Illinois Quilt Show

I had to vend at a Quilt Show in Illinois last weekend and before the show opened I took a walk around to look at the quilts. It's a great employee benefit to get to see the quilts before the show opens because I can relax and take my time without worrying about standing in someone else's view. Only us vendors and the volunteers are there!

Here are my favorites:

And here is our booth:

Mukwonago Quilt Show

I worked the Mukwonago Quilt Show for the shop over the weekend.  It's a very popular quilt show and many of our regular customers come to the show.  We do a lot of business at the show so it's a great place to be a vendor.  Here is our booth.

Before the show opens to the public I took some time to look at the quilts on display. Here are some of my favorites.

Winter Quilt Show and Finished Projects

I attended the Winter Quilt Show in West Bend last week and I bought quite a bit of cool stuff. I'm not that fond of wearing t-shirts but I absolutely had to have this one! I picked up some longarm supplies as well. A quilt show is usually the best place to get stuff discounted for my longarm. It's nice to see some of the shows get back to pre-pandemic practices. 

I finished the travel tote bag I started last month. It turned out nice and I like the size of it. Even though I do love the fabrics I chose it doesn't match any of my luggage. So I think it looks funny on top of my teal suitcase. Maybe I will have to make another one to match the luggage or buy new luggage  - haha!

I also completed the largest of the Lori Holt zipper pouches. The panel came with quite a few of these on it so there's quite a few more to go. I just can't decide how I want to quilt them so I'm not getting as far as I wish when it comes to getting them done. 

Winter Quilt Show

My husband attended the Winter Quilt Show in West Bend today and while we were there he was awarded a quilt. What a wonderful surprise. He walked up to a booth where two women were sitting to thank them for their work making quilts for veterans and the Little Houses for veterans program that they support. The next thing we knew they were giving him a quilt! He was tickled pink by the nice surprise.

The winter quilt show is something that we attend every year but something changed. It just wasn't as nice of a show as it was in the past. The way the vendor booths were set up was weird and everyone there was bumping into everything. The quilt display wasn't as large as past years as well.

We did enjoy a nice lunch after we left the show and it was nice to get out of the house in the middle of the winter so it wasn't all bad. Here's to next year!

The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show

Here are photos from our annual trip to the Madison Quilt Expo. It's been renamed to The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. I don't know if the change has anything to do with the passing of the amazing Nancy Zieman. The show always belonged to her (and PBS) and you could just stop by and say hi to her. She was always there and always pleasant and beautiful. And now she is sorely missed.

I took this photo because the maker is from Menominee, Michigan. That's where my husband went to high school and my mother is from there.

I know the maker of this mini quilt. Congratulations Sue on your continued success.

I like how the simple lines in the quilting give this quilt depth.

The Prince Challenge exhibit was here. I originally saw it in Houston. I love the creativity.

I took this photo because the quilt has a dragon in it. My granddaughter loves dragons.

I purchased one of these panels. I look forward to using this photo as inspiration when I quilt mine.

I was in Amsterdam in June. What a beautiful reminder of that trip.

 I find it incredible how the use of color in a block can create such a distinct portrait.

 I love quilts with house blocks.

I found this one so creative and in my house we love airplanes. 

Nice use of selvages. 

I love maple leaf blocks. 

I bought the pattern today at the show to make one of these. 

So pretty! 

Here's what I purchased from the vendor mall at the show. 

International Quilt Show - Chicago

My friend Sue and I attended the quilt show in Chicago yesterday. It's tradition for us to go to these events together. We are perfectly suited to each other during these events. We walk at the same pace and we like the same things. It makes it easy to travel to quilt show together. Yesterday Sue was on a mission to find a new sewing machine. We stopped at many of the vendor's booths to evaluate each machine. At the end of the day she got a really good deal on one. Here she is with her purchase. If I needed a new machine, I would have purchased the same deal.

We walked through the many quilts on display. Some of the quilts had a social justice theme. I took more photos of those than any other quilts. Over the past year I've seen many of them on display at various quilts shows so I felt like it was time for me to pay closer attention to the causes they represented.

I also had to photograph my favorite medallion quilt. I want to make my own version of one so I am constantly looking for inspiration.

Here are a few quilts I liked for their artsy feel and the color selections.

I was drawn to this quilt. It probably has something to do with my upcoming trip to Amsterdam. Seeing the Anne Frank Museum is on my mind all the time.

One of the fun parts of the quilt show is the shopping. I am always thrilled to be able to purchase fabrics from shops that I would never be able to travel to. I love the variety of fabrics available at these shows. Here are my findings from this show.