Summer Fun with Shipshewana, Quilters Gathering and bright blooming blocks

I just got back last weekend from Shipshewana, Indiana for the 2022 Quilt Festival. It was a fun time and I loved the wonderfully nice ladies I met there (and gentlemen too!). I got to share about my journey into fabric and quilt design, talk on a panel with Amanda Murphy and Devon Iott, mini-lecture about why I love precuts, do demos in Yoder Department Store on Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler, and teach 2 workshops (Mod Flower Box and Tightrope). Whew! It was a good time.

How is it that in the land of horse and buggy, I am given a Dodge Challenger at the car rental? I am not exactly a hot-rod driver so it wouldn't be my first choice. And even funnier still was watching me wrestle my suitcases of quilts up and out of that deep deep trunk...

The charming Ms. Pam Selkirk of Serendipity Woods came in to take Devon's class "Looper" and we had a good time sharing ice cream, talking and visiting vendors.  My last morning there was my time to see Gudrun Erla's Quilts of Iceland exhibit and do a little shopping myself.

I was thrilled to meet Denise Guthrie from Mercantile on Main. I will be going to Berlin, Ohio in August and joining up with Corey Yoder for the Quilter's Gathering. Denise has been organizing it and I loved seeing her booth and some of the projects she has made in Tulip Tango.

Baby quilts using Charm Packs from the "Charming Baby Quilts" book.

Constance in Tulip Tango!! Yes please!

At Quilter's Gathering in August there are spaces left in my Criss Cross Kisses workshop and my color play workshops. This trip to Shipshewana was my first time back out in person doing workshops and it felt really nice to be out with other quilters. 

Below are some quilts from Gudrun's exhibit. I love this Lopapeysa quilt based on Icelandic sweaters. The drama of the black, the simplicity of the one line of decorations...and the richness of all that amazing quilting! I loved this quilt when I saw pictures and I loved it even more in person.

The purple stalks of flowers...

And I loved the quilting on this one and how it overlayed the blocks with its curves and interlocking chaining.

I feel like my summer of quilting fun has officially kicked off! I'm visiting my Mom in July so that means some quilt-talk and perhaps a visit to the Quilter's Destination in Arlington Heights, IL. I'm speaking to the Valley Quiltmakers in Northridge in July, teaching in Berlin Ohio in August and then going on my own vacation to sew. Before you know it, Quilt Market will be here and all the holidays and fun of the fall. I hope your summer is started with creativity and color and good quilty fun too!