My New Haralson Bag

Anna @noodlehead released a new pattern last month for a belt bag called Haralson Belt Bag. I've made other of her patterns and love each of those bags so I was ready to jump right in. It was perfect timing since I wanted a new bag for QuiltCon - it was sized perfectly to carry my wallet and phone so they were always within reach.

The pocket on the back was just perfect for my phone.

The canvas used is a Ruby Star fabric. The fabric took the looonnnngggg route through the mail and didn't actually arrive until early afternoon Tuesday, the day before I was leaving for QuiltCon.

There are some wonderful videos out there to support the making of the bag and the only struggle was installing the turn lock primarily due to not having sharp enough scissors to cut out the hole in the fabric! (Turn lock was purchased from Noodlehead.)

The lining and inside pocket use a fun print from Zen Chick. Substituting cork for the flap instead of canvas was a very easy change.

I got many complements on my bag (plus some amazement that I'd made it so quickly given the pattern was brand new). People also really liked my Range Backpack, another Noodlehead pattern. I had people ask to take a photo and others wanted to look at the bag up close. (Never before was I such a fashion 'icon'.)

During QuiltCon, I mainly wore the bag crossbody style. However, when I was volunteering, I wore it as an actual waist belt and it worked fine.

This was such a fun pattern that I am certain I will make another one someday!

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

Dance Like No One is Watching

One of my take-aways from my QuiltCon trip was to experiment with two color improv. This week's Project Quilt challenge was Sew Not A Square.

When I've made improv in the past, I'd make a bunch of improv blocks and then join them together. For this piece, I wanted it to evolve organically. I didn't set out to make a dancer but once I saw the triangle (head) and long ponytail, I saw a dancer and decided it was done!

I used a 40 wt variegated thread for interest. Many quilts in the show used faced bindings. While I've done them before, I tried a new method for this mini. It shows promise - although I definitely need more practice. That said, I really admired the crispness of Audrey @cottonandburbon finishes and discovered her tutorial which I will try next.

This is the second time I've participated in the Project Quilting challenges. The first was to create a project inspired by a book. I made a postcard from Three Pines, the fictional town of the Louise Penny novels, and gifted to a friend.

Have a wonderful day! Patty