Report From the Norwest Suburban Quilt Guild Show
It was an excellent show. I was very impressed with the local efforts of the quilt guild. There were a great many tremendous quilts on display. I left a little overwhelmed but quite inspired. As you can see in the accompanying photos the show was not just on the floor but in the rafters so to speak. It was held in the Prairie Stone Fitness Center gymnasium and many of the quilts were hung from the upper railing of the walking tracked that is raised above the gym floor. I think this touch made it feel even bigger and better.
Besides the quilts themselves there were many activities going on. The guild members had two booths set up. One was books and magazines they donated for sale. Magazines were going for just 50 cents and yes I did adopt a few. Who wasn’t doing this at these prices? Some members were also selling handmade items from everything to full sized quilts to bookmarks. I picked up a bookmark. A few members were also demonstrating different techniques. I saw redwork embroidery, needle punch and machine piecing demos.
Other activities included merchants row, quilt appraising and a quilt turning. I wrote about quilt turning in this previous post but actually attending one was the best part of the show outside all of the beautiful quilts in the show. Seeing these antique quilts being turned down on an antique bed in person and having their stories told was very entertaining and informative. The oldest quilt was circa 1860. Amazing! I’ve posted a photo here of the start of the bed turning. There were two grandmothers flower garden quilts that I will have to write more on later. One of the more interesting quilts was one made from corset scraps brought home by a girl who worked in a corset factory in the late 1800’s and pieced into a quilt. It was actually quite lovely and looked as if made from fine dress scraps.
Overall the show was time well spent and has given me quite a few ideas for projects that I already have planned and those that have popped into my head because of the show. It has also given me some ideas to share with you.
quilting, quilts, quilt show, quilt turning
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