I Do the IQF

Yesterday was the first time I went to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago, IL. I drove down in the morning, finally found a place to park my car (to the tune of $13!) and went to the show.
The first thing I did was find the "Make It U" and check out the workshops. I was lucky enough to see Ms Pokey Bolton demonstrating some art quilt techniques, so I had my picture taken with her.
I was kind of star struck...
my first quilt-world celebrity!

And no...I usually don't smile in pictures...
I smile with my eyes. ;)

Anyway, then I shopped the show. I picked up some dye kits, some patterns, and a few things from Betty Blais' Embellishment Village. It was a pleasure to meet her, and we chatted a little about the artquilt.com list. It was nice to put a face to a name.
I also met the nicest woman while sitting outside having a little lunch. Her name is Beth, and she was working at her mom's booth, Mary Flanagan's Woolens. They have a huge selection of hand-dyed wools, patterns, kits, etc. I bought a selection of pastel-colored fat-eights. Gorgeous! Here's the website:
http://www.mfwoolens.com/index.htm

I also ran into Terri Kirchner from MArQ working at the BBD Creations booth. It was nice to chat with her, too.
Later in the day, I looked at the SAQA exhibits, and all the other quilts. I was absolutely blown away by the fabulous art. Its really hard to describe the variety and the excellence, and how inspirational they are. They just have to be seen...

Finally, I attended the SAQA/artquilt.com Wine & Cheese Reception. Two more MArQ artists were there: Casey and Kasia, with whom I had a nice chat. I also participated in the Tiara Parade while wearing my old Esto "muts"--the embroidered hat with ribbons I used to wear while folk dancing. I'll post some pics soon.
I'm already looking forward to next year.