AQS 2011 Quilt Show-Lancaster

March 18 - 20, 2011, Jackie and I road-tripped to Lancaster, PA for the American Quilters Society show, one of the BIG ones.  We stayed in the beautiful [highly recommended w/unbelievable restaurant and great bar area] Marriot at Penn Square attached to the convention center.  Any road trip with Jackie is a real treat and great mother/daughter time.

We had brunch on Saturday morning with Karen Kay Buckley.  She treated the brunch crowd to a video trunk show of her quilts showing a progression from her first quilt to her last major award-winner.  Her mantra, "How hard can it be?" encouraged all of us to push our perceived limits.

Jackie and I did lots of shopping at the show.  I found a great book, Cotton Theory 2, which I had heard about. While resting and waiting for Jackie, I talked with a lady seated next to me who had just purchased the book with a kit for getting started.  It was a great buy! So, of course, she gave me directions to the vendor and I went right over there to get one.  Quilting a quilt as you sew it is the technique featured.  I have done two quilts on my own trying to master various techniques, but I had heard that Cotton Theory was the technique to learn.  So now I am all set!

Some of the local shops were open late [until 8 p.m., the rest of PA closes at 5 or 6 on Saturdays :( ] so we drove East on Rt. 30 to Sylvia's.  Sylvia is really a stitch!  Her yard was filled with gorgeous quilts displayed on clotheslines.  Inside her shop, we found dozens more.  I will definitely come back.  I did buy a fat regional cookbook that has so many down-home recipes that I will be busy for months converting my favorites to lower the fat.

This morning I saw the winners of the show posted online.  This quilt was the $10,000 winner with the 1st. place ribbon.  And, this picture does not really do it justice.

It is great that AQS hosted this show for the 2nd. year.  I hope that it is a successful show for them and for the vendors because it is really nice to have a big show so close to home.  I am sure that every year it will get better and I look forward to future shows.