The (Way After) Market Post

We’ve been home from market for over two weeks now and the time has just flown by.  We have unpacked the car, gotten all the orders shipped out, but I half to admit that I haven’t even unpacked all the bags in the studio yet.  Instead I have been playing a little hooky from work.  While we are gone at market, Minnesota transforms itself from something brown and boring, to lush greenery.  It really makes it hard to focus, so instead I have been attending to my garden and I helped my brother plan out the flower gardens at his house.  I’ve read a book, done some knitting, tried to catch up on some sleep, enjoyed a few Memorial Day get togethers and tried to ignore the work waiting for me. 

That can only last for so long before it’s back to the usual routine, which includes blogging.  Thanks to those of you who have checked up on me to say that you have missed my posts.  I sat down and made a list of things to blog about, so hopefully that will help me get back on track. 

In the meantime, I will share just a few photos from market.  I was really bad about taking photos this year, so I hardly have any to share (though there is no shortage out there on the web if you want to see more).

Here are a few shots of my booth

(I always have such trouble getting accurate colors in these convention centers, so these colors really aren’t that accurate)

Most of the quilts are from the line “Whimsy” that I designed with my Mom. It will be out later this month, so more on that later.  I used one of my favorite prints to make a slip cover for these chairs.

My Mom also helped with these slip covers – as she took all the measurements and drafted a pattern for me.  The next day I quilted the fabric and started the sewing.  I would have never figured it out without Mom marking everything and putting all the snips in the right places 😉

My other favorite thing from the booth was the baby bolts of Whimsy, shown in the lower corner of this photo.  I will try to get a better photo of them shortly.

It was fun to catch up with everyone, including my lake neighbor, Victoria.  She lives in NYC, but has a cabin on our lake. 

I was surprised by how many people commented about how lucky we were to live on a lake.  I guess I didn’t realize it was so rare for other parts of the country.  Minnesota is the known as the land of 10,000 lakes, though there are actually closer to 12,000 lakes.  They are everywhere!  For example, when I got visit my Mom, who lived 20 minutes away, I pass 8 lakes just on the way there.  Lake life is pretty common in this area.  I think Minnesota needs all these beautiful lakes, or no one would live here because of the bad winters!

I’ll get back to my post, but it just goes to show, you never know what you are going to learn at market!

A few of my favorite booths were:

 Barbara Jones from Quilt Soup.  I am continually amazed by her creative designs and beautiful fabrics.

Sandi Henderson:  I love this living room and would try it at home if I could convince the Hubs.

Sue Spargo:  I just love to see what vivid color combinations she will come up with!

Bonnie and Camille:  I would just like to move into this booth and set up house.  They have all you really need, from a bed to a sewing machine.  Really, the only thing it is missing is coffee and knitting (and Bonnie and Camille, but they could just come over and visit me).

There were many more beautiful booths, but I will wrap this up.  Like I said, I really didn’t get nearly as many pictures as I should have.  Maybe next year, but for now, this will have to do.  Until next time, take care.