The QuiltCon Finale! {photo overload}

Now that the snow is gone and we have power again, I can finish up the Quiltcon fun!

(I had to, it was like hand shadows on the projector screen in high school)

There were so many quilts that it was HARD to be able to take photos of each every one, go to lectures and see the booths too. The quilts and the quilting was really STUNNING!  If you could not attend this Quiltcon, make sure to mark your calendar and plan on being at the next!


Lynn Harris
This quilt was really on the top of my list.  Simple, beautiful and HAPPY!

Angela Walters quilt was really fantastic. It reminds me of Vertigo.  I was completely drawn in!

Dan Rouse you are a FREAKIN ROCK STAR!  The back of this quilt is just as fantastic as the front!

Thomas Knauer and Lisa Sipes

Patty Simmons quilt with perfect curved piecing, so beautiful!

 And of course the Best in Show by Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Lisa Sipes!  I need to borrow a big shot since

 I was a dork and just stood there starting at it and forgot to take an actual photo of the full quilt!

But I was standing there staring at it and waiting to get a full shot while other people were looking at it.  

There was a man with his wife and HE was showing her all the intricate quuilting that Lisa did 

( I swear she has some sort of elves working for her) and told his wife to take photos of the quilting detail.

This is the photo I did remember to take...I am GOBSMACKED!

Keep you eyes open!!!!  There may or may not be a QUILT A LONG coming up soon to a blog near you for 

this Tula Pink Beauty!!!!!

So just to wrap things up I want to share a couple more more stories and shots from Austin because Austin and the crazy, fun, kind and awesome people that live there need to know they are really appreciated!  At least by this Go-Go Girl :o)

My diet is an odd one, I am gluten and sugar free and also vegan.  I do not ask others to eat the way I do and do not judge the way others eat.  I eat this way for medical reasons and it really works for me.  Eating out can be a kind of challenge in a different city but Austin has MANY places to eat and they embrace those "different" eaters as one of their own!!!!! 

On Thursday night the gals and I decided to follow Katie to a place her sister in law said was a MUST GO TO for authentic Austin food.  SO we started walking...in the wrong direction but finally got going in the right direction and after a bit ended up here

TRAILER PARK WHAT!?!?!?! OMG!!! LOL!!!! I was skeptical about this but was willing to give it a go, with a little nudge from Katie ;o)

Great menu and really great food!!

All the gals were fed and happy!!!!  HAPPY QUILTERS Katie, Christa, Faith, Holly and Lee ( with NO FOOD in her mouth ;o) )

Love the artwork!!!!!

The next night we were meeting up again but there was some confusion about where to eat so I ended up going 

for a little walk to the local CVS for Aqua Net, it was the night of the 80's party and NOTHING holds big hair better

 than AQUANET!

I was able to see some local sights on my walk and take in the color of the area...did I happen to mention...

I LOVE AUSTIN!

This is possibly my most favorite thing in Austin. I saw it on the way in from the airport and was afraid I missed getting a closer look.  I lived in San Diego for almost all of my adult life and Texas for a couple of years too.  I was raised in the Southeast but so much of who I am is in the Southwest and this really struck me.

This SHOULD  be a fabric!  It is a painted Indian food truck. The colors were so beautiful!!!  Reminds me of an Alexander Henry print...ALL of Austin reminds me of an Alexander Henry print,LOL!

This is a guitar sculpture in the middle of the sidewalk.  Again, LOVE the COLOR!!!!

These shoes were great!  Simple outfit POP of color shoes!

I realized the time and still had to eat and do my hair so I saw a nice lady on the next corner ( yes, I talk to people

 of street corners) and after chatting for a bit I asked if she knew a place for an air eater like me to quick find 

something to eat.

She took me into the restaurant she was dining at with her friends, introduced me to all of them ( I LOVE THIS PLACE)

and then they  came up with P.F. Chang's which was right down the street!

Did I mention the people in Austin are AMAZING!?!?!

I walked down the street and was shown to the bar to put in my takeout order. 

When I said howdy to the barkeep, T.J., I asked him all my usual food questions and he was so kind as to tell me 

about an off menu item for aireaters!  He made sure it was everything I needed and had them add extra veggies 

for me!  Excellent service and BRAVO to P.F. Chang's for accommdating all types of food needs!!! He even made

sure I had gluten free soy sauce!

So, if you visit and need good food and great service , go see this guy!

Finally...the PARTY!  

I will just put in a few parting party shots because it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!  Almost everyone dressed up and looked 

80's, it was pretty cool!  It was funny when I walked into the hotel elevator and the couple stared at me in my 

BIG hair, PINK open toe high heels and leopard print coat. I smiled and said " Don't worry, I am not a hooker, 

I am going to an 80's party".  They laughed and told me I looked perfect,LOL!

The PARTY gals!!!!! 

 

All the FABULOUS clothes! Rashida Coleman-Hale and Melody Miller  looking perfect!

Hi Angela, thanks for dancing with me :o)

Sukie and Lee getting serious!

Lots of dancing!

What!?!? Michael Jackson!!!!! Sukie did the part up RIGHT!

This may be my favorite of the night! Monica made an 1880's outfit for her 80's costume!!!! She is so BRILLIANT!

The next day it was time to go home.  I packed my big red bag with all the necessary items.

and sadly hopped on the plane back to the winter in VA.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to the Modern Quilt Guild and Austin for a great time and an enormous amount of 

NEW inspiration!

Until next time...

( yes, I really bought the shirt) 

My QuiltCon lecture hall days...

( quilts by Anna Maria Horner)

What an amazing event!  First of its kind and by the way things looked it will be around for a very long time.  Beautifully organized, it seemed to go smoothly like it had been put on a million times before. BRAVO to the organizers, sponsors and volunteers that made it a perfect event! Look as these hard working and gorgeous gals!!!!!

I did not find out I was for sure attending until the sometime in January so I did not sign up for classes ( cry) but I was able to get a four day lecture series pass which allowed me to go to ALL the lectures my little heart desired and to go into the quilt show and vendor area. The lectures were fantastic and there are some that are available for free at Craftsy.com .

I was able to listen to my dear friend Thomas Knauer, Heather Ross, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Jacquie Gehring , Meg Cox, Mary Fons ( she wins the award for most animated!), and of course Denyse Schmidt and a few others.  There were many tears and so much inspiration it was literally dripping off the walls!  

One of the BEST things I learned about in the lectures was from Meg Cox, not only is she a great speaker, author and sweet person, she is also on the board of the Quilt Alliance.  She spoke about documenting the history of our quilts. She shared something I was unaware of and I HAVE to share this with you, The Quilt Index! If you are looking for a style, a block or a quilt there are thousands of records on this valuable resource. What a priceless treasure for quilters, go check it out!!!!

The Quilt Index aims to be a central resource that incorporates a wide variety of sources and information on quilts, quiltmakers and quiltmaking.  This will include:

• images and information on privately held quilts compiled by state and regional quilt documentation projects in the United States and internationally; Current Contributors
• images and information on quilts in museums, libraries, and private collections; Current Contributors
• images and information on quilt-related ephemera;
• lesson plans, galleries, journals and essays;
• bibliographies of secondary materials relevant to quilt study; and
• finding aids developed to assist researchers with locating hard-to-find quilt-related primary and secondary materials in public collections.

This website currently features images and information, provided by an array of contributors, on thousands of quilts from documentation projects, museums, libraries, and private collections.

The Quilt Index represents years of research and development to bring together quilt information in a centralized online tool for education, research, and public access. The Quilt Index is a joint project of The Alliance for American Quilts, MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online at Michigan State University and the Michigan State University Museum.

I did have the great pleasure to meet a couple of the speakers. Starstruck and in awe as usual!  if you have ever read my blog or know me  personally, you know this was SO EXCITING for me ( thanks to Katie for taking this photo)...HEATHER ROSS!!! 

And this one may win as best dumb luck EVER ( next to the guy with the bra)!!!! I was saving the seat next to me for Katie who was in the back of the room from the previous lecture. Unknown to me at the time, she had to leave since she was not feeling well.  Amy Butler was the lecture and well, who should walk up and ask if the seat next to me was taken but David Butler. Sorry Katie, I knew you would understand ;o)  So here I was, sitting with Mr. Alex Veronelli on my right and Mr. David Butler on my left. I HAD to ask to get a photo of this since no one would ever believe me,LOL! David was kind enough to take this for me ;o) LUCKY LUCKY ME!

Amy Butler's lecture was fantastic, lots of beautiful images and lively words. Cannot wait for her new line of fabric! And thank you David and Alex for being so kind as to indulge a girl a little fun!

One of the best things about Quiltcon was the accessibility to the designers and authors. They were everywhere and were so very kind to just stop and chat in the hall and around the floor. I ran into the beautiful Anna Maria Horner outside in the hall and she allowed me to photograph her and her stack of quilts and then I noticed her necklace and she was even more kind and let me take the photo I wanted, I promised it would not be of her boobs!!!! The very cool thing to me is that she is WEARING her fabric colors!  She lives her color choices and I admire that! 

Here she is showing one of her quilts inside. I loved all the eye candy quilts hanging everywhere, so cool!

I am hoping to keep the posts short and sweet since I know there are so many different blogs posting about Quiltcon. Tomorrow will be quilts and the 80's Party!!!! Hopefully, if the 5 yr old allows me the time. Back to real life here!

The story of my quilt...

The Quilt Alliance does amazing work in keeping the history of quilts alive!

At QuiltCon 2013 they asked for volunteers to bring one quilt to talk about for three minutes on video and it was called Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! It opened up a wonderful opportunity for anyone and everyone to share a personal story about a quilt that they made and every quilt has a story that should be shared.

I did not happen to bring a quilt but Thomas Knauer did bring the quilt I had made from his Frippery line from Andover Fabrics and Lisa Sipes quilted for his newest baby who was lovingly named Milo before he was born. Thomas was happy to know that I wanted to tell the story of Milo's quilt but then the story of that quilt got even better once it was handed over into my care for the filming the following morning. 

And this is that story...

These two sweet ladies were kind enough to put up with me for dinner more than one night but do not let their mild manner looks  fool you...Faith and Lee ( Lee,I have deleted ALL the photos of you eating...and maybe the one of your bum...)  are WILD WOMEN...Katie was supposed to be with us too but she fell ill. We missed her company very much and I am happy to say she has recovered and hope that she was very entertained by all of these antics ;o)

Austin is a GREAT place with friendly people, I was standing on a street corner trying to figure out where the hotel was to meet up with the girls for dinner the previous night and this guy walks up with the MOST fantastic mustache...it was a perfectly waxed curly tipped hairy wonder! As most of you know I am very shy and have great difficulty speaking to people :o) I had to say something...so I say "Guy, that is a fantastic mustache, I love it!"...he took his earbuds out and said, "Really?"  " Yes, I really like it".

He then informed me that Austin is a city of facial hair LOVERS and that the following night there was to be a contest at a club called the Mohawk .  OMG!!!! REALLY!!!!! HOW COOL!!!!!! I HAD to share this information!

When I met up with the girls the next night we went out for delicious Mexican food and the topic of the facial hair contest was brought up when a very large group of facial hair walked right by the window of our table. I was so intrigued but alas it looked like it was not to be so...

We finished up and started walking back our hotels and I was WHINING A LOT and then Lee said..."Kim, if you want I will walk by the place with you..."

YES!!!!!  It was only a couple of blocks away and when we arrived we did see more very interesting facial hair in the line to get in and the the stands ( yes, there were stands) with more people with facial hair. Apparently this is SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!!

We came, we saw but there was a cover charge...GAH! It would have been great to stay but then we would have missed some of the most fun I have ever had!

 Faith was really digging the cool Come and Shave It logos so we had to take a photo, I can see the next series on her blog..."Solstice Staches"!  This gentleman agreed to pose for a photo by the sign out front...

 After we took the photo, we were going to leave and I remembered we had the quilt...what I great pic that would be. I cannot remember who asked this guy to hold Milo's quilt outside the bar but he said yes and then I was PHOTOBOMBED!!!!! Did not even know the guy was there,LMAO!!!!!  I wanted to get a photo of the bouncer at the club holding the quilt with the bearded guy. He was MASSIVE. I have seen WWF wrestlers in the airpot before and this guy was seriously as big as them. Beard guy lost interest in holding the quilt but the bouncer had already agreed to be in the shot, he was a sweetie pie!

So we got a photo with him too!!!!!  Thank you C...I was going to tag you on FB but could not find you :o( Hopefully, you will see this here and THANK YOU!!!!!

Next, I was going to take a photo of a tattoo parlor , as a joke, saying that is where we were headed        ( mostly to entertain poor sick Katie) and Faith remembered that the popular tattoo spot Affinity was right around the corner on 6th Street. We walked by to see if any of our friends happened to be in there but they were not.  I was not feeling very brave and neither were my companions but we were drawn into the LIFE on the street!

Then it really started, this bear with the smoke was BEGGING to have his photo taken with the quilt and who can say no to a fuzzy mammal at a bar? ( no animals were harmed in this photo shoot)

Next door there was a guy with a video camera and these gorgeous girls.  I asked if they would hold up the quilt and they were super excited to do so!  The video guy asked us to join in and be in the video he was taping ( with the quilt) and we were super excited to do so Faith and Lee, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the #springbreakforever spot we may be in, LOL!!!!

We were followed by a completely scary goth guy but there were cops, and ambulance on the next block. There was also this guy in a top hat, bow tie and yes...facial hair. You know you are succeeding in Austin when people start looking at you like you are odd and we were starting to succeed.  When we got this shot the goth guy was asking if he could hold the quilt.  I thought Lee was going to hurt him.  Lee was the keeper of the quilt, when it was not being photographed, she folded it and was holding it so close to her I am surprised it did not become a part of her. THANK YOU LEE!!!!  She totally scared the goth guy away.  All 5ft 2 of her can be my bodyguard ANYTIME!

I have to share the before photo of this performance artist.  I could have stood and watched for a very long time. I could not help but think about Tom Robbins Skinny Legs and All when seeing this beauty.
"The inertia of objects is deceptive. The inanimate world appears static, “dead” to humans only because of our neuro-muscular chauvinism … Look deeper. You’ll need a magnifying glass … On the atomic and sub-atomic levels, weird electrical forces are crackling and flaring, and amorphous particles are spinning simultaneously forward and backward, sideways and forever at speeds so incalculable that expressions such as “arrival,” “departure,” and “have a nice day” become meaningless. It is on these levels that “magic” occurs."

Some people could not find the cover charge for the bar (ahem) but were able to gather some money so that I could ask to have this vision of beauty hold Milo's precious quilt.  This was a lovely gift!  The artist agreed with no words and after holding the quilt,  bade me goodbye with blown kisses...I was very happy!

AHOY! Me Quilties!!!!! The sideburns (yes, Austin may be the facial hair capital of the US and possibly the world) are the FIRST thing I saw and KNEW this nautical gang needed to be included!!!!

I did not realize that while I was trying to fit all the people in the frame, the sidewalk traffic had stopped on both sides. I took two shots and when the quilt was safely back in Lee's hands, I thanked the four kind people and then a SEA of people started moving again. I yelled out a BIG THANKS...I LOVE AUSTIN PEOPLE!

This is the BEST one of the WHOLE night and I am still laughing over it!  There was a play and these were a couple of actors outside on a smoke break.  Faith pointed them out to me and OMG...YES we had to have this one!!!! A COWBOY on STILTS...only in Austin...okay maybe in Las Vegas too ;o) They said yes but quickly they were about to go on stage. Took this one super quick and then something very unexpected happened...

an older man was selling flowers on the sidewalk, he walk up and said something about a good picture. I said okay and he started to unbutton his shirt...

This was the final pic of the night...you cannot top this one...

Life is unexpected...it happens...it is funny...it is sad but mostly...it is unexpected...embrace it!