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Aerial View of Vendors at AQS Branson 2023
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There is no shortage of sensory overload one experiences when attending quilt shows. Between the workshops, things to buy and/or experience and the people, it's an exhilarating adventure. The AQS Quilt Week Branson, 2023 was no exception.
One of the workshops my friend, Elizabeth and I took was "Free Motion Machine Quilting" with Author/Designer/Instructor Cindy Needham. Cindy was pretty funny. She referred to me as "Glamour Girl" throughout the day. In all of the things I've been called during my lifetime, I can honestly say "glamorous" is certainly not one of them. 🤣. In any case, it kept the class interesting. The workshop was not only fun, it was quite helpful. Cindy brought along floral fabric for us to practice on using decorative, colorful threads.
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My friend, Elizabeth and I before our workshop with Cindy Needham.
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Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt.
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Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt. Detail pic.
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Classroom sample of a free-motion embroidered quilt. Detail pic. |
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My practice piece of fabric. I used variegated thread for an extra pop of color.
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I met some wonderfully engaging and fun people during this show. A couple of people really stood out to me this time around. The first was Bernie Collier of WonderFil Specialty Threads, all the way from Canada. Bernie was an absolute riot. We had a few good belly laughs while I shopped in their booth. He was a real character. WonderFil has the most beautiful selections of threads for sewing, quilting and embroidery. I purchased several spools of thread in addition to merino wool for some needle book and pincushion designs I am working on.
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The Exuberant Bernie Collier.
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Another person I met when shopping at the show was the bubbly Rebecca Lidstrom of Studio R Quilts. Rebecca is a modern quilt pattern designer and instructor. I enjoyed visiting with her most days of the show. Be sure to check out her patterns here. She has some wonderfully unique and fun designs.
One shop of note that I enjoyed spending a ton of money with visiting was the Midway Wool Company. I have been on a wool buying kick these days as I work on developing new patterns and designs for the sewist. What I liked about this vendor - besides the wonderful, friendly service I received - is that they offer smaller cuts of wool and loaded scrap bags for little projects. I think it's nice - especially for beginners in this craft - to have the ability to try working with the medium before making a large financial commitment for supplies and the like. Midway Wool has a YouTube channel where they share several techniques.
Legit Kits offers their colorful foundation paper-pieced quilt kits for sale. Some of the quilts are reversible. (Be sure to check out Michelangelo's David. Very clever, indeed!)
And that's a wrap. I hope you've enjoyed this series on the AQS Quilt Week Branson 2023.
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Until next time,