Ann Champion's Blog

I was lucky enough to go to the NQA quilt show in Columbus Ohio on Friday.  It was my first time attending, and I was told there would be LOTS of Vendors.  My dear Husband took a vacation day and we drove down.  It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive.

As soon as we entered the building a sweet looking older lady approached us and stood right in front of DH and read his T shirt out loud.  It said  “I got an old pickup for my wife…has a picture of a truck, and under it says..best dang trade I ever made!”  She said..”you’ve got a lot of nerve wearing that shirt to a Hen party buddy!”  We all had a good laugh..and she wasn’t the only one who commented on that shirt. LOL

I hit the Vendors first, because I figured I’d get the best selection..and the quilts weren’t going anywhere?    DH carried my tote bag.  He travels a lot for his job and is an excellent packer. I do believe he was able to take advantage of every square inch in that bag?    He looked over the long arm machines and test drove them, checking out the various systems and how they were engineered.  Right now that’s a “maybe someday…” item. 

I was thrilled to meet Barb and Mary of Fun With Barb and Mary and Shasta of High Road Quilter .  DH took a pic of Barb, Mary and I, but sadly I didn’t get a pic of Shasta because our meeting was a bit more brief and unplanned.

I forgot to tell Barb that I had just gotten my hair all chopped off in March and I’d look different.  We had swapped cell phone numbers and she happened to call when we were very near each other. She heard our phone ring and  really surprised me when I answered the phone and she came right over to talk. LOL  Both Barb and Mary were delightful and it would have been fun to spend more time together.

Barb had two wonderful quilts entered in the show. The Hex Vex that’s in the header of their blog, and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  It was a treat to see both of these quilts in person! Both were gorgeous.  I enjoyed seeing the fabrics up close and her work is exquisite.

I was surprised at how the quilts were judged.  They had Bed Quilts Pieced, Bed Quilts Appliqued, Bed Quilt Mixed Techniques, Wall Quilt Pieced, Wall Quilt Appliqued, Wall Quilt Mixed Techniques, Art/Innovative quilts, Scrap Quilts, Duet Quilts-bed, Duet Quilt-wall, Group Quilt.  There were some gorgeous quilts that sure looked like Blue Ribbon quilts to me, but they didn’t get ribbons. One in particular was shocking to me. It was a spectacular Baltimore Album, heavily hand quilted.  The maker had to be broken hearted that her beautiful work didn’t get any recognition?

I talked to one of the “white glove” ladies who told me that the quilts are not separated into machine or hand done. They are all lumped together in their size category.  IMHO they should be separate because they have such different skills involved?  The heavily quilted machine done quilts were beating out the hand done competition. That’s such a shame! I appreciate quality machine work which requires a set of skills that I don’t have, but  quite a few gorgeous hand done quilts didn’t get the ribbons they should have, simply because of lumping together.  It’s the first time I’ve seen it done that way and I wish it were different.

NQA show judges/organizers…if you’re out there..I’d love to know why the judging of hand/machine work  isn’t separated?

A big thanks to DH for taking me to the show, and for spending the day with me..doing something special just for me. He  packed and repacked my tote bag and shlepped it around all day with no complaining.

The construction around the event made finding our way onto the expressway for the trip home a challenge, making the day a bit longer than he would have liked, I’m sure?  I wonder if he’ll offer to take me next year?