If I have a home where my quilting roots go, it's Somers, New York, where my sister used to live and where I would visit. She had become a quilter and I took up counted cross-stitch which is a gateway drug to the full-blown addiction of quilting and fabric collecting. It wasn't long before I had spotted a wall hanging in one of her books and decided I wanted to make it, but in a bed size. That only took 18 months.
Years later, here I am in Manhattan, still a fabriholic, still quilting, buying fabric online. And every spring the Northern Star Quilters Guild show endures. Early on Saturday morning, my friends Lynne and I set out with our friend and nascent quilter Terri at the wheel north ready for a day of fabric and quilts.
We hit the vendors with the goal of finding certain fabrics, but always open to new ideas. I bought a pattern for a tote which I thought I could make in a larger size for myself. But when Lynne found the cutest New York-themed fabric for a tote for my niece who will be visiting me next month. So I bought the two cut yards and started looking for complementary fabrics that need to go with it. Suddenly I realized that I had to make a third bag but there was no more of the NYC fabric. Luckily my friends found another NYC fabric and so I bought that. Then I had the fun of finding the fabrics to go with it (see them above.) I'll be making three bags for the two sisters and the cousin, granddaughters of my sister. One visited New York last year, one comes this year and the third will visit next year.
After we visited every vendor, some twice, we went into the gym to see the quilts. Was it just us or was it smaller than last year's show? Some of them on display were truly beautiful. Some were interesting. Some remarkable for technique. Waiting to see them was smart as the crowds had subsided and we were free to gawk and take photos of the ones that caught my eye. Most amusing were the two security guards overheard discussing which quilts they liked.
Terri emailed me with a link to show in New Jersey later in the spring. We're going!
