Rosemont actually, but the plane landed in Chicago. (Remember that old blues song, "I'm going to Chicago, Sorry But I Can't Take You"? Lou Rawls used to sing it.) This past weekend was the
annual quilt show in Rosemont, right outside of Chicago. My seat mate on the flight up asked why I was going to Chicago and I told him I was going to a quilt show. He said, "Excuse Me?" (Leaning in to hear better.) "A
quilt show." "I'm sorry, are you saying '
quilts?'" I think he is still trying to process that someone would travel to go look at quilts...at a convention center, no less! Reminds me of several years ago when the Houston Astros made it to the World Series and the out of town team couldn't get hotel rooms because they were all booked by
quilters. The annual show in Houston is like going to Mecca for quilters, and at least 50,000 quilters descend on Houston every year to see the fabulous quilts and to purchase all the latest fabrics and gadgets from the vendors at the show.
The Chicago show is much smaller, but still...
These are the cars lined up to get into the parking lot! What recession?
I didn't find a
lot of inspiration at the show, but I did find fabric! (Shocked, I tell you, shocked!) Actually, I was well-behaved until the end of the show, when I did go a little bit over budget (OK, a LOT over budget). I had lunch with a wonderful group of women from the online African-American Quilting Group, and came home with a jam-packed suitcase and carry-on!
"Good friends are like stars...you don't always see them, but you know they're always there." Anonymous
