QuiltCon 2025 - All the Quilts

QuiltCon has been over for several weeks yet I am still thinking about the show, meeting new and old friends and all the quilts. Each time I see quilts shared in someone else's QuiltCon recap, I find quilts that I have no memory of seeing ever before yet I am positive I saw every quilt in the show more than once!

(This is part 3 of my series on QuiltCon 2025. For more QuiltCon recap, read about My Quilts and The Workshop. I hope to have one final wrap-up post later this week.)

Dignity by Veruschka Zarate @prideandjoyquilting won Best in Show. I'd seen photos of her progress on IG but to see the quilt and the perfectly aligned back in person was just amazing! I had the opportunity to meet Veruschka in person - she is amazingly welcoming and kind.

I walked the show floor several times. At first, carefully reading each quilt story, sometimes with a friend and sometimes by myself. I then walked back through categories stopping to gaze at what caught my eye.

I captured photos of my favorites. That said, as other people share, I keep getting surprised by quilts that I am certain I saw but have no memory of!

These are shown here in no particular order.

First up is the fabric challenge category. There were so many amazing entries that it was hard to pick a favorite. (My quilt Arcturus was in this category.)

Top row: Unboxed by @paulasteel.quilts, Gegenwind by @alpsandoceanquilts, Chesire by @stephskardal (2nd place winner)

2nd row: Unplugged by @jenngeorgeburt, Arturus by me @elmstreetqults, and Quilts' View by @smallhenstudio

3rd row Compass Star by Debbie Schultz,  Flutterby @betsy.vinegrad, and Urban Equalizer by @sarahruiz

Color! There were so many quilters that dazzled me with their color choices and placements. Here are just a few.

1st row:  Countercurrent by @barbdanzi (2nd Place winner), Serenity by @modernstitchwitch and X Factor by @karin_rabe_vance

2nd row: Another Dance with the Dragon by @modernstitchwitch, Is Neon A Neutral by @jeeasterly and Light Me Up by @peache.and.patchwork (1st place winner)

3rd row Sliced by @dramystitches, Square Bloom by @jowoquilts and Neural Overlap by @jeanne.garcia

And then there are the quilts that make me smile. The first two rows were the playful ones, the bottom row were the map quilts. (I want to make a map quilt someday.)

1st row:    Blobs by @Dre_Luciole_Quilts, Oasis by @cassandra.beaver, and Propagate by @emilywattsquilts

2nd row: Levitation by @salsquilts, Graduation Day by @scaseyquilts and Desperados by @hixsonir

3rd row:   Sidewalk Repair by @studioquilts, Harrison Map by @bimbambuki_blog, and Rock Harbor, Isle Royale by @shea.making.doing

I always enjoy the handwork category. I aspire to enter a handwork quilt into the show one day. These were my favorites.

 In Jordan Year (Quilt of Golden Delights) @laurahartrich hand embroidered a delightful experience each day for a year. (This quilts won People's Choice award.)   The stitching in Moving On by @psbquilts enhanced the color transition between blocks. The Isomeric by @thequiltedhand was made as a gift to her third miscarriage.

This final batch were another amazing group of quilts I went back to see more than once.

1st row: Nurturing the Pod @janemadlyquilting, Figure Study 5 by @kerrimcqueengreen, and CandiLand 2: Carnival by @candipursuits

2nd row: Alecia Beth (aka Pink) by @quiltedpeacock, Exist Out Loud by @exhaustedoctopus, and NYC Fire Escapes by @sewingp

3rd row: Erratic Connotation by @catlucia, Fanciful by Mackenzie Leake, and Orange Blast by @mili.tra

Finally, I was invited to contribute a block to @flourishingpalms potholder quilt. It was a fun project to be a part of. Linda has a bunch of posts with quilts from QuiltCon including a group shot of some of the contributors - read it here.

There were so many amazing quilts in the show. Can't wait for QuiltCon 2026 back in Raleigh!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon 2025 - The Workshop

I've got several posts planned to capture all the magic that was QuiltCon. You can read about My Quilts in a prior post. There are 2 or 3 more posts to come.

Each year I enjoy taking a half-day workshop. I typically choose the topic based on the instructor - I want someone that I admire and have not had the chance to take a class with. This year, I took Kitty's @nightquilter course Improv Piece Your Life. Kitty is a friend and was a contributor to my Patent Pending quilt which was on display QuiltCon 2023.

We made several different kinds of improv blocks. The most exiting was small inset circles - I'm holding it in the picture above with Kitty. Patience and glue were the key ingredients for success.

We modeled the blocks after Kitty's amazing quilt that tracked her life in summer 2023. The quilt top is not yet complete but it looks amazing.

If you ever have the chance to take a workshop with Kitty, I highly recommend!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon 2024 Recap Part 4: The Best Bits

The QuiltCon experience is so amazing that it is impossible (for me anyway) to capture it all in one blog post. This is my 4th post - the others are: My Quilts, The Quilts, and The Workshops - and I intend there to be one final post about overall reflections of the show. I truly appreciate your taking the time to read through these posts but, frankly, they are as much for me as they are to share with you!

So here we go, here are the best bits.....(in no particular order) ......

Volunteering!

Volunteering has been one of my favorite things to do at every QuiltCon I've attended and this year was no different. Having QuiltCon essentially in my backyard - specifically 30 minutes away - meant I had the opportunity to volunteer a lot and, in doing so, spent time with the wonderful MQG staff. I worked the very first volunteer shift on Tuesday to hang quilts, registration on Wednesday, and the very last shift on Monday to mail off all the quilts.

Wednesday registration is the place to be to see people. I was able to capture shots with MQG staff members Elizabeth and Jennifer. In the 2nd row are my registration fellow volunteers - we were in charge of handing out bags. I also got a few quality minutes with Jacquie Gering, the keynote. I did my very best not to fan girl her too much. I have met her before and she has always been super supportive of volunteers. Since she was waiting for her husband, she had a few minutes to chat. (A highlight for me for sure!)

Jacquie's Keynote 

Jacquie's keynote was very inspiring. She spoke about her quilting journey, surrounded by her grandmothers and mom (all sewists) and her making a decision to quit her job to make quilts as a business. Jacquie's first career was in education, both as a teacher and as an administrator. I've been fortunate to take a class from Jacquie in the past and she is an amazing educator.

Truly inspiring was learning how she found her voice as an artist. "Voice comes from who you are, were you come from, what you believe, and what you love."  It was the best kind of keynote - inspiring and emotional with an important takeaway - "You can't copy others and be yourself. You can learn from others and be yourself."

Friendship Bracelets 

A last minute decision to make friendship bracelets turned out to be such a fun thing to do. I traded a few for other bracelets or stickers plus I also just offered them to people I connected with. They were all receive so well. I had a bunch that said "QuiltCon" but others with phrases like "Quilt Worthy", "I press seams open", "I 💗 Applique", and "I play with Blocks" that were well received. 

I hope this is a "thing" next year because I hope to do it again and start making these weeks ahead of time instead of just a few days before!

Location, location, location

It was just fabulous having QuiltCon 30 minutes from my home. I got to volunteer more (!!!) and didn't have to worry about dealing with airports! 

It also meant that my family could stop by to see the show and get a bit of understanding why I am so excited and clearly obsessed with all things QuiltCon. My youngest spent the day with me on Thursday seeing all the quilts and sporting their handmade crocheted sweater. 

My husband and middle daughter were able to stop by late Sunday to see my quilts in the show  - it was so very nice to give them all a taste of the experience. (Thanks to Christa Watson for the photo.)

The conference center itself was really nice. The quilts and vendors were all on the same big floor. Classrooms were easy to find and the lecture hall wasn't too far away. There are lots of restaurants nearby plus vending inside the convention center plus food trucks!

Fingers crossed that the MQG brings QuiltCon back to Raleigh in the future.

My Guild

Given the location, it was an opportunity for all 200 some odd members of our guild - Triangle MQG - to attend the show and experience what for many of them was their first QuiltCon. We gave everyone ribbons for their show passes so they could say hello to a fellow guild member. We picked a time Sunday for a group photo. Not everyone could attend but we were happy to get as many as we did! My guild had 13 quilts in the show - see my IG post to enjoy them all!

Friend Time

Spending just a few minutes catching up with friends, even just enough time for a hug, is truly on of the best bits! Of course, not every meet-up was caught in a photo but here are just a few.

Jen @aquiltingjewel, Charles @feltlikesweets, Kitty @nightquilter, Heather @fire4hairlady, Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl, Christa @christaquilts, Elizabeth @elizabethray, and Ginny @minnowpeck .Three of these amazing friends and artists were award winners at this show. Charles' quilt Density 01 won a 3rd place ribbon, Yvonne's Cloudy Night Sky won Best Quilting and Ginny's What We Will Use as Weapons: A List of School Supplies won Best in Show

Much fun happened after hours too. I shared a house with friends Frances @offkitlerquilt, Kristin @kristin_esser and Jen @quiltinjenny for two nights. Much wine and chocolate was consumed! It was fun walking the show floor with these ladies too. Thanks to Deborah @fishmuseum for these awesome prompts which made our group photo even more fun!

One final post to come with overall reflections. In case you missed them, here are my other recap posts:

• Part1: My Quilts
• Part 2: The Quilts
• Part 3: The Workshops - 

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon 2024 Recap Part 3: The Workshops

(This is my 3rd post about QuiltCon 2024. Read about my quilts and all the quilts in parts 1 and 2.)

Each year at QuiltCon, I schedule myself into one half-day class. For the last several years, these have been very focused on handwork.

I've been a big fan of Jo Avery and her whimsical applique. Her work is so fun and really quite different then the quilts I usually make so I was excited to take her Needle Turned Rainbows workshop. Our first job was to pair our rainbow fabric with our background fabric. My final project will be a 9 rainbow mini-quilt that I intend to big stitch quilt. Jo is a fantastic teacher and shared all kinds of tips with us. She also had one of her fabric book there to look at. Those fantasy birds are so fun!

I made a good start on 2 blocks in the class. Over the past week, more progress has been made with a goal of sewing all 9 of the bigger rainbow and then decide the color of the smaller one!

New to QuiltCon 2024 was education for guild leaders and it was very flattering to be asked to lead a session on Creating Interactive Programming. I taught with fellow Triangle MQG members Tatyana @greytat and Robin @rct_quilts. I've been on our local guilds board for 7 years so I've been involved in putting together many programs. (There were guild leader sessions on organizing a group quilting project by Sarah @bysarahruiz and Elizabeth @elizabethray.)

The three of us divided up the workshop so we each had distinct roles and we pinky sweared that we would not interrupt each other. :-)  Tatyana did the intro and closing and introduced the concept of time, treasure, talent as a way to think of what people bring as volunteers. I talked about successful programs ran by our guild and ideas on how to make meeting interactive. Robin ran the brainstorming exercise.

We taught two sessions and got really nice feedback from attendees in each one. The most fun to more was the interactive discussion when each team reviewed their program ideas and how they made them more interactive. 

The room had windows overlooking the show floor so I had fun texting friends (before the session started!) to go stand by the sign for a bird's eye view picture - see Jen @quiltinjenny, @kristin_esser, and Minki @zeriano waving. Maybe you are in this photo too!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon 2024 Recap Part 2: The Quilts

Capturing memories from QuiltCon is as much for me as it is for anyone who enjoys reading about them. Earlier this week I shared Part 1: My Quilts and today I will be sharing some favorites from the show.

Given that QuiltCon was held 30 minutes from my home, I was able to volunteer during show set-up and worked with others (in teams of 3) to hang the show. This was tremendous fun and I'd highly recommend it as a volunteer gig.

There were several quilts in the show with important messages about our society. This includes the Best in Show quilt made by my friend Ginny Robinson @minnowpeck

This was a very emotional quilt for Ginny, a teacher and a parent, to work on and I hope that by winning best in show it will get important visibility. What Will Use As a Weapon: A List of School Supplies includes applique images of items teachers told Ginny they want - or have - in their classroom as a point of defense. The dimensions of the quilt map to the dimensions of a doorway.

Shining light on gun violence were these three quilts - Uvalde, TX by Alexis Pappas, The Number of Holes by Lorraine Woodruff-Long @quiltinginthefog, and bang you're dead by Jacquie Gering @jacquietps. Uvalde, TX won 1st place in the Negative Space category.

Shifting now to quilts that made me happy and inspired

Odd Man Out by Andrew Love @andrewlove1109, FISH by Marianne Knops @Quilt_aan_Zee, and It's A Trap by Melissa de Leon Mason @quiltallthethings... taken without a flash on left and with a flash on right.

Ralph by Vera Root @veraroot, Laneways by Tara Glastonbury @stitchandyarn, Composition 2 by Laurie Paquin @paquin222, and Candy Pop by Kelly Spell @kellyspell. Candy Pop won the award for Best Original Modern Design.

Fruit Salad by Jo Avery @joaverystitch, U-Turn by Debbie Shives, Dare Mighty Things by Teresa Coates @TeresaCoates, and Into The Wind by Michelle Bartholomew @michellebartholomew

I love both the composition and the thought provoking messages in these quilts. GTFO! by Janeille Vogler @jvmakes,  It's Not Pie by Barb Vedder @FunwithBarb, Enough #3 by Elizabeth Ray @elizabethray, and you don't belong here by Jacquie Gering @jacquietps.

Finally, last, and certainly not least, quilts that belong to some wonderful friends and I am so very excited for each of them! Their quilts are amazing.

Congratulations to Sara Young @spanishquilter for her quilt Catalano and to Tatyana Kelly @greytat for Raspberry Sherbet - for their very first QuiltCon accepts! 

Congratulations to Charles Cameron @feltlikesweets for Local Density 01 Yvonne Fuchs @quiltingjetgirl for her quilt Cloudy Night Sky . 

Density 01 has incredible tiny pieces and it was one of the quilts I had the privilege of hanging - it is heavy from all those seams! Local Density 01 won 3rd place in the Fabric Challenge category. 

Cloudy Night Sky which won Best Machine Quilting, one of the top QuiltCon awards. Yvonne shares much of her process on her blog and IG and it was amazing to watch her execute her quilting plan and then see the final product IRL and receive recognition for quilting which enhanced/embraced the overall design of the quilt. (Read more about Yvonne's perspective on her IG post.)

The amount of talent on display at the show was just amazing. I came home inspired from every quilt that I saw. I wish I had taken photos of all of them to share but this post has already taken a lot of time to put together!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon 2024 Recap Part 1: My Quilts

QuiltCon 2024 was fantastic! The MQG hosted the show in Raleigh - the convention center was 30 minutes drive from my home. This gave me the unique opportunity to attend the show every single day and volunteering on the two setup days and the one take down day.

This blog post is all about my show quilt and is the first in a series of four or five posts about the show.

I was honored to have 3 of my quilts juried into the show and was excited to share my quilts with family, friends and all those who attended.

Although barely visible, my quilt Mending Fences was on the main aisle and visible as you looked down on the show floor. This quilt was created as part of a guild challenge, inspiration coming from a photo of the shadow of a sand fence on the beach. This tiny quilt got quilt a bit of attention and got really positive feedback from the judges. (Originally I called the quilt Mended Fences but changed the name when I submitted to QuiltCon.)

It was quite fun to have a quilt on the main aisle!

As an aside, a fellow guild member's six year old son had a quilt in the show. I happened to bump into the family coming down the escalator and he asked if I would like to see his quilt. He grabbed my hand and we walked towards it. When his mom suggested we stop and look at one of my quilts, he commented that it was small. We then moved onto to look at his quilt. See a photo of young William and his adoring fans on his Melissa's IG. He vowed to enter a quilt into next year's show too!

I had two quilts in the Small category and they were very close to each other, both visible in one photo!

The Twist also got positive feedback from the judges. It also attracted lots of attention from fellow quilters. Everyone was curious how I created the quilt. It was very fun to come upon people puzzling over how it was constructed. Random people even stopped me on the show floor to ask and it was really fun to share the process.

My quilt Echo could be found in the Negative Space category. The quilt was a bit harder to find than my others and shared the aisle with guild challenge quilts. It received some fun attention from fellow quilters and attendees. My favorite was an elderly gentleman who spent quite a bit of time staring at the quilt and told me it was his favorite in the show. Such a honor!

Super exciting, my Echo quilt was also featured in QuiltCon magazine. The issue was available as a physical magazine at the show and is also available as a digital magazine. The magazine features about 30 quilts from the show so quite the honor for me.

I had cards and buttons made for this quilt to hand out. I came home with a few buttons because I would forget I had them!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon Recap Part 4 - Final reflections

A few weeks have gone by since QuiltCon - interestingly it actually feels like it was longer ago than that - but the good energy I carried away from the show is staying with me. (This is my fourth (and final) post. The others were QuiltCon Recap My Quilts, QuiltCon Recap The Quilt Show, and QuiltCon Recap The Best Bits.)

For me, the one word which describes the whole experience is joyful. The big feels of community, inclusion, and kindness are top of mind even a few weeks later. The time spent with good friends, inspiration overload, and the overall kindness and cheerfulness of everyone is like a warm hug.

So what are my fondest memories as I reflect a few weeks later? 

Seeing my quilt Patent Pending in the show and grabbing a fun photo with as many of the contributors at once whose schedules supported. There was so much laughter and joy, it made me so happy. These folks are the best and it made me so happy when they agreed to collaborate. (Read more about my quilt in the show on this post.)

Six of the seven friends who contributed were at the show and we had great fun grabbing photos. Linda @florishingpalms, Kitty @nightquilter, Charles @feltlikesweets, Val @valbetweenquilts, and Me (kneeling). Not pictured in this group photo are Pat @peacockcreekdesigns and Sarah @saroy but I grabbed individual shots. Sadly Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl wasn't able to attend.

Sharing an Airbnb with three friends - so many laughs, great quilt discussions, and just general discussion about life and family. It was amazing to actually see Kristin in real life after doing three QALs together.  (Note to future self - make sure to get a group picture of all roommates together.)

Photo sourced from Empty Nest Chronicles

Walking the show floor, inspired by all the quilts and techniques, moved by some of the writeups, meeting friends, fellow guild members or random people and talking about what we liked about the quilt we were standing in front of.

Chawne Kimber's keynote - funny, warm, thought provoking - and the emotional impact of her quilts. (See my Instagram post.) Chawne is an amazing person and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to meet her several years ago and enjoy her quilts again at this show.

Things I would like to try after seeing the show (in no particular order) -

• a two color improv quilt (my Dance Like No One is Watching mini was a trial piece)
• experiment with larger shapes and bold colors
• incorporate more hand quilting into my finish quilts - one of my favorite bits on quilts was a mix of hand quilting and machine quilting
• another group quilt (although perhaps one that isn't quilt as complicated!)

Notes to my future self (in no particular order) -

• Shop the vendor floor late in the day to avoid the crowds and the noise
• Volunteer again during registration - it is fun and exhausting all mixed together
• However, think twice about signing up for a 7 am volunteer slot (that was an early wake-up time!)
• Take a break for a cup of tea and a chat with a friend every day
• Grab more photos with friends (those are the ones I cherish, not the show quilt photos)

QuiltCon is so much more than the show itself. It is about the people - those who create the art and the story behind theirs quilts and every person you share the experience with.

Counting down the days to QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

QuiltCon Recap - Part 3 : The Best Bits

QuiltCon took place in Atlanta from February 23 - 26. I attended the show, volunteered, took a class, saw some many friends and made new ones. It was awesome. Since there is so much to share, I'm splitting my QuiltCon recap into several posts including: Recap Part 1 - My Quilts and Recap Part 2 - Quilt Show Favorites.

This is my third blog post documenting my QuiltCon experience. I anticipate one final post on overall reflections hopefully next week.

I've briefly been to Atlanta multiple times before either on business or to attend concerts. Other then a trip to the aquarium on a prior trip (it's awesome!) and a quick walk-by the Olympic Park (above), all I've ever seen is the inside of the venue where an event is being held and the airport plus (on this trip) a ride up the scariest, incredibly tall escalator after taking the Marta from the airport to Peachtree Station.)

I was Covid cautious on the trip and wore a mask inside the venue. I was not the only masked attendee but we were certainly in the minority. I did remove the mask for photos. This was the first time I had a mask on for so many hours and found it wasn't a problem.

Now the best bits...

Volunteering!

This year, there were new tee shirts for volunteers, a pretty peachy color with the words 'volunteer' on the sleeve instead of big letters across the front. I volunteered twice - Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. I love volunteering and would encourage everyone to give it a try. You get to meet the nicest people, hang out a bit with the MQG staff, and get some behind the scenes peaks at the show. Most of my time was spent helping with registration along with Jen @aquiltingjewel but I also spent time steaming quilts and some last minute clean up of the show floor Thursday morning. (And yes, I did sneak down to find my own quilt!)

The Quilts!

I walked the Show Floor each day and saw every quilt at least twice and many several times more. Part of the time, I was by myself which gave me time to study the quilt, read the writeups and also strike up conversations with random people. (Some of my favorite quilts.)

I also walked the floor with several friends, primary fellow guild member Pat @peacockcreekdesigns. Turns out we were drawn to similar things in quilts - especially where there is a mix of hand quilting and machine quilting. Our color palette likes and dislikes were also quite similar. I did keep bumping into Charles @feltlikesweets, a friend and fellow guild member, who had two quilts in the show, was teaching a few classes and was one of the contributors to my Patent Pending quilt.

Probably the most fun was had in quilt stalking my Patent Pending quilt. Pat and I spent about 10 minutes watching at one point and the reactions went the gamut from delight, mild interest, to no interest at all.  (Read more about Patent Pending.)

Meeting Friends IRL!

There were also plenty of laughs and great discussions as I would bump into my Airbnb roommates or other friends on the floor. In this photo, Sarah @sarahgoerquilts and I share the photos of our Ruby+Bee quilts that were not juried into the show.

I stayed in a hotel Wednesday night (a block away from the show) and spent time sharing a glass of wine with Linda @florishingpalms - we enjoyed talking quilts.

Then, I moved to a Airbnb, sharing with three friends for Thursday through Sunday. One of these wonderful women was Kristin @kristin_esser - she is a very good friend, we've run three QALs together and we just met in person for the first time. (Read more QuiltCon perspectives from Kristin and Frances, two of my roommates.)

It was such a cute house, decorated well and filled with several sitting areas. The house was about 10-15 away from QuiltCon so we just used Uber to go back and forth each day. (One cool fact - the house was part of the movie set for  not yet release movie The Idea of You, staring Anne Hathaway. The movie was filmed in Atlanta and Savanah.) We took full advantage of the options for food and wine delivery each evening! We shared stories about our families and discussed quilts in the show - such fun!

My Workshop!

I greatly enjoyed my Friday morning class with Youngmin Lee @youngminlee_bojagi. She was just a wonderful teacher and very passionate about  Jagakbo with Ssamsol technique, a form of wrapping seams so the piece is usable from either side. 

For my piece (still a work in process), I used solid colored scraps plus a contrasting 50 wt. cotton thread. (I'll share more about the process when my piece is finished.) I love any kind of handwork - and find that (for me) stitching makes me feel calmer and gives my brain a chance to rest or to dream. Youngmin said when you sit and stitch, you are stitching for someone's else's happiness. I really liked that thought.

My Guild!

Our Triangle MQG guild had a really nice presence at the show and it was quite fun to bump into guild members.

We did a group picture in front of our guild quilt and slightly more than half of the guild members in attendance were able to join.

QuiltCon is in Raleigh, NC next year and we are all so excited to host QuiltCon in our beautiful state.

The Keynote!

I am a major fan of Chawne Kimber. I vividly remember seeing some of her work at my very first QuiltCon (Savanah 2017) and being in complete awe. Several years ago, she came to our guild to teach a class (see that post) so I had the good fortune of spending some time with her. 

Her keynote messages of inclusion and community and encouragement were strong and I felt myself close to tears more than once. She is such a warm and amazing person - I am such a fan.

Shopping and Swag!

There were two floors of vendors at the show but my purchases were limited to some cork and some solid FQs.

I am always into collecting swag - I was lucky enough to get the QuiltCon swag bag and found some free stuff from vendors which I appreciated. Friends were handing out stickers this year and I love my collection. (I gifted stickers to my friends who contributed to Patent Pending and think perhaps I'll try to hand out stickers next year.)

Thank you for reading through my very long post. I promise one more with overall reflections of the show with some recommendations for future me for the next show.

Have a wonderful day! Patty