Another QuiltCon is in the books! I had a wonderful time in Atlanta seeing quilts, teaching workshops, and catching up with friends from all over.
Unfortunately, I caught covid while I was there. I flew home Monday, and felt crummy on Tuesday, but I tested negative and chalked it up to typical post-QuiltCon exhaustion. But yesterday I woke up feeling much worse, and quickly concluded it had to be covid. A positive test this morning confirmed it.
I’m bummed, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I know of at least two people I had a lot of direct contact with who tested positive before I did, plus several others who I didn’t interact with but were at QuiltCon. So the germs were clearly there! If I had to pinpoint the day I was most exposed, it was probably Saturday, but who can really say for sure?
I knew full well that there was a chance I’d come home sick — getting sick post-QuiltCon was a thing even before covid. I’m not upset or angry, just hoping to feel better soon…
But! Despite the post-show illness, I had a fantastic 4+ days at the show. I had two quilts in the show this year: Cosmic Shores (in the fabric challenge category) and Moon Lights (in modern traditionalism). Both of my girls had a quilt in the youth category as well. It was fun to see all of these hanging in the show! I felt the fabric challenge category in particular was really strong this year, with a lot of varied and interesting designs.
I taught workshops on Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Saturday night and they all went very well! My students seemed to have a good time, and both of my projects — postcards and my Spiraling Triangles mini quilt — are things that can be either fully or mostly finished within a 3 hour class. Students really love being able to make significant progress in class and avoid going home with a large WIP, so I got a lot of good feedback on that!
Three workshops felt like the right sweet spot for me — it was enough to be a solid offering to students, but not so much that it prevented me from seeing the rest of show or spending time with friends. This was my second year teaching at QuiltCon and I hope to be part of the faculty again in 2024.
In addition to my own quilts, I contributed to 8 (!!) other quilts that were in the show in the group/bee and community outreach categories. I knew I’d made a lot of blocks for group efforts in 2022, but counting them up as I walked through the show was eye-opening. Apparently, if you ask me to make a block for your quilt, the answer is always yes! Ha!
As the newly elected MQG Region 2 board member, my quilts are ineligible for awards for at least the next 3 years (aka the length of my term). But I was excited to live vicariously through others when my Quilts Unscripted beemates Elizabeth and Ellyn were awarded 1st and 2nd place ribbons in the group/bee category! More than half of us were able to attend the show (in the left picture below, it’s Emily, Ellyn, Carole, Sarah, E.A., Elizabeth, and me) so we were able to take group pictures with each quilt.
I also participated in the Houston MQG and Gulf Coast MQG community outreach quilts, and a third community outreach quilt created by a group of friends. Using the first initial of each person, we nicknamed ourselves the Jake Shlims Collective — Jessica, Allie, Kitty, Elizabeth, Sarah, Heather, Lee, Isabelle, Melissa, and Sarah.
2023 was a great show, and I’m looking forward to Raleigh in 2024!
Some gorgeous quilts! Sorry to hear you got sick – hope it is not too bad and doesn’t leave you with long term issues. I wonder if there had been a mask mandate and some transparency on air filtration and ventilation rates … how many people could have avoided gotten sick.