Minnesota Quilt Show

Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show

My sister Donna and I attended the 2011 Quilt Show of the Minnesota Quilters Association, held in St. Paul, Minnesota June 16 – 18th.   In 2009 I caught the show in Duluth.

We attended the first day of the show and I was surprised for a Thursday how many people were there. It was busy but Kudos for the quilt show organizers because we had no trouble seeing the quilt exhibits nor vendor booths because the layout of exhibits and vendors was well-planned to handle crowds of people. I particularly liked how the quilts were arranged; quilts of similar design themes were grouped together. I also found a wide variety of quilting styles and patterns plus a decent representation of quilts from Minnesota quilters. I suppose I like that because being from neighboring Wisconsin we share similar quilting traditions and a love for northwoods themes.

For a regional show I was surprised at the number of vendors; some good quality ones too. Like the quilt exhibits, the vendor booths were also well organized – not too cramped and easy to move from one vendor area to another even though the show had a nice crowd.

The show was held at the St. Paul Convention Center which was easy to find and had adequate and convenient parking. Probably my only complaint would be the $10 parking fee, a bit steep, but as I said the location was easy to find and parking was convenient so I guess you have to pay for those benefits! By the way if you are ever in Minneapolis-St. Paul you ought to go see Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Park, one of Minneapolis’ oldest and most popular parks. In addition to its natural beauty the falls is celebrated in Longfellow’s famous poem “The Song of Hiawatha.”

I’ll be posting a few more pictures of quilts and scenes from the 2011 show on our regular pages of QuiltingPathways sometime in the next month or so.

Unless something comes up in the meantime the next show I’ll be attending will be Wisconsin’s Quilt Expo, held in Madison from Sept. 8th – 10th.

PS. Quilting Guilds and quilt show organizers. Let me know about your upcoming event and I can post it on our Quilt Show Calendar. We’d also appreciate a link to QuiltingPathways.com to help spread the word on quilt shows, including yours, quilting events, and quilt shops along scenic byways. Contact me at quiltingpathways@gmail.com

Keep on Quiltin’

Jo