Back then I had no idea what to expect or what to do!  I asked my friend Jennifer to go with me – back then she was my moral support and I brought her everywhere with me.  When we walked into the Hall both of us just stood there not knowing where to begin!  There was SO MUCH to see!!  There were rows and rows and rows of fabric and patterns, books and notions!   There was so much to see that I could spent two days walking up and down the isles – just trying to take it all in.  Little did I know that the ‘show’ is just part of what Quilt Market is all about!  They actually have CLASSES!!!

So this weekend I’m spending 3 whole days at Market and I’ve signed up for all the classes time will allow me to take!  I will also be on the hunt for the coolest stuff to bring back!  I wish I could take everyone, but unfortunately some of you have to work.  So, I will be doing the next best thing: updating Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pintrest and the Blog.  I encourage  you to follow along and let me know what you want to see at Sewtropolis!  Have a favorite designer?  Let me know who it is and I’ll do my best to see what they have at Market after all this is where most will be ‘revealing’ their newest lines!

Personally I’m on a mission to meet Tula Pink the master mind behind the “Prince Charming” line of fabric!  She has a new line coming out at Market:  Birds & Bees.  I’ll bet it has Birds and Bees…. hidden in Flowers and Trees.

See you at Market!

This year I am planning on staying the whole weekend so that I can attend the Schoolhouse Series.  I’m hoping to learn the latest and greatest so that I can bring them back to you!   I’m considering this a interactive trip – my plan is to tweet, blog and update Facebook and Pintrest with all that is going on at Market.  Want to join in?  Then be sure to follow me and let me know what you want me to see!  I’m not shy when it comes to taking pictures!

I started out with just an idea and a deep desire to do what I loved!  Back when I first opened  I did everything myself from teaching classes to ‘manning’ the shop 6 days a week!  I eventually met a couple of women who wanted to be a part of what I was doing and offered to help me out by working a day or two.  That help has now grown to four women including 2 other single moms!

Laura, Harriette, Nikol, Alyssa and Avery (Raina – not pictured)

Laura watching the show!

Harriette manning the cutting table

Avery greeting each customer with a totebag.

To each her own… shoe

Looking back I see that I had already outgrown the old space and that I now have enough momentum behind me to grow into the new space!  I am excited to watch my business grow, but even more excited to share it with all of you!

In case you know nothing of the Modern Quilt Group, here’s a little background. It was started out in LA by a handful of women whose common interest was quilting, most learned the craft on their own, via the internet. Being ‘connected’ by the internet these women would often share the things they were doing and in no time other modern quilters started forming modern quilt groups of their own. You can now find Modern Quilt Groups in almost every major city – Nationally and Internationally.

If that weren’t fun enough, there was enough interest from these groups that the creators of the original Modern Quilt Group have put together a Modern Quilt Conference set for February 2013 in Austin, Texas! In anticipation of this Quilt Conference (QuiltCon) there is a “Call for Entry” to create quilt blocks using the colors of the Modern Quilt Logo.

As soon as I got wind of this Challenge I ordered all the Kona Solid colors for the store.

I’m really excited about not only the QuiltCon, but creating a block using all these beautiful colors.  With names like “School Bus”,  ”Butter”, Tangerine, Lime, Candy Green, Turquoise and Cyan what is there not to love?  I also know that quilters love fabric bundles so as soon as I received all this fabric Alyssa and I put together 1/2 yard bundles!  Look how yummy they look when put all together!

Whether you quilt or aspire to quilt I encourage you to enter a block in this challenge.   If you need a little inspiration you can see what other people are creating on the QuiltCon Challenge Flicker page.

I’m excited about QuiltCon!  They have some great sponsors and with any luck the first one will be so successful that they’ll have future QuiltCons.  Maybe even one in Minneapolis – I can always dream!

If you are interested in joining the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Group our next meeting is May 24, 6:30 – 8 at Sewtropolis.  If you aren’t in Minneapolis you can find a list of Modern Quilt Guilds here.

If you do decide to create a block I hope you’ll post a picture of it on our Facebook page before sending it in.  Till then – Happy Quilting

Check out all the buttons I’ve found while antiquing!  This isn’t even all that I found – I did manage to leave a few at the antique stores.

It’s been kind of fun sorting them.  This picture is the ’2nd’ sort.  The first sort I found all the similar ones and put them into baggies.  The second sort is sorting by color.  I’ll then sort by size and then bag them.

When I’m all done, I’ll be bringing them to the store.  We can always use a few vintage buttons!

Now back to your regular scheduled program!

Isn’t she purty?  This is probably the most girly, girl quilt I’ve ever made!  For the record, I did finish Miss March in March, but due to a move, build out and trying not to fall too far behind on things, my time has been very limited!

Anyway, for years, and I literally mean YEARS, I’ve been collecting vintage hankies.  I’m not sure why I started, but I’m pretty sure it started out with an idea to make a quilt with them.  I’m not sure what I had in mind at the time, but that didn’t stop me from buying them up whenever I would run across them while thrifting or antiquing.

This past January the Minneapolis Modern Quilters started a challenge to create a quilt using only recycled items.   I initially had the idea of using cashmere sweaters to create a quilt, but then I went antiquing with my friend Jennifer and was reminded of the vintage hankies I had been collecting when I ran across a huge selection of them!  I couldn’t resist picking up a few more and adding them to my already bulging stash.   This challenge fit perfectly with my 2012 goal of using up what I already had!

I brought my hankie stash with me to quilt retreat and sorted them according to size.  Some of the hankies had these beautiful crochet edges so I knew I wanted to keep the edges in tact.  I decided to lay them all out on a vintage sheet (another thrift store find) and sew them down using a free-motion quilting technique.

I bound the edges with purchased fabric, only because I didn’t bring enough fabric with me to retreat – if you can believe that!

I still  have quite a few hankies left, but those may end up as pillows.  In the meantime, I’m frantically trying to find the time to start and then finish Ms. April!  My free time has been pretty much non-existent these past few months with the move and all.  But I have an idea in mind and with any luck it will whip up fast if I use up the last Jelly Roll I have!   Till then – happy quilting!

The part I enjoyed the most was visiting the Lanesbro Commonweal Theatre to see Pillars of Society by Henrik Ibsen.  The play runs till June and I encourage everyone to see it.  Before the play though we walked around the theatre and explored all the wonderful displays.

Open up the mailbox and you’ll see a drive-in theater.

Peek in the birdhouse and you’ll see a poker game in progress (I always knew those Chickadees were up to something)

Along one wall there are a series of glass jars.

As you get closer you can see that the jars are filled with all kinds of trinkets, each chosen by those who contributed to the theater.

Like these bikes….

Or this Baby grand piano and chandelier - lit up nonetheless.

Up above on the ceiling there are all these ‘tools’ from work to play, and attached to each piece is a set of wings, which I was told were replicas, carved and cast from various regional birds and bats.

Unfortunately I didn’t remember to take pictures of the other sections of the ceiling before we left.  Next time!

Needless to say it was a fun weekend and I can’t wait to go back – hopefully this summer with a bike so that I can explore the area via the miles and miles of bike trails.

Thanks Jen, Harriett and Pat for inviting me!

On the way down and back we stopped to do some antiquing I found quite a few things:  some I brought home, some I left at the store.  Here are  just a few things I left at the store:

A creepy, life sized doll completely made of cloth with a angry scowl on her face…. or maybe that’s just over plucked eyebrows.  I do have to say I love how her hair is done, but not enough to want to bring her home.

Loads of vintage hats, gloves and purses.  I loved these hats, they were all so colorful sitting on this shelf, remnants of a past era when it was very fashionable to wear a hat.  Not so fashionable anymore, but who knows, maybe it’s a look that may be on it’s way back.  Until then I’ll enjoy visiting them.

A basket full of Pez dispensers.  Was it Seinfeld that collected Pez dispensers?  Do they even sell Pez candies anymore?

A ceramic peach, sitting on a plate.   It stayed, enough said.  (If you laughed for a good 5 minutes then you got just as much enjoyment from it was we did).

Heaven.  I didn’t bring home everything – but I did bring home …..

A set of 4 bowls and three serving dishes – one divided – in my favorite color: Turquoise.

I am putting these bowls away for now, if I don’t one by one they will be destroyed by my two boys who have systematically destroyed pretty much everything I own.   I only have a couple of years before they move out, in the meantime I’ll work on building a nice display for them in the dream kitchen they’ve inspired me to build.

If you haven’t stopped by since our move, I encourage you to make the time this Thursday night as the businesses of 48th & Chicago will be having a Spring Ladies Night event.  It starts at 4p and there will be so much going on including:  10% off all merchandise at Sewtropolis;  hair, makeup and skin consultations from our neighbors at Rue 48.  Spark Clinic will have chair massages and yoga classes, Pepitos is offering Two-for-One margaritas and if that isn’t enough to entice you to come out, the Minneapolis Modern Quilters will be having their April quilt challenge reveal.

All the quilters have been busy making quilts from recycled materials – myself included.  We started this challenge in January so I’m expecting there to be lots of beautiful quilts being revealed.  The meeting starts at 6:30 so stop in, grab yourself a beverage and appetizer (provided by Turtle Bread) and make your way to our Party Room to enjoy the show.

Did I mention that I love our new location?

You may also have heard that we’ve physically moved to a new location!  I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am with our new home!  The building is right on the corner of 48th & Chicago in South Minneapolis.  If you know where Pepito’s & the Parkway Theater are then you know where we are at!   Right now the old yellow awnings of the last tenant (Amazon Books) are still up, but within the next couple of weeks our blue awnings will be up and then it will really feel like home!   (If you’re thinking I might have a thing for old book stores you’re right.  Watch out Barnes & Noble).

When I look back to when I first opened up Sewtropolis 2 1/2 years ago, it’s hard to believe it’s grown from a one-girl shop to what it is today!  There is no way I could have done it without all of you and your love and support of my store!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I also want to give a HUGE special thank you to everyone who helped me with painting, sanding and most importantly the move!

It was done in record time and there is no way I could have done it without all your help!  I also want to thank Rachel Greenhouse for tipping me off about the vacancy.  Rachel has been a God send in so many ways – when I think of all my guardian angels, Rachel is at the top of the list  (getting all the other guardian angels together so that they can network with one another)  and I am SO grateful for her!   Thanks also to Jamie and her team at Propel Business Works and Tim at Mission: Communicate for their hard work on my website!  True professionals!

And now, let’s get sewing!