I’m back from the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. I went with my friend Wilma and it was a very eventful weekend. It all started with her alarm going off two hours early and our train being delayed three hours because a drawbridge was open. We ended up driving to another city to catch a completely different train, but we eventually made it. There were a whole series of mishaps, but the worst was me losing my cell phone! (I’m waiting to hear back from the show organizers to see if it turned up in lost and found. Meanwhile I’m waiting for UPS to deliver a new one.)
But we kept an open mind and kind of rolled with the punches and just went from one near-disaster to another. At least we had good company (each other, and our friend Diane who joined us there). We had a great time even while we were waiting two hours for the train home (because we missed the 6:00 PM train).
So, how can you help the environment with your quilting? While at the show I visited the booth of Maeda Importing (http://www.maedaimporting.com/) and saw Japanese quilting fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric came in gorgeous Japanese prints and felt like polyester. It could also be used for making clothing. I thought it was a fabulous idea and I hope it catches on.
The fabric is a little expensive right now compared to cotton, but it should come down in price as it gains popularity. Best of all instead of chemical-intensive farming, this fabric reuses something many of us throw in the trash every day. One piece we saw was a lovely robin’s egg blue and had a print of flying birds on it. It was about 30″ x 30″ and about $25.00. I thought it would make a beautiful scarf.
While there the woman working the booth got Diane and I hooked on Sashiko. Neither of us had tried it before (and Diane is not even a quilter), but we each fell in love with the simplicity of it. I bought a little kit and got a good start on it during that two-hour wait at the train station! (Diane lost hers on the el train! I told her it was our bad luck rubbing off on her.) Wilma bought 9 small printed blocks and we spent some time at the train station trying to figure out what she should do with them.
All in all we had a great time and we wish we could go to Paducah in a couple of weeks for the AQS show! I don’t have the time off though. Oh well, maybe next year.
Posted by: Opening the heart, Quilting, quilt shows — Kelly Smith
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