QuiltCon 2020

Ah, QuiltCon. My favorite quilt show. The only show I feel like I must attend. The place where I feel overwhelmed and inspired, intimidated and rejuvenated, all at the same time.

Last weekend I attended QuiltCon 2020 in Austin, and as always, it was an exhausting but fantastic time. I tried not to overload myself, but still ended up with 4 classes over 2 days. It was supposed to be 5, but I had to cancel one at the last minute.

I took 2 longarm classes (Fill It With Style, More Than Just Lines) with Jodi Robinson where I learned some great ideas for background fillers. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a quilting rut where all I can come up with are swirls and more swirls, so it's nice to take a class to get more ideas! However, I realize that I don't like the longarm portion of these classes. I'd rather they be drawing / design classes so I'm spending time learning new designs instead of spending time on a totally foreign longarm machine.

My third class is called Making Color Work with Heather Black and it's a very interesting class, totally different from anything I've ever done before. The class uses watercolor to explore color theory, and though I knew most of the theory, actually experimenting with them is a totally different experience. Now, I'll never get tint, shade, and saturation confused again! My watercolor skills are horrendous, but it was a fun class and I think I shall play with these color ideas more ... digitally, that is.

My last class is Serpentine Line Designs with Angela Walters. I'm a total Angela groupie so I always try to get a class with her whenever I can. I always feel so inspired being in the same room as her, enjoying her energy, humor, and enthusiasm, and of course learning from her. She is such an idea factory!

Taking classes is great, and form 49% of my reason for being at QuiltCon. But what is the 51%? The shopping, of course! At most quilt shows, I'm interested in about 10% of the booths. At QuiltCon, I'm interested in all the booths. I had originally planned to drive so I didn't have a restriction on how much I can buy (budget notwithstanding) but at the last minute I scrapped my plans and flew to Austin instead, so I could only take home what can fit in my suitcase ...

... which still turned out to be a lot. This is due to me bringing as little clothes as possible so I can squeeze in as much shopping as possible. Hey, I've got my priorities!

A Quilty Road Trip

I had been planning this road trip for a very long time. In June of this year, I decided that I had to get over my fear of my longarm machine (yes, I fear it a lot!) and take the APQS maintenance class that was happening next week. I wanted to learn how to keep it running happily, fix simple issues, and time the machine if I ever needed to.

The June class was full when I inquired, but I managed to get a spot in the October class. Looking at the map, I realized that the APQS showroom was also just 2 hours away from Missouri Star Quilt Company and 3 hours away from Quilting Is My Therapy. I'd always wanted to visit those shops, so my quilty road trip plan quickly came together.

I arrived at the APQS showroom in Des Moines, Iowa full of apprehension. I'm not particularly mechanical, and I wondered if I would be able to absorb all this information. As it turns out, the class was limited to 6 students, which was a good thing.

Out of all of the classes I've taken in recent memory, this was by far the most educational. I walked in knowing nothing and walked out with my head about to explode. It was so much information. I can't say I absorbed everything, but ... I did time a machine! I won't look forward to having to do it, but I could now if I needed to. That's worth the price of this class alone, but I also learned lots of other things, so I would say this was an excellent class.

After class was over, I drove over to Hamilton, Missouri, to begin the shopping leg of my trip. Hamilton has a real small-town America feel, and it was very nice and different from where I live. Missouri Star Quilt Company took up a good part of 2 buildings, and I really like how the shops were all divided into themes.

After Missouri Star, the last shop of my trip is Angela Walters's Quilting Is My Therapy. As everybody who reads my blog regularly knows, I am one of the biggest fangirls of Angela Walters, so visiting her shop is quite a special experience. I didn't get to see Angela because she's hosting a retreat several blocks away, but her shop is just such a beautiful little haven of color and fun!

After that, it was time to stop for the evening at my sister-in-law's place before heading back to Chicago. I ate too much and spent too much, but I had a great time and feel more confident about keeping my longarm happy. And last but not least, at the end of a shopping trip is the part where I take all the stuff out of the bags and see how much damage I did, right?

International Quilt Festival Chicago 2018

April is an exciting time of the year for me. Not only is the weather finally starting to think about warming up, but the quilt show season has officially begun!

I look forward to the Quilt Festival in Rosemont every year. This is my 3rd year going, and each year it's been different. In 2016, I was a newbie quilter and everything was shiny and new to me. I rushed around trying not to miss anything, but overall felt very overwhelmed. Last year, I concentrated solely on testing out longarms so I didn't do much else. This year, I'm no longer a newbie and no longer shopping for a longarm, so I felt like I could slow down a bit more and enjoy the show.

The best part of any quilt show is always the shopping. In fact, I judge a quilt show by the quality of the vendors. I always describe myself as drunk on fabric fumes at a quilt show, and I will usually pick up a few things that I wouldn't normally. I rarely have buyer's remorse, though!

On day two of the show, I spent some time in classes. My morning class is with Jamie Wallen from Quilter's Apothecary called Mystical Blocks and Borders. Jamie is an accomplished quilter, and his work is stunning. He also had a low-key humor and so much quilting knowledge that the room was filled with sounds of people writing as he gave tip after tip after tip. Even though this is a longarm hands-on class, we spent most of the time drawing, which I think is a good thing. I could learn so much more drawing than trying to quilt something on a machine that I'm not even familiar with. In fact, Jamie said, "Don't think of it as drawing. Think of it as quilting on paper."

While this sort of quilting is very elegant, it also requires more marking than I would want to bother with. However, I know that I will be able to take the principles I learned here and apply it to my own work.

But ... I didn't quite get to finish the class. About 3 hours in, someone came in and said that there was a fire, and we all had to vacate the classes. There were a bunch of police cars and fire trucks parked outside and they locked the area down so nobody could go back in. What it did mean was that I had extra time at the vendor mall and my wallet suffered greatly for it.

Happily, they took care of the fire situation eventually and my afternoon class called Black, White, and Zentangled didn't get cancelled. When I arrived, the instructor told me it was going to be a private lesson, because apparently I was the only one who signed up! I was surprised they didn't just cancel the class. But I had a great time in the class, and the class projects I worked on are probably the first class projects ever that I'm super proud of and actually want to keep!

It comes as no surprise to me that I would enjoy Zentangling. After all, it's free-form doodling, and isn't that exactly what I do with free-motion quilting? I'm excited to finish the class project and hang it in my sewing room!

It's been another great year at International Quilt Festival, and I hope to be back next year!

QuiltCon 2018

I got back from QuiltCon last night, and I was greeted by 2 sick kids and a husband who is exhausted taking care of them. I wasn't feeling too hot myself so all I wanted to do was to lie down and go to sleep. I used to love flying when I was younger, but then I grew up. How I wish teleportation was available!

QuiltCon was as wonderful as I imagined, but it was much more exhausting than I was expecting. I was warned against scheduling too heavily, but I didn't listen. When registration day opened, I saw that everything I wanted was open so I went wild. I ended up doing 7 classes in 3 days, and it was ... well, let's just say I've learned my lesson!

Normally when I go to a show, I take pictures of my favorite quilts and post them. But for QuiltCon, it's hard to choose because there are so many favorite quilts! In fact, I daresay I love about 95% of the quilts in the show. Instead, I'll talk about my classes and show off all the goodies I got!

Quilt Photography Basics with Kitty Wilkin & Michelle Bartholomew

I think my photos have improved a lot since the day I started blogging. That being said, I still struggle with them. I learned a lot in this class. The class had a practical session where we actually took photographs, and I think I took some of the best product photos I've ever shot in my life here:

I learned some low-cost tricks for high impact photography, and while they're not all applicable to me, I do hope that my photos will continue to improve.

Radiating Designs Skill Builder with Pamela Wiley

This class was a longarm class, so it consisted of some lecture time and lots of practice time. I learned some interesting ways to look at shaping and perspective, and developed a new appreciation for straight line designs on quilts. While I don't think quilting at the density of Pamela is my style (plus I don't have a computerized machine) I can definitely take some inspiration from this class for my own quilting. Here is my quilting sample:

Shape by Shape 2 with Angela Walters

This is the first of my three classes with Angela. As soon as I walked in the room I gushed to Angela how much I adore her. She was very sweet, and this class was every bit as entertaining as I expected. This was a drawing class so we doodled a lot of designs on paper. Most of the designs that she taught is in her book and I've already read the book, but there's nothing like being in the room with her, enjoying her humor, her energy, and actually seeing the quilted samples live. Talk about wow factors! It's easy to see why she's a superstar. Plus, being able to ask her questions is invaluable.

Your Own Two Feet: FMQ + Straight Lines with Christina Cameli

I signed up for this class before Christina's Craftsy class on the same subject came out. It covered a lot of the same materials, but I was still happy to learn from Christina. Although it was a sit-down machine class, a lot of the designs I can see being quilted on a longarm as well. One in particular I'm already planning to use on a future quilt, and I think it's brilliant.

To be honest, I haven't quilted on a domestic machine for a long, long time. But I thought it'd be okay. It's like riding a bike, right? Well, it wasn't! I had forgotten just how challenging it was to manage even a little bit of bulk and drag, and how challenging it is to get consistent stitch length and achieve good tension on a sit-down. But even though my quilting is ugly (and I won't be showing it here) it was still a great class!

Small Changes, Big Variety with Angela Walters

The second of my classes with Angela is another drawing class, and this time we went over the designs she had in her Craftsy class of the same name. However, I have no regrets about purchasing this class. There's something about seeing it live that makes it click in new ways, and I for one finally figured out one of her fancier ribbon candy designs after seeing her draw it live. Plus ... I seriously get inspiration just being in the same room as her!

Tackling Curves With the Happy As A Clam Project with Latifah Saafir

If I felt pretty good about myself after a quilting class, I just needed to try to sew a curve to feel completely humbled again. Not long ago I sort of figured out the Drunkard's Path (and I needed to do a lot of trimming down!) but clamshells are a different thing altogether. At least I brought fabric I didn't much like, because my curves were terrible. When I was at the trimming station, I looked to my left ... and to my right ... and my neighbors' curves were fine. Things lined up at the right spot. Mine was very, very off and as it turns out, I didn't need to learn how to piece a curve ... I needed to learn how to press them!

I will say this though, that this was way too short of a class to cover all the materials. I think it needed to be at least twice as long! I did leave the class intrigued about clamshells and admiring the beautiful patterns Latifah designed, but I still don't feel very confident about curves.

Swirling Beyond Feathers with Angela Walters

At last, we've come to the class I've looked forward to the most at QuiltCon. How fitting that it is the last class to close the show for me! This was an actual stand-up longarm class where we watch Angela draw, and then try to quilt it on the machine. I got used to the HQ Amara after awhile, but I still think that my APQS Lenni is a fabulously smooth machine. I was actually decently happy with my class sample, so here it is:

I learned a lot in this class, including how to do scrolls, do proper swirl chains, and of course, paisley feathers. I think I can manage them now, maybe!

***

There's no question that one of the major attractions of a show like QuiltCon for me is the vendor hall. Sure, QuiltCon isn't a huge show and it was fairly fast to walk the vendor booths, but this is an instance where almost all of the booths appeal to me. There are a lot of vendors here that don't go to any of the more traditional shows I normally go to, so meeting them and seeing their products in person is a great attraction. My favorite booths were probably ME + YOU for Indah Batik and beyond the reef.

And of course, I shopped. A lot. I actually considered buying more, but I'm glad I didn't, because when I packed up my suitcase on Saturday night, I found that I had to do some creative maneuvering just to be able to fit the stuff I did buy. It was really, really full!

I know that I could have bought a lot of this stuff online. However, seeing the products live make me feel giddy. I kind of feel like I'm drunk on convention fumes, and that I would buy things that I normally might think about more. Since this is my first QuiltCon, I decided not to hold back, but carrying that stuff home at the end of a day? I wish I had booked a hotel closer to the convention center.

Of course, QuiltCon isn't complete without some meet-ups and selfies!

From top left, going clockwise: Cheryl Brickey, Natalie Barnes, Angela Walters, Sherry Shish, and Christina Cameli.

I plan to go to QuiltCon Nashville next year, but I'll definitely take it easier. Well, that's what I say now. Who knows what I might do when the class list comes out!

Original Sewing & Quilting Expo 2017

The Original Sewing & Quilting Expo is happening in Schaumburg this weekend, and of course, I went! Schaumburg Convention Center is literally 15 minutes from my house, and though it's not a big show, it's still got plenty of vendors and lots of eye candy. Although I really think of this as more a sewing show and less a quilting show.

I took just a few photos of my favorite quilts on display today. Disclaimer: These photos are for personal enjoyment, not for reproduction.

Left: Essence by Susan Mann
Right: Sailing the Ocean Blue by Diana Minor

Left: Primordials #5 by Rahel Elran
Right: Tactile Architecture by Simona Peled

One fun feature of Sewing Expo is their Make-It Take-It projects, where for a small fee, I get to make something and take it home. I stopped at the Babylock station and made this bag with a serger. This is my first time ever using a serger. How cute is this bag!

I'm primarily a quilter so I really don't need a serger, but it was fun to use. And who knows, maybe one day I'd wake up with an insatiable urge for a serger. (That happened with my longarm.)

I was in the area when the BurdaStyle fashion show was starting, so I thought I'd sit and watch. What a treat! The models were beautiful, and the clothing was very cute and on trend. I'm pretty sure all of these are way, way out of my skill range, but it was a fun experience anyway. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

And then ... at the very end, BurdaStyle announced a collaboration with Spoonflower / Sprout coming up. I didn't get too many details but it sounded fabulous. I adore Spoonflower, and it sounds like we get to pick a fabric, pick a size, and it'd come shipped to us with the cutting lines printed on it. The worst part of garment sewing, to me, is dealing with the paper pattern. And that's not an issue! I saw this adorable top that had my name written all over it, and maybe I'd try it come November!

I stopped at both Babylock and Janome to look at their sewing machines. I really, really want a new sewing machine. I admit I'm very much fed up with my Pfaff, but shopping for a sewing machine is really scary. Not only is it a big hunk of change, but I don't know for sure that it'd solve my problems with my Pfaff, and I will have to learn the ins and outs of the new machine. Besides, my Pfaff still works, so I can't justify getting a new machine, either.

But what's a quilt show without some shopping? I found this gorgeous yellow / blue quilt kit, and I picked up a few more Akonye Kena bowls. I'm obsessed with them! Not only are they absolutely gorgeous, but they're fair-trade and made in South Africa. And they're amazing thread catchers because the thread never sticks to the bowl. I've got enough thread catchers now, but I'm sure I'll find some uses for them!

You know you visit too many quilt shows when the cashier of Missouri Star Quilt Company recognizes you. However, I think I'm done with quilt shows for the year. My next show will probably be ... QuiltCon!