I am so fortunate to live within driving distance of several really great shows! One of my favorites is Indiana Heritage Quilt Show that is located 3 hours away in Bloomington, IN. It is a smaller show, but it more than makes up for volume by the quality of the quilts! And the roster of national teachers is phenomenal! I always have a hard time deciding what classes to take! This year, I decided to immerse myself in learning EQ7. I have had the program (which is a quilt designing software) for several years, and played with it, but really felt like I could get more out of it than I could teach myself. So for three days I took classes, starting with the basics to more advanced. I know there is still much more that I can learn, but I have a much better grasp on it!
On a whim, I decided to enter Circle of Life. When I didn't get an email notifying me of a ribbon, I thought, okay. Then when I started to go through the show on my lunch break, a friend saw me and congratulated me on my ribbon! What! An Honorable Mention! The competition was tough, so the HM is a thrill!
The next show was Paducah! Living just 4 hours away makes this an easy show to get to. I left hubby at home and stayed with some friends. I also met up with a church friend from way back who lives and works in Paducah. I only took one class this year. I have set a goal of learning to become an certified quilt appraiser. The class I took was an all day class on Dating Quilts. Oh, my! There is just so much to learn! I have increased my library with reference books. And have developed a fascination with Feedsack Fabrics!
Of course, Paducah itself is inspiration galore! Fantastic quilts, crowds of talented quilters, vendors galore hawking every notion imaginable! If you can't find it at Paducah (or Houston) you probably don't need it!
AQS once again presented the Tentmakers of Cairo. I had seen them in Grand Rapids, but never tire of watching these talented gentlemen plying those ginormous scissors to make such intricate shapes!
Stay tuned for more updates!
