For the last couple of years, my sisters have made the trip across the state to Grand Rapids to attend the American Quilters Society QuiltWeek Show. I’ve never been able to meet up with them, but since we were going to be in the area this year, I planned to meet up with them and see what it’s all about.
I arrived a little earlier than them, and walked from the parking lot to the DeVos Center where the show was being held.
I was pretty impressed by how nice and clean Grand Rapids is – it’s a really beautiful downtown.
We met up outside the Convention Center – time for a quick selfie --
and then went inside to buy our tickets and sign up for door prizes . . .
then it was time to SHOP!
There were rows and rows of vendors – quilt shops, designers, and lots of sewing machine and longarm quilting machine representatives.
Around the outside of the show room were displays of 100s of quilts – so many beautiful quilts.
Some of them were theme quilts, original designs, collected by quilt guilds all over the country.
These were from a quilt guild in Florida . . .
Others were ribbon winners in various categories – we were amazed by the level of talent and creativity on display!
While many of the quilts were original designs, some of them were published patterns. This red and white quilt was a Block-of-the-Month project online several years ago. Diane, Deby, Tina and I all started this quilt, but Tina and Deby soon quit. Diane and I kept up with it for about half the year, but neither of us have finished it. I have the top half complete – seeing it finished here has me motivated to start working on it again . . . sort of! I’ll finish it one of these years!
In between looking at quilts, we were shopping . . . I am currently very interested in wool applique, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of wool and wool patterns that I was finding in the shops. I picked up several pieces of beautiful wool and a new patterns, as well as a few new tools.
About halfway through, we took a break for lunch.
More beautiful quilts!
More original designs . . .
Michigan Lighthouses – each scene was individually pieced!
This quilt from Japan had crocheted snowflakes covering the borders!
One of the Grand Prize winners . . . it was called Chemical Reactions, but my sister, Sandi, said it reminded her of a bowling alley!
Original designs that are true works of art!
We had a great day, found lots of great stuff, and ten went out for a delicious dinner! So glad I was finally able to spend the day enjoying this show with my sisters!
Meanwhile, back in Grand Haven, Tom and Bryce were having some quality “guy time” in the campground . . .
and in downtown Grand Haven.
The waves on Lake Michigan were really big that day!
It may not have been a good day for swimming, but it was a great day for flying kites or parasailing!
Grand Haven State Park is right on the beach – the beach is beautiful, but I’m not sure we’d want to park the motorhome on all that sand!
The guys had a good day, too, and finished it off with dinner overlooking the channel between Lake Michigan and the Grand River.
More to come in our exploration of Grand Haven!
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