Gotta love a quilt show!

"Thistle Pods" by Maureen Woods, quilted by Vicki Ibison

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to spend the entire day (I'm talking 9:45am-5:00pm!) at the Fraser Valley Quilters' Guild show, Fabric Fiesta. The show is open today from 10:00am-4:00pm, so there's still time to check it out!

Mod Quilters (left to right: Holly (me!), Amy, Felicity, Terry, Paul, Diane)

My day started with the Iron Quilter competition. The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's "Mod Quilters" team was up against last years' champions from the Fraser Valley QG. Each team had two hours to complete a 36"x36" quilt from start to finish and we needed to incorporate a fat quarter of a feature fabric. It was lots of fun and we worked as fast as we could to complete our quilt.

As the clock ticked down, Terry was sewing like mad to secure our binding by machine, but we were only able to get about 1/3 of the way around the quilt before the bell went. Unfortunately, we were disqualified because we didn't finish in the allotted time, so our competitors won.

 Finished quilt by the Yellow Iron Quilters from the Fraser Valley Quilters' Guild

Their quilt was bright and cheerful with relatively complicated free motion quilting, very impressive!

Here's our team with our finished quilt, inspired by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr's Kyoto quilt.While Terry was quilting, Amy supervised the creation of a bonus pillow cover!

Our finished quilt, note the pieced binding!

We pieced our back and included a strip of the focus fabric. This step may have cost us the competition, but we wanted to show how modern quilters often piece their backs. We had lots of interest in the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild and modern quilting in general. I think there will be some quilters giving it a try!

After the competition, I took my time to walk the show and shop at the vendors' mall. What a treat to have this kid-free time! It was fun to run into some Instagram friends in person (Hi makinglifeprettier and christinaive!). The show was impressive, with a large display of mostly traditional quilts. I was blown away by the craftsmanship of some of the quilts, truly masterworks! Here's just a sampling:

 Honey by Fumiko Noguchi

 Abstract Hand Dye Wall Hanging by Vera Swaren

 Going Around in Circles by Val Smith

On the Wing by Val Smith

 Ultimate Insanity by Beckie Stewart, quilted by Lauren Tolhurst

 Como Lake Quilt by Robin Kilik, quilted by Lauren Tolhurst

Untitled by Sharon Franzius

I had some fun at the vendors' mall and got myself some Machingers for free motion quilting, some Aurifil, and one of those cute new aqua rotary cutters that Amy used for Iron Quilter. I totally scored in the boutique and picked up twenty magazines for $2.00! Can't wait to read my many new copies of Quilter's Connection and The Canadian Quilter and more!