Friday was a different story. Besides more shopping, the Wearables Walk About Luncheon was held. This is where Quilts, Inc. gets a chance to get an up close and personal look at potential participants for the Bernina Fashion Show. Most of the participants were showing individual jackets that didn't fit very well but were embellished to within an inch of their lives. A couple of examples of some of the embellished garments are shown below : a magnificantly embroidered crazy quilt jacket, a jacket with many examples of using bleach as a discharge on black fabric and a lovely felted wool jacket.
A couple of the more amazing garments were the jacket made out of pin-tucked dupioni silk constructed by a member of the Houston ASG chapter and a beautiful suit embellished with metal key rings from an Ace Hardware store. Another suit by a local ASG member made from felted wool made me want to move back north so I could wear something like this.
After the fashion show I got a chance to view some more of the quilts. I seemed to be attracted to those with more linear details. But check out that Moon over Snow one. It makes me cold just to look at it.
I also checked out some of the garments from the Bernina Fashion Show from the evening before. Here are two examples of great concepts gone a little wrong. The gorgeous dress on the left (and sideways... sorry!) did not have a lining and the model apparently showed almost everything on the runway when she adjusted the skirt. The dress was a very impressive garment, totaly wearable and beautifully made.. too bad about the side show. The other one below featured a huge knitted collar on a short jacket. The model wearing it at an informal modelling event mentioned that it was very heavy and itchy but you would never know that from the big smile on her face.
Later I helped to man the ASG booth, looking for new members. The location of the booth stunk and by Friday Evening we had processed only two renewals. If we can't get back on the sales floor, our participation should be limited to a table with brochures rather than tying up so many people's time manning the booth.
Saturday began with a new event - Bag Lady Day. Eight of the faculty presented eight different bags or techniques for constructing purses. This event was a lot of fun for me but some of the projects presented were pretty lame. Linda McGehee of Ghee's, was there and presented a very professional little seminar on inserting zippers. Quilters are very skilled sewers but zippers sometimes defeat their formidable skills. I know that everyone who heard her information came away with the confidence to make more bags with zippers.
We attended the luncheon on Saturday where Charlotte Angotti presented an hour long talk called... 'Why don't you make more quilts?'. My friend is part of Charlotte's posse which meant I got to sit with some of the group at a table right at the front of the hall. Charlotte has a wonderfully easy going style and, although able to complete the most complex patterns, she prefers to work on quilts with simple elements but great results due to creative fabric selection and unique block placement. If you ever get a chance to participate in one of Charlotte's mystery classes you will not be disappointed.
Sunday I was paranoid about the time change and ended up waking up my friend for her plane an hour before she needed to get up to head for the airport. Was my face red! I had a class on using Shiva Paint Stix which was a bit of a bore but I did get a chance to try out various techniques for using them. I plan to use them in a future project that I will share on this site.
With that class, and a further browse through the sales floor, the International Quilt Festival ended for me for this year. I am incredibly weary and my head is spinning with all sorts of new ideas. I will sleep well tonight before my surgery tomorrow. I hope my recovery is swift as there are so many things I want to get going on. I'm just glad I'm not working these days or I would not have any time to accomplish any of the projects I want to complete.
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