International Quilt Festival in Rosemont

Hi all! I went on Friday because my son was in a soccer tournament Saturday and Sunday. He ended up playing 5 games total. His team came in 2nd overall in the top division. I ended up with no voice and a cold from the nasty weather. I got a cold and a tan at the same time!

I went early on Friday. There were a ton of quilting vendors there. I do not quilt. I did not realize how many different types of fabric there were. That was really interesting. They sold the little FBs - fat somethings - in almost every booth. I did pick up some interesting fabric for my textile art. I skipped all the quilting booths that sold patterns and supplies for quilting. There were some booths that had wool roving, but it was really expensive! I did like one booth where they had wool roving that was very shiny and pretty but I skipped it because they were asking for too much. I can get it cheaper online.

My first actual stop was the Artgirlz booth. I picked a really cool bracelet with wool felt beads on there. Have to let you know, I tried to make some with wool roving on my way to the soccer tournament on Saturday but it took a long time to make just one. I ended up making 3 or 4 of them. My son loved them because I added eyes and some hair so it looked like a tiny troll head. I loved their new felt beads and their new doll stamp line. Will need to get some for my girls at school. I will post a pict of my bracelet later. They had a lot of fun new things. Their website is artgirlz.com and the blog is artgirlz.blogspot.com.

I then headed to the Quilting Arts section where there was the Make It University and some of the CPS artists demonstrating different things. I met Cheryl Prater and two other cover artists. I also met the publisher, Patricia Bolton. She explained why she was nicknamed "Pokey". I had brought my funky journal and some journal art cards to show Mary during lunch. She liked them and my ATCs that I brought for swapping. I did swap out some ATCs and I gave one to Patricia. I am going to submit some art to CPS. I would love to write for them or to be one of their contributing artists. I wonder if they need a technique writer. Ya'all think I could do that?

While at the Quilting Arts booth, I signed up for a renewal sub to CPS. It was a great deal. I also picked up some chipboard squares for an idea I have in my head. The chipbooard squares were used to depict focal images and then were made 3D with a little wood block behind it. The whole thing was put inside the backside of a piece of canvas. It was a very fun thing. I will have to try it and put my DeMengi spin on it.

I also picked up some fusible Angelina Fibers from the Quilting Arts booth. I am going to try them this weekend. I will let you know how it turns out. I will post my experiment. There were also a lot of great art books there. Just did not have the money to spend on all that. I have to save for Art Unraveled. I loved the accordion books that were on display.

One other stop that I made worth mentioning was the booth with Cheryl Darrow - Ten Seconds Studio. I picked up some black metal sheets and some new patterns. I especially liked the ones with all the letters. Will play and post to my blog.

Kelli Perkins was also at the show. She was by the Quilting Arts area where the other CPS artists were. She did a great demo on paper beads. Yes, one more thing for me for me to try and to post to my blog. Her way was very easy and messy. She traded some ATCs with me. I loved her egg art. She had some wonderful ABs displayed. Loved that girl's hair and she was wonderful IRL.

Overall, I had a great time walking around. I am glad that I got there early because it got really crowded after lunchtime. I met with Mary and then went home. I really enjoyed looking at everything. I could have skipped 80% of it because it was all quilting stuff, but it was great to see the wonderful quilts and the detail involved.

I went home and plopped down. Feet were tired and sore from all that walking around. Even my purse felt heavy by the end of the day.

Hope to see some of you at next's year Quilt Festival and some of you soon at Art Unraveled.

Comments welcome