My last morning class was on “microquilting”– always something I ‘ve wanted to try. I had to struggle with a sit-down Bernina, not that it wasn’t a beautiful machine, but hand guided and my shoulders aren’t friends. So the theory is, if you heavily quilt background areas, your foreground will pop-up. I also discovered what “manual mode” is for. On my longarm, I only use the stitch “regulated mode”– the machine just does the same number of stitches per inch no matter your speed. In manual mode– it just keeps stitching so you better keep moving! In tiny areas, where you are moving small amounts, you would want a lot of stitches per inch and no one would ever see if you varied from 20 stitches and inch to 50, if you hesitated! So it now makes sense, and I can’t wait to try it at home. Here are my results:

No matter what you think of it, my brain loves this type of repetitive creative, and it will keep me from the psychiatrist’s couch for many years.

Next up– the special exhibits! The judged part of the show had about 200 quilts, but there were 700 in all. I think there were about five special exhibits, with at least two that were USA related.

The first one I saw was the Cherrywood Challenge. AQS sponsors this every year, but if you are not familiar with it, each year, a company called Cherrywood offers a bundle of hand dyed fat quarters and throws out a theme– quilters stitch a 20” x 20” quilt. This year’s theme was THE ABYSS. When you see all the quilts hanging together– it is truly impressive! Both sides of this row are filled with octopi, squid, nautilus and more. Now that I can count them on my photos, there must have been about 200 of them.

All were extremely high quality. I keep saying this, but quilters have really upped their game over the past few years, in my opinion. Here a a couple of my favorites, but that being said, it is really hard to focus on each individual one.

I have never been able to figure out if prizes are awarded for these– how could they pick? You can see ribbons for “Honorable Mention” and “Staff Pick,” but I’ve never seen a grand prize winner or second or third place. Maybe Cherrywood holds onto them? Anyway, I LOVE the ocean, and they sorted the quilts by octopi, squid, anglerfish, etc., which was cute and fun.

Next, there was a challenge to make a state quilt– I saw this last year, and if I had known this was the size, I might have thought more seriously on it!

Fortunately the State of Maine was represented, so no regrets.

I noticed many people just walking right by this tiny exhibit, but I so enjoyed looking at all of them! If you saw a person with their nose pinned up against them, it was me!

Then we had a “Farmington River” exhibit–these quilts all joined to realistically show this river all along its course, and even showed some tributaries. It was a couple of hundred feet long, at least. This must have been really fun to hang– one of the people in the VIP tour had made one of the panels, and I’m sure she was thrilled to see it in its final place.

Then, of course, the patriotic exhibits. I’m not exactly sure what the challenges were, and even our tour guide got it wrong! There were a dozen quilts that seem to use the same panel, quilts from the show teachers, and then general quilts; also, American landscapes. One kind of ran on to the next, in a glorious sort of way.

Here are some of my favorites.

I thought the quilts that used the panel with different border treatments were quite interesting– and they were all quite good!

And a few more:

Someone asked me why I didn’t enter Carefree Highways into a one of the patriotic challenges. Usually, you might have less than a year to make a challenge quilt. If you know my timeline, that wouldn’t work! So I tend to not even think about it. Next year’s challenge is based on Dresden plates, if you’re a fan of the block– start now!

Now here’s my pick for BEST IN SHOW. I always quietly pick my ultimate favorite at the show and then I don’t tell anyone. Needless to say, it is quite the honor to win MY BEST IN SHOW and be featured at the very bottom of some blathering blog post! In fact, you may never know if you’ve been a past winner!

Drumroll, please!

It is “Mystique Lilies” by Claudia Pfeil.

This woman is a genius and a true artist. Just look at all the transitions, the flowers, the background, the thread, the embellishments. It is just stunning. All done in what looks like silk fabric. I’ve actually been a fan of hers for a long time, for her innovative work. I hope this quilt goes on to win a major prize at a future show.

Congratulations, Claudia! 😂

I’ll end with the shopping wrap-up– I’m sure you will believe me when I say the shopping is more of a draw than the quilts for some people! And the vendors were really fantastic at this show.

I’m most excited about this cute kit by Lori Smith– the woman has been at all these shows for years, and I’ve always admired her folksy style. I’m glad I finally purchased something! I don’t need more applique right now, 🤣 so I went with this tiny quilt that uses buttons and embroidery for the blocks. I may swap out the border and sashing for something more “granddaughter-ish”. Love, and the kit has everything.

And some chicken socks and fabric! I don’t know how I missed this chicken fabric, but I suspected it was from the new Gingiber “Henhouse” collection– I was right. I didn’t buy the collection when it came out because I didn’t absolutely love all of the prints– with prices up to $150 for a fat quarter bundle, that is my new criteria! But these two prints are impeckable. (See what I did there?) I’m going to look up two-color blocks and see if I can find anything for a kitchen table runner or placemats. Are chicken embroideries inevitable?

Then came the roadtrip back home, which was uneventful and in much better weather. I do love a drive. I had an amazing time and would highly recommend you spend a day if one of these amazing shows ever lands near you.

Special thanks to my dear roomie for the week who prefers to remain anonymous–
your patience with my nonsense was all enduring and much appreciated. Outstanding!

xox
Carol