Thursday, March 29, 2018

QuiltCon 2018: The People

I attended QuiltCon 2018, held in Pasadena the end of February. This is the third time I have attended QuiltCon, two years ago in Pasadena, and the year before that in Austin, Texas.

The convention is put on by the Modern Quilt Guild. This year I drove down with my friend, Janice. We stopped on the way and had lunch at the T Room, a charming little tea shop in Montrose.



We might have done a tiny bit of shopping at the quilt shop next door. Oops.

We actually arrived a day before registration began, which was Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. My friends from Colorado were vendors and were setting up the booth on Wednesday, so I offered our help. I don't think we really knew what we were getting into. The first thing Chelsea (owner of Pink Door Fabrics) needed us to do was put together an IKEA bookcase. Glossy finish. Yikes.
We helped them for about five hours, and there was still so much left to do. Unless you have done set up before, we as consumers don't even think about what it takes to get ready. So.many.things.to.organize.for.sale.


It was a beautiful booth. The location was great and I think Chelsea did very well. Also, another good friend, Stephanie, had her quilt on display in the booth.

Wendy, Chelsea, me
I might have also made some purchases at Pink Door. 

I took no pictures of the charming French bakery where Janice and I had breakfast four days in a row! The quiche was delicious and they had the BEST coffee. It was quite chilly in Pasadena, but the blue skies were beautiful.

We stopped at the post office one morning so I could mail a postcard. Such classically beautiful architecture. This ceiling was stunning.




The best part of QuiltCon, to me at least, is not the beautiful quilts. It is reuniting with old friends and meeting new friends.

Two years ago, I met Kristi of @71stitches in person. She has such an incredible eye for choosing fabric and often I just want to copy whatever it is she does. She also works for Ruby Street Quiltworks, and as such she is also my personal shopper at times. She was traveling with her friend, Roberta, and we had a chance to grab a quick coffee one morning. 
Roberta and Kristi

My friend, Terri, is a Sarah Watts fan, and Sarah has ventured into paper products. I found her booth, Crafted Moon, and made a couple of fun purchases. Hi, Terri. :)
I've taken a class from Cristy of Purple Daisies. She is such a good teacher. This year she was vending so we only had a few minutes to chat.
I ran into Krista Hennebury of Poppyprint several times, which was great as well. When Krista wrote her first book, Make It, Take It, which was collaborative, I was fortunate enough to be included. It's a great book and you should check it out if you are not familiar with it.
Lunch with a group.
L to R: Joan, Mary, Leisa, Lisa, me, Elizabeth, Stephanie, Janice, Simone

Dinner with a different group. 
L to R: Leisa, Elizabeth, Mary, Joan, me,  Jen, and Heidi

The last night I had dinner with Janice, Angie and Karen at a place called Great Maple. I ordered fried chicken with maple/bacon donuts. This seemed like an excellent idea at the time, but maybe not such a great idea in retrospect. 

Janice, Angie and Karen
Aurifil Thread had a booth with a photo op of angel wings. Who could resist that? Not me... Although Gabe said I wasn't a legit angel as I had no halo. Silly 6-year-old old. :)
One of the lectures on Sunday morning was about making quilts to mark milestones. It was given by Kitty Wilkin (nightquilter.com). She had contacted me a few weeks prior to QuiltCon to see if she could include my temperature quilt, Tale of Two Cities, in her lecture. Of course! Here it is on the stage inbetween two quilts she had made. The one on the left was a block a month she made as a monthly marker for her son's first year of life. The one on the right was an improv quilt made to document a summer of adventures--hikes, waterfalls, etc. Such a great idea. I was honored to have my quilt included in her lecture.



I'm not sure when I'll be able to attend again. 2019 is in Nashville and 2020 is in Austin. All in all, it was an interesting few days and I'm glad I was able to attend this year.