Anticipation of this weekend

I have been waiting one year for this Friday to come.  Thursday through Sunday the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XXI will be held in Hampton, VA.  My mom and I have attended this convention in the past and this Friday we will go again.  I am giddy with excitement as this weekend approaches and all of you quilters and fabric enthusiasts out there know what I'm talking about!

I love this show for a number of reasons.  The obvious reason is the time, effort and creativity that goes into these stunning works of art.  They are so inspiring!  And if you're crafty like me you tend to get overwhelmed at the possibilities of making one of these.  Inspirations and ideas come so fast that my head is spinning by the time we leave.

Photographs ARE allowed and my first passion has always been photography so I always go to these shows with plenty of memory cards.  This is my second reason for going.  To be able to take photographs and admire them year round.  I use them for inspiration.  Sometimes I see color combinations that I wouldn't have put together myself but "wow did they make that quilt pop with those colors!"  The other end of the color spectrum is black and white.  There is an entire section devoted to black and white quilts.  This one was my favorite.

But check this one out:

I wish I had the dimensions of this quilt (I'll do better this year).  But more than this quilt having all of the shading of these eyes was the blocks that made up this "portrait":

This year I will get more details so when I post pictures from the show I can give credit where credit is due and I can try to get the story behind it. 

Last year I took over 400 pictures so it would be almost impossible for me to choose a favorite but I'm going to.  My favorite:

Another part of this festival is all of the vendors that are selling quilting notions and fabrics.  Oh how I LOVE fabric!!  

I can't wait to post another blog about this years festival as I'm sure it won't disappoint... HAPPY QUILTING!!