The Original Sewing & Quilt Expo is in town. Vendors, quilts and dolls less than 10 miles from my house, how could I not go?
I met up with my friend Barb and her friend, Judy, from Columbia, Mo., at the KCI Expo Center around noon and we were off and running. Barb and Judy are art quilters.
Some of my purchases Me, I’m as traditional as they come. So this was quite an experience for me.
I’ve not seen any of Judy’s work but she talked about doing screen printing on fabric. That’s an art medium I’ve not tried yet.
Now, Barb, I’ve known for many years. We raised our babies together and we had our own little sewing group over in Columbia before I moved to Kansas City about 25 years ago. That tells you a bit about this friendship that has endured.
When we first started getting together to sew, Barb was working on an Overall Sam quilt for her son Rick. She had started it when he was a baby, and he was around 8 or 9 when she picked it back up. She was determined to finish that quilt and accomplished that before I moved to K.C.
Barb is one of those artistic people with a need to learn and grow and push the envelope. She went from working on her traditional Overall Sam quilt to doll making. Now she is making art quilts. Sometimes she uses paper rather than fabric to create quilts. That’s a bit foreign to “always use high-quality cotton” me.
I appreciate the work Barb does. She also appreciates what I do. We just don’t have the same tastes in color choice or medium and that’s perfectly okay with both of us. After all, there is room for everyone in this wide world of quilting.
The first vendor I found intriguing was Color By Hand. They sold hand-dyed fabric and Australian fabric. I bought one yard of beautiful cotton sateen. It’s gray, white and purple and reminds me of a cold winter’s day. I also picked up four cuts of Australian fabric printed with aboriginal designs. That fabric calls to me for some unexplained reason.
Barb and Judy stopped at the Bo-Nash booth where the ladies were selling glitter, foil and glue pens. The glue was permanent and said to have a two-year shelf life. Permanent? Yikes, I think I’d rather have the washout stuff if I’m going to use glue at all.
The Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods booth lured all three of us 
Lace Windowin. I found a lace window that I had looked at when I was at Quilt Market. I didn’t pass up the opportunity to buy it this time. I also picked up cotton rickrack in two shades of pinks and in ecru. Barb and Judy both thought if they began picking things up in that booth that they might never stop.
Karen Pharr Studios was a booth the three of us also liked. I found a book to purchase while Barb bought paint sticks.
Barb found a booth that was selling Tsukineko ink that she likes to use on fabric. It’s an ink that can be thickened using an aloe vera gel. Very interesting!
Judy shopped at the Hancock’s booth. As the woman was cutting her fabric, she turned and looked at me and said as she laughed, “I bet you would never buy this!” She was right. Black, shiny quilted fabric is not my thing.
We went to dinner after we left the Expo. The three of us were chatting, laughing and having fun. All of us were gloating over our purchases. Each of us so different yet so much alike in the joy we take in creating art from fabric.
I, too, was drawn to the Aboriginal prints for sale by Color By Hand at the Expo. The dots suggest to me what the night sky must look like in the outback of Australia. I purchased the last pack of fat quarters and a yard of my favorite print. I know I should have purchased more. It will be fun to compare my prints with your purchases and see the finished projects. Donna, aka kcquilter