Sew Karen-ly Created...

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Thursday 31 May 2012

Our day At Quilt Canada

Stellar company, spectacular quilts and an opportunity to shop make for a winning combination any day. We left early for Halifax which is a good 2-1/2 hour drive from Amherst. Naturally, it was raining when we arrived at the campus of Dalhousie University.
We purchased an all-day parking pass, but soon discovered it pretty useless as all the lots were full. Oh my...
We eventually made it to the National Juried Show of Quilt Canada, being held at the Student Union Building. For some obscure reason, no pictures are allowed to be taken at this show, and I turned my flash off to be inconspicuous out in the hallway taking these. We were on a quest to see Monika Kinner-Whalen's beautiful prairie dress and we did...but the no-picture rule means we can't share it with you. While there, we met up with Linda H from Stitch Lines who I expect will have a spectacular batch of pictures of the week to share soon.
The invitational show was just across the hall from the NJS.
After enjoying the beautiful showing of quilts, we made our way to Dalplex to see the Trend Tex Challenge. This is a fun event in which to participate and it is so neat to see the different interpretations. We ran into Linda as soon as we arrived; check out her blog for lots more pictures.
This one was adorable - see the stitched dimples on the knees?
Then off to the Merchant's Mall! I checked out a Sew Ezi portable table for my Bernina (really tempting...) and got so distracted by all the goodies I neglected to turn my flash back on. Ergo,the pictures are fuzzy and dark. There were a good many vendors from away which gave wonderful variety. This is Stitches from Salt Spring, B.C.I picked up three spools of my favourite thread at The Quilting B and More from Charlottetown, PEI.
My friend Kate from Kanata urged me bid hello to her friend Marilyn from Bytown Threads in Ottawa and I'm awfully glad she did. This very busy booth was stocked with Aurifil thread and I purchased some to try out.
Marilyn graciously agreed to pose for a photo.
I circled the mall a couple of times before I got a chance to speak to Heather MacArthur, editor of Quilter's Connection.
Heather is as delightful in person as she is in print and I am so pleased we had a chance to meet up. Written correspondence is one thing but it makes such a difference to hear a voice and see a face. Heather had copies of the latest issue of Quilter's Connection magazine with her, hot off the press.
And speaking of seeing faces, I saw many I recognized including Gail and Jean who will be coming to our N.S. Fibre Arts Festival again in the fall.
By this time our day in the city was over; we missed as much as we saw, but it was a long drive home. Kudos to all the vendors who come from so far away to be part of these shows as they must surely return home exhausted. Kudos also to Lesley and Lynn, who make for such terrific travelling companions.

8 comments:

  1. I love the skirt & knee dimples entry! Oh that is fabulous ; )

    Thanks for sharing your trip there. I'm sure our guild members will come back with lots too.

    Darn that you couldn't get any photos when you were in there though! Awwwe. Photos would have been nice. Oh well. What's a woman to do?

    Thanks Karen! I'm glad you enjoyed my entry : ))) Next year... West Coast I hear?
    ~Monika

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  2. Thanks for the tour of the s how. I really enjoyed it. I will tell you that you would not regret getting the SewEzi table.

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  3. Thank you for letting us 'visit' some of the show too! Aurifil thread is wonderful, both my Bernina and I love it....and I have a Sew-Ezi table, it is wonderful.

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  4. I hope you didn't hurt yourself, dragging all those lovely goodies home!
    Glad you enjoyed the show.

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  5. Thanks for showing us some of the show. I too have been debating whether I really need a SewEzi table for years. I might just breakdown and get one too.

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  6. Loved all your pictures. I had a nice couple of days at QC Halifax too. Loved the NJS. I so wish we could take pictures. I saw your Trend-Tex challenge, it was just sweet. I have been thinking of getting one of these sew-EZ tables for sometime too. Didn't you love the guy's burgandy featherweight that he was using as a display!!! It cost him about $600 to get it done. The Sew-EZ guy came all the way from out west with his tables. It was the first time I saw them in person. I enjoyed looking at all the stencils from the Stencil Company too.

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  7. Small world... I found you from Monika's post, about the pins and told her you were a dear friend as we ran out of the pins by Saturday at closing time! I was a regional rep for CQA with Linda H a few years ago, and also met up with her!
    Looking forward to following you, a fellow Canadian=)

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