A visit to TWO Quilt Shows in just two weeks!

A visit to a quilt show is always more fun with friends, and two shows on two consecutive weekends makes for even more fun!

The first show, AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA, was a two-day bus trip (March 29-30, 2019) that included an overnight stay and plenty of fabric shopping, too. Lancaster is a quilter’s mecca, with beautiful scenery, delicious food, and the presence of quaint buggies, bike-scooters, and other wonderful Amish things like shoo-fly pies. This year’s quilt show did not disappoint. I took very few photos at the show mostly because I was busy chatting with friends, but those that I did take were of quilts that grabbed my heart. I’ll show just a few of them to you here, complete with titles and attributes to the talented quilters who were generous enough to share them with the public.

The quilt above, ABC Frippery, was selected Best of Show. I was stopped in my tracks by its astonishing detail and workmanship. The maker is Janet Stone of Overland Park, KS. Janet is a previous winner of the AQS Best of Show award, and is known from her many fabulous alphabet quilts, as well as for including a sheep in every one of her quilts. This one was no exception. It took a while, but I finally located the sheep. It’s in a tiny gold locket hanging just under the “M”. Janet quilted this beauty on her stationary machine. It includes machine appliqué, beading, bias work, couching, crystals, embellishments, free motion quilting, and machine piecing. Wow.

The quilt above took my breath away. It was part of a special exhibit, “The 14th Quilt Nihon Exhibition” according to the show catalog, Quilt Nihon is one of the most prestigious international quilt contests in Japan. Tomoko Sagami’s “At the Secret Territory (Shimeno)” is hand-quilted from kimono fabrics given to her by her mother, mother-in-law and friends. Tomoko wrote that “the theme of the quilt is the carefree character of the Manyo people and their intimate love scenes. I depicted the theme by using the Japanese Shippo pattern.” I was fascinated by the tiny traditional pieced blocks she included in small sections of the Shippo pattern. Below is a detail pic:

Look at that little basket block!

Upstairs in the Lancaster convention center was another special exhibit, “35 Years of AQS Anniversary Showcase Preview: Collection of The National Quilt Museum.” The exhibit showcased 15 previous Best of Show quilts on loan from the National Quilt Museum’s permanent collection. Below is a photo I took of Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry’s Midnight Fantasy #10.

Caryl is one of my quilting heroes. She was one of the innovators of machine quilting, making it an acceptable art form back in the old days (the 1980-90’s) when quilting by machine was controversial, and only hand-quilted quilts were thought of as “real” quilts. It is always wonderful to be able to see one of her masterpieces in person.

Next weekend, next show…..

The second show, The Smithtown Stitchers -The Joy of Quilting was last weekend (April 6-7, 2019). While there, I happened upon one of my students, Rosalie Wong, smiling beautifully in the photo below with her Best of Show award-winning quilt! She had met with me just a few weeks ago, for a little help in deciding how to quilt her magnificent masterpiece. I was proud and flattered to have been a part of the process that produced her gorgeous quilt! Congratulations, Rosalie! A well-deserved award!

Quilt shows are wonderful. They provide us with not only beauty to gaze upon and enjoy, but the opportunity to connect with other quilters and share the joy that quilting brings us. Aren’t we lucky to have such opportunities?

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