NJ Quilt Fest

Made my annual trek down to the NJ Mancuso show today to hang out at the Handloom Batik booth, breeze through the quilts on display, and check out the vendors.  Because I got there in the afternoon, I found a parking spot near the entrance.
Here is the requisite picture of Usha and me - not such a great one of either of us; it was the end of the day and we were tired. But the delicious South Indian dinner we had together after the show revived both of us. Yum. Something we both look forward to every year!

I had fun chatting with one particular customer, who had just told Usha she had bought a bunch of fabrics from her a couple of years ago that she LOVED but didn't know what to do with.  Then she noticed the log cabin quilt I had made with Usha's batik fabrics and and said "I can do that!". She asked me to help her pick additional fabrics and she couldn't wait to get started on her own Log Cabin.

Trends I noticed as I ran through the aisles:
1) tons of people selling longarm machines. Goodness! Everybody is going into the longarm quilting business.

2) Lots of kits and patterns.  I mean, KITS for things you don't need kits for - like this four patch with a one patch.  Apparently a lot of people can't figure out on their own that a four-patch and a one-patch cut the same finished size can be put together.  I call this the 1960 Kitchen Curtain Quilt.  Oh, dear, oh dear. 

As I ran by one booth and saw paints, paintsticks, and Misty Fuse I stopped short and sprinted backwards, thinking "oh!!
somebody is finally catering to art quilters!!" It was Jane Davila with her sidekick Carlos and it was her first time exhibiting there.  Great to see her, too.

I was wandering up the aisle when lo and behold, I ran into Diane Wright!! She and David had driven down from CT, gone to the Morris Museum to see Jack Walsh's exhibt, and come to the quilt show.  Such a treat to see her, and we had a chance to chat.  Why didn't it occur to me to grab my camera? Duh.  

The quilts were - uh - mixed. Some beautiful art quilts and the usual head-scratchers. I will say there are more special exhibits with art quilts, every year. This is good -- although NJ tends to have mostly traditional quilters.  Across the aisle from Usha's booth were several articles of embellished clothing item on display.  I don't normally post pictures of people's work but this is worth a thousand words.

And speaking of words, I saved the best for last.  Mid-afternoon, I went to get a cup of coffee at the food setup and had to take a picture of this sign.
I will leave you to ponder the meaning.

Good night.