Allison Sews: Quiltcon Hangover

So I just spent 5 days in Austin and saw basically 1% of the city, I was so busy. I took a few lectures, a few workshops, and lots of walking around taking it all in and talking to everyone. I loved meeting so many of my online friends in real life and was touched that Anne was carrying around the Super Tote I made her! It was also exciting to meet so many "sewlebrities" who I would not otherwise have come in contact with.Quiltcon was so incredibly fun for me that I almost feel like I'm still there and I really, really cannot wait for next year's event in Pasadena.

Seattle girls unite! Kristen Ballou, Krista Withers, and me!

Kristen and I with awesome quilty sewlebrities Vanessa Christenson, Lee Heinrich, and Faith Jones. I loved chatting with them at the Moda party!

Anne brought the Super Tote I made her! Also, Austin Eastciders is delicious.

My first workshop was Emphasis with Carolyn Friedlander. It was wonderful spending the day with her and taking in her creative energy. I wish we had talked more about how to emphasize the different parts of the quilt though. I did not realize when I signed up for the class that we would just be making a paper pieced pattern from her new book. I love paper piecing and would consider myself to be pretty good at it already so I would have loved to give my spot to someone who wanted to learn more about the technique. In any case, I was able to piece a few blocks and I have a plan for the rest of the quilt. I'm looking forward to piecing the rest of it with my much-preferred freezer paper technique.

Carolyn and I with my Emphasis blocks

Carolyn will everyone's pieced Emphasis blocks

My next class was Improv with Intent with Cheryl Arkison. I loved it! We were asked to come to class with a few ideas to work with. Mine were jellyfish and scissors. Totally unrelated, I know. Cheryl asked us to think about and sketch out our idea to make a plan that we would then sew together. We could use rulers to cut but only for the straight line aspect - we were not allowed to measure anything. Quarter inch seams were still required - just because it's improv doesn't mean it's sloppy or poorly constructed. Cheryl was really great about working with each person individually and keeping everyone going. This class was pretty short but I did have time to make one jellyfish block. I plan to make several more in different sizes to piece into a whole ocean of jellies.

Improv with Intent - sketching out the design

Improv with Intent - my first jellyfish!

Cheryl and I at the end of class

My final day was spent in workshops with Angela Walters, one of my free motion quilting heroes. It was wonderful! I loved watching her draw out the designs and then of course practicing them on the long arm was a lot of fun too. Everyone left with tons of ideas and a sample piece. The last half of the day was a separate drawing class. It was fun but a lot of what we did was covered in her book and I was tired from being at the conference all week. In the end though, I had a great time and have started teaching my brain some great FMQ designs.

My FMQ work from Angela Walters' class

When I was not in workshops, I spent as much time as possible walking around. I talked to so many vendors and exhibitors about different things that we have planned for the Seattle MQG. I was super excited to meet my friend Alyssa of Pile O'Fabric. She was just as sweet in real life. Actually, that seemed to be a big theme throughout all of Quiltcon. Everyone was so nice! I spent quite a bit of time at the Cotton and Steel booth on Thursday, sewing up some pincushions and gift bags and those women were also incredibly sweet and fun to hang out with.

Alyssa of Pile O'Fabric and I

With Alexia Abegg and Sarah Watts of Cotton and Steel

Of course I had to take a picture with Alison Glass while I was wearing her fabric!

All in all, the show was fantastic. It was inspiring to see so many different modern quilts and have so many modern quilters come together in the same place. The show organizers did a wonderful job. See you in Pasadena!

Matt and I testing our Kona IQ - I got 180!

My Falling quilt was on display in the Pinwheels booth and was in wonderful company! Pinwheels is a great US shop selling Oakshott fabrics. Hello cheaper shipping!