Short and Sweet QuiltCon Recap

By now you’ve already seen pictures of all the exciting happenings at QuiltCon, so I’ll give you a short(ish) and sweet(ish) Reader’s Digest recap of my personal experience.  In a later post I’ll share a few pictures of my favorite quilts on display at the show.

Wednesday. We have arrived! Hello, Austin. My, you have some charming architecture. Old friend from Houston drove up for the night to welcome us to her home state. We started the evening by stumbling into a cozy French restaurant, Chez Nous. There we sat for hours, nibbling appetizers, drinking rosé, and having one of those life conversations we women love to have. It was revitalizing. Next, Maggie Mae’s. You showed me what all the Austin rage is about.  Incredible live blues surrounded by a Wednesday-sized crowd of a dozen or so people with whom to enjoy it.  If I could put those hours on repeat and relive them every time I felt down, I would.  We capped the night by buying me a toothbrush at a convenience store on 6th street and finding this adorable little onesie.  Isn’t it sweet?

Thursday.  QuiltCon begins!  Kicked off by breakfast at The Old Pecan Street Cafe.  Two words: tenderloin benedict.  Thank you, Texas.  Our walk from the hotel passes us over this enchanting bridge every day, and I am thankful.  One thing I didn’t appreciate: a 42-degrees-and-windy welcome!  I didn’t even pack my jacket (yes, Dad, I should’ve listened to you –at 26, my parents are STILL always right.  Annoying).  On the bright side, I was also welcomed to QuiltCon by an afternoon hand stitching workshop with the gracious and fun Anna Maria Horner.  Guess whom I sat next to?  Only one of my favorite fabric designers, Laurie Wisbrun.  I gushed and acted a little groupie-ish, but she was cool about it.  We’re pretty much BFFs now.

Friday.  No workshops, just a whole day to wander through the convention center, sit in on some great lectures (which are available for free on Craftsy), admire the show quilts and enjoy the city.  What you see up there is my first foray into long-arm quilting.  It reads: Marta was here.  Witty.  Creative.  Original.  Those are my three middle names.  We had dinner at the Iron Cactus, where we ate some lip-smacking Tex Mex and left full and happy.  At the hotel that night I practiced my hand stitching skills acquired during Thursday’s class, amidst the chatter and giggles of my partners in quilting crime, Melissa (We Shall Sew) and Amy (Stitchery Dickory Dock).

Saturday.  Jam-packed and FUN!  Debbie Grifka’s all-day hand applique workshop, with an afternoon break spent listening to Amy Butler’s lecture on color stories.  Later: Denyse Schmidt’s eloquent, evocative keynote.  Amen.

Sunday.  Fantastic workshop on machine-piecing hexagons.  Learned a ton from Jacquie.  Got to hang out with Laurie.  Yay!

Sunday and into the wee hours of Monday.  Trying to fly home while a blizzard raged in Denver.  Airport hours that were dreaded at first ended up as a blessing.  A heart-to-heart happened.  As did some MacGyver engineering with hair ties (friend, you know what I’m talking about!).  Life is full of stuff you can’t make up.