Rosemont Quilt Show Report (long)

The IQA show in Rosemont (Chicago) went better this year. At 3:00 p.m.
on Thursday I didn't believe they would open on time at 5:00 p.m. but
they did. A few employees were rushing about finishing things but they
were able to open the doors. Since most of us went straight to the
vendor area it didn't matter that not everything in the quilt display
area was finished.

I feel sorry for the Quilts, Inc employees. They were over-worked or
under-organized, I am not sure which. They really worked hard while I
was around. I enjoyed helping them hang the quilts on Wednesday and
Thursday.

My friend and I have worked out a system to avoid most of the crowds.
Because we are registered for the show we are allowed to attend the
show on Thursday from 5 to 7 with only other registered quilters. This
means only about 2500 quilters to 850 venders. Good ratio. From 7 to
10pm the public is allowed in but not that many come. We are able to
do our really serious shopping all on this night. Each morning we have
a class while we are fresh. We then return to our room, teach each
other what we learned and rest until late afternoon. By then the crowd
is thinning. The show is open until 7 so we have time to see the
quilts and shop with a more managable size crowd. Attendance on Sunday
afternoon is light so we can take one final sweep through the entire
show.

The quilts were all ones that had been at Houston last fall. I am not
into the little postcard types. Some art quilts with stuff hanging off
of them don't do much for me but the larger, more traditional quilts
one can never see too many times. The staff said that next year there
will be a portion of the show that is just seen in Chicago.

I attended the Thursday Sampler which had about 20 teachers arranged
around the ballroom giving simultaneous demonstrations. I always enjoy
this type of event because I see the style of teachers I might not
want a full class with but enjoy learning their techique.

Jenny Byer was the lunch speaker that day. I have heard her speak
before and was afraid it would be the same talk. This was new and
interesting. She shared how she became interested in quilting and what
influenced her design style. She said that she was first designing
fabric for VIP. In 1983 that company decided that quilting had peaked
from the interest started by the bi-centenial and they would not
longer use her designs. (we have proved them wrong!) She was
immediately asked to design for RJR.

I had registered for the Applique Day on Saturday thinking it would be
similar to the Thursday Sampler. It was also held in a large ballroom
but was more structured. First the panel of seven Applique teachers
talked and showed their work. We were then sent to tables according to
the color of our program. When the bell rang you moved to the next
teacher. I enjoyed the morning and learned several good tips.

On Sunday I took a hand quilting class. Occasionally I use the stab
method to add a little hand quilting almost as an embellishment to a
quilt but I am 99.5% a machine quilter. The teacher tried but she
didn't get through to me. I know I would enjoy hand quilting if I ever
learn it properly. I have always enjoyed embroidery and cross stitch.
Add the binding by hand is one of my favorite parts of a quilt. I will
just keep trying different teachers and maybe someday it will click
between my brain and my fingers.

My shopping was mostly for African and Japanese fabrics. I also bought
rayon batik for a jacket. I bought several finished batik panels which
I will use when decorating a women's center this fall. One evening I
looked especially for different tone on tone blacks which I will use
with the African fabrics. Also purchased several pieces of bead
jewelry.

I have spent the morning organizing my ethnic fabrics so the new
purchases will fit on the shelf. Can't wait to get started sewing with
them. Sorry to say there are several other projects and a trip to
Florida which must come first.

The show next year will be April 8 through 10. Hope more of you can
attend. Someday it will be as big as Houston.

Susan

Susan,

Thanks for a great overview of the show. And thanks for including the dates
for next year's show. I'm really going to try to be there -- it's only a
four-hour drive so I don't have an excuse, do I?

Anybody else from around here want to start making plans???

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Susan Laity Price" wrote in message
...
The IQA show in Rosemont (Chicago) went better this year. At 3:00 p.m.
on Thursday I didn't believe they would open on time at 5:00 p.m. but
they did. A few employees were rushing about finishing things but they
were able to open the doors. Since most of us went straight to the
vendor area it didn't matter that not everything in the quilt display
area was finished.

I feel sorry for the Quilts, Inc employees. They were over-worked or
under-organized, I am not sure which. They really worked hard while I
was around. I enjoyed helping them hang the quilts on Wednesday and
Thursday.

My friend and I have worked out a system to avoid most of the crowds.
Because we are registered for the show we are allowed to attend the
show on Thursday from 5 to 7 with only other registered quilters. This
means only about 2500 quilters to 850 venders. Good ratio. From 7 to
10pm the public is allowed in but not that many come. We are able to
do our really serious shopping all on this night. Each morning we have
a class while we are fresh. We then return to our room, teach each
other what we learned and rest until late afternoon. By then the crowd
is thinning. The show is open until 7 so we have time to see the
quilts and shop with a more managable size crowd. Attendance on Sunday
afternoon is light so we can take one final sweep through the entire
show.

The quilts were all ones that had been at Houston last fall. I am not
into the little postcard types. Some art quilts with stuff hanging off
of them don't do much for me but the larger, more traditional quilts
one can never see too many times. The staff said that next year there
will be a portion of the show that is just seen in Chicago.

I attended the Thursday Sampler which had about 20 teachers arranged
around the ballroom giving simultaneous demonstrations. I always enjoy
this type of event because I see the style of teachers I might not
want a full class with but enjoy learning their techique.

Jenny Byer was the lunch speaker that day. I have heard her speak
before and was afraid it would be the same talk. This was new and
interesting. She shared how she became interested in quilting and what
influenced her design style. She said that she was first designing
fabric for VIP. In 1983 that company decided that quilting had peaked
from the interest started by the bi-centenial and they would not
longer use her designs. (we have proved them wrong!) She was
immediately asked to design for RJR.

I had registered for the Applique Day on Saturday thinking it would be
similar to the Thursday Sampler. It was also held in a large ballroom
but was more structured. First the panel of seven Applique teachers
talked and showed their work. We were then sent to tables according to
the color of our program. When the bell rang you moved to the next
teacher. I enjoyed the morning and learned several good tips.

On Sunday I took a hand quilting class. Occasionally I use the stab
method to add a little hand quilting almost as an embellishment to a
quilt but I am 99.5% a machine quilter. The teacher tried but she
didn't get through to me. I know I would enjoy hand quilting if I ever
learn it properly. I have always enjoyed embroidery and cross stitch.
Add the binding by hand is one of my favorite parts of a quilt. I will
just keep trying different teachers and maybe someday it will click
between my brain and my fingers.

My shopping was mostly for African and Japanese fabrics. I also bought
rayon batik for a jacket. I bought several finished batik panels which
I will use when decorating a women's center this fall. One evening I
looked especially for different tone on tone blacks which I will use
with the African fabrics. Also purchased several pieces of bead
jewelry.

I have spent the morning organizing my ethnic fabrics so the new
purchases will fit on the shelf. Can't wait to get started sewing with
them. Sorry to say there are several other projects and a trip to
Florida which must come first.

The show next year will be April 8 through 10. Hope more of you can
attend. Someday it will be as big as Houston.

Susan

Was on a bus tour from Canada to the Rosemont Quilt show and had a great
time. We attended the preview night and enjoyed it as the crowds were not
too overwhelming. Had a chance to view the quilts and some of the
merchant's mall that night. Little did we know how crowded it would be on
Saturday. Did the Bernina fashion luncheon and very much enjoyed that.
Looking forward to going back again next year. Chicago is a beautiful city.
"Louise" wrote in message
news:_p2ac.131455$po.851219@attbi_s52...
Susan,

Thanks for a great overview of the show. And thanks for including the
dates
for next year's show. I'm really going to try to be there -- it's only a
four-hour drive so I don't have an excuse, do I?

Anybody else from around here want to start making plans???

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Susan Laity Price" wrote in message
...
The IQA show in Rosemont (Chicago) went better this year. At 3:00 p.m.
on Thursday I didn't believe they would open on time at 5:00 p.m. but
they did. A few employees were rushing about finishing things but they
were able to open the doors. Since most of us went straight to the
vendor area it didn't matter that not everything in the quilt display
area was finished.

I feel sorry for the Quilts, Inc employees. They were over-worked or
under-organized, I am not sure which. They really worked hard while I
was around. I enjoyed helping them hang the quilts on Wednesday and
Thursday.

My friend and I have worked out a system to avoid most of the crowds.
Because we are registered for the show we are allowed to attend the
show on Thursday from 5 to 7 with only other registered quilters. This
means only about 2500 quilters to 850 venders. Good ratio. From 7 to
10pm the public is allowed in but not that many come. We are able to
do our really serious shopping all on this night. Each morning we have
a class while we are fresh. We then return to our room, teach each
other what we learned and rest until late afternoon. By then the crowd
is thinning. The show is open until 7 so we have time to see the
quilts and shop with a more managable size crowd. Attendance on Sunday
afternoon is light so we can take one final sweep through the entire
show.

The quilts were all ones that had been at Houston last fall. I am not
into the little postcard types. Some art quilts with stuff hanging off
of them don't do much for me but the larger, more traditional quilts
one can never see too many times. The staff said that next year there
will be a portion of the show that is just seen in Chicago.

I attended the Thursday Sampler which had about 20 teachers arranged
around the ballroom giving simultaneous demonstrations. I always enjoy
this type of event because I see the style of teachers I might not
want a full class with but enjoy learning their techique.

Jenny Byer was the lunch speaker that day. I have heard her speak
before and was afraid it would be the same talk. This was new and
interesting. She shared how she became interested in quilting and what
influenced her design style. She said that she was first designing
fabric for VIP. In 1983 that company decided that quilting had peaked
from the interest started by the bi-centenial and they would not
longer use her designs. (we have proved them wrong!) She was
immediately asked to design for RJR.

I had registered for the Applique Day on Saturday thinking it would be
similar to the Thursday Sampler. It was also held in a large ballroom
but was more structured. First the panel of seven Applique teachers
talked and showed their work. We were then sent to tables according to
the color of our program. When the bell rang you moved to the next
teacher. I enjoyed the morning and learned several good tips.

On Sunday I took a hand quilting class. Occasionally I use the stab
method to add a little hand quilting almost as an embellishment to a
quilt but I am 99.5% a machine quilter. The teacher tried but she
didn't get through to me. I know I would enjoy hand quilting if I ever
learn it properly. I have always enjoyed embroidery and cross stitch.
Add the binding by hand is one of my favorite parts of a quilt. I will
just keep trying different teachers and maybe someday it will click
between my brain and my fingers.

My shopping was mostly for African and Japanese fabrics. I also bought
rayon batik for a jacket. I bought several finished batik panels which
I will use when decorating a women's center this fall. One evening I
looked especially for different tone on tone blacks which I will use
with the African fabrics. Also purchased several pieces of bead
jewelry.

I have spent the morning organizing my ethnic fabrics so the new
purchases will fit on the shelf. Can't wait to get started sewing with
them. Sorry to say there are several other projects and a trip to
Florida which must come first.

The show next year will be April 8 through 10. Hope more of you can
attend. Someday it will be as big as Houston.

Susan

Sylvia, there were two women from Canada at our table at the Bernina
luncheon on Friday. The one right next to me was from Ottawa; had a
cane....was that you?

Susan, I'm sorry to have missed you!

My friend Marie came from California came to stay with me and go to the
show. She arrived at Midway late Thursday afternoon. We were at the
preview from about 7:30 to 9:45. We looked at the quilts, thinking we'd
save shopping for the next day I live more than an hour north of Rosemont so
it was a late evening for us.

On Friday we saw the rest of the exhibits. We tried to be organized about
shopping but got distracted ("ooh, look at this one!" "and that one!").
Next year I will deliberately cruise the booths, annotating the program
book, then go back. Also went to the Bernina Fashion Show luncheon.
(Fabulous, but costumes rather than clothes.) Group dinner Friday night
with friends (RCTQers Anna and Julie, among them).

Marie had never been to Wisconsin so on Saturday we drove to Milwaukee and
spend most of the day at the Milwaukee Art Museum (www.mam.org). We had
time to shop at the Cutting Table, a great quilt shop in south Milwaukee.

Sunday we went back to the show. People were pretty weary--quilters and the
vendors. I got 20 half yard pieces from one vendor who had reduced the
prices to $2.50 per half yard. Left about 2:15 to get Marie back to the
airport.

Overall: lots more room this year. Fewer beads and buttons. Easy to
register onsite. Easy to park.

Sign me up for 2005!

Nann

All things being equal, I expect to be there next year. This year, the
kitchen intervened.

I have a question for those who went to the classes and such----was it
entirely handicapped accessible this year? Last year that was
limited---classes in the Hyatt basement offered a chair lift to the
basement, but no way of transporting a wheelchair or scooter down to the
basement. And of course, all my classes were in the basement. sigh

--pig

On 3/29/04 17:36, opined:

Anybody else from around here want to start making plans???