The Party’s Over…but the Beat Goes On

And on the sixth day…… we crash! I’m staying home ALL day today. PIQF is always a wonderful experience but, as you may imagine, it can be completely exhausting.

Here we are in front of our newest quilts.

So many thanks to all of you who stopped by our booth to say “hi” and to extend your good wishes. We always love seeing and visiting with you. Your continued support is heartwarming. For those of you asking about Diana, please let me assure you that she is doing more than great…she has just decided to retire from the administrative duties of two successful businesses. Now, she is able to design to her heart’s content and take any class she wants at the Empty Spools Seminars that she founded 25 years ago. (What a dream come true!) She has many more quilt designs brewing inside that creative mind of hers and I know she will continue for many, many more years.

For those of you fortunate enough to attend the show, you’ll recognize the following quilts. I hope the rest of you enjoy the photos. LOTS and LOTS of glitz again this year…crystals, crystals, and more crystals. (See the quilt below with 5,121 Swarovski crystals made by Sherry Reynolds!) There was also an abundance of beads, baubles, buttons, ribbons, rickrack, and beautiful thread work. With limited time and so many quilts, I just shot a few of the ribbon winners with lots of sparkle. As is often the case, the photos don’t do justice to the beauty of the quilts themselves.

Sherry Reynolds of Laramie, WY, with her Best of Show Quilt, "America, Let it Shine"

Label on the back of "America, Let it Shine"

"Now, That's a Horse of a Different Color" by Michelle Reasoner of Hallelsville, TX

"Beyond Beautiful" by Jan Reed of Grass Valley, CA

By Janet Head of Windsor, CA

Detail of "Koi" by Cathie Hoover of Modesto, CA, which won Best Use of Embellishments - Traditional

One of our readers, Linda Hungerford of West Des Moines, IA, wrote last week to say that she had two quilts in the show and wished she could be there to see how they were displayed. This is for you, Linda. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to find Linda’s second quilt, but there were many people stopped in front of this one taking photos…no surprise as you can see how beautiful her quilting is.