We’re just getting back and settled in from a spectacular five days in beautiful, historic, and fascinating Savannah, Georgia. There is a certain perceived expectation when you think of “The South”, particularly when you think of Savannah. Nothing about this city disappointed me. Not even the weather- especially because I arrived the day after it stopped raining. What luck!
Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and one of the only surviving cities left after the Civil War. Some of the houses date back to the 1700s, which is pretty incredible.
Just imagine the quilts that were made inside those walls! That certainly brings a whole new level of appreciation for Civil War reproduction fabrics, don’t you think?
Savannah is a very picturesque city, full of manicured lawns, immaculately kept homes and ornate details everywhere you look. Just walking a few blocks to breakfast took us nearly an hour because we kept stopping to admire the view, take pictures or read the plaques of the various fountains and statues in the squares.
The Savannah River divides the city from the World Trade Center, where QuiltCon 2017 was held. There was only one hotel on that side, and if you weren’t staying in it, you had to travel across the river via ferry. On the first night, the ferry was packed full of quilters and only a few locals. I doubt they had ever seen so many handmade bags and quilt related t-shirts in one place before!
We had a great time playing a game with our QuiltCon guests. The idea was to see who, amongst the three players, could put a puzzle together the fastest. The fastest got to take home a large spool of thread of their choice; the remaining two took home a small spool of their choice. Everyone was a winner!
All players were challenged to beat the ‘best time’, which kept getting faster and faster throughout the event. On Sunday morning, we had our fastest participant EVER, not just for QuiltCon. Karen Brown completed the Aurifil Spool puzzle in just 2 minutes & 36 seconds. We were all in awe! Congratulations again to Karen, who is now the excited recipient of a Tula Pink Ultimate Collection — 45 small spools of lucious and colorful thread!
To help celebrate 270 Colors, the incredible quilt by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio, we hosted an ongoing social media contest. Participants had to take a “Selfie” in front of the quilt and post it to Instagram using the hashtag “#270ColorsGiveaway“. We had over 190 entries and our winners were:
We did also share a daily at-home giveaway so that no one would be excluded!! Thank you again to all who played along!
Even though we weren’t able to sell our thread in our booth, there was still plenty to be found throughout the show including the booths for: Craft South, Crimson Tate, Andover, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Marcus Fabrics, Riley Blake, and more!!
We also loved having a chance to visit with some of our amazing fabric partners. Many of them had interactive booths, giving visitors a chance to design quilt blocks, collect supplies to work on collaborative quilting projects, and more!
Of course, one of my favorite aspects of community events like this, is all of the quilts. I’m amazed at the diversity on display. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, when I’ve defined my own personal style, I turn a corner and see something that changes my whole perspective, something that makes me stop and think and admire. Below are some of my favorites from this year’s show.
And of course, Best In Show, “Bling” by Katherine Jones:
I’m pretty sure she said it took her over 160 hours to complete the quilt top. It is ENTIRELY paper-pieced! Can you imagine??
All-in-all, a great time was had by all. People left feeling inspired, satisfied, knowledgable. I think those are the best things to come away with. And, even though it’s maybe a little sad to leave and go back home to reality, the memories live on and we get to look forward to the next time we can fill our minds with new techniques and skills. We get to fill our hearts with the fun times had with friends that we may have only previous known online. That’s the beauty of it, really.
Until next time!
— Kristi, Bradley, Erin, and Alex
Fabulous. Love the dance at the end too. Will see you all next year in Pasadena, CA!
Looks like so much fun! I hope I can be there in Pasadena next year.
you guys were great! Thanks for being awesome!
Great write up! Wish I had been there. Maybe next year in Pasadena – I live in California so hoping to make that happen!
Oh man that lady must have been a wizard at puzzles! I’m so impressed, my best time was 3m48s. Thanks for having a fun booth! It was great meeting some of you face to face!
Only a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great design .