quiltcon 2025

d5 and i went to quiltcon in phoenix for a day. short trip, in and out, so much packed in! the quilts were, of course, mindblowing and so inspirational. i did a photo dump of them on IG if you need to see more photos of quiltcon quilts. what made this day so special for us was the people! we had some really fantastic interactions with quilters and designers there that were almost overwhelming. we left so happy.

my first priority was to meet up with my long-time online quilt buddy from the early heyday of blogging circa 2013, michelle bartholomew. (this post! this is from when we first met online. i'm in the comments. so are sarah schraw and nicole/snips! oh, i miss the old blog days.) michelle is so talented. i've loved her quilts and her quilt photography for over a decade. we were actually going to room together at quiltcon 2017 in savannah, but my husband had a little accident and that went out the window. this year we were both at quiltcon and finally got to meet in person! turns out we're kind of hair twins, with similar (all-natural) coloring and highlights. 

michelle was busy in the morning helping a friend do book promotion, so we met midday for lunch. the easiest place to find each other - at her award winning quilt! i told you she was talented. we went to the convention center food court for lunch because it was convenient and i didn't remember the food from the last quiltcon, which seemed to mean it was at least okay. michelle and i picked a stirfry shop and got in line. as we approached the counter, i notice AMH was a few people behind us. wow. not a place to fangirl, so we didn't say hello.

we ate our lunch, which was not good at all, and talked, which was great. d5 was patient with me while we chatted, but eventually we all needed to move on. there were a bazillion more things i could have talked to michelle about. next time! and next time we will eat at a real restaurant.

while d5 and i were perusing quilts before lunch, i happened apon this cutie. i've followed amy smart "diary of a quilter" for a long time but somehow i did not expect her to be so darling. she was just the nicest, so friendly and engaging. we talked like we were old friends and she talked to d5, too. i was completely smitten with what a lovely person she is. i had no reason to expect otherwise, but it made me so happy to hit it off with her this way. i think i should have given her my bag - it matches her cute pants.

after lunch with michelle, we did the vendor booth side.

d5 tried out a longarm machine. no room for that around here, but it was a fun experience for her.

i met meghan of "then came june." her booth had so many adorable bundles and it was really fun to see so many of her quilts in person. d5 wasn't around so i didn't get a photo.

i also loved the "low and behold stitchery" booth. the eye candy!! i decided it was time to make a few purchases. i got an adorable retro fabric backing and yellow bundle. d5 picked some quilt stickers for herself. when we got to the register, my credit card didn't work. i had misplaced my backup card (in a clothing pocket) earlier in the week and only had the one card on me. i had to make a phone call and it turned out there was a security freeze on the card. good thing we got in the show and paid for our lunches before that started! i got them to unfreeze the card while i made my one purchase and then put it back on hold. darn. that was the end of my shopping for the day. i can get everything else i wanted online anyway, but it would have been nice to take it home right away and not pay shipping.

i did not pay any attention to who was going to be at quiltcon beyond michelle. so i was really surprised and delighted when i happened apon several designers i admire. first up was heather bailey.

this picture cracks me up - my face! hahaha. d5 took several photos for us, but this is, unfortunately, the best one. i think i was trying to get daughter to stop taking photos with a look, but instead i look like a maniac. in reality, it does kind of show how ecstatic i was to meet and talk to heather in person. she is my favorite designer! i'm so happy she is designing again. we got to talking and we have a couple of mutual connections. like, my seester went to art school with her and is good friends with her sister. i think this means heather and i should be good friends, too.

d5 fell head-over-heels for linsey's "pen and paper patterns" quilt designs in another booth. maybe when her skills get a little better she'll be ready to tackle something that complex.

we walked around another corner, i saw denyse schmidt in her booth, and my jaw dropped. we perused the booth a little and d5 told me i had to talk to denyse. i wasn't buying anything (stupid security block on my card), so i didn't want to take her time. but the daughter made me.

the colors in this "snake trails" sample quilt were so good! i may need to make one. or at least borrow the fabric palette.

we waited in line a minute and got to talk to denyse. (only one photo and she has her eyes closed - sorry denyse!) she was very gracious and nice to converse with; such a gentle, beautiful soul so full of creativity. i'm glad i listened to d5 and talked to her.

at this point, we were near the end of the vendor booths. our feet were tired. we were a little overwhelmed with all the sensory overload of quilts and fabric. i was giddy with the people we'd met. one more row to go and we would be done.

on the very far side, last row (or very beginning, depending on where you start from), i saw heather ross. it felt like too much for one day! i was so happy with my encounters with heather bailey and denyse schmidt. heather ross on top of that felt like a little too much. but again, d5 insisted we speak to her.

this turned out to be probably the best part of the whole day.

d5 recognized some of the fabric designs in the booth and was excited herself to talk to heather. she approached the first lady in the booth and started gushing about how much she loved her work. it was heather's assistant, haha. but she was really kind and talked to us for a bit until heather was available.

then we had the pleasantest experience of the day. despite there being a line of people behind us, heather gave us all the time in the world. and we weren't even buying anything. d5 is about the same age as heather's daughter, bea, and heather took a real shine to her. heather mentioned how bea and her friends will hang out in her studio sometimes and create things there. i said to d5, "can you imagine having a mother like this?" you know, an uber talented artist with tons of fabric lines under her belt and an amazing art/quilt sudio. d5 responds, "i do have a mother like that!" she melted all our hearts.

heather then asked us if we could take a picture together. i wasn't going to ask because of the line, but it was her idea. she suggested we do it in front of the strawberry print wall. great choice.

then she asked d5 if she could give her some fabric. uh, yes please!!

they spent a few minutes combing over the bundle options heather was offering d5.

and they kept conversing. 

you want to win a mother's heart, do something for her child. this was no sales gimmick, but i am for sure a hard and fast heather ross fabric fan now.

it's a good thing this was the end of the vendor booths because there's nothing that would top this meeting of heather ross! we walked out of the convention center stunned by heather's generosity, not just of the fabric, but of her time and attention she lavished on us. we were on cloud nine.

last encounter later on was at the phoenix airport. i found kate "quarter mile quilts" on display in terminal 4. somehow i had missed her posts that her quilted family portraits would be there, but i immediately recognized them. nice work, kate!