International Quilt Festival Chicago 2016 – wrapped up!

We made our way back to our hotel room after Iron Quilter tired but extremely happy! It had been a fantastic evening. To top the night off it was snowing and of course Sheila needed a picture…IMG_6199Saturday morning dawned bright with just a sprinkling of snow. (If we looked carefully from our balcony we could see Willis Tower on the horizon behind the trees.)IMG_6201The schedule said Happy Scrappy Improv Quilts from 9 until 12 so we made our way back across the walkway at around 8 AM to allow plenty of time to prepare. Everyone arrived with their bag of scraps and a design wall and we were soon at work, stitching and cutting and stitching some more.IMG_6204More scraps and stitchers on the other side of the room.IMG_6203Aren’t those bird blocks cute? They came to class like that. I used them for a quick demo of alternative gridwork.

Three hours go by so fast! We still made time for the gallery walk, ready to be inspired by each other’s progress.

Love the bold prints in this one.IMG_6219Improv log cabins…IMG_6223The beginnings of a cityscape…IMG_6222And one sewn completely together, ready for framing.
IMG_6216We actually managed to get a photograph of the whole class looking suitably happy.IMG_6212I’m looking forward to receiving finished project pictures very soon!

Sheila and I needed to return to our room and check out during the lunch break so that’s what we did. All those steps were adding up on my FitBit to become quite a reasonable number for a sedentary quilter…

Wrapped in Scraps was a great class to finish off a very busy three days. We had a nearly full room so I wasn’t the only person to think that way. We had the machines set up with the slide on tables, and knee lifts available for those wanting to try them.IMG_6240I’ve learnt that you have to keep an eye on the back row in any class. These ladies had come all the way from New York City. They were ready for fun!IMG_6245The two students in the back left hand corner were from out of state too. They were making lovely purple bowls.IMG_6244People always find interesting ways to make a project work for them…IMG_6249Quite a few people managed to finish a bowl in the three hours. Isn’t this one pretty?IMG_6247Here are those two back row purple bowls in the middle of a good looking line up.
IMG_6251And just like that it was 5 o’clock and going home time!

Another Festival over. All that remained was to pack my bags, retrieve my car and head back to Naperville.

Thanks are due to all the Quilts Inc. staff who made everything work so well, the sewing machine support staff who kept the machines purring, Sheila who came from California to keep me on the somewhat straight and narrow and of course the students without whom I would be talking into thin air and not having any fun at all!

Next stop Birmingham, Alabama…