MQX Midwest

I enjoyed my time at MQX last week. I took two classes from Linda Hrcka: one on feathers and one about how to use rulers, which was a hands-on (using a machine) class. Both were excellent although I have a long ways to go on the feathers! I also took a beginner basics class from DeLoa Jones and a trunk show with Teresa Silva. Teresa showed us how to draw a lot of different designs too. She showed us many of the quilts from her new book and I have to say that though the photos in the book were nice, I was so fortunate to see them in real life, because they were so much more amazing in real life.

Things I learned: all three instructors use primarily Superior Threads and mostly So-Fine and Bottom Line. They all prefer Quilter's Dream battings in most cases. They use the Dritz blue and purple markers or Bohin (white only) chalk. Two of the three use Linda's rulers (The Quilted Pineapple) and they were sold out by the time I got to my ruler class with Linda. Most of them don't change needles as often as you'd think. Wondering which way the batting goes, or what is right side up? The scrim side, which will look like it has an interfacing dot pattern on it and may be a bit shiny, goes down. Trying out machines at a show? Try making bumps, sort of like clamshell quilting, and see how the machine comes out of the valleys. Make sure the stitching stays consistent (same stitch length) coming out. Also go from right to left in a straight line to see where the thread breaks.

I didn't find much to buy since many of the vendors were machine vendors. I bought a few spools of thread, some extra pieces for my Leader Grips, and Teresa's book, which she autographed for me.

Linda Hrcka showing us some of her quilting.

Detail of one of Linda's quilts.

One of Teresa Silva's quilts.

Teresa's Lone Star quilt.

Detail.

Teresa's business name quilt.

I took a few photos in the show. The lighting was kind of odd, but it did really help the quilting texture show. The way the quilts were hung, you could see many of the backs too. I only had my cell phone with me, so these aren't great, but hopefully they are still enjoyable.

The special exhibit was the Cherrywood Lion King Challenge. 120 quilts were selected for the traveling exhibit. The quilts are 18" x 18" I think.

Here are some other quilts I liked. I unfortunately didn't get good enough pictures of the labels, so I've included them where I could.

Me: "Is that George Michael?" My husband's response to the picture of the quilt I texted him: "Is that George Michael?"
Quilt is George Michael by Mary Menzer.