Milwaukee Machine Quilting Show

I spent 2 days last week in Milwaukee at the Machine Quilting Show and I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the show quilts were. Absolutely amazing in design and workmanship! I thought the non-winners were wonderful and the ones that got the ribbons--true works of art.

I took some pix and then the camera failed. Note to Barb--check the battery next time. Anyway, here's some of what I got:

Here's a close up of the quilt above. The quilting was so dense and precise. The little dots are crystals. A lot of the quilts had crystals and ample use of metallic threads.

This quilt was rather "ordinary" compared to the jeweled masterpieces but I like the quilting design and will use this in one of my "ordinary" quilts.

This is a blue on white quilt that looked amazing in person but the pix doesn't do it justice. Very intricate quilting on this one.

This one looked like an abstract design until I stepped back to take the picture and saw the face! I love the uniqueness of this one.

And here's a close up of the quilting and embellishments.

This quilt was absolutely beyond belief! I think it was done on silk fabric with lots of metallic threads and crystals. I remember that the mermaids were appliqued onto the top. I couldn't get the entire length of the piece in one picture--I think there's several more inches on the bottom and the top of this one. Just amazing!

And the last picture is one that was extraordinary in the show, but looks a bit dull here. It's a variation of a whack and stack--the quilter bordered each medallion like a feathered star. Another simply amazing entry.

I took two classes at the show--and learned a lot of things on how to attend to the details of finishing the quilt. Like various kinds of bindings and lots of tips on machine quilting.

I also spent some time at the Sunshine 16/Pennywinkle Ranch booth. This Tennessee company makes an affordable sit-down quilting machine--which is what I'd like to own--but I've never heard of them. Has anyone in Blogland heard of this company or better yet, owned one of their machines? Even tho their product is more affordable than those of the "big boys" it's still a sizeable amount and I'm hesitant to buy it without hearing from someone who's bought one.