QuiltCon was Great!

After months and months (and months) of planning, QuiltCon has come and gone. A fine time was had by all. We made it out of dodge right before the 'snowapalooza' hit Columbus and out of Austin before the temperature dropped. The Quilting Goddess was definitely smiling on the modern quilting community.

As soon as we got downtown, we headed for the registration desk. Much to my surprise, I spent enough to get the goody bag. And what a goody bag it was! Not only did I get the tote bag but fabric, books, patterns, magazines, thread, discounts at certain booths, and notions. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! First thing I thought when I saw it was 'how am I going to get all of this home?!' My suitcase was already bursting at the seams with everything I took for my classes.(But trust me...I wasn't complaining!)

We enjoyed the show much more this year than two years ago. There was more variety and more quasi-art quilts which both Kathy and I love. MQG doesn't have any photos out on the web site yet, but hopefully they will soon.You can check out #quiltcon on Instagram to see some of the entries.

As soon as Kathy and I got into the show area, there was a Kona booth with a fabric challenge. They had boards with swatches of Kona solids. Each participant was given a bag with names of the colors and you had to attach the name of the color to the right swatch. Then you got your "Kona IQ". There were about 25-30 colors on the board. I got 6 right. What can I say. Kathy on the other had got 16 right, I think. She's an over achiever.

Of course no one can go home a loser, so regardless of your IQ, you got to spin a wheel and it told what prize you won. I got a fat quarter. Kathy got a Kona totebag with some of their color swatches on the front. Very cute.

There were definitely more vendors at the show this year. We got to meet Alyssa from PileO'Fabric and Susan K. Cleveland was there (are you a "Piping Hottie"?...I am). Quite a few people had book signings. I wore my Fit Bit every day and I can tell you we walked over 12,000 steps that Thursday!

At dinner Thursday night we met Linda from Martha's Vineyard MQG. Needless to say with the weather as it has been in New England, Linda was very happy she made it! We were able to talk about our guilds, share some interesting ideas, and talk about why we like the modern aesthetic. This is why attending events like this can be so valuable; making contacts and sharing ideas.Kathy and I ran into Linda several times over the next few days and I'm sure we'll stay in touch with our new friend.(Linda, if you're reading this,thanks for telling us about the Albers Color app. I spent half of my morning today pouring over it. Thanks!)

Friday I had a class with Weeks Ringle and on Saturday with Bill Kerr and attended a lecture given by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. See that's another thing about QuiltCon...you can take classes with the people you follow on the internet, books and magazine articles.  Kathy had a class with Carolyn Friedlander and the two of them talked about a project of Kathy's. I don't know another event where you can get personal time with such a wide variety of  great names in the business.

Last but certainly not least I have to say we attended the key note speaker's event which was Gee's Bend. Four women from Gee's Bend talked about how they grew up and learned to quilt. They sang gospel  for the audience and answered a multitude of questions. Afterward we decided to treat ourselves to dessert and a glass of wine before packing for our 6:30 AM flight. (Since we walked so much over the four days, we certainly deserved it!) As we were getting ready to leave Kathy realized her purse was gone; she had left it at the convention center where we listened to the Gee's Bend presentation. After talking to a security guard and staff from QuiltCon, Kathy's purse was found...someone had turned it in. Once again the Quilting Goddess was shining down on us keeping any eye out for two modern quilters.