfect comfort food for a long physical day.



And you know what they say about "when in Rome", (or in this case, Minneapolis), so we opted for the outdoor seating. The food was great, the weather was cool and breezy and this was really the perfect way to re-charge for the opening of the Market tomorrow.