QuiltCon 2020 Austin – Adventures with My Own Quilts

QuiltCon this year was even more of a whirlwind than it was last year. You can read about my 2019 adventures in Nashville here. I was only able to get away for Saturday and Sunday, so I made the most of the time that I had. I knew I wanted to spend the majority of my time looking at the show quilts, followed by browsing the vendors. I wish I would have picked up a lecture or two this year, specifically Heidi Parkes lecture on making a series, but maybe next time I’ll make it to a lecture.

I arrived late Friday evening so I didn’t get to see the show until Saturday morning. The first stop I made was to the group quilt I worked on. I met with a few other members of my guild to get a photo. Not everyone who helped make the quilt was able to attend QuiltCon.

Then while we were all in one place we found our guild’s charity quilt. I convinced a passerby to take a photo with us all in it. It was great to have 5 guild members together in Austin!

After we saw all the group quilts it was time to find my individual quilts. I was honored to have 4 quilts in the show (including the group quilt), plus the charity quilt, and a mini in the Curated Quilts vendor booth.

Next stop was applique. Not only was More is More accepted to the MQG exhibition for Houston Quilt Festival and QuiltCon, it also received first place applique quilt! I was shocked and thrilled. Seeing it in person made it more real. I’m glad I got to go see it in Austin since I missed it in Houston and now it is headed out for Best of QuiltCon 2020 to tour around the world!

I was a little bummed that it was tucked in a dark corner because the lighting was so bad in Houston, I thought it would be able to shine more in Austin. Unfortunately, it was in a pretty good shadow. Unless you do some serious photo editing it looks pretty dull. Fingers crossed the light is better in Australia!

My Moon Phases quilt hung in the Handwork category and it was only a few quilts down the row from the applique quilts. I needed a break for lunch and then decided to check out the vendors before looking at more show quilts.

The first vendor I sought out was Curated Quilts because my applique face mini quilt was hanging in their booth. It was fun to see it in such good company with all the other face minis. I can’t wait to read the magazine when it comes out later this spring.

After hitting up some vendors I went back to the quilt show to find my Tar and Cinders quilt in the improv category. I was excited to find it in a prominent location, in the wide aisle the went through the middle of the show.

I’ve definitely got some ideas brewing in my head for next year. There’s some new techniques and materials I want to try, while also building on the aesthetic of the quilts I made for the 2020 show.