Des Moines AQS Quilt Show

Almost three weeks ago I went to the Des Moines AQS Quilt Show with my friend Julie - yes, I had someone to go with!  :)  We had a good time and saw lots of great quilts and fabric.  I thought I would finally share some with you.

 I really liked the vibrant colors and black background of this quilt.

 I loved this scrappy hexagon quilt with the black "sashing."

Almost better than the quilt was the name of the quilt, "Why Do People Think I'm Crazy?"  Who in their right mind would think she was crazy for piecing together thousands of tiny hexagons?  :)

 I loved the colors and all the different blocks in this quilt.  The funny thing was that just a few quilts down was the same quilt done in a different colorway.

 I love simple red and white applique.  Something like this is on my quilt life list.

 Julie pointed out the cool scalloped border made by the bat wings in this quilt, and as I stopped to take a closer look...

 I noticed that it was made by Becky Larson from Huxley, IA!  My little town of 3,000 had a quilt in the ASQ section of the show!  I have no idea who she is, but I thought it was pretty cool.

 This is a closeup of a Hawaiian style applique quilt.  At first I thought that the shiny red buds were made from fabric, but they are made up of very close lines of stitching with metallic thread.

 Love these applique poppies!

 After checking out the quilts and vendors in the main show area, we went into the arena where the local Des Moines Area Quilt Guild was having their show.

 I thought this idea of using bandannas for a quilt was brilliant - although I think I would chose ones not so Americana.

A postage stamp quilt.   This is also on my list of things to make.

 I really liked the simplicity of this green and blue quilt.

 Loved the simple tiny blocks in multiple frames in this small quilt.

There was a section of the show with various WWII quilts.  This was one had appliqued badges from Navy uniforms on the front.  The woman who made it would trade the sailors a pack of cigarettes for a badge.  ?!?

When I looked closer, I could see that the badges had many different symbols on them - different Navy duties/jobs?  Pretty cool.

I had a good time, although I am pretty sure that the show has gotten smaller over the last three years.  I was hoping to find some specific vendors I had seen the previous two years and they weren't there.  Humm...  I mentioned to another quiltly friend that I was disappointed that I hadn't been able to find some of the fabric I had been hoping to see and she said, "You go to a quilt show to see vendors?"  Umm...yeah?  In case you were wondering, I totally scored some out of print American Jane prints and a Fairy Tale Friends charm pack.  :)

I am already trying to figure out a way to go to the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati in April or Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City (only a 3 hour drive!) in May.  I don't qualify as a vendor or a buyer, but maybe I could help at someone's booth?  A girl can dream, right?