I was fortunate enough to travel with the PEI Modern Quilt Guild President, Heather, who is a seasoned traveler and lovely companion. Heather has been to a QuiltCon before, so it was great having someone who knew the ropes.
Let me just say that "overwhelming" was the word that described my feelings best. I was super excited to be at QuiltCon 2019, and there was just so much to see!!! We spent 5 nights in Nashville, and the time flew by!!
Wednesday was a free day for us to do some sightseeing. We met up with Kirstin from the Ottawa MQG, in the morning and took the backstage tour of the Ryman auditorium. It was a great experience!! We even had photos taken standing on the Grand Ole Opry stage.
After the tour, we were famished and decided to go to Martin's BBQ. It was so, so good. I highly recommend it. We shared a sampler platter and it was all fantastic!! After lunch we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was super interesting and informative. The displays were beautifully arranged and the clothes were amazing!!
Registration opened Wednesday evening and we didn't even mind the line, because the hallway was lined with charity quilts. Here are just a few of my favourites..
We even got to admire the PEI Modern Quilt Guild charity quilt, and have our photo taken with it. (One of my favourite parts of the QuiltCon experience, was casually listening in to the people admiring our quilt, with many onlookers commenting that it was unlike any of the other charity quilts on display...)
The following 4 days were a whirlwind of activity, amazing food, and friendship!! I hope you enjoy experiencing Nashville,and QuiltCon through my eyes. If I missed any of the information about some of the quilts I have shared, I'm sorry. I was a super excited and forgot to take photos of the quilt info on the first day...
QuiltCon Day One
After breakfast at "Biscuit Love", we made our way to the convention centre. I felt free to explore the quilts at my own pace, admiring the quilts that appealed the most to me. Heather and I agreed to meet up just before the "Wonderfil" demonstration in the afternoon. I spent the morning mostly on 1 side of the convention centre, which was HUGE, but I will admit that I made my over to the Vendor Mall before we met up. I wanted to be mindful of what I purchased, so I made sure to look at everything several times before our final day.
The vendor mall was very busy and there was certainly a lot going on... It was really fun getting to meet Laura Heine on the first day and getting her to sign my pattern. Thank goodness Jean has some experience with Laura's patterns, because I think I will need some help getting started on my "Mini Havana" kit.
We made our way to the Wonderfil booth for a "Make and Take" embroidered bag demonstration. While we were there I had the opportunity to meet and chat with these lovely folks from Martelli. We had a lot of fun sharing our PEI connection, and even managed to get some stitching done.
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| Photo credit to the Wonderfil Facebook page |
Heather and I spent a little more time at the Vendor mall together, trying to spot some great buys for fellow guild member Janet, who gave us carte blanche to pick up some goodies for her.
We met up with Kirstin for dinner and drinks, then it was back to the hotel room to rest up for the next day.
QuiltCon Day Two
We were up bright and early, and made our way down to the Gulch for breakfast. "Milk and Honey" was a lovely place to start our day. I had french toast and a chai latte, which was super tasty!!
This was also the day that I really started to feel pretty poorly. So we found a quaint little pharmacy and with meds in hand we made our way back to the conference centre for Day 2.
This time I focused on the other side of the show.
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| Sorry, I didn't get the info on this piece, but the quilting is amazing!! |
I spent some more time in the Vendor Mall, taking Longarm machines for a spin. Then it was time for another Wonderfil demonstration. We had a lot of fun learning about threads and their uses, their benefits and drawbacks.
After a quick rest in the hotel room, Heather and I joined Kirstin and Wendy, from the Renfrew MQG, at the "Southern Steak and Oyster", which was technically full but after some quick talking and bargaining we were able to get a table under the condition that we could order, eat and be gone by a certain time. It was pretty funny, and the food was delicious. I had the "Chicken Fried Chicken" which came with White Mac & Cheese. It was probably the best fried chicken I've ever had!! The best part of the evening was watching Wendy try to finish her rack of ribs while telling the waiter, " I still have 5 minutes!!!" And you know what? We all finished on time, so it was good all around.
With full bellies and lots of laughter we made our way to the Omni Hotel for a Meet & Greet with all the Canadians at QuiltCon who wanted to participate. It was a lovey evening, meeting fellow MQG members from Canada. We enjoyed playing a few rounds of Never, Have I Ever (a really fun game with prizes, which we liked so much, we adopted it for our recent PEIMQG retreat).
QuiltCon Day Three
This day was spent much like the previous 2 days, except I had the pleasure of meeting Jacquie Gering. I picked up a signed copy of her "Walk" book at the show and even got a fun photo with her as well!!
I also spent some time admiring the remaining charity quilts that were displayed around the perimetre of the Show.
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| Missed the info on this one too... |
We decided to walk from the restaurant to the show, which turned out to be quite the adventure, walking through muck in the dark until we reached the "Gaylord Opryland Resort" where we were finally on a lit path to the venue. The show was really great. I thoroughly enjoyed every performance, and I'm glad that Kirstin invited me to go with her, while Heather had a class.
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| Tegan Marie |
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| Mark Wills |
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| Eric Parlay |
QuiltCon Day Four
This was our last day in Nashville, and we were pleased to spend Breakfast among fellow MQG leaders. It was interesting to see that no matter if the guild is small or large, we all face the same challenges. Whether it's getting your 1st Quilt Show off the ground, or encouraging member participation, we all have similar experiences to share as leaders in our perspective guilds.
After breakfast we made our way back to the Quilt Show. I really wanted to walk around taking in all the amazing quilts on display. Taking photos of quilts I may have missed from the first few days.
With one more stop to the Vendor Mall, FINALLY getting the few things I had decided to purchase over the last few days. Some of my favourite fabric finds were from Alison Glass, Libs Elliot, and Violet Craft. It was a good thing I was so mindful with my purchases because my suitcase barely squeaked in under the 50 lb. limit!!!
Our last supper in Nashville was spent at "Sambuca's. We shared a few appetizers...the Shrimp & Crab Dip was yummy and I enjoyed the Charcuterie Board. Heather enjoyed her Scallops and Risotto with Asparagus, but my main goal was to sample a decadent dessert... The Berry Cobbler Streusel was the perfect finish to my trip to Nashville. We left before the live entertainment got started, unfortunately, we had a very early flight in the morning, so it was back to the hotel to unwind with a few drinks before bed.
I feel that my trip to Nashville and QuiltCon 2019 was truly an incredible experience. I was overwhelmed, and overstimulated a lot of the time, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. I hope I have another opportunity to attend in the future.
I want to thank Heather for her companionship and insight, she really is the perfect travel companion, and I wouldn't have gone without her. So thanks Heather, you are the best!!!
~ Cathy
