I’m b-a-a-a-a-ck! I had a wonderful time immersed in quilt world– people, vendors, and, of course, quilts. I’m exhausted and at present more interested in napping than making the next Best in Show. Today will be a day of laundry, incorporating new purchases (somewhere) on my shelves, and writing it all down! This could be a long post, so instead of overwhelming you with one long write up, I’ll go through day by day to share it with you.

Tuesday/Day One

The show didn’t officially start until Wednesday, so my friend and I planned to meet early afternoon. Thankfully, that meant I didn’t have to head out at the crack of dawn. Despite being cold and gray as usual, I surprised myself how sad I was to leave, especially when little Snowy the chicken watched the car leave with her mommy in it! I could see the question mark over her little head.

I didn’t hit traffic– there’s no traffic up here. It takes about an hour to get south to I-95 making a bunch of lefts and rights along raging, rocky rivers, barns that are badly in need of a coat of paint, cornfields, two little Shetland ponies, a rickety windmill, and small towns where the speed limit goes from 55 to 25 in the blink of an eye. I once wondered how I would ever know how to get to my house, but now I can tell which part of the drive I am on by the various landmarks.

Finally, the right onto I-95 and off I went! The speed limit here is 70 which you better remember when you hit that New Hampshire border. I split the 5+ hour drive by stopping at my sister’s place in Kittery– she’s more than just a bathroom stop to me– she had a fabulous breakfast sandwich waiting!

I spent about an hour– wouldn’t you know it started to snow! I honestly felt like a black cloud was following me the whole way.

I then slavishly followed the GPS on various highways through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, none for more than about 20 miles. If you looked on a map, it was a pretty straight shot, though. I didn’t have to go through Boston, which is always a nasty mess, so Worcester was the only city. It’s pronounced Woo-stah, but I love to say Warchester just to aggravate the natives and see if they will correct me. They always do. ❤️

Right outside of Hartford, is Old Sturbridge Village– it’s a historic colonial town that I wished I had time to visit, but as I passed, it started to snow again! Our plan was to check-in and immediately head out to Colchester Mills Fabric store, but I wasn’t too excited to drive somewhere unfamiliar in the snow. Here we are at the hotel bar after checking in– deciding what to do! Don’t worry– my drink of choice is Diet Coke.

After consulting weather.com, it seemed like the snow had passed and the sun even came out– that was all the encouragement that was needed! So off we went– a gorgeous rolling drive through farmland. I was hungry for any sign of spring, and even here, it was hard to find. You could just barely see the red buds on the trees.

I had posted on the New England Shop Hop Facebook page for suggestions of quilt shops near Hartford, and this was the one everyone said to visit. We easily found the shop, and it had something right upfront I’ve never seen in any other quilt shop– full size shopping carts. Whoa! We each grabbed one.

They. Had. Everything.

All the newest fabric collections…

A great baby section for all the grandmas out there.

Wool. Kits. Perle cotton.

Basics. Modern, Reproduction, Batiks…

Every Kaffe fabric ever printed.

We usually travel in a group of three, but our third wheel couldn’t make it this time. She was in Florida, and this is the first time all winter I haven’t been jealous! My friend found this fabulous Sashiko fabric we thought she would love– in addition to quilting, she makes her own clothing. We threw it down on the cutting table and it’s a good thing the rotary cutter didn’t nick the edge– OOPS! $56/ yd! So we sent our friend this picture instead. ❤️

I was pretty proud of myself for my restraint. This is what I purchased– three or four soft books for my granddaughter, a bunny pattern I’ve had my eye on, the Sweet Land scissors minder (yay!), and a tool to make Dresdens and Prairie points. (The AQS challenge for next year is Dresden themed. Not planning on entering, but it’s a block I love.)

Then we found a great Irish restaurant just around the corner.

No fish ‘n chips for me– this is mac’ n corn beef. What a combination!

We headed back to Hartford still in the daylight as happy as we could be and settled in to our room. I was going to be an early start the next day!

Wednesday/Day Two

This was our busiest day. I signed up for the VIP tour at 7:30am. If you ever go to one of these AQS shows, you’ll want to do this. You get a first look and no one else is there. The tour guide took us through the entire show which was very aggressive for an hour! At first, I wasn’t going to take pictures, but then I realized I could get a picture of anything without anyone standing in front, so here are a few beauties that initially grabbed my eye and didn’t have anyone standing in front of them. 😂

If you’re interested in who made the quilt,
you can look them up in the Hartford Showbook, here.

The tour was obviously going into overtime, and I had a class at 8:30– with no sign of the quilt I was really looking for! I had to leave– the convention center was huge and I had no idea where I was going.

My first class was “Mystical Mushrooms” with Kyra Reps. Basically, it was a raw edge fusible applique class. I’m a bit of a needle turn snob, but it has occurred to me this method is faster and a little freer than what I could do with a needle. I usually have a tight way of working, so I thought this would loosen me up. There are raw edge applique pieces in the Winner’s Circle, frequently, so maybe we all need to get over ourselves! I got this done in three hours– it would make a perfect 12″ quilt block. It’s all ironed together on parchment paper, so you can easily peel it off and put it on whatever you want.

I really enjoyed fussy cutting up all the little pieces and arranging them. It certainly was relaxing! But towards the end, my eye was on the clock–after class, I ran back down to the show floor, now open. Here is my joyful reunification with Carefree Highways, discovered in the extreme back corner of the hall.

I asked a white glove lady if she would take my picture in front of it, and she even allowed me to step behind the white chain. Then a little crown gathered and asked questions– I explained all about machine embroidery cross stitch and even met a couple of fans of SFO. It was really an enjoyable moment– my two minutes of fame and ample recompense for no ribbon.❤️

I joined back up with my friend, and we then had lunch and came back to see more quilts– next time, since you can easily view the rest of the winners online, I’ll show you more of my personal favorites, the rest of my classes, and more purchases!

xox
Carol