I was able to attend The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison this week. I'd only been there once before about 20 years ago, and I was overwhelmed and exhausted that I haven't been back until now. I did a better job of pacing myself this time! For 2 days, I joined a congenial group of 4 other ladies from my local Quilt Guild. We rented a VRBO house in Sun Prairie that turned out to be a better deal than getting hotel rooms.
This Quilt Show started about 20 years ago by Nancy Zieman (Sewing with Nancy) and Wisconsin Public Television (PBS). Although, Nancy Z. died in 2017, her very sizeable vendor booth had a cardboard cutout of her and several posters, so it kind of felt like she was still there. I gave her cardboard cutout a hug--Other people took pictures with posters of her. She really was an amazing and kind person who did so much for sewing and quilting -- and people still miss her. Sigh!
The Quilts
As you might expect, there were some of the amazing quilts on display. Here are a few inspiring pictures to give you a taste of what I saw:
Because of my background as a health science / medical librarian, this fascinating quilt held a special interest for me.
There was another special travelling exhibit off the main hall that showed a series of Storytime quilts. These were all the same size and used the same general pallette.
It was a travelling exhibit sponsored by Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics.
Here's a closer look at some of the ribbon winners.
You can order a book showing these quilts -- I informed my family that I would love to get this book for Christmas. ;-) I think this was my favorite part of the show!
So many fairy tales and stories invoked! The wonderful thing about this theme is that you can look at it, and you know exactly what story or fairy tale it's about. It's all there in the collective unconscious.
From Where the Wild Things Are, to the Princess and the Pea to Cinderella to Charlotte's Web ...
I saw 2 Baba Yaga Quilts showing her wonderful House on Chicken's Legs:
1 comment:
Thanks for this peek at this quilt show. That first quilt - wow! So many different techniques. Did it give you an idea for using cathedral windows blocks in a future quilt? So inventive! I sure understand that being overwhelmed by a big quilt show. I'd been to Paducah several times which is overwhelming enough, but then I attended the first "Houston" show in Chicago. Talk about overkill. Over 500 vendors alone - more than I could get through even though I was there for three days, special exhibits (dozens and dozens of journal quilts which were a new thing back then, several quilters being highlighted to name a few), and THEN the actual entries in the show. I was grateful for the few classes I took that gave me a break. It was total overkill and when I was asked to fill out a survey form, I told them, sometimes more is just more and too much.
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