QuiltCon Lectures, Workshops, More

At QuiltCon, I attended six lectures, and took two three-hour workshops.

Westin Peachtree Ballroom, Lecture Hall

I had two favorite lectures. The first was presented by Youngmin Lee @youngminlee_bojagi of California who spoke about the Korean art of Bojagi: The Art of Wrapping Cloths.

My biggest take-away is that Bojagi is a term that encompasses many forms of Korean handwork.

Two days later, I took Youngmin's workshop: Jogakbo with Ssamsol Technique. 

Here is Jogakbo (pronounced Jo-'gak-bo) as made by Youngmin. It's a single layer of silk fabric that has been hand stitched with silk thread to make flat felt seams.  

This is the class sample.

Jogakbo looks the same on the front and back. Youngmin's stitches are visible because she wanted us to see them. 

We stitched our pieces with matching silk thread colors. This was my stitching view as I worked on it. 

Though the silk fabric is okay to work with, I'm not fond of the kit colors (brown is my ick color). My plan is to try stitching Jogakbo using bright quilting cottons. 

If you're interested in knowing more about Jogakbo, here's a YouTube video about it made by Youngmin.

The other workshop I took was Reimagine the Classic Tied Quilt, with Laura Loewen @quiltfortco This is the workshop I prepped for by making an 18" X 18" sandwiched quilt using Debbie Jeske's @aquilterstable Crosscut tutorial. 

I bought Laura's kit with multi-colors of wool yarn used to make ties. The kit also contained a yarn needle, leather fingertips (for helping grab the needle to wrestle it through the layers),  and a roving/felting needle. 

Ultimately, we ended up with these little felted puff balls on the quilt surface. Though tough on the fingers trying to pull the yarn through the layers, the part that used water to roll the yarn, and then use the roving needle to felt each ball, was enjoyable. Not sure I'd ever consider tying a whole quilt this way though!

Back in the lecture hall, I'll have to say that the lecture that gave me the most food for thought was presented Sunday morning by Sam Hunter (Sam is a woman). Her talk was What's a Quilt Really Worth?

QuiltCon makers have the option of putting NFS (not for sale) or a dollar amount on their quilts. The MQG takes 15 percent of the sale price. 

Your decision, whether to sell your quilt or not, happens at the entry stage - when you don't even know if the quilt will be accepted into QuiltCon.

Not wanting to continue to keep and store dozens of quilts, and full of self-doubt about whether a quilt entry will be accepted into QuiltCon, I put a price on each of my entries, so my quilts were for sale at QuiltCon.

Sam began her lecture by putting a price on a typical quilt. One that's a basic design - most quilters could look at it an recreate it - and it was longarm quilted. This was her starting point.

Then she factored-in other aspects like equipment costs. Lastly, she added skill into the equation, asking: How many years have you been quiltmaking? How many workshops have you paid for and attended to develop your skills? 

And this (picture below) was just the START of factors to consider! I learned that "sewlebrities" charge a much higher rate. And while I certainly don't consider myself in their league, I am also understanding that my 40-plus years of quiltmaking is worth a little more than the 10¢ I was asking. 

This is likely the reason two of my three QuiltCon quilts sold. Lesson learned. Valuing my work was my biggest QuiltCon take-away.

And when it comes down to it, the fun-est part of QuiltCon is meeting up with old and new friends!

These are just some of them who met at the Westin's 210 Bar for an All-Florida meet-up. Unfortunately, not all Florida quilters attended, but it was still a fun reunion with quilters from our own chapter, Gainesville MQG, Orlando MQG, South Florida MQG, and Sarasota MQG. My dinner that evening was one glass of pinot grigio that cost me $16.28. Atlanta is not an inexpensive city to visit! 

Another sort of meet-up was Saturday morning Leadership Mix and Mingle for those who hold leadership positions in their MQG chapters. I'd guess that 40-50 leaders were in attendance. FreeSpirit Fabrics was there and it's where I won the 18-count fat quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner fabrics - for being involved in the MQG for the longest time. I started Central Florida MQG in November 2011.

Running into Instagram friends is fun too! This is Elaine @messygoat who was working in the Cherrywood Fabrics vendor booth. Just the evening before she'd finished hand stitching down the binding on this quilt that I watched her make on Instagram. It's her own beautiful design.

I'll leave the topic of QuiltCon 2023 behind with this last photo. 

These are a dozen of our Central Florida MQG members (of the 20 who attended QuiltCon) who were able to meet-up at our QuiltCon Charity quilt for a photo. They're a great group of quilters who are friendly, kind, sharing, and loads of fun to be around. 

I am blessed. Linda

QuiltCon Use of Negative Space and More

In this my fifth installment of 2023 QuiltCon quilts seen at AmericasMart in Atlanta. In this post, I'm sharing quilts from the Use of Negative Space category, and several others - challenges, piecing, and handwork.

It wasn't until I perused the QuiltCon app that I found this change to the description of Use of Negative Space. The word "expansive" was replaced with "creative." No doubt this change will be addressed in April, when The Modern Quilt Guild is expected to shares changes and additions to the definition of a modern quilt.

Reverb, in the Use of Negative Space category, was foundation paper-pieced by Amy Friend @duringquiettime, and is a study in her method of improv paper piecing. I took Amy's Improv Paper Piecing workshop, virtually in 2022, and admire the designs she achieves. I'm still working on mine! I was also privileged to enjoy dinner with her during QuiltCon. She's a lovely lady. 

Amy most often walking foot quilts on a domestic machine. 

Structures #1 was made by Bill Keller @billkellermaker of Illinois and appeared in the Use of Negative Space category. 

It was machine and hand pieced, and longarm and hand quilted. 

This Use of Negative Space entry was All Are Welcome by Charles Cameron @feltlikesweets of North Carolina, who says he wants "to live in a world where all are welcome - where Xs and Os are seen, no matter their shade of gray." 

It was longarm quilted by Cara Cansler.

Strokes appeared in the Use of Negative Space category. It was made by Augusto Garcia @capaquilts of Spain. It was English paper pieced.

Domestic machine quilting was done on a Bernina, and I'd guess he changed directions each time he quilted across the surface.

Moving Parts, in the Use of Negative Space category, was made by Claire Victor @cvquilts of Arizona. It was designed in Procreate and English paper pieced.

Claire free motion quilted on her Bernina domestic machine. 

The Goose Drank Wine by Jenny Haynes @pappersaxsten of the UK was in the Use of Negative Space category. It was machine pieced with skinny inset strips. 

Longarm quilting is by Christine Perrigo @ccpquilts. 

This Small Quilt is Morning at the Lake, by Joanne Jellison of Florida, who was inspired by the colors of Gull Lake, Michigan. 

The quilt is the result of a QuiltCon 2022 workshop with David Owen Hastings. It is improv-pieced, and domestic machine and hand quilted.

Leaves of Grass, in the Minimalism category, was made by Heather Pregger @heapregger of Texas.

She used hand-dyed fabrics to recreate the September colors of Massachusetts salt marches. The piece was longarm quilted. 

Carolina Oneto @carolina_oneto of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the maker of One in Every Four in the Improvisation category. The quilt represents the poverty and marginalization of people in South American countries.

Carolina improv cut and pieced, and domestic machine quilted.

Fiona Johnstone @spunstraw of the UK made Tiny Snakes that appeared in the Small Quilts category. Inspired by the Snake Trail pattern by Denyse Schmidt, Fiona used more than 800 pieces to create her design.

All the curved arcs were hand-pieced. Blocks were machine-pieced together and quilted on her domestic machine. 

Wavelengths was an entry into the Windham Fabric Ruby + Bee Challenge. It was made by Linda Branting of California.

For those of us who have taken Mel Beach's Interleaves workshop, this design will be familiar. It's constructed as quilt-as-you-go on a domestic machine. 

Another Windham Fabric Ruby + Bee Challenge entry is Rising Tides, made by my Jacksonville, Florida friend, Candi Lennox @candipursuits. You saw her in an earlier QuiltCon post, HERE, holding the travel tray I gifted to her. 

Though Candi tells me that this is her least favorite of quilts she entered in QuiltCon, it's certainly creative. She machine-pieced all those checkerboards, and spent much time quilting on a domestic, and by hand. 

Hyperspace by Sam Hunter @huntersds of Oregon was in the Group or Bee Quilts category. It was foundation paper pieced with credit to another piecer Chris Batten.

The longarm quilter was Nancy Stovall. 

Prairie Light: Dusk was in the Piecing category and made by Scott Murkin @quiltdoc16 of North Carolina. It's one of the few quilts I saw at QuiltCon that included prints - these prints are by Jane Sassaman.

Scott domestic machine quilted. 

Also in the Piecing category was Paint Chip Love, made by Emily Parson @emilyquilts of Illinois. Who doesn't love the colors of paint chips?!

Emily domestic machine quilted. 

This one grabbed my attention, also in the Piecing category. It's Up Cake Down Cake by Ann Feitelson @feitelsonann of Massachusetts. 

Her colors are a delicious combination of striped, polka-dot, and solid fabrics. She machine quilted on a domestic.

In the Handwork category is this lovely quilt made by my South Florida MQG friend, Maureen Drudi @maydecember quilts. My Boro was begun in a Blair Stocker workshop and uses "found" fabrics - a vintage sugar sack, homespun, antique quilt blocks, and old fabric pieces.

Maureen used many techniques to create this quilt - machine and hand piecing; appliqué; embroidery and domestic machine and hand stitching. There was a lot to look at in this quilt!

Pieces of flannel are in the backing and binding. 

In the AP&Q (American Patchwork and Quilting) Log Cabin Quilting Challenge category was this quilt - Thirteen by Deborah Krajkowski @deborahkrajkowski of Florida. She named it this because when she was 13 years old, she chose "glaring technicolor flowers" wallpaper for her bedroom walls. 

Deborah longarm quilted it. 

I thought Thirteen bore some resemblance to my own AP&Q Log Cabin Quilting Challenge entry Log Jam that is 68" X 70". If I'm looking a bit sad here, it's because Log Jam sold at QuiltCon.

Though I'm pleased that someone else will enjoy it, I put a lot of effort into this quilt - so many tiny inset strips! - and will miss it.

A blog post about my QuiltCon entries is here. 

See all 2023 QuiltCon winning quilts here.

An update on the continuing unavailability of spice drop candies!

My local friend, Jody; has a sister, Putz; who has a friend, Linda; who "imported" spice drops from Virginia! Yesterday I collected a large gift bag containing 10 correction! 11 - 10 oz bags of Coastal brand spice drops from Dollar Tree. I accidentally left one bag of spice drops in the gift bag! 😲

Yay! Don't I have great friends?! I think I'm good for a couple weeks. 😂 Linda