Adventures in Ohio

For the second year, LauraQuilts and I served as judge's aides at the NQA Annual Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio this past week. We worked like rented mules (as Laura likes to say) but we had a blast too. We got to catch up with folks we met last year and meet new friends.

We took off up the road last Saturday, stopping at The Woolen Willow in Williamston, West Virginia on the way. Sunday morning we were in the judging room at 7:30 a.m. and helped out by doing such wonderful jobs as scribe's aide, fanner, reader, runner, and holding room aide. Here's what the holding room looks like...kind of like a morgue actually.



It's amazing how they get through 400 quilts in two and a half days. Judging finished up Tuesday afternoon and then we helped with photography. This part is brutal work but we have a blast. Every one's more relaxed because the judging is over and the show is about to begin.

After the photography was done, a group of us treated ourselves to dinner and a beer together at Barley's Pub. My sides hurt from laughing by the time we heading back our hotels.

Wednesday morning, we helped hang ribbons and then Laura and Rosemary, a CJ Candidate from Maryland, and I went on a road trip to Marion, Ohio to visit Good Wives Company. Afterwards, we had lunch at The Warehouse in Marion. Yummy.


Rosemary knew of another little quilt shop along the way back called Serindipity. It was very sweet and I found some cool novelty prints there.


THEN, heading back into Columbus, I saw a sign from Graeter's Ice Cream and the car just served right off the highway and into the parking lot. (Our long distance bee member, OhQuilter, introduced us to Graeter's a couple of weeks ago and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to corrupt Rosemary.)


Wednesday evening was the Preview Party, which starts out with a banquet then they open the doors to the show so we can see the quilts and shop. Here's me and Scott Murkin actually behaving ourselves at the banquet.


Here is one of the Best of Show quilts. They were all incredible.


Here's the highlight of the week though. I entered a quilt in the show...the first really national show I've entered. There were 40 quilts in the Duets category (Theresa DeWalt, the quilting goddess quilted this quilt for me). My quilt won an Honorable Mention.



No, I have not stopped grinning yet.