2015 International Quilt Festival-Chicago

Yesterday I spent several hours at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. I'm not sure how long this show has been coming to Chicago.... It has been on my list of shows to check out for quite a few years! 

I am primarily a garment sewer however I do dabble in quilting now and then and I am of course a tried and true textile junkie!! There is also the shopping area to entice a textile junkie to part with their money :) So with a Saturday with no plans I paid my $11 online and printed out my ticket! 

I really had no plan once I got to the show, never having been before I did not really know what to expect. Well, I was NOT disappointed! Check out this amazing display as you walk into the expo area.

Simply stunning!!! I have been collecting red and white quilting cottons for a couple of years now. I really want to make a red and white quilt for my daughter and her husband one of these days. The artistry and the talent displayed here was just amazing. A feast for the eyes!

I worked my way up one side of the exhibit hall, through hundreds of displayed quilts and then into the shopping, and then back down the other side. More shopping stalls and more displayed quilts. 

In total, I spent almost 4 hours there. Any longer and I would have gotten to the overload stage and given myself a headache! As it was I am fighting of a sinus cold so as my meds where wearing off it was time to go. 

I did make a couple of purchases. A new giant cutting mat!!!!!! YAY!! It completely covers my work table and is just beautiful. My old one is 15 years old and just beat to hell. I got the last mat at the Olga booth and got a great deal on it. I also got some 

I also visited the Kai scissors dealer and purchased my 11inch dressmakers shears, these have been on my wish list for several years! Always exciting to me when I get to purchase high quality crafted tools. 

I also purchased 3 new feet for my Evolution serger, the curve foot, the open toe foot and the Teflon foot, these will be shipped to me. At 25% off and free shipping I was happy to oblige. Yay for no more tape on the bottom of my feet when sewing on 'sticky' fabrics!

Now back to the actual quilt show... There were 15 different special quilt exhibits. My favorites were the Ruby Jubilee (the red and white quilts), the Tactile Architecure and Midwest Marvels. Here is a selection of photos of my favorites! Unfortunately.... I didn't even think of taking photos of the artist names to place with the quilts :( my bad. Photos were allowed of all the quilts except for one section that were from a selection from the book '500 Traditional Quilts' the work in these quilts was exceptional!

On to my favorites!

From Ruby Jubilee:

Also all the ones hanging in the first picture up top!

From Tactile Architecure:

Various others:

Color I the close up is closer to the true color!

This beautiful log cabin quilt done all in silk!

Now I'm off to my studio to finish up some of my own works of art ;)

Happy sewing!

Goodbye 2010... Hello 2011!

I am so happy that 2011 is here! The past year was not the best for me. The broken leg and months of rehab and then super crazy work schedule, Melissa moving back home all contributed to my sewing room door staying closed.

Stuff just got piled up and my precious sewing room became more of a catchall room. 

I decided not to do any New Years Resolutions this year, my sewing goals remain the same... Just sew! 
A couple days before New Years I peeked my head in the room and wanted to just cry. It was such a mess. So I just spent the past couple of days going through everything. I ended up with 4 bags of garbage, 1 big bag for donation and a large pile of stuff to try selling on E-bay.

Flying geese for my nephew in 1998.

A quilt for my niece made in 1999.

While going through the tons of pictures, I came across a couple photos of Quilts that I made in years past. It was a nice reminder of the great things that come out of the sewing room and gave me renewed inspiration.