just came back from the quilt show. has anyone been?

as usual the best were the best. some really remarkable works. it always amazes me that there's always a brand-new method with a whole new finished product.

there's really no end to the creative mind.

however, there were fewer people there than i have ever seen at a show in my life. and fewer venders, too. i don't know if it's the economy or what, but there you have it. so many empty booths, and hardly any lunch line. so far this year, it's the only one i've gone to, but is this true at the others also?

any feedback?

Any pictures?

left the camera in the car! didn't get pictures of the interior either! LOL!
you'd think that d**n camera would remember to call me back! :evil:

Some of the quilts were wonderful but my friends and I felt there was a lot of "sameness". Excellent workmanship but not a lot of "feeling". We all missed traditional quilts; there were very few.

I didn't think about it at the time but you're right about no lunch line. I was there Friday and usually at 12:30 there's a long wait. And the vendor aisles were easy to maneuver. Definitely less attendees, at least compared to other shows on other Fridays that I've attended.

We got through the vendors very quickly, yes there weren't as many. A good selection of fabrics and other "necessities" and we all managed to find some good things to buy!!!

did it also seem to you that there were many more longarm machines than ever?

I'm going to try to attend the Amish Quilt Show, in Berlin, Ohio. . . . have heard it's a big deal. I've taken two machine quilting classes recently. At these classes, the George home long-arm machine was discussed. I'm hoping they have a demo at the Quilt Show.

never heard of george, but i did see that pfaff introduced a longarm. also a company named home something. they're crawling out of the woodwork.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/lists/17352.page

You asked about experiences at other shows, and I did recently attend the Mid-Atlantic show in Virginia, and it was very crowded. It seemed that there were more attendees than in 2008. Lots of great vendors, and many workshops to attend (most were full). And lunch, well, the food is not great, but still a long line. I've only been to two large shows - this one and the one in Pennsylvania, and both have always had great turnouts. I'm not sure what gives in NJ (I lived there most of my life and didn't find that the quilting community was very large - maybe that's the problem). Try the September show in PA- I don't think you'll be disappointed.

i have been to the pa one and will probably be there again.

this year in nj was a good show, but a bad turnout. fewer venders, fewer people. what there was for sale was nice but not all the varietal, since the venders were not as many. ones that i have seen all over (harrisburg, pa, sommerset) for years were not there.

p.s. do you remember the name of the other thread where i showed the show pictures? i don't remember and can't find them. it was a thread where i was finally successful at getting the pictures through. thanks.