I went to the AQS Quilt show in Grand Rapids yesterday. I was so excited to see what the show was about this year. I follow AQS on social media and this is the one show I get to most years. There have been some changes in the past year with retirement of their director of 30 years. I was curious how this would affect the show.

The show was wonderful. There were many quilts that were new, innovative and interesting. Not every quilt looked the same. Not every quilt had to be bedazzled even though many were, not my favorite thing honestly. Many quilts were mixed with hand stitching, crochet or lace. Some were very big, others small. More Modern quilts were in the show and more contemporay quilts, art quilts and plain amazing quilts. I enjoyed them all but several quilters from Japan entered and I loved their work so much. I loved the hand quilted quilts too.

Some embroidery machine quilts were there and they were gorgeous. But I love quilts that look and feel like a human made them. I loved brighter colors and eye catching pattern. Here are a few pics of my favorites, the video above is a quick look at the show.

I won’t post all of the pictures because going to the show is the only way to really see the depth of the piecing and stitching. I liked the show and new magazine so much so I joined AQS for the year. I see the benefits of joining things these days and supporting things that I think are important.

My husband drove me to show and we started talking about the possibility of going to Paducah in the spring. AQS also had retreats now with instructors, which are very appealing. I came home inspired and feeling excited to try to make a quilt. I hope to try to enter a show again one day. I also want to try to get to the Houston show one day. I think that seeking beauty, chatting with other quilters and seeing what is available in the vendors booths are all very exciting and good for the soul.

I will talk about it more on my next podcast for more in depth feelings and observations

Be Creative,

Vicki