Traveling to quilt shows across the country is a dream come true for me.
January 17th Ontario, CA
2008 has taken us to our first show of the year at "Road To California" in Ontario, CA. The show this year was exceptional. We were located in the room with the "$100,000 Quilt Challenge" quilts. They were outstanding. Pictures in books do not do them justice. If you have the chance they are well worth taking the time to view!
If you have never attended a major quilt show, here are some tips to help you enjoy your experience.
1. Arrive the day before, when possible. You will be doing a lot of walking and being refreshed when you start the day will help you visit all the wonderful guilts & many vendors.
2. You should wear comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking to be done. There is so much to see, so little time. The floors are concrete and this will tire you more quickly.
3. If you have difficulty walking or need to rest often, you should consider a walker, wheel chair or rent a scooter. There are few chairs available and not always close by.
4. Work out a system to communicate with friends traveling with you. Plan a meeting place and time. Cell phones are great to keep in touch. Most large shows will only page in cases of emergency. Or all wear a bright color vest or hat that you can spot anywhere – it also identifies your group to others!
5. Visit the vendors first and the quilts after. Many vendors offer sale or special items in their booths. Good items will disappear quickly. The quilts will not be any different the second day.
6. Start saving some money each month so when you find something at a show that you really like or can not do without, you won’t be disappointed.
Even if you go with the thought of not buying new fabrics, many hotels and groups have their own private “show and tell”. We have also seen this activity at restaurants, hotel lobbies and just about anywhere two or more quilters are gathered together. Temptation is everywhere
If you plan on visiting any of these shows, please take the time to see the 2008 winners of the “4th Annual Quilters Treasure Challenge Winners”
The 2008 Special exhibit will be displayed at the following shows:
Feb 21-24 HAMPTON VA Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival XVIII
Feb-28- Mar 2 SOMERSET NJ, The Quilt Fest of New Jersey
Mar 12-16 Pigeon Forge, TN, 14th Annual “A Mountain Quiltfest”
Mar 27-30 Lancaster, PA, “Quilters Heritage Celebration”
May 1-4 DENVER CO, “Denver National Quilt Festival”
May 7-10 Salt Lake City, UT Home Machine Quilters
May 16-18 Pittsburg PA La Roche Collage Quilt Show
June 12-14 Edison, NJ New Jersey Quilt Convention
Jun 6-7 Riverhead (Long Island,) NY Peconic Quilt Show
Jun 25-28 Rochester, MN, “Minnesota Quilters 2008 Annual Show & Conference
July 18-20, New Berlin, NY, “Quilting in New Berlin”
Sept 4-9 Harrisburg, PA “Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza XV”
Sept 18-21 Manchester, NH “NH World Quilt & Trade - New England”
Sep 26-28 NOVI MI, “The American Sewing Expo”
Oct 11 - 14 Santa Clara, CA, "Pacific International Quilt Festival XVI"
Nov 1 – 4 Houston, TX, "International Quilt Festival-Fall”
Nov 8 – 11 Shamburg, IL, “Greater Chicago Quilt Exposition III”
This is not a complete list of all the shows we will be attending. You may visit our web site at www.QuiltersTreasure.com for more shows.
If your guild is having a show, or you know of a show we are not currently attending, please email us with information and we will try to attend.
January 23rd, Phoenix, AZ
Our next show took us to Phoenix, AZ. The weather was beautiful and we met many energetic quilters. This show is sponsored by “Rusty Barn Productions”. Their approach to shows is different than main stream quilt shows. There is no formal quilt display. Instead they offer many free lectures, workshops & “Make it & Take It” at various vendors booths. There are still enough quilts to satisfy any quilter’s lust for fabric & ideas. You also pay one admission and can attend all three days of the show. This allows you the ability to pace yourself and enjoy the entire quilting process. At our booth, we offered the opportunity to try marbling fabric with shaving cream and Tsukineko Inks.
After the show we found ourselves in a very interesting location. We stayed with friends in Glendale, AZ only 8 miles from where the Super Bowl was being played. We are from NH and there were no tickets to be found. A few were selling for $2500 to $22,000 for 2 tickets, air fare & hotel. The Catholic convent was renting out beds at $250 per night. Motel 6 rates jumped to $500 per night and no rooms available. Hollywood showed up and parties ran every night. Some residents were renting their homes out for the weekend for $1500 or more. To say it was crazy is an understatement. We watched the game in the comfort of our own motor home. It was an exiting game except for the final score. Well, there is always next year.
Bad weather had been chasing us across the country so we left the next day after Super Bowl for a guild show in Fort Worth, TX. We kept ahead of the storm and we kept south as the storm when north.
February 8th Fort Worth, TX
This was our first visit to this Fort Worth show. This guild holds shows bi-annually. This was the first show since they moved to a new and larger location. There were over 400 quilts on display and ribbons were awarded.
Guild shows are a pleasure to attend. The pace is slower and we have time to visit and do live demonstrations. Joel & I completed two tops that are ready for quilting. If you have the opportunity to attend the Fort Worth TX show in 2 years, you will not be disappointed.
We are off to visit friends in Charlotte, NC and then onto the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA.
Safe travels to all
Bobbie & Joel
Quilters Treasure
- Quilters Treasure
- Rindge, New Hampshire, United States
- Joel and Bobbie, are quilt makers, manufacture, educators, strive to keep things simple quick and fun. Bobbie was the inspiration for Quilters Treasure whose goal is to give quilters an artist pallet. Bobbie found nothing available to make a stained glass quilt. Joel created fabric which has inspired her and many others to expand their creativity. They have taught in 39 states including Hawaii, conducts workshops, seminars and lectures at retreats, quilt shows, guilds and shops. They sponsor a mentor program for new designers and yearly “Quilters Treasure Challenge”. Bobbie’s physical and medical limitations meant she had to simplifying techniques. What was a necessary modification for one made quilting easier and less stressful for all. They now brings these same talents into the quilting world modify popular traditional quilting methods, easy to perform. Traveling in their motor home they are living the dream of seeing the USA and meeting quilters from all over the world. Their constant exposure to about 35 Quilt Shows each year helps them gain insight into the traditional and innovative trends and keeps their classes and products on the cutting edge of quilting.
No comments:
Post a Comment