Both winning quilts I was a part of - 1st and 3rd place in the group/bee category! So proud and excited! More below about them.
Yes, it was a relief to escape the frigid Northeast (if only for a moment), visit a stupendous show of stunning (modern!!!!) quilts multiple times, shop for fabric and notions in person, and meet some of the quilting all-stars, but the best part of the convention for me, hands down, was meeting many of my beloved internet quilty friends for the first time. When the Internet was just a fledgling little bird (and I was in middle school, LOL), I remember thinking, "I'm sure I'll NEVER befriend someone just from being online. That's crazy."
But, guess what? - this quilty community thrives on blogs, Flickr, Facebook, and Instagram. I feel infinitely grateful that I've befriended these amazing people. It was so fun to reminisce about how we'd gotten to know each other, and talk about quilty things IN PERSON. Like, what? Was that even real life? It felt like a dream. Also, walking around Austin in the 70 degree weather without a jacket and eating dinners outside was nothing short of heavenly.
From the left: me, Jess, and Renee at the Moda Party. Two of my very favorite lovely ladies of quilting.
Let's just take a moment to admire how brilliant this quilt is. It was hanging at the C&T Publishing booth. Perfect to a T.
Not pictured: Liz (we missed you!)
Christa and I
It was a thrill to make new friends, like Jo! I loved having lunch with the lovely Heather, who I met last year at Mid-Atlantic Mod.
From left: Jo, Karin, me, Renee. We had some kick butt barbecue!
From left: Lori, Sonia, Jessica L., me, Laura, Krishma (not pictured: Meg)
It feels like my friendship with all of these people have been enhanced so much more just with the simple joy of meeting face-to-face. Take that, 21st century technology! :)
Some major highlights:
-The Moda party on Thursday night. It was a bit hard to find people but there were so many friends there! It was a great way to start the whole weekend. Great job, MQG!
-White-gloving the quilt show as an MQG volunteer (showing the backs to attendees, helping them find quilts, explaining the exhibit, etc.). I was there for 3.5 hours and still didn't see the whole show. That's how many quilts were there!
-Giving a 3 minute talk about our 3rd place winning group/bee quilt, the CJMQG Banner, for the Quilt Alliance.
-Jess Levitt and I were also a part of the 1st place winning group/bee quilt, Playing with Little Bits, which was pieced entirely at the inaugural 2014 Mid-Atlantic Mod. Congrats to Rose Daley, who beautifully quilted and finished the quilt. By the way, you can see ALL the quilt show winners here.
-Only at QuiltCon do you see people all around a city wearing handmade clothes and bags in recognizable fabrics! I wore all four of my handmade outfits and it was worth all the work to be recognized as a sewist but also to be comfortable!
-Taking Anna Maria Horner's Mod Corsage class on Saturday with several friends (Denyse Schmidt took the class, too!). It was a blast. That will have to be a totally separate post. I'm itching to work on that quilt now... like I need another WIP! Anna Maria was so wonderful. It was such an inspiring class. I know, I'm just gushing.
-Seeing our charity quilt, Modern Bracelets, hanging in Ballroom B with about 60 other charity quilts from around the world! I owe you a blog post about this one - I designed it and pieced the top together (blocks were made by many guild members). The quilting was done by the ever-wonderful Jessica Levitt.
-Andres Rosales and Luke Haynes make a Jess sandwich. Can you tell how much I love Luke Haynes? I enjoyed meeting Andres too, of course. ;)
-Meeting the ladies of Cotton and Steel and making a headband at their booth.
-Listening to the dynamic women of Gee's Bend at the keynote lecture. Next time, I want to attend more lectures.
-Seeing my Oakshott table runner hanging in the Oakshott booth (block tutorial here)!
-Meeting Benedict Cumberbatch - he's just as fetching in quilt form, thanks to the illustrious Kristy (who I also had the pleasure of finally meeting!).
Finally, huge props to the Modern Quilt Guild. As we learned at the MQG General Session on Sunday, membership has exploded since 2013 to 139 local guilds and 8161 members. Clearly, with around 4000+ attendees this weekend (according to the Austin Convention Center website), they succeeded in pulling off an amazing, multi-faceted event and international quilt show. Yes, there are things that might be changed (which I'll be suggesting - have you filled out your surveys yet, positive feedback included?), but it was a success. Thank you, MQG board and fellow volunteers, for an outstanding and forever memorable event.
Crazy amounts of swag from the swag bag and vendor booths. I'll be sharing my fabric purchases separate for Sunday Stash!
I don't know when I'll be able to attend QuiltCon again (MAYBE 2017 in Savannah because it's drivable, though I'm not counting on it yet) but I'm so grateful for the memories and the experience of attending this downright fabulous party of all kinds of quilters. Returning to real life after a trip has never been so difficult!
Part 2 of this series will be more on AMH's class, and Part 3 will be some of my favorite quilts from the show! Phew, this was a lengthy post. Thanks for sticking with me if you read this far! I didn't want to skip over anything. :)
Attending virtually via your blog post :D
ReplyDeleteSounds AMAZING! I'm so happy to experience Quilt Con through your post! And congrats on all the accolades for your hard work! Woo hoo!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG that sounds amazing and I feel like I have been there through your post. So glad you had such a great time and your clothes you made looked great on you. Can't wait for more posts.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun recap of the weekend!
ReplyDeleteThe recap posts are almost as fun and exciting as being at QuiltCon! It was a pleasure to meet you, and I need to go figure out how to give feedback... hmmm...
ReplyDeleteFantastic recap post! I should have taken more pictures. Yours are great! (As were your outfits!)
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice to meet you too, next time I hope we have a chance to visit more too. I love all your photos!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your recap. We couldn't do it without participants and attendees like you!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your recap. We couldn't do it without participants and attendees like you!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I'm from Central Jersey and I would love to buy that quilt! I know, I know, it's not for sale! Central Jersey MQG RAWKS!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat recap, it was awesome meeting you!
ReplyDeleteA terrific post--feels like you didn't miss anything. I'm so glad you had so much fun and it met your (high) expectations. I would love to meet the woman who made the "She was a nice girl..." quilt. Very funny.
ReplyDeleteAnd do you really know 2 Lelands? That is so unusual!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Fun to see your viewpoint. I've never been to a large quilty event like Quiltcon. Your swag is amazing. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great recap, Jess! Thanks so much. I hope to be in Savannah for the 2017 QuiltCon too!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had such an amazing time. Of course, I was living vicariously though your IG posts, but I wish I could have gone in person. That's amazing that the MOD progressive quilt won 1st place :) I'll definitely be going to Savannah in 2017 -- maybe we can carpool!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jess! - it was so lovely to meet you, and it's great to realise you were part of two quilts that I loved in the show! I was on the table of Aussies you met at Jo's - plus Jess had already introduced us. I'm so happy I went to QuiltCon, it was such a treat to meet and hang around people who completely "get" what I love to do - since they all love to do it too! Enjoy your weekend. Cat x
ReplyDeleteAs someone who didn't go to Quiltcon it has been lovely reading about your experiences and seeing all your lovely photos has made it seem like a virtual trip there.
ReplyDelete