What an exciting and wonderful few days I spent with my friend attending the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Virginia!
This was my 5th year? It's become an annual tradition! I'll link the previous years' trips in case you missed seeing those posts. 2013--Part 1; 2013--Part 2; 2013--Part 3. 2016. 2017. 2018--Part 1; 2018--Part 2.
This was the first year Tom traveled with me...and since he's retired now, why not?! My friend's home is in Gloucester, about 3 hours' drive from us. Tom was scheduled to have some "guy time" with Chris's husband while we were at the quilt show. Husbands of quilters can have fun, too! :)
We were graciously welcomed at my friend's home with so many sweet touches....here's our guest room bed with a welcome bucket full of necessities. She wanted me to sleep under the Christmas quilt I made her before she put it away for the season. Sweet! 
Another basket of "necessities" was nearby on the desk, along with our itinerary and menu for the week. I truly felt like I was in a Bed & Breakfast! So fun! 
After a quick bite to eat, we left for the one-hour drive to Hampton. The first night was preview night at the quilt show. We arrived, checked in at the registration desk, and received our souvenir pin for the 30th anniversary of the show and the packet of materials: 
Here's the badge holder that my friend made last year for us to keep our quilt pass in and a place to pin our collected pins! There's a zipper small pouch on the back for money and/or credit cards for hands-free shopping. It worked great! 
The first night is usually low-key with crowds. It's a time to preview the vendors to see what products are available in case we need to think about purchases we want to make the next day when we return for the all-day show: 
Let's start with the Best in Show or maybe it was Judges' Choice...whichever, it was intricate and beautifully quilted:
Here's another beautiful quilt which was on display as a winning entry, and my friend Chris and her mom, who attended the show with us, stand by it: 
Aisles and aisles and aisles of vendors...miles of walking and walking. My poor feet were not happy with me! The below photo was taken on the less-crowded preview evening....but for the main show the next day, aisles were jammed with quilters: 
This next photo was my favorite part of the quilt show! Really! Former long-time owners of our local Patchwork Plus quilt store were at the show as vendors for a long-armed quilting machine company. I hadn't seen Ken and Phyllis in years! It was such a highlight to chat with them a few minutes, and it brought back many memories of taking classes at their shop: 
Here's my friend Chris trying out one of the machines....hey, it's only $9,500: 
I'm standing in front of a unique selvage quilt. I've been saving selvages forever! I'd love to duplicate this pattern! 
A few other quilts I snapped photos of:
Butterfly: 
Artsy Floral: 
Kaleidoscope Quilt:
Picking out some fat quarters for a new project: 
Chris's sister Edie attended the show on Thursday with her two daughters. It was fun having them with us this year! Here's Edie trying out a new craft: 
Sooo many different vendors for many different interests: 
Here's a very artistic quilt....not your typical for sure. How did the quilter do this??: 
As you can see, the very colorful displays caught my eye and camera: 
Lots of beautiful quilts on exhibit, lots of supplies and fat quarters, and lots of quilts hanging for inspiration filled our day! It was very fun! And especially fun with friends.
Soon the end of the day arrived, and it was time to head back to Gloucester.
The next day would be even more fun and exciting than the quilt show! We were going to have a Quilty Girls Sewing Day at my friend's house! I couldn't wait to see the project she had cooked up!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
~Deb
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