Back from MQS

I'm just back from MQS (Machine Quilters Showcase) in Kansas City.  It stormed and blew, there were tornado watches, hail, lightning and rain, but I was oblivious to it all inside the convention center.  At one point the power went out and the convention hall went dark for a minute.  That was exciting.

This year I took several classes, one with Renae Haddadin which was excellent.  In three hours she covered in great detail what she does to make her award-winning quilts, from getting them square and straight on her machine to packing them up and sending them off to a show.  Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well the night before and showed up for the 8 am class feeling sleepy and out of it.  I tried to hang in there and get the information,  but I'm sure I zoned out a bit.

My other class was with Ronda Beyer on how to choose your quilting designs.  She brought several of her show quilts and actually passed them aroung the class for us to see up close.  Her work is really amazing!

I sat with my quilting friends Carla and Siriporn at the awards ceremony and we all three won awards!  This is Siriporn's quilt which she quilted for a customer.  It won in the Tools of the Trade category, for quilting using rulers etc.

Here is Siriporn chowing down while we waited for the awards ceremony to start.  That girl can eat, but must have hollow legs!

This is Carla's quilt which won in Traditional Custom , a very competitive category and it won first!  It's such a beautiful quilt.

My little Sugar Plum won first in the Miniature category.

And a quilt I did for Ann won in the Bread and Butter category, for customer quilting. It's the one at top of this post.

It's very exciting to win an award and be there to accept it! I didn't do a lot of shopping but did buy some Glide thread to try.  I stopped at Gammill and tried the new Vision.  It's pretty cool - so smooth and quiet.  I'll have to start saving my pennies for an upgrade!