Three Shows

Hey there quilters! It was quite the week for quilting in our area. Here in Des Moines, a two-in-one show was last Wednesday through Saturday at the Iowa Events Center: 1) the AQS (American Quilters Society, Paducah) national quilt show, and; 2) the local DMAQG (Des Moines Area Quilters Guild) annual quilt show.

DMAQG show in Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Though AQS and DMAQG allow photos to be taken for personal use, those photos may not be published on the Internet.

Photographs of quilts may be taken for your own personal use; quilt photographs must NOT be displayed on the Internet (Web sites or blogs including Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, Webshots, or other personal sites) or used for any commercial purpose without permission of the quiltmaker and American Quilter's Society. 

However, another fabulous quilt show had no such restriction. It was the first quilt show of the KCMQG (Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild), which I was able to attend on Saturday, October 1. It was with great pleasure that I photographed nearly every quilt!

The outdoor show was on the grounds of UMKC (University of Missouri, Kansas City), and a more glorious blue-skied autumn day of mild temperature, bright sun, and gentle breeze you could not find! The show was stupendous, and I'm thrilled I could attend.

Though I can't tell you the name of every quiltmaker, I do know Carla made this one - "Love Beads." She has a tutorial for Love Beads that appears in the Moda Bake Shop.

Here's Carla sitting near her quilts. From a distance I thought she looked like a princess on her throne - quite regal!

I asked her to give me a royal wave, and she deigned to oblige. 

Here's the quilt she was hand-sewing binding on. 

Carla will be the guest speaker at the October 20 meeting of our Des Moines Chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. Her presentation is about the quilts she's made through the Internet: swaps, quilt-alongs, BOMs and the like, and how to organize scraps. When she comes, she's staying with me for a few days. Ya think we'll find anything to do with ourselves?!

 A few of others' quilts at the KCMQG show...

A "found and finished" quilt

Aren't these quilts wonderful!? So much inspiration, and I have a lot more to show you.

So why did I attend a quilt show in Des Moines, and then head three hours south to Kansas City? Need I say a whole lot more?

Our oldest grandson turned two, and our Tampa family was in Kansas City for a visit. Angels that they are, it's triple the activity and chaos when the boys are together. I wouldn't trade it for the world! Playing with a ball, and crawling around on the floor to build a road and pushing a truck are meant for younger knees though!

These boys aren't TV-watchers, but they're mesmerized by a favorite Youtube video: "Wheels on the Bus." Every once in a while, we saw hand motions. Just plain cute!

Several to-dos are ahead of me this week. At the top of the list is preparing for Stitchin' Mission beginner quiltmaking lessons. As of this post, 34 people are registered for five free classes. Women, a few young girls and a couple fellas are signed up! Along with 10 helpers (called "Rebekahs" based on Genesis 24) we'll make baby quilts that will be donated to an organization that provides assistance to pregnant women. It's gonna be great! Linda