A Day-Out at the Minnesota Quilters Show!!

This past Saturday, I did something I don't often do...........I got up really early to catch a bus to go to the Minnesota Quilter's Show over in Rochester, MN!!  I joined other members of our quilt group, Kindred Kwilters, for a whole day of quilts and shopping at this annual show. This was a great way to do this........get on a bus and someone else gets to worry about the driving and the parking when we arrive. All we had to do was get our hands stamped and the show booklet and we were ready to go. We scattered in all directions but here are four members of our group.........

I'm fairly new to the group so I still don't know everyone, but I do know Connie, our treasurer is second from left and Dottie, our group president is second from right! They are all smiles because..........we are going to spend a whole day at the quilt show!!!!!!!
The Minnesota Quilter's Guild does an annual show. It rotates between four cities in Minnesota. This year it was in Rochester. Next year it's Duluth, up north and then St. Paul and St. Cloud are next (not sure of the order for them). What I like about that is ........... it gives quilters in all corners of Minnesota a chance to visit a show in their area. 
Minnesota has some fantastic shops and an amazing number of well-known designers and quilting artists. I'm going to share a few photos the next couple of posts and will tell you about some of my favorites. I asked permission of those shop owners whose photos, I'll be sharing. All the photos here and in the next couple of posts were taken at the Minnesota Quilter's Show.
One of the most well-known shops in Minnesota is Gruber's*Quilt*Shop near St. Cloud. Owner, Sue, is on the right. I've been to Gruber's a couple times. My first visit was long ago when they were a smaller shop that shared a grocery store space. We would visit there when we were vacationing in the Brainerd Lakes area in central Minnesota. Now the shop is located in Waite Park, MN. It is well worth a visit!

The show was located in three venues at the Rochester Civic Center. Non-judged quilts were in one area, and specific exhibits in the central area and in the final hall the judged quilts. I have not been to an MQ show in years. Too many family and personal health issues and summer activities. But this year.........I was so glad to take that bus and get up early!!! I walked through all the show once and then again. When I entered the second hall and saw the quilts ahead, I stopped cold and just went "oh, my". This was a special exhibit of quilts made from Jennifer Chiaverini's quilt design for "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler". It was sponsored by Glad*Creations, a shop in Minneapolis. The variety of colors in the quilts made each one unique. I have all the patterns that I collected when Jennifer offered them free on her website. Seeing these quilts made me think, I really should get those out and start these blocks. Oh, so many fun quilty things to make and just not enough time!

I wandered in and out of exhibits and vendor booths, and then spotted two of my favorite quilt shop friends.............

That's Janice, on the left, owner of Firefly*Quilt*Shop in Mankato, MN and staff member, Luci. They were all smiles, too, and said it had been a great show.
Tucked in a corner of the central hall was the Quilts of Valor booth. They had quilts blocks made for guests to sign that will go into a quilt for a member of the Armed Forces. I've never made a quilt for QOV but my friend, Connie, and I are working on a quilt for a local vet.

I have more photos to share but that's it for today. I'll share more tomorrow about quilts, vendors, and what I bought. Yes, I had a shopping list and I found the items on my list........and a bit more. Imagine that!!
In the real world............Today, I'm working on kitchen curtains. I have had a hard time focusing on them because going off to a quilt show is the best thing ever to get one motivated to do quilty projects. However, it's not keeping me motivated to sew these curtains because I'd rather be playing with the stuff I bought. So, the goal is to get these finished by Wednesday mornign and then back to quilting stuff. :-)
It's going to be another hot day here in Minnesota and more storms may be on the way. It has been necessary to keep a close eye on the weather these last few days. I love a good thunderstorm but not the stuff with high winds and hail. We've had a bit of hail three times in the last week. The weatherman promises nicer weather for the weekend. I'm holding him to that forecast!
Have a good day!
Sandi