Tag: Quilt Show

This trip meant my first flight since my last trip for work to Switzerland and Austria.

I was really amazed to see how green it was. At this time of year, California is quite golden (or brown!), so to see such green is a wonderful relief to the eyes. 

The sky was relatively overcast and I think there might have been some sprinkles, but by the time we landed, rain was not a problem. 

When I saw an Elna booth was going up around the corner from the SewTites booth, I knew I had to talk to them about my Harry Potter foot. Jim and Christina are from Sew ‘n Save in Racine, Wisconsin. Their booth was right next to ours. 

I started out by telling them how much I love my Elna. Our conversations snowballed from there and we had a great time. I told Jim to send over anyone who was thinking of buying the Elna 792 Pro and I would talk to them.

Throughout the show, I would stop by and chat for a minute when I had a break. It was a fun diversion.

The restroom in the convention center had a really great floor. It is definitely a design I would like to explore as a quilt.

Each tile is a small square, but I would use more strips and chunks and larger squares in my design. It would make the piecing easier and faster. I am not sure what the block would be or if I would need to make the block be a column. I will have to play with it on a piece of graph paper. Do you look for inspiration in tile?

We went out for dinner and then to ice cream one evening. I saw the ‘Carrots’ sign and kind of want one. First, I love the colors, well the pink sign on the aqua/light teal wall. I may have to do something with that combination. Second, I think the words are just so perfect for an ice cream shop.

The ice cream shop had gluten free cones, but a lot of their ice creams were not gluten free. I wanted to try one with rhubarb, but it wasn’t GF. At least they had a list.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe was at the show, too. She was selling books, patterns and templates. I almost bought a set of her templates and the pattern for her Cottage Daisy pattern. It might have been her Cottage Tulips pattern, but I think I decided against that one and moved on to consider the former. In the end I didn’t buy either.

The reality is that I see these patterns and templates and LOVE templates and see a finished quilt. I imagine myself happily working on it, but when I get home I have other project priorities. I put a note in my PKM system and will consider these projects for another day.

The organizers had hung a special exhibit of her quilts. It actually might have been two different exhibits. Because I was working at the booth, I didn’t get a ton of time to study everything at the show in minute detail.

I noticed that the quilts on exhibit were very different from the patterns she sold. 

I was excited to see her and wanted to show her a photo of my Pies & Points quilt. It wasn’t on my phone anymore, though, so I didn’t approach. A victim of not enough storage. 🙁

I bought some stickers at a booth called Goldie Lou’s. They also had a GREAT selection of t-shirts. 

The Cherrywood Abyss exhibit was on display at this show. I have a hard time appreciating the Cherrywood exhibits sometimes. I really liked this one. I think the colors were what attracted me initially. The quilt-lets are always well done. This time the subject matter really appealed to me. I took photos of a number of the octopus quilts. I was disappointed to see that the photo of the porthole quilt-let is a little bit fuzzy. So sorry!

 

One of the things we did was go to Trader Joe’s to buy shopping bags. Chen’s friend makes zipper pouches from the 99 cent Trader Joe’s bags. Apparently, TJs puts different state designs in different outlets.  Chen gifted me with this one. I found I didn’t have enough zipper pouches to organize the bag I take on the plane, so this one will come in handy.

I saw a lot of interesting products and supplies. One was a rolling suitcase that I would describe as a cart that folds up into a suitcase. They had some fun exteriors such as stars, rainbows and pink, in addition to a black one. I am not sure how I would use it. It was pretty tall, maybe 3.5 feet tall

Chen collects patches and puts them on a Trader Joe’s bag. 

I collected patches in my youth and always wanted to do something with them. I always thought of a quilt similar to the Boy Scout quilt I want to make for the YM. I am not sure I have enough. I probably have enough for a bag, though. It is an idea. Patches aren’t widely available at tourist spots now, which is a shame, but understandable. They are becoming available at quilt shows, though.

I bought a few things, in addition to what I bought at Sew Much More,  but I wasn’t really in the mood and didn’t have tons of time, as mentioned. Chen found that Sallie Tomato put out a limited amount of Alison Glass cork. I thought I would use it to make some of the Hold Tite folios. Now that I know where to buy the metal parts, I can make them at will. LOL!!

The cork will be a little of a challenge, because the pattern has the maker put a binding on the piece. I will take a look at the pattern and figure out how to make sure I don’t have to fold the cork over. I haven’t decided if I need another folio for myself. Stay tuned!

As a result of my possible Hold Tite Folio project, I bought the metal pieces from the booth towards the end of the show. One of the show specials was to get a needle minder (that green circle) if a customer bought two items from a section in the booth. As a result of my purchases, I got two needle minders. I’ll see what I am going to with them.

As mentioned, I did buy some stickers at Goldie Lou’s.

I often say, as a joke, that my sewing keeps the crime rate down in my town, so the top sticker really tickled me. 

I LOVED the May the 1/4 inch… sticker. Seeing the first Star Wars movie is one of those days embedded in my mind. I can’t wait to stick it on something. My water bottle is full, but I’ll find something.

The Quilt Gallery is a shop in Kalispell, Montana near where one of my sisters lives. I stopped at their booth a couple of times for various reasons. One was that I wanted to send people from our booth to another booth to find EPP papers and this booth had some. It was a cool modern booth. 

Even though I had already bought webbing for the Natalma, I saw some Ruby Star webbing that I thought would be better. The cats will go with the fabric I chose. I bought the ice cream webbing just because I thought it was fun.

I spent Friday with Friend Julie at the Pacific International Quilt Festival. In years past, I have spent a few days, stayed overnight at a hotel, taken hundreds of photos and taken classes. I think those days are in my past. I might do that if I travel to another state, but I don’t want to stay overnight for PIQF any more. If there were some great classes, then I might change my mind. For me, this was a quick visit.

The best part? Spending time with Julie! No contest.

The second best part? New vendors. Yes, I bought a couple of things, but not much. I either didn’t see anything I had to have or I wasn’t in the mood. There a couple of packs of fabric I am kind of regretting not buying, but I have tons of fabric and will rummage around my fabric closet for what I need/ want to use.

A number of longtime vendors weren’t there. I don’t know why, but am guessing that the change of date (July vs. October) or the post-pandemic lower attendance. Obviously, I do not have attendance records, but I did not see the crowds waiting to buy an entrance ticket or the crowds looking at quilts. I saw many fewer women with strollers and I seem to remember many of them attended on Friday. I appreciate the list of vendors on the Mancuso website and in the program.

UPDATE 28 July 2024: Someone said that ByHands was a Korean company and implied that I had said it was a Japanese company. I wanted to be clear that I thought the handbag and general bag patterns looked like the Japanese bags I have seen in books and online. I did not mean to imply that they were Japanese designs.

A favorite vendor was byhands Purse Making Supply. They sold Japanese looking bag patterns and kits. If you have read my posts where I extol the virtues of Japanese looking bags, then you will know a couple of the reasons I liked this vendor.

I haven’t written a lot about Japanese looking bags but I talk about them all the time. I like their shapes. I like their decoration. I do not like their colors. The good thing about this vendor was that they had samples of various bags. For each bag sample there was a pattern only and a kit. If you didn’t want to use the fabric in the kit, you could buy the various parts and the pattern and add your own fabric. I liked the hardware sold by ByHands. There were lots of different leather straps, purse frames, cinch straps (new one on me) and others from which to choose. I was really interested int he various hardware that already has leather tabs attached. No more swiveling D-rings!

I think my favorite pattern was the Travel Bag. I restrained myself from buying another pattern, but I know about it now. A guild friend bought the Macaroon clutch, which is super cute. I’ll talk about Japanese looking bags sometime later.

The women at Material Girlfriends, which is driveable for me, were really fun. They had a super cute booth as well. Few depressing colors. They were giving away fans, which was perfect for our age group. Julie bought a fun Fibonacci type quilt pattern there. I was sort of interested in their Color Therapy pattern, but I didn’t buy it. I think I was more interested in the idea of it and that icky yellow-brown turned me off. Yes, I could change it, but it was so prominently in the upper left of the pattern. I think Stay Tuned, which I bought a few years ago is similar. I should make that one first.

I also enjoyed Sewing 101 and am on the fence about whether I should have bought the Tilda dots. I am thinking NO!, but a little voice inside of me is not in agreement. They had a lot of Tilda and knew their Tilda. I showed them the Tilda fabrics I bought at Springville Quilt Barn and they knew them right away (Bloomsville).

Of course, there was a Kaffe booth, All About Color Quilting. It was super colorful and had all the large flower prints I like. They have a Kaffe New SKU Club. NO! I am not joining. I came very close to buying the mosaics bundle. I thought about all the fabric I bought on vacation and walked away. Another possible regret. I love the Kaffe dots and almost bought a pack of them as well. I really like sets of things and both of these bundles satisfied that love in me.

There were some good quilts, too. I enjoyed the “Inspired by the Nation’s Capital” quilts, which depicted places and buildings in Washington DC in a small format. The exhibit is described on the PIQF Special Exhibits page as “To celebrate our Nation’s Capital, fiber artists from across the country have portrayed key places and events in the Washington DC area. This collection of over 100 original 24” x 24” quilts showcases historic buildings, monuments, landmarks, museums and recreation areas. The collection is a fabric travelogue, enabling viewers the opportunity to see a wide variety of sites from the very familiar to the lesser known that feature the heart of the city, from the most serious locations to the more playful. Techniques, materials, and fiber art skills are as varied as the subjects of the quilts. ” I think this is a book** I might want.

I liked the Mixed Box quilt by Karen Bolan, which was included in the New Quilts of California exhibit.

There was a lot of transparency work at the show and this was one of them. I saw the block and thought it would be a good one to use for the rest of the silks I have. I still have a lot after Colorblocks 3. This is the first block I have seen that had the right look. Another project for the list.

I thought a number of the quilts seemed really intricate and I wondered if people were finishing up those complicated quilts they started during the pandemic.

Of course, I can’t finish without mentioning the FOUR quilts Julie entered in the show.

This is her Safe at Home quilt, a BOM or Row by Row quilt that came out during the pandemic. Yay! A finish!.

Her other three quilts were part of special exhibits and I got distracted and didn’t take photos.

 

We saw friends and a lot of good quilts and fun vendors. My feet hurt a lot at the end of the day, but visiting a quilt show was worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I went to a quilt show!

The Pacific International Quilt Festival was held, as usual, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. I went on Friday with Friend Julie and had a good time. The big change was that there was fewer of everything. Fewer quilts, fewer vendors, fewer exhibits, fewer items to buy, fewer people.

I was in a mood to shop. I didn’t want to get a lot of fabric, but I did want to look at everything in person and buy a few things, including some fabric.  One thing I am really excited about is a pattern called Stay Tuned. It is by Thimble Creek Quilts. I almost bought the kit, but the solids in it were Konas and I have a strict policy of not buying fabrics I don’t like. The nice things was that Roxie (owner of Thimble Creek) asked me what solids I liked, so we had a chat about American Made Brand, AGF Pure Solids and Northcott. Maybe they will change what they use for kits. I went to Stash Fabrics and randomly chose several solids to use for this quilt.

I am excited about it, because it is just piecing a bunch of small blocks into a cool quilt. I am really desperate just to do sew something new. I don’t want anything complicated or arty – just an interesting block quilt I can relax with. I have to pick a few pieces of fabric for this quilt, but will mostly use my stash.

Another thing that I was able to do was look at a variety of needles. I was able to identify the hand sewing needles I like and buy a couple of packs. They are Chenille needles** (Amazon has them for twice the price as Batty Lady, where I bought them). I like them because they are sharp and have a big eye.  I had lost the package for the ones in my La Pass sewing kit, so I am glad to have been able to identify which ones I like. I bought size 28, because I always forget about needle sizes. Not sure if those are the ones I have had before.

I also bought a couple of new seam rippers. As I ripped seams out of Pointillist Palette #4, I found that the process seemed much harder than necessary. I thought that my seam ripper might be getting dull. Can they be sharpened? Who knows? I bought a couple of Kaffe branded seam rippers, not because they are Kaffe branded, but because they had a large grip. The cutting end is pretty thin, which may mean I can more easily get the blade under seams. We’ll see. I’ll have to try them out, but I hope not too soon.

I am happy with my Clover seam ripper**, in general. Those are definitely my go-to seam ripper, but the Kaffe seam ripper has a larger handle and might be better for a lot of ripping. Also, I am scared of the Tula Pink surgical seam ripper**. I’ll do a review.

Aside from those few things, I bought 4 yards of fabric and some Pineapple Flatter. I finally used the bottle I got from the guild at the last (??) retreat. I like the smell.

I didn’t think the COVID lockdown affected me that much in terms of quiltmaking. I was wrong. Looking at all the quilts made me realize how much I have gotten into my own bubble of quilts. I looked at the show quilts which were pretty normal for PIQF and realized I hadn’t seen anything like them since the last time I went to a quilt show. Visiting a quilt show meant that I saw quilts I wouldn’t normally see in all types of styles and colors. In general, at home from my computer, I look at quilts that appeal to me and skip over quilts that do not. I look at quilts by people I know and not at others. At PIQF, I looked at everything, regardless of the style or appeal. I was walking by anyway, so I might as well look, right? This is really hard for me to explain because I have just realized it myself.

It was also hard to be around all those people. I am just not used to it. Most people were not wearing masks, but I wore a mask while at the show. The booths were still small and somewhat jammed, but the show cleared out pretty much by 3pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Obviously, you should shop at local fabric stores, knitting shops, independent booksellers or quilt shops. However, if you can’t, please know that I use affiliate links. I may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I do not recommend items I don’t like. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

One of the things I forgot to mention when I talked about the quilt show the other day was the swans. Yes, swans showed up as imagery in at least 7 quilts. I have been reading/studying a book called The 1718 Coverlet*. Essentially it is a block book, but it tells the history of the oldest quilt found in the UK and tells the reader how to make the blocks. In the book, and the quilt, are blocks depicting swans.

In the world Quilt Exhibit, we saw that someone had made a version of the 1718 Coverlet. There were the first swans. After that we saw swans depicted in the other quilts. I love white birds – herons, egrets and swans – but I was surprised to see so many swans in quilts. Granted there were a lot of bird quilts. Sadly, I neglected to take photos of any bird or swan quilts. 🙁

As you know from a previous post, I am leading the team that will be creating raffle baskets for the guild next year. Every meeting, a random number is drawn, matched with a name on the sign-in form and the winner is gifted with a bag or basket of prizes. I won one recently and was amazed at the variety of items. I have a list of items I want to get to fill in the things we make. I found a few of them at the quilt show.

I did mention that FOTY 2017 was on display. It was in the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit. In the past few years, I have been annoyed at the quilts made from patterns that were on display in this exhibit. This was part of my impetus to enter. The FOTY quilts are unique. I have only seen one or two others using the same concept. This year, more of the quilts looked original, which made me happy.

I was also interested in a couple of the modern quilts. There is something about the circular motifs that is very appealing. I think I have circles on my mind, because of the new project I have been considering lately. I saw a few quilts that I thought were Quick Curve Ruler* projects. It wasn’t hugely obvious, but I noticed. I am glad to see some quiltmakers using that tool. I was also gratified to see that one maker had designed an original quilt using the ruler. I have had some inklings in that direction, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item you click on. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

The Pacific International Quilt Festival was held this past weekend (plus Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) at the Santa Clara Convention Center. I really only had Friday to attend. This was a shame, because the quilts were actually more interesting this year than they have been in past years.

Julie and I met up at 11am and walked the show. I didn’t take as many photos as I have in the past. I wasn’t in the mood, I guess. I was in the mood to shop and bought a few nice things, including the Mary Poppins bag I was looking at last year. I also bought the various foam pieces I needed so I don’t have to scrounge around for those. I saw Odicoat for sale, but when I went back to buy it, they had sold out. I can get it easily on Amazon or Sew Sweetness, but I thought picking it up at PIQF would be easier since it was available. Oh well.

I was able to pick up a few things for raffle prizes for BAM next year.

My favorite quilt, I think, was The Secret Life of Carrots. This is a quilt by Elaine Barnard of South Africa, which Friend Julie pointed out to me.

One thing I like about it is the simplicity of the title, which hides the complexity of the design.

I also like the hangy-downy threads. I have often thought that art quilts use threads hanging off the quilt badly. They don’t fit in with the design and make me think the maker was lazy. This quilt uses that concept very well.

One big thought I had while looking at the show was that symmetry was not as much in evidence. I greatly admire the artistry of art quilts, improv quilts and modern quilts. However, one of the things I love about quiltmaking is blocks and, especially the symmetry of blocks and quilts made up of blocks. I didn’t see that people were using fresh, modern and contemporary fabrics to explore symmetry and blocks in a  new way. I guess blocks seem old-fashioned and everyone wants to be modern or make contemporary quilts. Even my quilt, FOTY 2017, which was on display, isn’t exactly a block quilt.

I really need two days for this show. It can be viewed in one day, but we spent 8 hours looking at quilts and shopping, I think, and that was really pushing it in terms of being on our feet. I felt rushed. I would have also liked more time at the vendors, but I didn’t NEED that.

I was contacted earlier this week about the SCVQA Quilt Show. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend, but I hope you will be able to attend and will share photos on social media.

Message re: the show:

I am writing from the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association, we are one of the largest quilt organizations in the bay area. We are about to host our biennial quilt show featuring hundreds of quilts made by local quilters and artists, Quilts Celebrating Creativity is May 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. We wanted to invite you especially to attend, since we know you support the quilting arts with an active blog and online presence.

We will be showing over 300 quilts, our guild is very diverse and there will be many different forms of quilts, from traditional to modern, large to small and everything in between. On display will be two special exhibits showcasing nationally renowned local artists Therese May and Randa Mulford. We have a large vendor mall feature a unique shopping opportunity with local vendors selling fabric, tools, patterns and other one of a kind crafts. There will be raffle baskets, demonstrations, art on display from the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and a scavenger hunt for children.

Show hours are Saturday May 4th 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday May 5th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $12, children 12 and under are free. More information can be found at www.scvqaquiltshow.org.

Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the art of quilting.

If you would like to know more or have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Quilt Show Committee at quiltshow@scvqa.org.

Best regards,

Quilt Show Committee

 

I was contacted earlier this week about the SCVQA Quilt Show. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend, but I hope you will be able to attend and will share photos on social media.

Message re: the show:

I am writing from the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association, we are one of the largest quilt organizations in the bay area. We are about to host our biennial quilt show featuring hundreds of quilts made by local quilters and artists, Quilts Celebrating Creativity is May 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. We wanted to invite you especially to attend, since we know you support the quilting arts with an active blog and online presence.

We will be showing over 300 quilts, our guild is very diverse and there will be many different forms of quilts, from traditional to modern, large to small and everything in between. On display will be two special exhibits showcasing nationally renowned local artists Therese May and Randa Mulford. We have a large vendor mall feature a unique shopping opportunity with local vendors selling fabric, tools, patterns and other one of a kind crafts. There will be raffle baskets, demonstrations, art on display from the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and a scavenger hunt for children.

Show hours are Saturday May 4th 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday May 5th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $12, children 12 and under are free. More information can be found at www.scvqaquiltshow.org.

Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the art of quilting.

If you would like to know more or have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Quilt Show Committee at quiltshow@scvqa.org.

Best regards,

Quilt Show Committee

 

I still have a lot to write about PIQF. My post about my quilts barely scratched the surface of my experience. Writing about the MetroScape block n.5 yesterday made me think about all the other things I wanted to talk about.

Vendors

There were noticeable changes to the vendors, as there were last year. The Mancusos has moved some of the vendors to new locations.  Others were no longer vending. SIL said that there were changes to the offerings of longarm vendors as well. She is still in the market for a longarm and was pleased at the changes.

I tried to stick to a list of items I really needed for projects or had a purpose. I bought more than I planned, but almost everything has a project attached to it.

I saw a new (to me?) line of bag patterns and really wanted to buy the Poppins pattern. I loved the shape and the style, but I resisted. I have another carpet bag type pattern AND the stays and must make that one first. One of the booths, Monica’s, had the pattern with all of the interfacing (they use Bosal) cut and available for purchase with the pattern. It was sooooo tempting. As mentioned, I resisted.

On my list was a roll of 2.5 inch batting strips. I want to make a Jelly Roll rug with the jelly roll I won at QuiltCon. No dice. I didn’t see any. I saw a roll of fusible batting strips and emailed Gretchen from 120 Blocks to ask if that was what she used. She said that product would be overkill and I didn’t buy it.

I found some fabulous fabric for the Westchester Dolman top. Crafty Gemini has a free PDF pattern of that top, but the link above leads you to the bundle of video and print pattern.

Buying fabric for this pattern has been on my mind, but wasn’t on my list for PIQF. Still, I was thrilled to see fabric I liked that was also of good quality. I didn’t really want to buy something online. I wanted to be able to feel the fabric. Julie pointed out that I needed to see how sheer a knit was, as well, because some knits were very sheer which means you have wear a camisole or something under it. This is an Art Gallery knit and thick enough to not be see through.

I have run out of solid white background fabric, which I like to have around, especially for donation projects. I wanted the Art Gallery Pure Elements Snow fabrics, but Colleen was there and carries American Made Brands. I bought 5 yards of their white, which I do like. She is one of the few vendors that brings bolts to the show.

My big impulse buy was from Sewing Party, a shop that I almost didn’t enter, because the woman looked so dour. I think she was tired and her resting face was not attractive. As soon as we entered the booth, she cheered right up and was very sweet.

I bought two FQs and a template set. I’ll use the text fabric for En Provence n.2. The Halo Top templates were not on the list, but they were so attractive. My friend, Sue Arnold, made a ring quilt years and years ago. Since then, I have wanted to make one. I seem to be getting into the sewing curves groove , so I wasn’t daunted by the curves in the block. The weird thing was that the shop did not have the pattern. When I asked about it, the lady said that I didn’t need the pattern. She was very confident of that even though I don’t think I have ever seen her before. 😉 She said with the templates, I could figure out the piecing. It is a Jen Kingwell pattern and I have heard from reliable sources that her patterns are not very well written. I’d like to take a look at the pattern, but I think the vendor is right. I don’t want to spend $28 on a pattern when I can figure out the piecing for myself. If someone I know has it, I will take a look (not copy, don’t worry). If not, I will figure it out for myself.

I plan to use the green in the Halo top and I will need to do some hunting and gathering for fabric in order to make it scrappy.

I also bought some yarn from Threads & Ewe. I love that booth. They have nice yarn, but the ladies are so friendly and helpful. They also wanted to see the scarf I made from the yarn I bought from them last year. I bought three skeins to make a shawl. I may have to finally get on Ravelry to find a free pattern. I have to finish my other project first, though. And NO MORE YARN!

Quilt Show

The best part of the quilt show was wandering around it with Friend Julie and looking at everything.

The quilt show, generally, looked the same as it has in years past. They still use the black drapes, which just looks depressing too me.

I was, again, disappointed by the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit. I didn’t see very many quilts (perhaps one or two) that were new, fresh or exciting. I must not understand that point of that exhibit anymore. I would have liked Down the Drain to be in that exhibit, but missed the deadline.

I didn’t see any Quick Curve Ruler projects, which was interesting. I wonder if people consider curves to be too hard. I am not finding my MetroScape project too difficult. It has gotten easier the more blocks I have made and I pin like a demon, which helps.

We met up with Kathleen late in the day and walked around with her a bit. She commented on how much “bedazzling” was on the quilts. I had to agree with her. The show winners were all covered in sparkling gems (Swarovski crystals?).

I was glad to be able to spend Friday at the show and not have to cram everything into a Sunday visit as originally planned.

PIQF started Wednesday night and goes until Sunday. I went Wednesday night to scope everything out.

Wednesday night is preview night, so the floor is only open for an hour and a half. I try and go when I can to scope out the new vendors and to find my quilts.

This year I entered 3 quilts into the show: Fabric of the Year 2016, Triple Star and Down the Drain. No prizes, but I wasn’t expecting any prizes. Two of them had good locations and one had good lighting, but was in a bad location.

FOTY 2016 was in one of the ‘hallway’ locations. It had good lighting, which Julie pointed out, but I didn’t like it being in one of the hallways. People barely look at those quilts and just walk by.

Triple Star probably had the best location. It was in the back of one of the display section, so people could stand in the aisle and look at it.

My picture is a little washed out, but it is a good photo in terms of seeing the quilt straight on.

Down the Drain had a good location in the back of the front hall, but nobody was looking at it.

I don’t know that I’ll enter quilts in PIQF again. I try never to say never, but that is how I am thinking right now. It was really expensive and I don’t really have any hope of ever winning a prize. The prize winners are so large and bedazzled and quilted within an inch of their lives. I don’t really quilt for prizes, but it is still a disappointment when a quilt with an important message like Down the Drain doesn’t get any kind of acknowledgement.

I entered three quilts into PIQF. Yes, I entered a political quilt. I am scared about that, but what’s done is done. Hopefully, it won’t get damaged. Aside from the guild, this will be the first public viewing of the show. I am really glad I worked hard at doing a good job on it.

After the show, I’ll send or take the Triple Star up to the YM.

Someday I’d like to have a show of all the Fabric of the Year quilts. I should get on that.