It's been a few weeks since I've gotten home from Quiltcon and I've taken some time to reflect on the experience. First of all, it was the first time I had traveled on a plane since Quiltcon 2020 in Austin, and that in itself was a little weird. But Phoenix was a great location to escape the Minnesota winter even if it was only for a few days.
Quiltcon 2022 was held at the Phoenix Convention Center with vendor hall, show, and classes running from Thursday to Sunday. I typically arrive Wednesday morning to be able to volunteer and help set up the show and catch the opening awards ceremony on Wednesday night. This was actually the first time that I attended the ceremony and didn't volunteer during that time.
As much as I enjoyed the experience, it was still odd. It seemed less attended than years past (thanks to the pandemic) and there seemed to be fewer vendors as well. Typically Saturday is really busy because the locals come to see the show and shop. This year, Thursday seemed to be the busiest day in the vendor hall. I bought a few items that I specifically waited for Quiltcon to buy such as a set of Kai scissors that were heavy-duty and lightweight to help cut down seam allowances in bags. I did not however break the bank as I felt I have done in years past. But let's talk about the quilt show. I always love looking at the quilts and this year the quilts seemed... different than years past. There seemed to be a skew towards more of a traditional look this year (if you can call it that) and honestly nothing that really blew me out of the water that I hadn't already seen on Instagram. Typically there are ALWAYS quilts that I haven't seen before or missed on Instagram, so it was a little bit of a surprise. I did take several photos of quilts that I loved that didn't get posted a ton on Instagram (or at least didn't show up in my feed). Check out the #quiltcon2022 hashtag to see photos of the event.
Click on a photo to open a gallery, the order should be quilt photo(s) followed by quilt description:
On the flip side, I do go to Quiltcon to take classes and learn new skills, and this year my classes hit the mark in each and every one of them!
Matchstick Quilting with Cassandra Beaver - I learned about matchstick quilting and got reminded just how good the Bernina walking foot can be. I am really looking forward to getting my things back from storage and sewing on my Bernina again!
Woven Rings with Tighe Flanagan - partial seams on steroids and it was so interesting how I could use just the technique to create some really complicated shapes. I didn't think I would make the final project but took the class to learn the technique. After the class, I am highly considering making the Woven Rings quilt because of just how cool this quilt could be.
Scrappy Quilt As You Go with Tia Curtis - learning the magical things of how to join pieces in odd spots while quilting your piece. Not the best description but it was pretty fantastic. I turned the panel that I made in class into a large project zippy pouch.
Piecing with Templates with Melissa de Leon Mason - the first time I ever made a block with plastic templates and it's not as hard as I thought it would be.
Happy Mail: Quilted Fabric Postcards with Sarah Ruiz - when Sarah first posted her 100 days projects with a unique postcard every day, I thought she would have spent so much time on making them. Turns out it's not nearly as time consuming and honestly a ton of fun to make postcards. I have a ton of orphan blocks in storage and I can't wait to make postcards from those orphan blocks!
Overall was the experience worth the costs (time and money)? I think so. What's not listed here are the friends that I only see during Quiltcon. I know there were folks that opted out and decided to skip this year, but I really hope to meet up with people again in the future. There is this entire social aspect that doesn't get captured, but then again that alone doesn't always justify the costs to go. There still needs to be a good show and good classes.
Quiltcon 2023 will be in Atlanta (February 23-26, 2023)
Quiltcon 2024 will be in Raleigh (February 22-25, 2024)
Are you planning on attending Quiltcon in the future?
What are your sewing plans this weekend?
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