WV State Quilt Festival--A Family Adventure

Very rarely do I get to say these words...but today my family gave me an all about me day.  This week was the West Virginia Quilt Festival and my husband, my cousin (more like my brother) and his wife (aka my bestie) loaded up in the car to join me on a trip to my little piece of heaven.

I have to say I was a little worried that my traveling companions might find themselves slightly bored but boy was I wrong.  I think they enjoyed looking at all of the amazing works on display as much I did.  One of my husband's favorite quilts was a pixelated quilt of Nick Offerman, Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreations.  

One of my favorite things to do at the show is to try all of the long arm machines on display.  I almost committed to purchasing a HQ Sweet Sixteen, but then the rational part of my brain kicked in.  I really hate that part of my brain.  I convinced the boys to give one of the Gammill long arms a try and didn't think I was going to be able to pull them away from it.  I believe they dubbed it the Cadillac of the machines.

After we had taken in all of the excitement of the show, I conned them into taking me to one of my favorite quilt shops in the area.  The Quilt Shoppe located in Summersville, WV ran by Vickie, the owner.  Vickie seems to have every bolt of fabric imaginable!  I always say if you can't find what you are looking for there, it probably doesn't exist.  She laughs every time she hears me say this.

My cousin approached me with a pattern (I think it was called Falling Leaves) and asked if I could make it for him.

He was so proud of his find, but I told him I didn't really like doing applique so I didn't think I wanted to take it on.  Of course that lead to, "What is applique?"  So after my husband and I finished explaining it to him, my husband took him on a quest to find something with applique in the store.  Later on, Doug was still carrying around the pattern.  I asked him what he was going to do with it and he proudly announced that he wanted to make it and that I could teach him.  What???  I only agreed to this because I figured it could lead to interesting future blog posts...but don't tell him.  So I dropped him off at the fat quarter section, gave him some pointers and told him to pick out his background fabrics.  

Doug hard at work

I went off to enjoy the rest of the fabric.  I'm not sure that my bestie, Stacie, was having as much fun though.  

Unfortunately I was not able to stay at the store forever.  We had to feed Stacie and she wanted to start the two hour drive home.  Doug was able to come to a decision about backing fabric and purchase his new finds.

As for me, I didn't do to bad myself.  I won a door prize at the quilt show.  Score!!  After reading several posts my Julie at Pink Doxies and the progress she is making on her Modern Building Blocks quilt, I found myself inspired to finally start one as well.  I had purchased the pattern when it first came out and safely tucked it away.  Julie is using print fabrics in her quilt instead of solids and it looks amazing!  If you get a chance you should check out her posts about it.  

I feel very blessed to have a husband and family that support my love for quilting as much as they do.  They gave up a whole day to spend time with me and share my passion for quilting.  I hope that your loved ones can get involved and be excited about the things you love as well.