MN quilt show

Lots and lots of eye candy yesterday morning as I wandered the aisles of quilts on display and vendors. I haven't been to the state quilt show in 4 years, and that time I was only there for about 2 hours to test drive longarm machines. So seeing all the displays was great fun. I am not showing entire quilts because for most of these I don't know how to credit the pattern designers, so it would be better to not take the chance of violating any copyright rules. One of the things that I did notice is that there could have been information on the labels and signs to tell who did the designing. As a pattern designer myself, I would like to think that if someone used my pattern to make a stunning quilt in a show, there would be some small mention of my own design contribution. Here are a few selections of things that caught my eye:

I tend to focus in on the quilting stitching on most of these, which is not to say that the color and fabric design is to be minimized. The quilt above was interesting to me because it was all about letters. Letters were quilted into the yellow portion, you can see the shadows, I think. There were buttons with letters and letters appliqued to the flower centers. A great whimsical quilt for a child.

I want to learn how to do this--

when I look at the individual lines, it seems pretty simple. Something tells me that I could do it.

This next one is an area of background quilting that perfectly fits with the floral applique that was the focus of the quilt. I need to remember to do that.

I went to the show with Debbie, and saw many familiar faces in the aisles. I was happy to see that it was pretty crowded during the time we were there. We did end up leaving earlier than planned because a bus of 28 quilters was stopping at Bear Patch and our presence was needed there. They had come from Osh Kosh (WI) to stay overnight and go to the quilt show today. An event like this becomes a major social event for a lot of ladies (and a few gentlemen) all around the area. Taylor Swift was performing in the adjacent Excel Center last night, but I didn't see her at the quilt show. I bet she was there in the afternoon after I left, don't you?

I am having a totally new experience today! This morning I picked up contact lenses at the eye clinic. I have never worn contacts before. I didn't start wearing glasses full time until I was in my late 30's. Now I have been having problems with sore spots from the glasses, and no amount of adjusting really fixed that problem. So I am trying this instead. A unique feeling for my eyeballs. I am lucky that Bob is an experienced contact-wearer, so if I have problems I know who to go to for help on short notice! I am hoping that getting these will prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks!