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QUILTCON
This year’s show was particularly special
to me because my debut fabric collection
Great British Quilter, Back to Basics for
Dashwood Studio was on display and
available to purchase, alongside my
accompanying Aurifil 12-weight thread
box at the Morris Textiles Booth. I can’t
tell you how much of an honour it was to
showcase my collection to an American
audience, and it was such a thrill (and
very reassuring) to see people purchase
it! Morris Textiles is a new company,
founded by Leisa Morris, who is a British
quilter living in Austin. She sells fabric,
quilting patterns and sewing notions all
made by contemporary British designers.
This was her first show, and Jo and I
helped out for a couple of hours a day,
taking payments on the till, chatting to
quilters and answering the questions
they had about quilting and the British
products on display. I gave a hand quilting
demonstration and Jo did a book signing
of her brand-new book Patchwork and
Quilting for Beginners. Being involved in
the show in this way was so much fun and
I’m thrilled that Leisa is flying the
flag for British quilters in the US.As with every year, there was a
wonderful range of workshops to
choose from. Classes varied from
modern Improv Strip Piecing, Ice
Dying, Machine Quilting Design,
Designing with Negative Space
and even Yoga! There was also an
extensive range of lectures, covering
topics such as Colour Theory and
Technology, Japan 2: Next Gen Quilters
and Modern Portrait Quilts. I could have
spent the whole time attending lectures,
they all sounded so interesting! I did
however manage to attend two lectures
with Mary Fons, including Planned
Mistakes, Scarcity and the Underground
Railroad Thing: Dismantling Myths in
the American Quilt Narrative. It was
fascinating! As always, Mary delivered
thought-provoking lectures with her
characteristic humour and detailed
historic knowledge, leaving food
for thought.There were also vendor booths and
shopping with so much to choose
from! The enamel pin trend continues
and the Ruby Star Society Fabric
proved very popular. Alison Glass was
there with her fabric, pins and new
thread collection. Each booth was so
beautifully displayed with wonderful
quilts, fabric, notions and everything
you can think of to do with quilting.
Aurifil thread were showcasing their
latest thread collections, including
‘Color Crush’ by my friend and
colleague Kitty Wilkin – it’s beautiful!Brooklyn Haberdashery boothThere were some
pretty inventive
curved quilts
going on!