I went to two other quilt shows in 2016 that I haven’t blogged about.   I attended the AQS Chattanooga show in September to see the Secret Society of Barn Builders (SSOBB) display in support of Julie’s Build-a Barn’s book.  Julie and Heidi (who was visiting from Germany) were there and we took the Abstracts in Solids workshop that was to be taught by Gwen Marston.  Turned out Gwen wasn’t able to make it so Lynn Harris taught the class and it was inspiring!!

l to r, Lynn, Heidi, Me & Julie

It was wonderful to meet Heidi in person and it’s always great to see Julie 🙂  Here’s the intentional piecing I got done in class.  I haven’t touched it since but it was fun to play with so I’m nudging to the top of my to-work-on list!  The magenta pieces are from Heidi’s strips.  Don’t they just pop?

Heidi and Julie busy creating 🙂

It was wonderful seeing the barn quilts displayed together.  I was in awe of all the great barns the other SSOBB members made!

And there were two SSOBB quilts in the Chattanooga show itself!  Here’s Julie’s “Create with Abandon”.

And Lynne’s “Too Much Chicken” that reveals so much more in person!

I was gifted a trip to Houston to attend the International Quilt Festival from the people I work for as a thank you gift for coordinating the move of their labs to a new building.  I was blown away by their generosity.  My DD lives in Houston now so, bonus, I got to visit her and my DGD at the same time.  Here we are at the show. 

I have to say, the venue was absolutely huge.  I tried to get a picture that would give a perspective on how large the George R Brown convention center is.  This is the “run way” where there are 4 entrances, A, B, C & D, to the quilt show. 

I took a panoramic picture to show how wide open the quilt displays were…..no crowded walkways…..it was fabulous.

I walked down all the vendor rows but didn’t spend a lot of time shopping.  I spent the lions share of my two days looking at all the quilts on display.  There were so very many quilts!!!  It was wonderful!!  Here’s my favorite quilt of the whole show, “Fire in the Stone” by Kimberly Lacy.  IT. WAS. BRILLIANT.

My daughter told me a story about an alligator living in a retention pond in a subdivision….it got named Thor and there was an up-roar about what to do about Thor.  So of course this quilt gave us the giggles….Thor went to the quilt show!!  This is Crocodylus Smylus by Susan Carlson.  (Yes, I know an alligator is NOT the same as a crocodile but come on, it was funny!)

I had a fabulous time a the quilt show and plan to return.  I had a great time visiting these two and will definitely be coming back to see them!