I spent last week in Round Rock, just north of Austin, Texas. In part, to spend some quality time with my friend Kyra. And in part to attend QuiltCon, the second national show of the Modern Quilt Guild.
I've been a member of the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild for over a year. I enjoy the meetings, though I do feel a bit, well, old for the group. Not necessarily in age, as the group has members ranging in age from the early 20s to the 80s. But in experience. I've been quilting for a very very long time (35 years), and many members in the group are pretty new at quilting. In fact, I started quilting before many of them were born. OK, well, maybe they do make me feel a bit old.....
Why do I attend? Because of the level of enthusiasm and the tremendous energy of the group. I always leave the meetings feeling recharged. I don't always get that from my local traditional quilt guilds.
I entered two quilts in the show, Tuning Forks #12 and #13. Tuning Fork #12 was hanging in the "Use of Negative Space" category and Tuning Fork #13 was in the "Improvisational Piecing" category. The show was small. At a guess (and this is a pure guess) there were probably between 200 and 250 quilts displayed.
The first thing I noticed was the age of the crowd. Definitely younger than the average quilt show crowd. And definitely better dressed.
Secondly, I noticed that the quilts were, almost without exception, very colorful. Not much brown in the room. Lots of clear, bright color.
Thirdly, I noticed that people were really studying the quilts on display. They weren't just wandering through on their way to the vendors (although the vendors were very busy). People were stopped in front of the quilts, admiring the piecing or appliqué, moving in closer to see the quilting stitches.
It was, in my opinion, a very good show. If you want to see the quilts in more detail, you might check out my friend Maria Shell's blog. She photographed every quilt in the exhibit and is showing them on her blog, category by category. If you missed the show, you can see it on her blog.
Here I am with Tuning Fork #12:
Thursday, after a hard morning of looking at quilts and shopping, I went to lunch at Chez Zee with Austinites Sona and Kyra:
I went to the show again on Saturday. I met Maria there, and we attended a talk on "Art History and the Modern Quilter." I thought it was a very good lecture, well presented. And then I met up with some Fort Worth friends and attended the keynote lecture, featuring four quilters from Gee's Bend. They spoke of their early lives, showed a few small improvisational pieces and sang gospel songs.
I've been a member of the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild for over a year. I enjoy the meetings, though I do feel a bit, well, old for the group. Not necessarily in age, as the group has members ranging in age from the early 20s to the 80s. But in experience. I've been quilting for a very very long time (35 years), and many members in the group are pretty new at quilting. In fact, I started quilting before many of them were born. OK, well, maybe they do make me feel a bit old.....
Why do I attend? Because of the level of enthusiasm and the tremendous energy of the group. I always leave the meetings feeling recharged. I don't always get that from my local traditional quilt guilds.
I entered two quilts in the show, Tuning Forks #12 and #13. Tuning Fork #12 was hanging in the "Use of Negative Space" category and Tuning Fork #13 was in the "Improvisational Piecing" category. The show was small. At a guess (and this is a pure guess) there were probably between 200 and 250 quilts displayed.
The first thing I noticed was the age of the crowd. Definitely younger than the average quilt show crowd. And definitely better dressed.
Secondly, I noticed that the quilts were, almost without exception, very colorful. Not much brown in the room. Lots of clear, bright color.
Thirdly, I noticed that people were really studying the quilts on display. They weren't just wandering through on their way to the vendors (although the vendors were very busy). People were stopped in front of the quilts, admiring the piecing or appliqué, moving in closer to see the quilting stitches.
It was, in my opinion, a very good show. If you want to see the quilts in more detail, you might check out my friend Maria Shell's blog. She photographed every quilt in the exhibit and is showing them on her blog, category by category. If you missed the show, you can see it on her blog.
Here I am with Tuning Fork #12:
I'm glad I went to the show. It was both fun and informative. I hope it comes back to Austin again.
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