awesome quilt show

This week I had a little getaway with my friend, Debbie, to Des Moines. We decided to go to the American Quilter's Society show there on Wednesday and Thursday. We were able to get into a convenient hotel and it's an easy drive down I-35, so why not? We made a few stops along the way--Knitter's Palette Yarn Shop and Penzey's Spices, quite handy because they share a parking lot and we get to indulge 2 of our favorite things! We found good yarn and good spices to stow in the back seat. We had planned to stop in a quilt shop in Ames, but somehow we completely missed the exit and found ourselves at the Ankeny exit. I think Debbie must have distracted me. But that was a good thing, because we had planned to stop in Ankeny, too, both for shopping and family. We first stopped at the Quilter's Cupboard and then at their new Knitting Next Door store. We liked the quilt shop, it was kind of a surprise inside because the front looks like a small house, but once inside it goes waaay back, with several rooms of fun fabric. They do a good job of making the best use of space. Then we popped over to my Aunt Mary and Uncle Alan's house for a visit and spaghetti supper. Cousin Lisa was also able to come, so we had some fun things to remember and talk about. Alan and Mary are living in a great townhouse, very big and roomy, I'm sure I could find townhouse living to be a good experience with the kind of space that they have. Even a workshop and room for a longarm!

Wednesday we marveled at the fabulous quilts on display and shopped at the many vendor booths. We did find several things that needed to come home with us, some for ourselves and some for presents, especially for our quilty friends.

I do have a few pictures to share--

This one is an optical illusion, the pastel colored blocks are actually all square and in straight rows, but the alternating arrangement of the little black and white squares make it all seem to bend in the middle. Cool, huh?

I took the next picture because I liked the color combination of the rusty orange/turquoise/gray. Might have to work that into a quilt of my own.

This next quilt was an amazing example of applique and machine quilting, I guess the big "Best of Show" ribbon means I wasn't the only one to like it!

You can see the designer's blog and a good slideshow of the creation of this quilt here.

We had dinner together with my Aunt Donna and cousins Debbie and Ronna (and spouses, can't forget them!)--we haven't seen a lot of each other but I really enjoy spending time with them again. These 2 girls and my sister, Jan, and I spent many happy summer weeks together. They are the best!

Since coming home I have had time to do a couple fun things, like quilting up this Lucky Stars quilt that is going to be a charitable donation,

and even sewing my own teeny tiny quilt, shown here with the squash that Bob has harvested from our garden--

this is the Primitive Pinwheels from Primitive Gatherings and is a take-off on the Little Twister ruler that is a great tool. These blocks started at 3 1/2" squares, so the little template/ruler for that size was included in the pattern. While talking with one of the women at the Primitive Gatherings booth, I found out that they are soon opening a retreat house near their store in Menasha, WI--this is good news because a few of us have wanted to go to their store, but it is longer than a day trip and this would make it so easy! Here I am, talking about another trip already! Better get caught up on a few things around here first!