The Australasian Quilt Convention and Expo (or What I did on Saturday)

Quilting has never been my thing but I have to say I had a great time at the Australasian Quilt Convention and Expo. Not usually a something I'd attend, especially since it's so close to this year's Stitches and Craft show (I can't wait!), but I figured my Ma would enjoy it. CC was also keen to check out quilting and see what the fuss was about.

The Expo had several free seminars lined up over the course of the day but after examining the timetable we decided we were better off just wandering.

The venue was was split up into 2 main sections - the exhibitors and the stalls - and unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the stalls area as I didn't want to step on any toes and have people think I was going to steal their designs. I did ask one stallowner if I could take a photo of a quilt that was on display at his stall (CC bought the pattern for it so I wanted to share it here) but he wasn't keen, which was understandable.

I did manage to snap a few pictures of some of the quilts that were on display as part of the exhibition - mainly the ones I found particularly appealing. I tend to appreciate the less traditional quilting designs - some of them were just great works of art for wall hanging more than anything else.

The display section included a whole range of quilts by Gloria Loughman, who Ma pointed out was very well known in quilting circles.

'Backwater' by Gloria Loughman - the sunglare on this isn't great but you can still see the colours glowing

There were also entrants to the 2010 quilting competition on display - here are a couple of my favourites:

'Double Happiness Shoes' by Margaret Lamb - love the bright colours.

'First Kiss' by Anne Davis - the close up shows the detailed quilting that you don't notice from afar. My personal favourite.

Of course, on top of checking out all the quilts, we also came away with quite a few goodies! I bought a Melly & Me Mrs Perkins softie pattern and a fabric pack from the Patchwork with Gail B stall, which is where Ma came away with a dozen pretty fat quarters. Also purchased for Ma was a Jelly Monster to help with the cutting of quilting shapes.

Purchases for Ma and I

CC must've been really inspired with everything she saw since she ended up coming up with fat quarters, a pattern, a cutting board, a rotary cutter and a ruler - so I'm just waiting to see what she whips up.

We ended the outing with some pizza on Lygon Street and managed to get a seat outside since the weather was fantastic - not bad for a month before winter I must say.

The day ended with dinner and a viewing of Iron Man 2 at the IMAX. All in all a great day out.