Quilt Market Minneapolis Part 4

Today I’m sharing the last of the photos from my International Quilt Market trip.
These photos are a little different than the ones I’ve been sharing, but I hope you’ll find them equally as inspiring!

 After market closed and the booth was taken down and packed into our carry-on’s I said goodbye to Minneapolis…this photo was taken from the front of the convention center downtown as I left.

 A few hours later I was able to say hello to Des Moines, Iowa! This was the view of the Des Moines river from my hotel room window.

 It was an extra special treat to be able to tour the Meredith Corporation headquarters. Meredith is the publisher of many of my favorite magazines including Better Homes & Gardens, American Patchwork & Quilting, Quilts & More, and Quilt Sampler just to name a few. It was a lot of fun to be able to see the test gardens. Because I live in the desert, I was especially excited to see all of the beautiful plants.

 Around every corner were plants and idyllic settings. It was a little chilly while taking the tour, but everything around said spring!

 Wouldn’t it be fun to have a potting shed in the back yard?

 Or a little bench right off the beaten path?

 After the test gardens there was another treat in store…

 The Better Homes & Gardens test kitchen! Actually, there is more than one (ten, if I remember right) test kitchen. We actually received a lesson in cupcake filling and decorating and got to practice our newly learned techniques.

There was something fun around every corner–I took a lot of pictures on my phone but of course wish I had taken even more. This kitchen storage room caught my eye: there were dishes in every size, shape and color. I think I liked the color storage as much as I liked seeing all of the pieces.

 There were also furniture prop rooms, photography studios, and even a wood shop where all of the woodworking designs are tested.

 There was artistic inspiration everywhere…I loved this sculpture display in one of the lobby areas.  We learned that each piece was signed and numbered so they could be properly displayed as the artist had envisioned.

 One of the final stops on the tour was the quilting studio and lab…don’t you love these bins for fabric storage? There were organizational ideas everywhere…no wonder I learn so many great tips from the magazines…they actually have their ideas put into practice where they work and create!

How about this kitchen bakers rack to store works in progress…if I only had room!

Thanks so much for following along on the Quilt Market posts (and this one that wasn’t really Quilt Market related).

It’s been a great long weekend for me, and I’ll be back with fabric and quilting tomorrow!

PS If you’re looking for some Memorial Day fabric sales, Southern Fabric has 25% off on all regular-priced, in-stock items with the code: memorial.

And Lady Belle Fabric has several specials good through Wednesday with all fabric bundles, quilt kits, and pre-cuts on sale.


Thanks so much for stopping by!