This whole pandemic thing has sure impacted our craft! In some good ways and others not so much. The good ways...well, more time to quilt, more quality online shopping, and for me personally, my favorite LQS has developed an online learning format that is much appreciated and without cost.
Of course, I miss the personal interaction that we experienced going to our classes, shopping in event stores, and making new friends, but we have been given lemons (I really like lemons though) and made lemonade. Here's another quilt show tour from 2015.
The Question of the Day...Do You Attend Quilt Shows?
How many quilt shows do you attend in a year? Are they local? Do you
travel intentionally to attend a specific show? In this area there are
several shows, sponsored by one of several guilds, each year. Some only
show every other year. Why you ask? Well Tootsie let me tell you what I
know or what I have been told. 1. It is a lot of work, it is expensive
to produce and it is sometimes hard to get enough entries to justify the
cost of the production. 2. It is a lot of work, it is expensive to
produce and it is sometimes hard to get enough entries to justify the
cost of production. If you are wondering why I said that twice it is
simply because that is the most accurate reasons I can relay to you.
Our show is a Judged event. Therefore, additional cost. The "work"
element is not to be dismissed but as one of our co-chairs explained to
me, the workload and tasks are divided among the membership and that
keeps it manageable. Organizing all that manageability basically falls
to three people in our Show Committee and they do a great job. Each
division of labor coordinates with them but runs their own segment.
One element that really hit home to me this year was publicity. While
every local quilt shop knows when we have our show and the theme etc.
the public needs to hear the news. Over the last several years the
quality of our publicity has improved and now includes television spots
(by a local am show) as well as print media. It seems to have been
successful. We are seeing more quilts from outside our geographic area
as well as entries from distant cities and towns. While we are still
predominately a local show the growth of the project is clearly obvious.
We have all noticed an increase in qualiy of the work. The patterns and
designs have been getting better every year. Interestingly, in the last
couple years I have seen some duplicate quilts. This year, no. Even the
most simple design is punctuated by amazing color combinations. Electric
I say, absolutely electric.
In addition, the "Modern Quilt Movement" remains constant but there is a
tempering of sorts. A classic element to the contemporary quilt that makes it more appealing to a larger audience.
You may recognize this pattern from one of Jenny Doan's books. It has
been popular on Utube videos as well. I have seen several and each one
is unique depending on the chosen fabric. I believe this one is call the
Magic Four Patch.
- The more quilt shows I attend the more I appreciate the process, the art, the passion,
- Quilt shows give the Quilter (of any stage in development) the
opportunity to study many different types of work, in person, up close.
Just do not touch.
- Quilt shows also give attendees the opportunity to shop. There is
nothing wrong with that. You are supporting a small business owner.
Quilting is really big business but the local shops depend on Quilt
Shows to make their presence known in the community. Those vendors who
travel to the show also provide the possible option of a destination
shop. I call those Field Trips.
That reminds me, we haven't had a
Field Trip for a while. Mmmmm.......
My little wheels are turning now.........
And who said that Quilters don't know how to
Tweet!!!!
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