And just like that….it’s over

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I wondered if there was any more to see at the show…..boy was I wrong!!!!

We started the day with the “Saturday Sampler” with 24 quilter’s talking about their specialties. Our first stop was to Karen Miller again as she was talking about Quilter’s Doodles.

She said that this next quilt was supposed to be at her display since it was the perfect example of her techniques, but, alas, it had been accepted into the show so wasn’t available for the sampler…..

Next, I spent time with Nancy Roelfsema who talked about “Coping Strips”. No, they don’t help you cope with your life, but they do help to put different sizes of blocks together perfectly!!

The comment that struck me most was that when you have a block with points, don’t “square” it up, but instead “trim” each edge so that points aren’t lost and then add the “coping” strips!!

Next, I spent some time with Susan Cleveland who was talking about using piping to add pizzazz to your quilts. Her technique is interesting and I admit that I bought her supplies to give it a try sometime.

I also spent some time with Karen Kay Buckley on both mornings as she talked about preparing applique pieces. Last year, she taught me to use templar plastic to prepare my fabric pieces and her templates are the ones that I have used for my circles. I did learn that a few of my templates had warped because I was using too hot of any iron!!! On the second day, I watched as she prepared pieces with internal and external points and I certainly feel more confident about trying them at home.

One of my favorite exhibits in the show was the “Up and Coming Quilter’s”. Terri Grant was one of the people featured and I have been following her blog for many years and have loved her work. She was scheduled to do a talk about her quilts but wasn’t able to be there. I would have loved to meet her in person!!

• 

• 

• 

One of the reasons that I wanted to meet her is because she owns a piece of my work. MANY years ago, I created a small quilt and offered it as a gift on my blog to celebrate my first blogging anniversary, and she won it!! When she posted photos of her new studio I was excited to see a corner of it in the sitting room of her new building….

She hasn’t been posting much in the last year so I am a bit worried that she might not be well.

When we hit the main show floor again, we realized that we had missed a very important aisle…..the portrait quilts. These always amaze me and the following were my favorites…..

The quilter made this next quilt by turning a photo into a mosaic pattern and then laser cutting 4,000 pieces!!! It is so cute…..

The excitement on this little boy’s face is palpable…..

This was one of my favorites…..based on a photo where the dog was being introduced to the newest member of the family……

Needless to say, this landscape/portrait struck my fancy…..

I loved this architectural piece…..

….probably because it reminded me of a photo that I took in a palace in India…..

This next quilt was interesting in that it used only two colors and that the designs were made with strips of striped fabric…..

The colors in this cathedral were amazing, but the hexagon background is what really caught my attention…..

This landscape from Taiwan was also a crowd pleaser…

The geometrics and color in this piece were eye-popping….

And before we knew it, we were back at Pappasitos for our final Tex-Mex dinner, although we did make one last, quick foray to the Vendor’s!!

I am thankful for my friend, Linda, and that she is such a wonderful companion on these IQF trips…..

Here’s to many more!!!