QuiltCon: Diamonds and Stripes
I've been silent for awhile. It has not been because there is nothing to say. There has been far too much to say. February was the month of insane hours on resumes and prepping for interviews, and one of those jobs, I got. (So that is awesome. Obviously there is a lot to say there.) I literally got a job offer, countered, accepted, quit my data entry job and packed for QuiltCon in the span of thirty-six hours. I went to QuiltCon with all this information in my brain about the new job I would be starting in B2B software development the Monday I got back, so I was busy being totally inspired each of the days I was in Austin, and learning about my new industry in the hotel room at night for an hour, before passing out by 10 p.m. Since then my second job and my new job, plus regular life things like cooking, sleeping, relationship time, exercising, and reading have occupied any time I've had. Oh, not to mention that little side project, my first novel, that I'm working on, too. And in the whole mix, I am truly inspired to sit down at my sewing machine and work on some quilts. I just haven't had any time at all.
But I finally got around to curating a collection of my favorite images, my most inspiring snapshots, from the whole weekend in Austin, Texas, for the inaugural QuiltCon, and it was so lovely to reflect again on that special time alone. It was amazing to be there alone. No one else's time mattered in the least; it was what I wanted to do, at exactly any time, for however long. Friday, I went to seven lectures, including Yoga for Quilters, where we actually got up and did some morning yoga.
So I am sharing, in bits and pieces, some of the images and quilts that made the biggest impact on me. This is a series of beautiful things that struck me at my core, in a larger weekend consumed by beautiful things. What I mean is, pretty much everything was amazing to even make it there, but within that highly competitive and truly modern collection, there were some that spoke volumes. And there will be bits of my experiences too.
This quilt, by Elizabeth Hartman, is simple enough, but so striking. Initially, I didn't think much of it, really. But I kept coming back to it. Something about the crisp lines where the diamonds touch the negative space is so satisfying. I was struck by taking simple strips to make stacks of color, tone on tone, but making their ultimate shape a diamond instead. I'm not a huge fan of lots of pattern in my fabrics, so I am always looking for clever ways to use some of it without overpowering the pattern and tiring the eye. This is a pleasing presentation of prints (I adore the deer wearing sunglasses in the pink polka dot fabric). I'm using it as inspiration for a wedding quilt, which I'll of course share when it comes together.