Changing Gears was the name of the 2010 Austin Area Quilt Guild‘s quilt show. They moved from the old Crocket Center location up north to a bigger fresher space just south of downtown called Palmer Events Center. I think this move into a central location was a good one except it meant you paid a little more to get in and also paid for parking or hoofed it. I have to say it was set up kind of like a maze in there and I had to actually look for the map in the program they handed me to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything. There were hundreds of quilts on display back to back against wide zig-zagged diagonal rows of curtains. Then there was also a large L shaped grouping of vendors against the outer walls.
One of my favorite quilts that I saw there was this small quilt embroidered with scenes of the quilt making process. A Quilt Story by Karol Bussard.
Scene 1: Attending a quilting class.
Scene 2: Buying the material.
Scene 3: Cutting and sewing the quilt.
Scene 4: The quilt is hung at the Quilt Show!
View of whole quilt.
fat quarters
Here are some goodies I picked up from the vendors. I think I spent just as much time shopping as I did admiring the quilts. There were some really good deals and some lovely fabric. I could have done some major damage if I had the cash. I only had $40 and a couple hours so I walked away with some vintage looking fat quarters and some long awaited hand dyed charm squares by Malka of a Stitch in Dye. I also scored the scissors there for 50 cents! I was so excited to see a vendor selling only kawaii japanese fabric! I had to look her whole booth over 100 times before I could decide what I wanted to buy. She was apparently not too annoyed by this and threw in that little pack of japanese scraps!
I then found a vendor selling only vintage quilt tops and feedsacks! ahhhgh!!!! I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of her booth because everything was laid out so beautifully and her fabric was amazing. I think I was in shock. She had little bags full of charm squares cut from feedsacks for what seems to me now like an amazing price. She urged me to buy anything I had to have because apparently her booth is completely bought out during the Houston Quilt Festival. I “had to have” everything. Unfortunately I was already broke, but I gushed to her for a while and took her card and have been dreaming of stopping by her place to admire her fabrics some more.
