i just spent 5 days in austin, texas attending quiltcon, the modern quilt guild's inaugural convention. it was pretty epic. big props to the MQG for pulling off a kick ass, world class event in a damn fine city.

some favorite sights & quilts & finds are featured in my photo dump above.

a note on the photo with me and jay mc carroll: meeting him/taking a class taught by him (kitchen sink patchwork skirt) was a majorly big thing for me...i've been a fan since he was a contestant/winner of the very first project runway in 2005. i was just happy to have had the chance just to be in his aura for the day. :) a sure highlight of my mostly mundane existence. :)

on the "fuck you cancer" and "fuck" bee quilts...go here for more explanation (particularly on the latter). i snapped a photo of the cancer one for my mom. she was diagnosed with breast cancer in december and is going through chemo right now. DAMN RIGHT, CANCER SUCKS.

as for the "fuck" bee quilt...i am not much of a bee person (to date, anyway) but i would have totally done something like that had i been aware of it at the time. i love that it's provocative. quilting isn't always what you think it is, and it shouldn't be. not everything is "pretty". big props to the MQG for putting it in the show with no apologies/warnings/shame. it really says a lot about the general philosophy/ethos of the movement right from the outset. make of that what you will, and move on accordingly.

anyhow, i am positive that other people could cover and recap the event more eloquently than i ever could...and i'm fairly certain no one's reading anyway. if you were there, you know. :)