QOF Episode 127 - QuiltCon 2024

WEBVTT

00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:18.559
<v Brandy>Today is the day registration is now open for Quilt Con 2024 and Rally North Carolina, and we are keeping it quilting with the perfect episode for the occasion Today, I'll have a chat about all things Quilt Con with the director of events, Elizabeth Dax.

00:00:29.295 --> 00:00:41.625
<v Brandy>Hello and welcome to the Quilter on Fire Podcast, where I explore the stories, the connections, and the joy of guests in the quilting world that'll bring you more joy and less overwhelm on your own creative path.

00:00:42.015 --> 00:00:50.595
<v Brandy>I'm your host, Brandi Maslowski, also known as the Quilter on Fire, and I can't wait to get into this episode, so here we go.

00:00:51.392 --> 00:00:53.792
<v Brandy>My guest today is Elizabeth Dixon.

00:00:54.002 --> 00:00:59.582
<v Brandy>She is the director of events at the Modern Quilt Guild and one of only eight staff.

00:01:00.377 --> 00:01:05.236
<v Brandy>I said eight who run the ever-growing phenomenon known as Quilt Con.

00:01:05.656 --> 00:01:12.257
<v Brandy>I was once on a plane and told the fellow beside me I was going to Quilt Con, and he said, there's a Quilt Con.

00:01:12.346 --> 00:01:13.787
<v Brandy>You mean like Comic-Con?

00:01:14.117 --> 00:01:16.876
<v Brandy>And I said, no, it's not like Comic-Con.

00:01:16.882 --> 00:01:17.956
<v Brandy>It's way better.

00:01:18.466 --> 00:01:21.766
<v Brandy>Today we're gonna take a deep dive into this annual event.

00:01:21.826 --> 00:01:27.677
<v Brandy>So grab a pen and paper if Quilt Con is on your bucket list, and hang on for the ride.

00:01:27.977 --> 00:01:29.566
<v Brandy>Elizabeth, welcome to the show.

00:01:30.376 --> 00:01:30.947
<v Brandy>Thanks, Brandy.

00:01:30.947 --> 00:01:31.667
<v Brandy>Good to be here.

00:01:32.296 --> 00:01:37.246
<v Brandy>I am so excited to do this episode because Quilt Con is one of my favorite events.

00:01:37.486 --> 00:01:41.897
<v Brandy>Let's start off with a snippet about you as Director of Events.

00:01:42.167 --> 00:01:48.617
<v Brandy>Before you were known as M Q G Elizabeth, you had quite a nice footprint already in the quilting world.

00:01:48.856 --> 00:01:50.656
<v Brandy>So tell us a bit about yourself.

00:01:50.807 --> 00:01:50.927
<v Elizabeth>I.

00:01:51.557 --> 00:01:52.216
<v Elizabeth>Sure.

00:01:52.316 --> 00:01:57.596
<v Elizabeth>I came to quilting kind of accidentally when my son was born, actually a little bit after that.

00:01:57.596 --> 00:02:01.197
<v Elizabeth>Now that I say that he was about two years old.

00:02:01.201 --> 00:02:05.906
<v Elizabeth>And previous to that, I had been a workaholic medical education event planner.

00:02:06.417 --> 00:02:13.947
<v Elizabeth>I was definitely craving projects and things to do that were not related to diapers, feeding children and so forth.

00:02:14.276 --> 00:02:21.806
<v Elizabeth>And so I wandered into a Joanne's and wound up leaving with a sewing machine and all of the accoutrements to start quilting.

00:02:22.317 --> 00:02:23.887
<v Elizabeth>I quickly, I.

00:02:23.997 --> 00:02:25.947
<v Elizabeth>Excelled in quilting in that.

00:02:25.947 --> 00:02:27.176
<v Elizabeth>I enjoyed it.

00:02:27.537 --> 00:02:33.326
<v Elizabeth>I found it really pleasurable, and I started finding a community online almost immediately.

00:02:33.326 --> 00:02:36.056
<v Elizabeth>As I taught myself to quilt through blogs.

00:02:36.296 --> 00:02:37.796
<v Elizabeth>I wound up starting my own blog.

00:02:37.796 --> 00:02:40.736
<v Elizabeth>Don't call me betsy.com, which is defunct for the record.

00:02:41.456 --> 00:02:55.331
<v Elizabeth>But in the process of taking myself on that journey, I wound up writing two quilting books, a boatload of patterns and blocks of the month, and really just found a lot of joy through simple cotton and needle and thread.

00:02:56.051 --> 00:03:02.562
<v Brandy>Oh, well, it sounds like you found something that was just your, you know, your personal getaway from the work world,

00:03:02.562 --> 00:03:02.921
<v Elizabeth>right?

00:03:03.012 --> 00:03:03.641
<v Elizabeth>Yes,

00:03:03.771 --> 00:03:06.412
<v Brandy>So can you tell us a little bit about the two books that you wrote?

00:03:07.012 --> 00:03:07.372
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:03:07.372 --> 00:03:10.012
<v Elizabeth>My first book was called Becoming a Confident Quilter.

00:03:10.012 --> 00:03:15.352
<v Elizabeth>It was published with Martin Gale and is sometimes still available and sometimes not.

00:03:15.412 --> 00:03:29.241
<v Elizabeth>I still sell the book because I still have copies, but the book really was intended to be a one-stop shop to start quilting because everything that I found at the library that was, that sort of a book didn't appeal to me.

00:03:29.241 --> 00:03:43.491
<v Elizabeth>The fabrics weren't bright and modern, the styles of quilting and sometimes even the verbiage were so stilted and formal sounding that I really wanted to write something that was more like hanging out with your friend and learning something from a friend.

00:03:44.181 --> 00:03:48.401
<v Elizabeth>My second book ultimately was somewhat of a step up from that.

00:03:48.407 --> 00:03:52.961
<v Elizabeth>I, once I started quilting, I quickly found myself working in.

00:03:53.997 --> 00:03:58.556
<v Elizabeth>A couple of different bees where I was working with other quilters through flicker.

00:03:58.856 --> 00:04:00.146
<v Elizabeth>Yay flicker, sad flicker.

00:04:00.146 --> 00:04:01.947
<v Elizabeth>R i p flicker these days.

00:04:01.947 --> 00:04:18.821
<v Elizabeth>But I met tons of people and I learned tons of different things and techniques, including foundation paper piecing, which I definitely had a love-hate relationship from early on, my husband asked if everything was okay when I was throwing quilt blocks across the room and I was trying my first foundation paper piece block.

00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:26.321
<v Elizabeth>Ultimately, after I conquered it, because I'm not one to walk away from a challenge, it became something I was super, super into.

00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:34.740
<v Elizabeth>So my second book is the culmination of all the things that I learned about paper piecing over the years, and it's called the Quilters Paper Piecing Workbook.

00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:42.870
<v Elizabeth>It has all of my hot tips and favorite tricks about paper piecing and I think 18 patterns in it with all of the templates included.

00:04:43.500 --> 00:04:43.800
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:04:43.805 --> 00:04:44.821
<v Brandy>Well those sound really good.

00:04:44.821 --> 00:04:49.170
<v Brandy>So if someone's listening right now and they're thinking, I'm interested in one of those books, where can they get

00:04:49.175 --> 00:04:49.321
<v Elizabeth>them?

00:04:50.310 --> 00:05:01.110
<v Elizabeth>Both of the books are available through my square shop where there are also a handful of of P D F patterns still available, which is, don't Call me Betsy, all one word, square site.

00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:03.240
<v Brandy>Okay, that sounds really good.

00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.331
<v Brandy>Now, I would love to start the Quilt Con episode with a bit about the history of the show.

00:05:09.630 --> 00:05:16.920
<v Brandy>So can you take us back to that point in time where the Modern Quilt Guild staff was thinking, Hmm, we need something here.

00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:19.500
<v Brandy>And tell us how the story of Quilt Con began.

00:05:20.401 --> 00:05:31.980
<v Elizabeth>Well, quilt Con really was born out of a Twitter conversation about this growing quilting community and the need to get well everyone together in one place.

00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:38.670
<v Elizabeth>There were guilds popping up all over the world, but there was no centralized way physically for them to join up and meet with one another.

00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:40.261
<v Elizabeth>And that was where Quilt Con came from.

00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:42.331
<v Brandy>Yeah, that is so exciting.

00:05:42.331 --> 00:05:47.550
<v Brandy>So can you tell us a little bit about the founders and the number of years it's been happening?

00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:48.810
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:05:48.810 --> 00:05:53.490
<v Elizabeth>So the M Q G itself was founded by Elisa Ha Carlton and Latifa Sier.

00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:04.401
<v Elizabeth>And the first Quilt Con took place in 2013, just a few years after the M Q G itself as the association that everyone now knows was born.

00:06:05.091 --> 00:06:05.451
<v Elizabeth>Wow.

00:06:05.451 --> 00:06:09.321
<v Brandy>And so Quilt Con 2024 is gonna be the 11th show?

00:06:09.711 --> 00:06:09.920
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:15.350
<v Brandy>And okay, so how has it grown and changed over the years from 2013 until now?

00:06:16.401 --> 00:06:20.060
<v Elizabeth>The biggest changes really are, are numeric.

00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:31.221
<v Elizabeth>The number of quilts that we had the very first year compared to what we're seeing in the show these days, the number of education sessions, the attendees, everything has grown exponentially.

00:06:31.550 --> 00:06:36.170
<v Elizabeth>Whereas in 2023, we had over 600 quilts on display.

00:06:36.170 --> 00:06:41.750
<v Elizabeth>In 2013, it was just under 300 if our records are correct.

00:06:42.261 --> 00:06:51.153
<v Elizabeth>In terms of attendance, in 2013 was more in the neighborhood of 5,000, whereas in 2023 it had grown to over 10,000.

00:06:51.153 --> 00:06:52.293
<v Elizabeth>Well over 10,000.

00:06:52.757 --> 00:06:53.298
<v Brandy>Wow.

00:06:53.538 --> 00:06:59.028
<v Brandy>And last year I noticed you've been doing some really good work connecting with the host community.

00:06:59.028 --> 00:06:59.807
<v Brandy>So tell us about that.

00:07:00.963 --> 00:07:01.413
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:07:01.413 --> 00:07:14.923
<v Elizabeth>So in 2023 actually no going back in 2022, we were able to work with the Navajo Quilt Project in the Phoenix area to support the Navajo community in their quilting efforts, which was a really great experience.

00:07:14.923 --> 00:07:18.403
<v Elizabeth>We were able to do that again in Atlanta in 2023.

00:07:18.762 --> 00:07:24.973
<v Elizabeth>By working with the Brown Sugar Stitchers, it's important to us to uplift the voices of underrepresented communities.

00:07:25.242 --> 00:07:29.923
<v Elizabeth>So we are in every host city trying to find a group of that nature to work with.

00:07:30.283 --> 00:07:39.612
<v Elizabeth>In 2024, we'll be working with the African-American Quilting Circle of Durham, which is a historic guild that started back in 1998.

00:07:40.153 --> 00:07:45.762
<v Elizabeth>If you aren't familiar with the area, you might be saying to yourself, Durham isn't where you're having quilt on Elizabeth.

00:07:45.793 --> 00:07:53.862
<v Elizabeth>Well, if you're from North Carolina, you know that Raleigh and Durham are often referred to as the same place, to the point where the airport is called the Raleigh Durham Airport.

00:07:54.012 --> 00:07:55.903
<v Elizabeth>Yeah, the area is called the Triangle.

00:07:56.261 --> 00:08:01.511
<v Elizabeth>I don't know that I've ever known what the third city in the triangle is, but two of them are Raleigh and Durham.

00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:02.500
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:08:02.500 --> 00:08:07.571
<v Brandy>And that brings us to the local Modern Quilt Guild because you get them involved as well, right?

00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:08.230
<v Brandy>Yes,

00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:08.860
<v Elizabeth>absolutely.

00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:12.701
<v Elizabeth>The triangle, M Q G is a guild that's been around a good long time.

00:08:12.701 --> 00:08:16.271
<v Elizabeth>They're a strong guild and we are excited to work with them both.

00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:27.040
<v Elizabeth>In terms of great volunteerism, some of our longest standing volunteers come from that guild every year to help us at Alcon, and we are so excited to work with them again on site this year.

00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:28.240
<v Brandy>Okay.

00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:30.971
<v Brandy>So what are the 2024 dates for Quilt Con?

00:08:31.810 --> 00:08:37.331
<v Elizabeth>So Quilt Con kicks off on Wednesday, February the.

00:08:37.375 --> 00:08:39.566
<v Elizabeth>21st with the award ceremony.

00:08:39.985 --> 00:08:42.206
<v Elizabeth>The show itself doesn't begin until Thursday.

00:08:42.206 --> 00:08:49.826
<v Elizabeth>That's a common misconception, but the show itself begins on Thursday, February 22nd, and runs through Sunday, February 25th.

00:08:50.546 --> 00:08:50.816
<v Brandy>Okay.

00:08:50.816 --> 00:08:53.816
<v Brandy>And you've mentioned the location is Raleigh, North Carolina.

00:08:53.875 --> 00:08:53.966
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:08:54.206 --> 00:08:56.336
<v Brandy>So how do you choose a location each year?

00:08:57.355 --> 00:09:00.596
<v Elizabeth>Choosing a location is a very challenging thing.

00:09:00.806 --> 00:09:08.875
<v Elizabeth>There are people that go to school for years to learn how to choose a location for events, especially conventions, because there are so many moving parts to it.

00:09:09.296 --> 00:09:16.015
<v Elizabeth>While I would love to bring Quilt Con to every city where we have members, it's just not physically or financially feasible.

00:09:16.436 --> 00:09:18.655
<v Elizabeth>So there is a number of different things that we look for.

00:09:18.745 --> 00:09:31.436
<v Elizabeth>One is the way in which the city is willing to work with us in terms of pricing, in terms of scheduling, in terms of perks and things that they can offer to the attendees of the event.

00:09:32.306 --> 00:09:44.846
<v Elizabeth>We also have to look at the local airport as well as the surrounding area around the convention center in terms of hotels that are available, what type of hotel rooms they are, whether they're singles or doubles and so forth.

00:09:45.235 --> 00:09:54.456
<v Elizabeth>So it's really a loaded complicated thing to look into, but it's a really, a pro con list to some extent in looking at every city that we

00:09:54.456 --> 00:09:55.235
<v Brandy>evaluate.

00:09:55.745 --> 00:09:56.706
<v Brandy>Yeah, that sounds good.

00:09:56.975 --> 00:10:01.086
<v Brandy>Now we know that all of the states in the US don't have the same laws in place.

00:10:01.086 --> 00:10:04.566
<v Brandy>So do you take that into consideration when you're choosing a location?

00:10:05.015 --> 00:10:14.846
<v Elizabeth>Yes, we definitely evaluate a number of different factors from the laws on the books in reference to nonprofit associations, which we are one of.

00:10:14.846 --> 00:10:19.166
<v Elizabeth>So that fiscally and directly impacts how we can manage the show.

00:10:19.946 --> 00:10:35.966
<v Elizabeth>Outside of that, yes, we do definitely try to look at social laws and make the best decisions that we can, but sometimes as much as we want to be idealistic and have quote con in the most utopic state possible, sometimes the other factors just don't work for those states.

00:10:37.076 --> 00:10:37.346
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:48.696
<v Brandy>There's so much involved, and it sounds like from your history as a medical event planner, that you've really found your niche and you, you sound like just such a good fit for this type of job.

00:10:49.206 --> 00:10:49.895
<v Elizabeth>Oh, yes.

00:10:49.956 --> 00:10:53.885
<v Elizabeth>I mean, event planning is, It's really kind of wild.

00:10:53.885 --> 00:10:59.765
<v Elizabeth>When I first started doing medical education events, I knew people who were like, oh, so it's just like you plan weddings.

00:11:00.456 --> 00:11:03.725
<v Elizabeth>Once someone plans a wedding, they think they're a, an event planner.

00:11:03.725 --> 00:11:08.796
<v Elizabeth>It's a constant joke within the event planning industry, it's so much more than just a wedding.

00:11:08.826 --> 00:11:15.125
<v Elizabeth>A wedding honestly, is probably the simplest event you can plan other than, you know, a surprise birthday party for a family member.

00:11:15.546 --> 00:11:24.755
<v Elizabeth>The number of literal gears and moving parts to any given event are, I just think it's kind of fun to manage all those details.

00:11:24.755 --> 00:11:25.836
<v Elizabeth>Something I've always enjoyed.

00:11:26.270 --> 00:11:26.691
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:11:26.691 --> 00:11:37.791
<v Brandy>And I've always been astonished the last couple co cons in a row, I've been to, you and Karen have always given me a moment of your time and you literally step into the room, say hello, answer a couple questions, and you're gone.

00:11:37.791 --> 00:11:40.041
<v Brandy>That's how busy you are during the event.

00:11:40.041 --> 00:11:42.291
<v Brandy>So I really appreciate that time.

00:11:42.798 --> 00:11:49.518
<v Brandy>While some shows across North America are closing their doors for good, it's a different story for Quilt Con,

00:11:49.518 --> 00:11:49.847
<v Elizabeth>right?

00:11:50.177 --> 00:11:50.508
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:11:50.508 --> 00:11:51.977
<v Elizabeth>Definitely growing.

00:11:51.977 --> 00:11:53.028
<v Elizabeth>Constantly growing.

00:11:53.812 --> 00:12:01.642
<v Brandy>I think we talked about the stats a little bit earlier, and you said that Quilt Con 2023 was 40% larger than other shows.

00:12:01.647 --> 00:12:01.731
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:12:02.001 --> 00:12:06.621
<v Brandy>So how do you manage for not knowing what the registration's gonna be?

00:12:08.226 --> 00:12:15.187
<v Elizabeth>Fortunately, quote con registration opens early in the grand scheme of the lifespan of each quil con year.

00:12:15.517 --> 00:12:20.442
<v Elizabeth>So registration typically opens in August to members in September to non-members.

00:12:20.861 --> 00:12:24.042
<v Elizabeth>And there are essentially two different phases of registration.

00:12:24.047 --> 00:12:34.991
<v Elizabeth>There is what I like to call full registration, which is the four day show pass, the lectures, the workshops, and then there's single day tickets, which we do sell in advance, but the bulk of those are purchased on site.

00:12:35.652 --> 00:12:44.442
<v Elizabeth>A lot of marketing and such goes into play in terms of trying to make sure that we do get the single day ticket aspirations that we have.

00:12:44.442 --> 00:12:55.932
<v Elizabeth>We do a lot of market research and that sort of thing to try to gauge what the level of interest is in the area, as well as in surrounding areas that are drivable or easily accessible to any given city that we work with.

00:12:55.932 --> 00:12:59.922
<v Elizabeth>That's another big thing we have to think about when it comes to choosing a city.

00:13:00.197 --> 00:13:07.636
<v Elizabeth>A city for Quilt Con, that is how many people can very easily get to this location at the drop of a hat if they heard an ad on the radio the day before the show.

00:13:07.966 --> 00:13:08.356
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:13:08.417 --> 00:13:08.807
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:13:08.836 --> 00:13:12.106
<v Brandy>So a growing, thriving quilt con is a good problem, right?

00:13:12.706 --> 00:13:13.456
<v Brandy>Absolutely.

00:13:13.817 --> 00:13:14.027
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:13:14.326 --> 00:13:20.927
<v Brandy>Okay, so let's talk about entering the show, entering a quilt in the show, and maybe some judging misconceptions.

00:13:20.927 --> 00:13:28.996
<v Brandy>So in 2023, you had 2089 quilts entered and 481 were accepted.

00:13:29.206 --> 00:13:31.756
<v Brandy>So let's dive into the jurying process

00:13:31.756 --> 00:13:32.267
<v Elizabeth>first.

00:13:32.596 --> 00:13:32.897
<v Elizabeth>Sure.

00:13:33.437 --> 00:13:35.596
<v Elizabeth>So there are two phases, essentially.

00:13:35.677 --> 00:13:42.379
<v Elizabeth>Two, the quilt entry, process three, I guess, entry, jurying, and then judging.

00:13:42.379 --> 00:13:43.820
<v Elizabeth>So jurying is the first step.

00:13:43.825 --> 00:13:46.850
<v Elizabeth>Once the ju, all of the quilt submissions have been submitted.

00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:53.059
<v Elizabeth>The jury, which is typically about five people almost always an odd number five or seven.

00:13:54.095 --> 00:13:59.375
<v Elizabeth>Go through and they assess whether or not any given quilt should be in the show.

00:13:59.975 --> 00:14:04.235
<v Elizabeth>Now, as you mentioned, they were reviewing 2081 this past year.

00:14:04.504 --> 00:14:05.855
<v Elizabeth>It's a very large number.

00:14:06.485 --> 00:14:08.014
<v Elizabeth>It's a lot of quilts to look at.

00:14:08.014 --> 00:14:11.914
<v Elizabeth>It's visually well overstimulating sometimes.

00:14:12.245 --> 00:14:19.445
<v Elizabeth>So a lot of things that tend to happen in jurying that people get confused about is, why did my quilt not get in?

00:14:20.315 --> 00:14:22.684
<v Elizabeth>There's a million possible answers.

00:14:22.684 --> 00:14:32.345
<v Elizabeth>It could be that your quilt was similar to another quilt that maybe was just a little better in some way, shape or form, whether it was through design, execution, photography, et cetera.

00:14:33.590 --> 00:14:36.649
<v Elizabeth>Sometimes some of my favorite quilts don't get juried in.

00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:38.090
<v Elizabeth>It's a gamble.

00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:43.980
<v Elizabeth>There's also a misconception that we only allow a certain number of quilts in any given category.

00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:46.559
<v Elizabeth>Jurors do not at all worry about that.

00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:53.370
<v Elizabeth>They don't even worry about how many quilts can be physically be hung at the show in terms of space and hardware.

00:14:53.820 --> 00:15:10.529
<v Elizabeth>All they are meant to do is to go through and give an assignment one through five, and they evaluate each quilt on that one to five scale to figure out where they think that quilt falls in terms of how strongly they think this should be at the show, balanced out with the other jurors.

00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:19.559
<v Elizabeth>That way if somebody just absolutely detests some technique they see in a quilt, there's going to be other jurors that may outweigh that.

00:15:19.710 --> 00:15:30.779
<v Elizabeth>We always encourage jurors to be as impartial as the day is long and to do their best to evaluate each quilt fairly and impartially.

00:15:31.169 --> 00:15:31.440
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.019
<v Brandy>So the jurors remain anonymous.

00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:34.620
<v Brandy>Absolutely.

00:15:34.649 --> 00:15:37.950
<v Brandy>Every single quilt gets reviewed all online.

00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:38.519
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:15:38.549 --> 00:15:42.820
<v Brandy>And what they actually see is simply the image of the quilt.

00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:43.259
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:15:43.345 --> 00:15:44.580
<v Brandy>The name of the quilt.

00:15:44.585 --> 00:15:44.860
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:15:44.945 --> 00:15:46.679
<v Brandy>The size and the technique only.

00:15:46.684 --> 00:15:46.950
<v Elizabeth>Right.

00:15:47.414 --> 00:15:47.865
<v Elizabeth>That's all.

00:15:48.075 --> 00:15:48.434
<v Elizabeth>That's right.

00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:48.495
<v Elizabeth>Okay.

00:15:48.495 --> 00:15:54.284
<v Elizabeth>They don't see artist statements, they don't see Instagram handles, names, nothing of the sort.

00:15:54.284 --> 00:15:58.995
<v Elizabeth>One other thing they do see is the category, right, that someone chooses to enter the quilt in.

00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.274
<v Elizabeth>So that is sometimes something that a juror may look at.

00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:06.495
<v Elizabeth>They may say, okay, so this was entered in piecing, so I'm gonna pay attention to the piecing as I evaluate this quilt.

00:16:07.394 --> 00:16:07.634
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:16:07.634 --> 00:16:10.544
<v Brandy>So if someone's listening right now, they might be thinking, well, okay.

00:16:10.544 --> 00:16:16.875
<v Brandy>Then it kind of becomes a random number of, you know, the higher end number fives.

00:16:16.875 --> 00:16:22.585
<v Brandy>So how do you kind of start getting it to the level where you have a group of quilts, that's gonna be

00:16:22.585 --> 00:16:23.095
<v Elizabeth>judged?

00:16:23.845 --> 00:16:31.225
<v Elizabeth>Typically what we do is we literally run numbers on it to figure out, okay, how many quilts we have, X number of.

00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:36.490
<v Elizabeth>Quilt hanging, apparatuses, apparat, whatever the proper word would be there.

00:16:36.730 --> 00:16:37.000
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:16:37.090 --> 00:16:42.700
<v Elizabeth>And X amount of square footage to hang quilts within, and that's going to yield X number of quilts.

00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:52.720
<v Elizabeth>We have not entirely done the math on exactly how many quilts will fit this year, for example, but we figure out how high does the score have to be in order to definitely be in that group.

00:16:52.720 --> 00:17:00.759
<v Elizabeth>And then there's always a group of quilts we call on the bubble, where we will evaluate the entire jury as a group together.

00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:09.609
<v Elizabeth>It's the one time they come together, they will evaluate the quilts and take a look at the quilts that are on the bubble to determine, okay, should this be in or should this be out?

00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:13.630
<v Elizabeth>Sometimes it's a very easy process and the jury can be very agreeable.

00:17:13.634 --> 00:17:20.589
<v Elizabeth>Other times they'll have really cool conversations talking about the design of a quilt, because design is of course the focus of the quilt on Quilt show.

00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.099
<v Brandy>Well, it sounds like a very well thought out process.

00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:31.900
<v Brandy>So entries happen September 1st to October 31st each year, and the judging happens in advance, right?

00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:31.990
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:17:31.990 --> 00:17:32.859
<v Brandy>So tell us about that.

00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:38.890
<v Elizabeth>So all of our quilts are judged in advance, typically sometime in January.

00:17:39.309 --> 00:17:41.349
<v Elizabeth>There's a a number of reasons for this.

00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:50.769
<v Elizabeth>The first being, the sheer cost of renting the convention center for additional days to process judging onsite is really unwieldy.

00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:58.269
<v Elizabeth>So rather than that, we have a processing or receiving office where all the quilts are received and all the quilts are then judged.

00:17:58.849 --> 00:18:21.619
<v Elizabeth>The other reason that we do that is to make sure that if there are any issues with a quilt, once it is opened and unpacked, we evaluate it for any, any possible markings, any issues like, I don't know, perhaps your cat fell asleep on your quilt and you didn't realize it before you shipped it off to Quilt Con so that we can keep it separate from other quilts, for example.

00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:30.569
<v Elizabeth>There's a big, huge process and my partner Amanda rna, the director of partnerships, is the one who manages that office as well as judging and jurying.

00:18:31.335 --> 00:18:40.214
<v Elizabeth>She touches every single quilt to make sure it is in tip top shape and is always in touch with makers if there's anything remotely wrong with it.

00:18:40.454 --> 00:18:48.494
<v Elizabeth>Sometimes, for example, we have quilters who enter multiple shows and they'll ship a quilt without having opened it and unpacked it from a previous show directly to us.

00:18:49.424 --> 00:18:51.855
<v Elizabeth>And sometimes we found defects and issues in that way.

00:18:51.855 --> 00:19:03.255
<v Elizabeth>But it's really more than anything to allow the judges more time to evaluate quilts rather than trying to slam it all into one or two days on site.

00:19:03.525 --> 00:19:11.984
<v Elizabeth>They actually spend about three and a half days looking at every single quilt, taking their time and not being distracted by other quilts.

00:19:11.984 --> 00:19:15.194
<v Elizabeth>That's the other thing that's really unique, I think, about our judging process.

00:19:15.434 --> 00:19:24.464
<v Elizabeth>Rather than being able to see other quilts out of the corner of their eye, they're only evaluating one quilt at a time that is held up for them by our volunteers or staff.

00:19:24.944 --> 00:19:25.275
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:19:25.664 --> 00:19:26.174
<v Brandy>So good.

00:19:26.174 --> 00:19:28.904
<v Brandy>And so you have a three judge panel mm-hmm.

00:19:29.144 --> 00:19:33.105
<v Brandy>From varied backgrounds, and you announce your judges every year.

00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:33.144
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:19:33.224 --> 00:19:34.214
<v Brandy>So tell us a little bit about

00:19:34.214 --> 00:19:34.454
<v Elizabeth>that.

00:19:35.325 --> 00:19:35.805
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:19:35.855 --> 00:19:40.065
<v Elizabeth>We do the only year that we did not have three judges was quote con 2013.

00:19:40.634 --> 00:19:45.944
<v Elizabeth>After that year, we realized that an odd number was better for a number of reasons.

00:19:46.414 --> 00:19:48.815
<v Elizabeth>But we've had three judges every year since.

00:19:48.815 --> 00:19:51.275
<v Elizabeth>So starting in 2015, we've had three judges.

00:19:51.525 --> 00:20:00.365
<v Elizabeth>We have had judges ranging from surface design to punch needle, to, number of quilters.

00:20:00.365 --> 00:20:04.025
<v Elizabeth>We always have a majority of quilters on our judging panels.

00:20:04.025 --> 00:20:08.825
<v Elizabeth>So two of the judges are always in the quilt industry in some way, shape, or form.

00:20:09.605 --> 00:20:10.625
<v Elizabeth>Usually they're quilters.

00:20:11.255 --> 00:20:21.964
<v Elizabeth>Last year we had planned to have Denise Schmidt as our, as one of our judges, because she was the featured exhibit in 2013, our very first quil on, and it was a 10 year celebration.

00:20:22.025 --> 00:20:26.375
<v Elizabeth>It was really fun to email Denise about that and to remind her it had been 10 years, which she was shocked by.

00:20:26.855 --> 00:20:31.414
<v Elizabeth>But then unfortunately she fell ill the weekend of judging or the week of judging actually.

00:20:31.835 --> 00:20:34.224
<v Elizabeth>So we had to replace her at the last moment.

00:20:34.224 --> 00:20:42.234
<v Elizabeth>Thankfully we had a certified judge that was planning to actually participate in observing our judging process.

00:20:42.234 --> 00:20:44.335
<v Elizabeth>So we had somebody on deck and it was great.

00:20:44.335 --> 00:20:50.545
<v Elizabeth>But as a result, we are excited to welcome Denise this year for as a judge.

00:20:50.575 --> 00:20:55.795
<v Elizabeth>Instead, we also have Stacey Watson from the National Quilt Museum.

00:20:56.664 --> 00:21:02.994
<v Elizabeth>She's a really fascinating person who works with equitable partnerships at the National Quilt Museum.

00:21:03.204 --> 00:21:10.734
<v Elizabeth>And we also have Bridget Dermot, whose work you've seen likely in Quilt Con or perhaps you've taken a class with her at Quilt Con.

00:21:10.734 --> 00:21:13.134
<v Elizabeth>She's been featured in Quilt folk.

00:21:13.444 --> 00:21:15.750
<v Elizabeth>Modern Patchwork, curated Quilts and more.

00:21:16.710 --> 00:21:22.380
<v Brandy>And I was actually kind of thrilled last year because Nancy Fuca, who replaced Denise, is a friend of mine.

00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:27.299
<v Brandy>So, you know, it was unfortunate that Denise was ill, but Nancy got that wonderful opportunity.

00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:35.220
<v Brandy>And then also the show was a while later, so I actually got to meet Denise Schmidt in person after having interviewed her on the podcast.

00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:37.470
<v Brandy>So that was exciting to meet her at Quilt Con.

00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:38.039
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:39.539
<v Brandy>So let's talk about one more thing.

00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:43.980
<v Brandy>I know I could talk about judging forever, but let's talk about one more thing before we move on.

00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:44.069
<v Brandy>Sure.

00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:47.640
<v Brandy>And that is, original design is a big emphasis.

00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:56.599
<v Brandy>And if it was between design or visual impact and the construction of the quilt, the concept or strong message might win out at Quilt Cons.

00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:57.920
<v Brandy>So tell us about that.

00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:10.605
<v Elizabeth>Well, during the judging process essentially judging decisions should be based on the overall aesthetic value, the originality and the design of any given quilt.

00:22:10.786 --> 00:22:19.965
<v Elizabeth>Quality of workmanship is definitely something that's considered by judges, but all other things being equal, judges will give preference to original work.

00:22:19.965 --> 00:22:35.115
<v Elizabeth>When a warning quilts, when they are evaluating a quilt in the judging room, the facilitator in the judging room can by request, tell the judges if it is an original design, that they're looking at the techniques they're used, that sort of thing.

00:22:35.836 --> 00:22:36.435
<v Brandy>Sounds good.

00:22:37.086 --> 00:22:43.086
<v Brandy>And again, just a reminder, the entries begin September 1st and they go till October 31st.

00:22:43.086 --> 00:22:48.066
<v Brandy>So get your quilt in for Quilt Con 2024 during those months.

00:22:48.336 --> 00:22:54.087
<v Brandy>Let's move on to talk a little bit about the sponsored exhibits, because those are always so wonderful each year.

00:22:54.087 --> 00:22:55.738
<v Brandy>So what's happening in 2024?

00:22:56.458 --> 00:23:02.607
<v Elizabeth>So in the entry process, you will see the option to enter two sponsored categories.

00:23:02.938 --> 00:23:07.377
<v Elizabeth>One is the American Patchwork and Quilting Super Scrappy Quilting Challenge.

00:23:07.383 --> 00:23:08.607
<v Elizabeth>Say that three times fast.

00:23:09.147 --> 00:23:14.938
<v Elizabeth>And the second is the 2024 Wyndham Artisan Cotton Fabric Challenge.

00:23:15.327 --> 00:23:19.077
<v Elizabeth>So the American Patchwork and Quilting Challenge is one that we've had for several years.

00:23:19.317 --> 00:23:19.708
<v Elizabeth>This year.

00:23:19.708 --> 00:23:24.472
<v Elizabeth>It's, I think, gonna be extra fun because the requirement is to use 30.

00:23:24.817 --> 00:23:27.607
<v Elizabeth>Different fabrics in the quilt top itself.

00:23:27.607 --> 00:23:28.867
<v Elizabeth>Not the binding, not the backing.

00:23:29.288 --> 00:23:29.347
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:23:29.347 --> 00:23:34.688
<v Elizabeth>In the quilt top itself, they can be different substrates, they can be 30 different solids.

00:23:34.688 --> 00:23:39.627
<v Elizabeth>If solids are your thing, they could be 30 different cous kinds of prints.

00:23:40.377 --> 00:23:42.178
<v Elizabeth>Any of that is possible.

00:23:42.432 --> 00:23:53.653
<v Elizabeth>same restrictions apply in terms of size, but the only other requirement is really to have fun and to be a current member, of course, to submit, which is the case for any quilt.

00:23:54.012 --> 00:23:56.532
<v Elizabeth>We're really excited to see how this one turns out.

00:23:56.593 --> 00:24:05.173
<v Elizabeth>We've done a number of different challenges with AP and Q over the years, but none of them quite, I think this festive.

00:24:05.232 --> 00:24:11.923
<v Elizabeth>Yeah, so I think this is gonna be really fun to see how it turns out the Wyndham Challenge, the Wyndham Artisan Cotton Fabric Challenge.

00:24:12.282 --> 00:24:15.492
<v Elizabeth>Is another fun one that has more parameters.

00:24:15.492 --> 00:24:21.923
<v Elizabeth>So if scrappy isn't your thing, then perhaps the Windham Artisan Cotton Challenge is more more your speed.

00:24:22.282 --> 00:24:29.843
<v Elizabeth>There are six fabrics in the Artisan cotton line that Jackie Gehring, our featured lecturer for quote Con 2024, has chosen.

00:24:30.653 --> 00:24:39.053
<v Elizabeth>You must use a minimum of three of the six fabrics, or as many as six of the six fabrics to make your quilt top.

00:24:39.053 --> 00:24:45.353
<v Elizabeth>No other fabrics or neutrals can be added to the top, or the binding backing can be whatever you'd like.

00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:47.920
<v Elizabeth>So there are a total of six fabrics.

00:24:47.980 --> 00:24:56.710
<v Elizabeth>And the fun thing is Jackie is often known for her love of the color orange, and she really stepped outside of her comfort zone for this fabric palette.

00:24:57.190 --> 00:25:08.619
<v Elizabeth>The one thing I love personally is that last year was the first year we started this process of having the featured lecturer choose the fabrics for the fabric challenge and the two pallets from last year and this year, if you placed them side by side, radically different.

00:25:08.619 --> 00:25:09.579
<v Elizabeth>So it's really fun.

00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:12.460
<v Brandy>Yeah, that does sound like a lot of fun.

00:25:12.509 --> 00:25:16.259
<v Brandy>So you need to be a member in order to enter either of these challenges.

00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:19.440
<v Brandy>And of course you need to be a member to enter the quilt show as well.

00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:20.549
<v Brandy>Yes, that's right.

00:25:20.849 --> 00:25:21.180
<v Brandy>Okay.

00:25:21.690 --> 00:25:28.650
<v Brandy>Now, I love that you were game for this question because I've asked you to come up with some top tips to get the best out of Quilt Con.

00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.089
<v Brandy>So let's go.

00:25:30.390 --> 00:25:36.359
<v Brandy>First, I wanna chat about online options, so we know everyone can't make it every year.

00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:39.599
<v Brandy>So what's the best way to enjoy Quilt Con online?

00:25:41.042 --> 00:25:45.153
<v Elizabeth>The first thing you should make sure to do is to join the M Q G, which is super simple.

00:25:45.153 --> 00:25:50.643
<v Elizabeth>You can just go to the modern quilt guild.com/join and find all the information to do that.

00:25:50.643 --> 00:25:58.623
<v Elizabeth>That will then get you signed up for our Modern Monday newsletter emails, where we will share all things quilt con, both before and after the show.

00:25:58.623 --> 00:26:02.103
<v Elizabeth>Like all of the fabulous winners, pretty pictures and so forth.

00:26:02.492 --> 00:26:17.222
<v Elizabeth>The other thing that you can do if you are enjoying quote con from home is check out the social media hashtag quote con, hashtag quote con 2024, so that you can see all of the fabulous photos and videos that we and all of the wonderful people attending quote con share.

00:26:17.792 --> 00:26:18.063
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:26:18.093 --> 00:26:19.863
<v Brandy>Okay, and the next tips.

00:26:20.522 --> 00:26:22.682
<v Brandy>Are all about saving money.

00:26:22.682 --> 00:26:31.742
<v Brandy>So if Quilt Con has been on your bucket list for so long and you are in the planning stages, Elizabeth, what are your top tips for keeping the costs down?

00:26:32.613 --> 00:26:51.182
<v Elizabeth>Well, I'm going to sound like a broken record, but you wanna make sure to join the M Q G because M Q G members do receive 20% off all of their registration items, with the exception of any merchandise or special event tours that they purchase before November the 30th, after November 30th.

00:26:51.393 --> 00:26:56.853
<v Elizabeth>No discounts are available, so you also want to register early if at all possible, finalize those plans.

00:26:57.782 --> 00:27:06.077
<v Elizabeth>Last but not least, if you're traveling from out of town, I know that hotels are full at this point for Quilt Con, and that is a challenge.

00:27:06.077 --> 00:27:06.617
<v Elizabeth>I get it.

00:27:06.617 --> 00:27:10.817
<v Elizabeth>I understand there are only so many hotel rooms in the city right there, downtown.

00:27:11.147 --> 00:27:20.488
<v Elizabeth>But you can also take a look at Airbnb's, VRBO and, gather up with some friends to share a space so that you can keep your costs down.

00:27:20.847 --> 00:27:21.178
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:27:21.178 --> 00:27:23.278
<v Brandy>Split costs with a friend and book early.

00:27:23.278 --> 00:27:24.147
<v Brandy>Of course.

00:27:24.208 --> 00:27:24.357
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:27:24.387 --> 00:27:27.518
<v Brandy>And there's another really cool thing that I noticed last year.

00:27:27.518 --> 00:27:30.728
<v Brandy>You had a trade board, so tell us about that.

00:27:30.728 --> 00:27:30.817
<v Elizabeth>Mm-hmm.

00:27:31.478 --> 00:27:31.897
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:27:31.897 --> 00:27:38.468
<v Elizabeth>So sometimes, oh, sometimes the universe is against you and something comes up and you can't attend a quote con after all.

00:27:38.468 --> 00:27:45.127
<v Elizabeth>Or perhaps you need to leave earlier than you thought you were going to, and you can't attend that workshop you registered for back in August.

00:27:45.698 --> 00:27:56.067
<v Elizabeth>Folks have the ability to utilize our trade board where they can sell lecture or workshop tickets only to any other quote con attendee who wants to pick them up.

00:27:56.067 --> 00:27:57.958
<v Elizabeth>There is a simple form.

00:27:57.958 --> 00:27:59.877
<v Elizabeth>It's a small slip of paper that you fill out.

00:28:00.442 --> 00:28:12.952
<v Elizabeth>Tap it up to the board with one of the provided push pins and you leave your contact information there so that if somebody comes across the board and says, oh my gosh, I wanted to go to that, they can get in touch with you and arrange the purchase.

00:28:13.192 --> 00:28:13.823
<v Brandy>Okay, great.

00:28:13.972 --> 00:28:19.042
<v Brandy>And you can also buy all that cool quilt con swag at registration online.

00:28:19.042 --> 00:28:19.044
<v Brandy>Right.

00:28:19.053 --> 00:28:21.863
<v Brandy>So you don't miss out like I did every year.

00:28:21.867 --> 00:28:21.873
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:28:21.877 --> 00:28:24.833
<v Brandy>I seemed to, I got a t-shirt the first year I attended.

00:28:24.893 --> 00:28:24.982
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:28:25.222 --> 00:28:29.272
<v Brandy>But by the time I got to the pop-up store, all they had left was socks.

00:28:29.633 --> 00:28:32.782
<v Brandy>Mind you, they are, they're my absolute favorite socks in the drawer.

00:28:32.782 --> 00:28:35.692
<v Brandy>But still, I missed out on a t-shirt for 2023.

00:28:35.698 --> 00:28:40.772
<v Brandy>So make sure you register for those things online as well before you even get to the show,

00:28:41.192 --> 00:28:41.343
<v Elizabeth>right?

00:28:41.403 --> 00:28:41.792
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:28:41.792 --> 00:28:46.623
<v Elizabeth>That's the best way to guarantee when it comes to the apparel that we have your size available.

00:28:46.952 --> 00:28:49.292
<v Elizabeth>This past year in Atlanta, we were.

00:28:49.712 --> 00:28:51.903
<v Elizabeth>Positively gobsmacked by demand.

00:28:52.173 --> 00:28:54.813
<v Elizabeth>There will be more merchandise on site.

00:28:54.813 --> 00:29:02.192
<v Elizabeth>But again, if we have a huge run of people that come up and buy, you know, five shirts in a in a handful, gotta get there early.

00:29:02.192 --> 00:29:06.093
<v Elizabeth>So buying early through registration for that stuff is definitely your best bet.

00:29:06.512 --> 00:29:06.992
<v Elizabeth>Yeah, it's

00:29:06.998 --> 00:29:09.782
<v Brandy>definitely a bit of a frenzy around the popup shop.

00:29:10.144 --> 00:29:13.324
<v Brandy>so speaking of registration, let's talk about a couple tips there.

00:29:13.324 --> 00:29:15.663
<v Brandy>We wanna register early, of course.

00:29:15.693 --> 00:29:15.784
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:29:16.034 --> 00:29:19.213
<v Brandy>But you have a new waiting room for workshops, registration.

00:29:19.213 --> 00:29:19.214
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:20.114
<v Brandy>So let's talk about that.

00:29:20.564 --> 00:29:21.013
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:29:21.344 --> 00:29:27.374
<v Elizabeth>So, if you are intending to register for workshops, you're gonna want to register that very first day.

00:29:27.374 --> 00:29:29.953
<v Elizabeth>The registration is open to M Q G members.

00:29:30.314 --> 00:29:34.034
<v Elizabeth>Many workshops, if not most, sell out that first day.

00:29:34.528 --> 00:29:38.249
<v Elizabeth>The record that we have for a workshop selling out is three minutes.

00:29:38.669 --> 00:29:38.969
<v Elizabeth>Wow.

00:29:38.969 --> 00:29:43.798
<v Elizabeth>I can't recall what year that was, but there are a limited number of seats in any given workshop.

00:29:44.219 --> 00:29:45.898
<v Elizabeth>It's just a fact of life.

00:29:46.469 --> 00:30:00.989
<v Elizabeth>But what we have done to make things absolutely as fair as possible is we have implemented a technological solution that actually creates, essentially a technological line rather than physically standing in line for your tickets.

00:30:00.989 --> 00:30:07.159
<v Elizabeth>Think of it as your computer is in line in the cloud for your chance to use the registration system.

00:30:08.193 --> 00:30:16.294
<v Elizabeth>Yeah, this keeps the registration system from crashing, which is something that we have definitely seen happen multiple years in multiple different systems.

00:30:16.624 --> 00:30:28.743
<v Elizabeth>So the waiting room system will tell you where you are in the line and how long it expects for it to be before you have your turn to actually process your registration and click on the options that you want.

00:30:29.134 --> 00:30:30.993
<v Elizabeth>Last year was the first year that we used it.

00:30:30.993 --> 00:30:34.473
<v Elizabeth>It was very successful, and we will definitely be using it again this

00:30:34.473 --> 00:30:34.713
<v Brandy>year.

00:30:35.134 --> 00:30:36.183
<v Brandy>Yeah, that sounds really good.

00:30:36.933 --> 00:30:43.923
<v Brandy>Now, if you're sitting back listening right now and you're thinking, oh my gosh, so many quilts are entered, what are the chances my quilt will get in?

00:30:43.923 --> 00:30:50.854
<v Brandy>Or if you're thinking of entering for the first time, another way you can get your quilt in the show is to watch for those challenges.

00:30:51.243 --> 00:30:53.134
<v Brandy>So where can they go to get on your newsletter?

00:30:53.138 --> 00:30:55.653
<v Brandy>So they hear about those challenges right when they're ready to go.

00:30:56.388 --> 00:30:58.459
<v Elizabeth>Broken record, Elizabeth reporting for duty.

00:30:58.818 --> 00:31:05.628
<v Elizabeth>Join as an M Q G member and you get weekly emails from us every Monday, your modern Monday email with all of those details.

00:31:05.979 --> 00:31:10.209
<v Elizabeth>If you're planning to enter the quilt show, you're going to wanna make sure you're a member anyway.

00:31:10.269 --> 00:31:20.048
<v Elizabeth>And if you're a member and if for some reason you aren't receiving those modern Monday emails, shoot us an email at info at the modern quilt guild.com so that we can look into what the trouble is there.

00:31:20.499 --> 00:31:20.798
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:31:21.128 --> 00:31:28.449
<v Brandy>Now I think I was chatting with you earlier and you mentioned to me that nine times outta 10, the answer is on the website.

00:31:28.578 --> 00:31:28.739
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:31:28.808 --> 00:31:32.528
<v Brandy>So let's talk about exploring the website a little bit so you don't miss a thing.

00:31:32.888 --> 00:31:35.858
<v Brandy>So the website is quilt con.com.

00:31:35.878 --> 00:31:36.098
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:31:36.104 --> 00:31:37.598
<v Brandy>So what else can we find there?

00:31:37.598 --> 00:31:37.659
<v Brandy>I.

00:31:38.153 --> 00:31:51.354
<v Elizabeth>So on the website, you can find everything from information about who is on our faculty this year, who is judging the show, who is sponsoring the show to things like the details for all of the different categories.

00:31:51.354 --> 00:31:53.634
<v Elizabeth>In the quilt show, the challenges.

00:31:53.993 --> 00:31:59.574
<v Elizabeth>You can see all of the past winners going all the way back to 2013.

00:32:00.233 --> 00:32:06.564
<v Elizabeth>You'll see information about the Raleigh Convention Center, which is our host location in downtown Raleigh.

00:32:06.983 --> 00:32:13.433
<v Elizabeth>You'll also see information in the future not quite yet, about who will be vending at the show.

00:32:13.439 --> 00:32:21.346
<v Elizabeth>That information will be published likely sometime before the end of this calendar year, as all of that finalizes and gets put into place.

00:32:21.646 --> 00:32:21.707
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:32:21.711 --> 00:32:33.406
<v Elizabeth>You'll also find a link to our interactive schedule, which is where you'll find all of the lectures, the workshops, and special events that you can register for, and all of the descriptions and details about each single one.

00:32:34.354 --> 00:32:41.949
<v Brandy>So in a nutshell, go to the website to plan your trip to find all the quilt show details to see the schedule.

00:32:42.098 --> 00:32:48.338
<v Brandy>Quilt Con is the largest modern quilting event in the world, and it is such a comprehensive website.

00:32:48.338 --> 00:32:58.959
<v Brandy>You'll find everything there, and we will end our top tips with Elizabeth Axon with a special tip about what you always tell people to bring for their feet.

00:33:00.305 --> 00:33:00.335
<v Brandy>Oh,

00:33:00.484 --> 00:33:06.904
<v Elizabeth>it is crucial to wear more than one pair of shoes when you are spending four days on your feet at Quilt Con.

00:33:07.174 --> 00:33:10.025
<v Elizabeth>This was something I learned early on in event planning.

00:33:10.325 --> 00:33:13.204
<v Elizabeth>Even back in the day when I wore pumps for my events.

00:33:13.505 --> 00:33:19.584
<v Elizabeth>It was important to bring more than one pair because different shoes wear on you different ways don't bring two pairs of the same exact shoe mind.

00:33:19.703 --> 00:33:26.064
<v Elizabeth>You find two shoes, two different ones that are comfortable for you and alternate so that you don't kill your feet.

00:33:26.858 --> 00:33:29.888
<v Brandy>Such a great tip and thank you for all of those great tips.

00:33:29.888 --> 00:33:33.278
<v Brandy>Now I wanna chat a little bit about the Quilt Con team.

00:33:33.828 --> 00:33:41.294
<v Brandy>Watching from the sidelines, it seems like a dream team because there are only eight of you and this event is rather monumental.

00:33:41.503 --> 00:33:43.483
<v Brandy>It's amazing that you can even pull this off.

00:33:43.483 --> 00:33:48.344
<v Brandy>So let's drop a few names with where they are in the world and what are their jobs.

00:33:48.794 --> 00:33:49.213
<v Brandy>Sure.

00:33:49.453 --> 00:33:50.534
<v Elizabeth>So let's see here.

00:33:50.594 --> 00:33:53.084
<v Elizabeth>I mentioned earlier my partner Amanda Berna.

00:33:53.354 --> 00:33:56.203
<v Elizabeth>She is our director of partnerships.

00:33:56.263 --> 00:34:04.663
<v Elizabeth>She is based in the Austin area and she works primarily with our sponsors, vendors, and the quilt show.

00:34:06.074 --> 00:34:13.903
<v Elizabeth>We have Karen Cooper, who is our executive director, and she minds all of us, all of our, all of her staffers, and keeps us all in line.

00:34:13.903 --> 00:34:25.673
<v Elizabeth>She's also the main point of contact for our advisory board who just provides advice and such, whereas the staff does the daily operations and, and makes operational decisions.

00:34:26.273 --> 00:34:32.909
<v Elizabeth>We also have Jennifer Fisher who is in the, Miamisburg, Ohio area?

00:34:33.659 --> 00:34:38.215
<v Elizabeth>She is our membership coordinator and office manager.

00:34:38.244 --> 00:34:41.155
<v Elizabeth>She is the one that you're emailing with more likely than not.

00:34:41.155 --> 00:34:48.730
<v Elizabeth>If you've ever emailed info at the Modern Quilt Guild, She answers those emails with a smile every time.

00:34:49.210 --> 00:34:55.639
<v Elizabeth>And is also very helpful for our guild leaders who may have guild running questions.

00:34:55.639 --> 00:35:00.409
<v Elizabeth>As a former guild president herself, she's definitely well healed to that task.

00:35:01.489 --> 00:35:05.519
<v Elizabeth>We also have Darcy Reed, who is our Digital Experience Manager.

00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:12.090
<v Elizabeth>The changes that you have seen on the M Q G website over the last, oh gosh, probably 15 months or so, those are all from her.

00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:18.420
<v Elizabeth>She has a ton of UX experience and that's gonna be user experience, experience, say that three times fast.

00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:26.739
<v Elizabeth>And always helps us keep in mind the accessibility of the information that we are providing and does a lot of graphics work for us as well.

00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:31.833
<v Elizabeth>We also have, Jessica Plunkett, oh, I, I apologize.

00:35:31.838 --> 00:35:34.173
<v Elizabeth>Darcy is in the Minneapolis area.

00:35:34.443 --> 00:35:34.474
<v Elizabeth>Okay.

00:35:34.478 --> 00:35:35.193
<v Elizabeth>I almost forgot.

00:35:35.764 --> 00:35:37.534
<v Elizabeth>Jessica Plunkett is in.

00:35:37.983 --> 00:35:40.684
<v Elizabeth>The heart of the Midwest in Iowa.

00:35:41.134 --> 00:35:43.833
<v Elizabeth>She is our program specialist.

00:35:43.833 --> 00:35:52.713
<v Elizabeth>So the current, actually, I believe it's probably just wrapped up M Q G, so along that's been taking place this year is a brainchild of Jessica's.

00:35:53.224 --> 00:35:59.574
<v Elizabeth>So she manages that and also does a lot of the writing for our social media and our newsletters and website.

00:36:00.114 --> 00:36:05.753
<v Elizabeth>My other half Kelsey is based in the Michigan area.

00:36:06.014 --> 00:36:08.893
<v Elizabeth>I believe she is on the eastern side of Michigan.

00:36:08.893 --> 00:36:25.969
<v Elizabeth>If I have my geography correct, she is the events assistant and helps me really dot the i's and cross the T's When it comes to all things Eventists particularly when it comes to faculty, and she is more often than not the person that you are communicating with.

00:36:25.974 --> 00:36:29.989
<v Elizabeth>If you've emailed us at register at the modern quilt guild.com.

00:36:30.871 --> 00:36:38.112
<v Elizabeth>Last but not least, our newest hire is Isabel Lac, who is in the Bay Area the South Bay area, I should say in California.

00:36:38.112 --> 00:36:46.152
<v Elizabeth>She is our partnerships assistant, so she is working with Amanda on crossing all of those t's and dotting those i's when it comes to our sponsors and vendors.

00:36:46.692 --> 00:36:53.411
<v Brandy>Yeah, it sounds like you have such a well-rounded team and I like that the rules are very clear and specific.

00:36:53.411 --> 00:36:53.731
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:36:53.811 --> 00:36:53.851
<v Brandy>Right.

00:36:53.911 --> 00:36:55.032
<v Brandy>And everyone knows what they're doing.

00:36:55.422 --> 00:36:59.442
<v Brandy>So what is the Modern Quilt Guild board's role as opposed to

00:36:59.442 --> 00:37:00.012
<v Elizabeth>staff?

00:37:00.851 --> 00:37:05.382
<v Elizabeth>The board is really what I would refer to as an advisory board.

00:37:05.382 --> 00:37:20.422
<v Elizabeth>They have the ability to set strategic goals for the organization and do so, and staff really is in charge of operational decisions, operational activities, and that sort of thing.

00:37:21.322 --> 00:37:26.782
<v Brandy>And there's another thing that happens at Quilt Con that the organizers could simply not live without.

00:37:27.112 --> 00:37:30.081
<v Brandy>And that is the volunteers at Quilt Con.

00:37:30.351 --> 00:37:31.581
<v Brandy>So let's talk about that.

00:37:31.612 --> 00:37:33.202
<v Brandy>What do the volunteers do?

00:37:34.282 --> 00:37:37.702
<v Elizabeth>If you volunteer at Quil Con, you're gonna have a crazy, fun experience.

00:37:37.911 --> 00:37:47.541
<v Elizabeth>You will meet people, you will learn things about people you never thought you'd learn, and I couldn't tell you what they're going to be because you just have these really wild conversations with people.

00:37:47.541 --> 00:37:47.601
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:37:47.811 --> 00:37:54.652
<v Elizabeth>When you're doing a task at Quilt Con, whether it's folding T-shirts, hanging quilts, folding quilts I.

00:37:54.947 --> 00:38:04.996
<v Elizabeth>Filing things in the registration area, tidying up a workshop, setting up a workshop, you really have the opportunity to physically help make Quilt Con happen.

00:38:05.626 --> 00:38:14.327
<v Elizabeth>I have worked in a number of different event settings and there is absolutely no physical way that a team of eight people could manage a convention of this size.

00:38:14.836 --> 00:38:20.626
<v Elizabeth>We have over a hundred volunteers every year, and we absolutely could not put Quilt Con on without them.

00:38:21.197 --> 00:38:21.527
<v Elizabeth>Yeah,

00:38:21.976 --> 00:38:24.706
<v Brandy>and so how do you become a volunteer at the show?

00:38:26.101 --> 00:38:32.836
<v Elizabeth>In September, we announced to the M Q G membership that the volunteer shift signups have opened.

00:38:33.226 --> 00:38:42.126
<v Elizabeth>So we have a fabulous, fabulous volunteer coordinator, Kristen Jansen, who actually manages our volunteerism process.

00:38:42.367 --> 00:38:53.976
<v Elizabeth>She sets up the forum, sets up all the shifts, and what you'll see when you're signing up for a shift is you'll see a time period more than anything, any general idea of what the task might be there.

00:38:54.277 --> 00:39:08.827
<v Elizabeth>As always, sometimes things that that go awry or sometimes things that just change and a task that you signed up for may not necessarily be the task that you wind up physically doing on site, but you'll sign up for a shift that's typically three hours in length.

00:39:09.427 --> 00:39:15.007
<v Elizabeth>You will report to the volunteer office on site and Kristen will then give you what your actual duty is.

00:39:15.246 --> 00:39:33.907
<v Elizabeth>You can sign up for as many shifts as you want, but if you manage to work more than six 16 or more hours on site during Quil Con, which trust me is very physically feasible you actually have the ability to register early the following year for Quilt Con before M Q G members get a chance to register.

00:39:34.447 --> 00:39:36.936
<v Elizabeth>Our valued super volunteers have a chance to register.

00:39:36.942 --> 00:39:41.646
<v Elizabeth>So it's a great way to make sure that you get that top workshop that you really want next year.

00:39:42.186 --> 00:39:45.126
<v Brandy>I love that you're valued super volunteers.

00:39:45.427 --> 00:39:45.637
<v Brandy>Yes.

00:39:45.637 --> 00:39:46.896
<v Brandy>That sounds enticing.

00:39:48.132 --> 00:39:48.367
<v Elizabeth>Okay.

00:39:48.367 --> 00:39:49.956
<v Elizabeth>Oh, and you also get a fabulous shirt.

00:39:50.376 --> 00:39:50.737
<v Elizabeth>Oh, great.

00:39:50.742 --> 00:39:51.427
<v Elizabeth>To thank you for your

00:39:51.427 --> 00:39:52.117
<v Brandy>experience.

00:39:52.206 --> 00:39:53.047
<v Brandy>Oh, that's wonderful.

00:39:53.047 --> 00:39:59.827
<v Brandy>Okay, so while speaking of workshops, you mentioned workshops you know, quilt Con is not just this wonderful show of quilts.

00:39:59.827 --> 00:40:01.056
<v Brandy>That's not the only thing.

00:40:01.061 --> 00:40:02.226
<v Brandy>There's workshops and lectures.

00:40:02.226 --> 00:40:05.405
<v Brandy>So so just give us sort of an overview of how the workshops roll

00:40:05.405 --> 00:40:05.704
<v Elizabeth>out.

00:40:06.065 --> 00:40:09.635
<v Elizabeth>So workshops either are three or six hours long.

00:40:10.235 --> 00:40:26.434
<v Elizabeth>They take place in basically one of two different types of rooms, either in a workshop room where sewing machines are generously provided by our fabulous sponsors, or they take place in a handwork room for things like, well, actual handwork, hand quilting, hand sewing.

00:40:26.855 --> 00:40:37.324
<v Elizabeth>Sometimes design workshops will take place there where you're working either on a technological based design solution like procreate, or you might even just be sketching.

00:40:37.985 --> 00:40:39.184
<v Elizabeth>There are I.

00:40:39.844 --> 00:40:45.574
<v Elizabeth>Over a hundred workshops every year at Quilt Con and so many different things to learn.

00:40:45.574 --> 00:40:54.695
<v Elizabeth>There are some really interesting workshops every year, and in planning the workshop schedule, it's always, it's a lot like trying to pick your favorite child.

00:40:54.695 --> 00:40:57.244
<v Elizabeth>I don't think I could tell you what my favorite workshops sounds like.

00:40:57.244 --> 00:40:57.905
<v Elizabeth>It's going to be.

00:40:58.204 --> 00:41:06.215
<v Elizabeth>We're really excited this year that Jackie Gehring will be providing two workshops as our featured lecturer, which is really exciting.

00:41:06.215 --> 00:41:12.344
<v Elizabeth>I have had the luxury of being in a workshop setting with Jackie in the past and she's a fantastic teacher.

00:41:12.375 --> 00:41:16.994
<v Elizabeth>But the reality is all of our workshop teachers are fantastic.

00:41:17.204 --> 00:41:23.264
<v Elizabeth>Kelsey and I work very closely with them in the months leading up to Quilt Con to make sure that they're set up for success.

00:41:23.804 --> 00:41:26.505
<v Elizabeth>And our lecturers are very much the same way.

00:41:26.505 --> 00:41:31.244
<v Elizabeth>We work very closely with them to make sure that they're prepared to give a great lecture.

00:41:31.695 --> 00:41:34.635
<v Elizabeth>And our lecture topics are always kind of, I.

00:41:34.815 --> 00:41:52.755
<v Elizabeth>Well, they run the gamut in terms of topic, but I think that there are gonna be some really fantastic lectures this year, as there are always, if you aren't the type of person who wants to sit and sew or sit and digest three hours or six hours worth of content, lectures are a great alternative.

00:41:52.760 --> 00:42:07.440
<v Elizabeth>They are 45 to 50 minutes in length, very in topic from everything from historical quilters to trends in quilting uh, can learn a lot and you, you will get up on a regular basis.

00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:11.041
<v Elizabeth>So if you like getting up and moving about lectures are great.

00:42:11.490 --> 00:42:11.820
<v Elizabeth>Yeah,

00:42:11.820 --> 00:42:18.471
<v Brandy>and I'm always going on and on about how much I love the forward thinking ideas that come forth in the Quilt Con lectures.

00:42:18.710 --> 00:42:24.260
<v Brandy>So let's talk a little bit about this interesting idea of having an IDEA committee.

00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:26.061
<v Brandy>So what, what does your IDEA committee

00:42:26.061 --> 00:42:26.271
<v Elizabeth>do?

00:42:27.170 --> 00:42:36.811
<v Elizabeth>They are a year-round committee that works on inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility throughout the M Q G.

00:42:37.201 --> 00:42:53.271
<v Elizabeth>This is the first year that we are working closely with them in relation to Quilt Con to provide a panel discussion on the topic of inclusivity and diversity within quilting which I think is going to be a really interesting panel discussion.

00:42:53.731 --> 00:42:58.501
<v Elizabeth>We've also, we have an accessibility addition to Quilt Con this year.

00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:03.661
<v Elizabeth>And by addition, I mean an add-on as opposed to an addition Poor word choice there, Elizabeth.

00:43:03.661 --> 00:43:04.050
<v Elizabeth>Goodness.

00:43:04.501 --> 00:43:11.740
<v Elizabeth>The lecture hall this year for all lectures beginning on Thursday will have American Sign Language interpreters.

00:43:11.746 --> 00:43:22.840
<v Elizabeth>There will be a pair at all times in the lecture hall providing simultaneous sign language interpreting services for those who are hard of hearing or deaf.

00:43:24.311 --> 00:43:24.581
<v Elizabeth>That

00:43:24.581 --> 00:43:25.420
<v Brandy>is so great.

00:43:26.351 --> 00:43:30.130
<v Brandy>And you also have a new definition of modern quilts.

00:43:30.340 --> 00:43:31.721
<v Brandy>So tell us a little bit about that.

00:43:31.721 --> 00:43:33.101
<v Brandy>That came out months ago.

00:43:33.791 --> 00:43:34.331
<v Elizabeth>It did.

00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:49.960
<v Elizabeth>We asked members to sign up to provide feedback about the definition of modern quilting, which has evolved minutely over the years, but has, has been pretty static, I would say for the most part.

00:43:50.800 --> 00:44:07.030
<v Elizabeth>Modern quilting really was something that was important for the M Q G to define not so much in terms of this is modern quilting, and this is the dictionary definition, but more in terms of defining what it is that our organization is trying to further and support.

00:44:07.030 --> 00:44:12.880
<v Elizabeth>Because the goal and mission of the Modern Quilt Guild is to support the growth of modern quilting.

00:44:13.451 --> 00:44:14.920
<v Elizabeth>So the.

00:44:15.971 --> 00:44:24.880
<v Elizabeth>Committee of folks who reviewed the definition completed a survey, a pretty extensive survey talking about the different components of modern quilts.

00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:39.340
<v Elizabeth>And I've heard a number of different people tell this in different ways, but essentially, the components of modern quilting are intended to, not a recipe, but more of a buffet where you pick and choose the ingredients you want to work with.

00:44:39.851 --> 00:44:46.481
<v Elizabeth>You'll still wind up with a modern quilt regardless of how many of those components or ingredients you choose to utilize.

00:44:46.661 --> 00:44:47.920
<v Elizabeth>You may choose just one.

00:44:48.041 --> 00:44:48.701
<v Elizabeth>That's great.

00:44:49.210 --> 00:44:50.800
<v Elizabeth>You may choose to use three.

00:44:50.860 --> 00:44:51.521
<v Elizabeth>Cool.

00:44:51.650 --> 00:45:03.161
<v Elizabeth>We had a number of people when the Or when the definition was first released earlier this year, write to us and indicate how concerned they were about having to try to incorporate all of these different things.

00:45:03.371 --> 00:45:08.681
<v Elizabeth>For example, improv, minimalism, maximalism negative space in one singular quilt.

00:45:08.951 --> 00:45:13.181
<v Elizabeth>And the fact is many of them were contradictory to one another, so that's really not feasible.

00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:20.831
<v Elizabeth>So the definition really just, it became a little bit clearer, I think, more than anything.

00:45:20.831 --> 00:45:26.201
<v Elizabeth>I don't know necessarily that I would say the intent of the definition or the definition self changed any.

00:45:26.471 --> 00:45:46.181
<v Elizabeth>I think that some of the verbiage became a little bit clearer and talked a little bit as well about the concept of the use of pictorial quilts, the use of upcycled materials and other things that we see as trends in modern quilting that are not necessarily components of a modern quilt, but could be.

00:45:46.601 --> 00:45:46.960
<v Brandy>Totally.

00:45:46.965 --> 00:45:48.070
<v Brandy>Could be, yeah.

00:45:48.130 --> 00:45:48.851
<v Brandy>Absolutely.

00:45:49.601 --> 00:45:51.581
<v Brandy>Okay, that's really good to know all about that.

00:45:51.630 --> 00:45:56.521
<v Brandy>So let's just take a minute to reflect on what is the mission and vision of the Modern Quilt Guild.

00:45:57.510 --> 00:46:05.731
<v Elizabeth>Well, the M Q G really seeks to foster a vibrant and inclusive organization built on encouragement and mutual respect.

00:46:05.731 --> 00:46:06.990
<v Elizabeth>We all feel welcome.

00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:16.201
<v Elizabeth>The mission of the M Q G is to support and grow modern quilting through art, education, and community.

00:46:16.411 --> 00:46:20.460
<v Elizabeth>We support the participation of all who are interested in doing that with us.

00:46:21.001 --> 00:46:22.170
<v Brandy>Yeah, that sounds really good.

00:46:22.471 --> 00:46:29.340
<v Brandy>And you know, I, I just, I'd like to get down to sort of what the personal level is, because as a textile artist mm-hmm.

00:46:29.585 --> 00:46:42.150
<v Brandy>When I first got the hint that modern quilting existed way back in like 2013 was when I first was exposed to it, judging a quilt show, I was just, Drawn in hook, line, and sinker.

00:46:42.181 --> 00:46:44.911
<v Brandy>This is like for me, this is something I love.

00:46:45.150 --> 00:46:50.550
<v Brandy>So what do you think it is about Quilt Con that really resonates with the quilter?

00:46:51.900 --> 00:46:52.440
<v Brandy>I think

00:46:52.440 --> 00:47:01.081
<v Elizabeth>some of it is, is a reflection, really seeing other people who enjoy that same thing that you enjoy.

00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:16.951
<v Elizabeth>I think initially modern quilting felt really kind of insular because you'd go into a quilt shop and you'd see civil war fabrics or re pros and feel kind of not alienated, but not necessarily welcomed either because it wasn't something that you found enjoyable, perhaps.

00:47:17.521 --> 00:47:32.581
<v Elizabeth>And in Quilt Con, not only are you seeing quilts that you maybe wish you had made yourself, wish you had thought of yourself, admire, want to make one day yourself, but you're also seeing fabrics and notions that maybe you're seeing in your sewing room.

00:47:33.291 --> 00:47:37.101
<v Elizabeth>Having been to a number of traditional shows, I know that.

00:47:37.971 --> 00:47:44.420
<v Elizabeth>Walking through that space and seeing the people, seeing the quilts, I've not necessarily felt at home.

00:47:44.990 --> 00:47:56.541
<v Elizabeth>And what I hear more often than not from people who attend Quilt Con, who identify themselves as modern quilters, they feel like they've found, you know, people that are like them, that like what they like.

00:47:56.541 --> 00:48:04.057
<v Elizabeth>And it's always enjoyable to be around other people that you can talk about your favorite modern quilting fabric designer with because they know who you're talking about.

00:48:04.568 --> 00:48:04.717
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:48:04.797 --> 00:48:08.967
<v Elizabeth>It's always enjoyable to find people that you have things in common with that you can talk about.

00:48:09.117 --> 00:48:12.958
<v Elizabeth>It is always fun to have a conversation about a hobby that you share.

00:48:13.617 --> 00:48:17.518
<v Elizabeth>Then talking to your neighbor on the plane who has no idea what a modern quilt is.

00:48:17.893 --> 00:48:18.943
<v Brandy>Yeah, absolutely.

00:48:19.362 --> 00:48:23.922
<v Brandy>And when you walk the show, you'll see modern Quilt Guild members and non-members at the show.

00:48:23.922 --> 00:48:23.923
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:48:23.992 --> 00:48:28.213
<v Brandy>But you'll see people who are walking the talk, they're enjoying the show.

00:48:28.213 --> 00:48:29.773
<v Brandy>It really is a community.

00:48:30.132 --> 00:48:37.452
<v Brandy>And there's one more thing that really supports that community that you, you do, and we've mentioned it a couple times already, and that is the Modern Monday newsletter.

00:48:37.452 --> 00:48:37.543
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

00:48:37.902 --> 00:48:42.103
<v Brandy>So let's just talk about what, what members will get when they sign up for that newsletter.

00:48:42.507 --> 00:48:43.108
<v Elizabeth>Absolutely.

00:48:43.108 --> 00:48:50.487
<v Elizabeth>So the Modern Monday newsletter comes out every Monday, say for a handful of national holidays that tend to fall on Mondays.

00:48:50.918 --> 00:48:55.148
<v Elizabeth>And it is always whatever is most up to date, sometimes it's education.

00:48:55.478 --> 00:48:59.527
<v Elizabeth>We have a number of on-demand videos about different topics within modern quilting.

00:48:59.768 --> 00:49:12.367
<v Elizabeth>For example, there was one we released a little while back relating to maximalism, which is a topic that a lot of modern quilters are really interested in, and many others have never heard the word and want to learn more about it.

00:49:12.367 --> 00:49:18.072
<v Elizabeth>So, we always feature whatever is the latest and greatest in terms of education from the M Q G.

00:49:18.432 --> 00:49:25.543
<v Elizabeth>We also will share if there are any important details in relation to guild management.

00:49:25.753 --> 00:49:32.472
<v Elizabeth>We do have M Q G members that are members of local guilds, and sometimes those local guilds have some business to take care of.

00:49:32.472 --> 00:49:34.003
<v Elizabeth>So we remind about things like that.

00:49:34.302 --> 00:49:51.000
<v Elizabeth>But on the flip side of that, we also have individual members and there are two different individual member coalition groups that meet online, much like a local guild could, but it allows individual members to meet other individual members and to create their own sense of community out of that as well.

00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:52.679
<v Brandy>Yeah, that is so great.

00:49:53.130 --> 00:50:05.159
<v Brandy>Okay, so another thing that we really need to mention, because Quilt Con could not happen without all of the sponsors, but let's just mention the Platinum sponsors and then where can people go on the website to find all of the other

00:50:05.159 --> 00:50:05.820
<v Elizabeth>sponsors?

00:50:06.210 --> 00:50:06.869
<v Elizabeth>Absolutely.

00:50:06.869 --> 00:50:16.860
<v Elizabeth>So you can visit the Quilt Con webpage@quiltcon.com to see our UpToDate sponsors at any given point in time.

00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:28.480
<v Elizabeth>So our platinum sponsors for quote Con 2024 so far are Moda Damel, cotton and Steel, Bernina Genomic, and Handy Quilter.

00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:40.291
<v Elizabeth>And you can always find that information on the quote con website, both on quote con.com, on the homepage, as well as on the sponsors menu, if you click on sponsors, you'll see the most up to date information there as well.

00:50:41.371 --> 00:50:52.771
<v Brandy>So right now we are gonna take a quick break and when we come back we'll talk all about the Quilt Con Awards, this year's featured speaker and how Quilt Con is really coming full circle.

00:50:52.951 --> 00:50:53.880
<v Brandy>We'll be right back.

00:50:54.672 --> 00:50:59.771
So, yeah, quilting is Las Vegas is premier quilting and sewing supply retailer.

00:51:00.101 --> 00:51:04.032
Their goal is to provide the best supplies and customer service.

00:51:04.422 --> 00:51:08.981
Visit their store in person or shop online@soviakquilting.com.

00:51:09.521 --> 00:51:21.041
You can also find them on YouTube for tutorials events and flash sales, to get a glimpse of who they are, what they do and how much fun they have for the Soviet quilting family.

00:51:21.041 --> 00:51:29.652
It's a privilege to be in an industry, filled with wonderful, caring people with the desire to make the world a little better every day.

00:51:30.684 --> 00:51:44.994
<v Brandy>Join Joe West Foot, the crafty nomad to make the festive geometry quilt in time for Christmas This year, the modern Christmas design is Joe's latest block of the month quilt program that she'll be teaching online from May.

00:51:45.568 --> 00:52:01.768
<v Brandy>Join from the comfort of your own sewing room each month for video classes and live Zoom q and a sessions that will teach you many different skills whilst you piece together the quilt, such as foundation paper piecing inset circles, fake turned edge applique.

00:52:02.009 --> 00:52:15.329
<v Brandy>Why seams and flying geese go to sewing school dot the crafty nomad.co.uk to sign up and use the coupon code fire f i r e to get 10% off.

00:52:16.012 --> 00:52:22.251
<v Brandy>And we are back with Elizabeth Dixon, and today's podcast is all about Quilt Con 2024.

00:52:22.461 --> 00:52:25.402
<v Brandy>So let's have a chat about the awards this year.

00:52:25.641 --> 00:52:27.711
<v Brandy>What are people aiming for and

00:52:27.711 --> 00:52:28.222
<v Elizabeth>what's new?

00:52:29.045 --> 00:52:29.974
<v Elizabeth>Absolutely.

00:52:30.554 --> 00:52:37.125
<v Elizabeth>Quilt Con 2024, there are a number of prizes and awards that are available.

00:52:37.769 --> 00:52:44.969
<v Elizabeth>In every single category of the Quilt show, there is a first, a second, and a third place that is awarded.

00:52:45.389 --> 00:52:55.739
<v Elizabeth>There are also what we call on our floor plans, the big awards that tend to get pulled out of their category and brought to the front of the Quilt show so that everyone can see them.

00:52:55.744 --> 00:52:58.739
<v Elizabeth>And this year there are some new big awards, which is really exciting.

00:52:59.250 --> 00:53:01.500
<v Elizabeth>The top award at Quilt Con is Best in Show.

00:53:02.400 --> 00:53:07.840
<v Elizabeth>Best in Show is going to be the top award that any one quilt can win at the show.

00:53:08.530 --> 00:53:11.289
<v Elizabeth>We also have two different quilting awards.

00:53:11.289 --> 00:53:15.280
<v Elizabeth>One is Best Machine Quilting, the other is Best Hand Quilting.

00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:18.610
<v Elizabeth>This is a change from past years of Quilt Con.

00:53:19.420 --> 00:53:24.489
<v Elizabeth>Best machine quilting is going to encompass both long arm and traditional machine quilting.

00:53:24.699 --> 00:53:28.659
<v Elizabeth>Quilting done with a pantograph is not eligible for this award.

00:53:29.139 --> 00:53:39.903
<v Elizabeth>Best hand quilting, however, is new and is going to be awarded to A quilt that excels in hand quilting that is 60% or more hand quilted.

00:53:40.730 --> 00:53:53.150
<v Elizabeth>We also have our M Q G Award of Excellence, which is awarded by the M Q G to a deserving quilt that has not won any other award within the show.

00:53:53.519 --> 00:53:57.650
<v Elizabeth>And we also have the best original modern design.

00:53:58.099 --> 00:54:02.179
<v Elizabeth>Award, which is also new, that is to be awarded by our judges.

00:54:02.389 --> 00:54:09.619
<v Elizabeth>And the aim of the award is to recognize excellent modern design that really enhances the overall impact of a quilt.

00:54:10.219 --> 00:54:18.710
<v Elizabeth>The last Big award doesn't actually get decided before the show because it's decided by the attendees, and that is our People's Choice Award quilt.

00:54:19.010 --> 00:54:29.360
<v Elizabeth>Throughout the show, folks have the ability to vote within the quilt on app for their favorite quilt, using the quilts identification number on the sign that is next to the quilt.

00:54:30.079 --> 00:54:33.500
<v Elizabeth>All of the quilts within the Jury Quilts Show are eligible for this award.

00:54:33.530 --> 00:54:42.050
<v Elizabeth>No special exhibit quilts are eligible for this award, and it is awarded at the end of the day on Sunday, the last day of the show.

00:54:43.070 --> 00:54:43.460
<v Brandy>Okay.

00:54:43.789 --> 00:54:49.219
<v Brandy>And so that is a very good synopsis of everything that people are aiming for when they enter the show.

00:54:49.550 --> 00:54:53.869
<v Brandy>Let's go back and talk a little bit about the featured person for this show.

00:54:54.139 --> 00:55:00.920
<v Brandy>You've mentioned the name Jackie Gehring and I'm really excited to have her on the podcast leading up to Quilt Con.

00:55:01.250 --> 00:55:03.349
<v Brandy>So we'll be planning that episode.

00:55:03.559 --> 00:55:10.730
<v Brandy>But tell me why having Jackie Gehring as the featured person at Quilt Con 2024 is like coming full

00:55:10.730 --> 00:55:11.210
<v Elizabeth>circle.

00:55:12.079 --> 00:55:21.699
<v Elizabeth>Jackie was our very first board president for the M Q G and was involved with the M Q G really from its very, very earliest days.

00:55:22.219 --> 00:55:33.210
<v Elizabeth>I personally have lots of fond memories of working with Jackie as early as quote con 2015 and I think it's really lovely that we have her coming back.

00:55:33.900 --> 00:55:36.780
<v Elizabeth>On her artistic merits as opposed to her service merit.

00:55:36.780 --> 00:55:46.349
<v Elizabeth>She has served so many volunteer hours over the years for the M Q G and she is such a fantastic quilt artist of her own volition.

00:55:46.710 --> 00:55:50.639
<v Elizabeth>She has done amazing improv works over the years.

00:55:51.210 --> 00:56:06.659
<v Elizabeth>Her love of walking for quilting is just amazing and it's hard to explain the beauty of Jackie's walking footwork until you've seen it in person, and I'm really excited for the exhibit of her work showing off some of those fantastic skills.

00:56:07.409 --> 00:56:08.039
<v Elizabeth>Yes, I am

00:56:08.039 --> 00:56:11.130
<v Brandy>so excited about that exhibit as well, as well as her lecture.

00:56:11.489 --> 00:56:15.786
<v Brandy>So let's dive into a little bit more of a personal question about Quilt Con for you.

00:56:16.175 --> 00:56:16.326
<v Brandy>Sure.

00:56:16.326 --> 00:56:19.385
<v Brandy>What is your favorite thing about Quilt Con Elizabeth?

00:56:19.925 --> 00:56:23.076
<v Elizabeth>It's funny, we've been talking about this on staff the last couple of days too.

00:56:23.076 --> 00:56:24.786
<v Elizabeth>So, it's funny that you asked that.

00:56:24.846 --> 00:56:36.945
<v Elizabeth>I think my favorite part, believe it or not, is the day that we send the quilts home it is the one time really all week long where it is just the staff and volunteers.

00:56:37.860 --> 00:56:49.291
<v Elizabeth>Where there is little pressure because we are not having the impending event coming, the event is then at that point behind us because we ship every single quilt from the show back the day after everything closes up.

00:56:49.891 --> 00:56:50.911
<v Elizabeth>So that's Monday.

00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:55.951
<v Elizabeth>And at that point, we're also all generally very tired and punchy.

00:56:56.280 --> 00:56:58.860
<v Elizabeth>So everything is extra funny on Monday.

00:56:58.860 --> 00:57:04.291
<v Elizabeth>Things that would never be funny the week before are suddenly the funniest things that you have ever heard.

00:57:04.471 --> 00:57:12.351
<v Elizabeth>We, there are so many tears of laughter on Monday that I think really Monday is my favorite day these days at Quilt Con.

00:57:12.981 --> 00:57:13.221
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:57:13.226 --> 00:57:29.501
<v Brandy>And in 2021, I was at Quilt Con and I saw you walking as you made the final announcement on Sunday, and you, you said the words that it was closing and it was just like the look on your face was this melt of relief down your body.

00:57:30.101 --> 00:57:31.391
<v Brandy>It was really nice to see.

00:57:32.786 --> 00:57:34.706
<v Elizabeth>Oh, you mean in 2022 in Phoenix?

00:57:34.706 --> 00:57:34.826
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:57:34.826 --> 00:57:35.215
<v Elizabeth>Yeah, yeah.

00:57:35.221 --> 00:57:35.246
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:57:35.396 --> 00:57:36.096
<v Elizabeth>2022.

00:57:36.096 --> 00:57:36.097
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

00:57:36.152 --> 00:57:41.192
<v Elizabeth>It's funny, I have heard some funny things over the years about my announcements in the exhibit hall.

00:57:41.262 --> 00:57:43.512
<v Elizabeth>That's a good one that I have not heard last year's.

00:57:43.541 --> 00:57:52.152
<v Elizabeth>My favorite one that somebody said to me was, during the exhibitor move in, I must have been a little bit frustrated that I was explaining something.

00:57:52.302 --> 00:57:57.942
<v Elizabeth>Again, I think something about parking, that you were intended to move your vehicle from the dock.

00:57:58.652 --> 00:58:11.331
<v Elizabeth>After 30 minutes of active loading or unloading, I, I must have let out the most exasperated sigh because I was teased about it for the rest of the week by some of the exhibitors in a well-intentioned way, of course.

00:58:11.331 --> 00:58:21.621
<v Elizabeth>But yes, I think the relief of the end of the event is, is huge because we spend, you know, 364 days a year preparing more than that.

00:58:21.626 --> 00:58:28.836
<v Elizabeth>Really, if you think about it, preparing for this huge event, Then at that point, you know, it's all happened.

00:58:28.927 --> 00:58:30.097
<v Elizabeth>It, it happened.

00:58:30.757 --> 00:58:34.927
<v Elizabeth>You know, there's nothing more to do other than wrap it up and get ready for the next one.

00:58:35.737 --> 00:58:46.567
<v Elizabeth>It's definitely like the feeling that you have if you have planned a big, you know, birthday party for your child or you know, Christmas morning after the kids are just playing with the presents quietly.

00:58:46.597 --> 00:58:46.836
<v Elizabeth>Yeah.

00:58:46.867 --> 00:58:48.306
<v Elizabeth>It's that sort of a feeling.

00:58:48.726 --> 00:58:49.117
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:58:49.117 --> 00:58:49.956
<v Brandy>So, so good.

00:58:50.797 --> 00:58:53.226
<v Brandy>Okay, so now it's time for the lightning round robin.

00:58:53.586 --> 00:58:56.947
<v Brandy>It's a series of rapid fire questions and it's super fun.

00:58:57.067 --> 00:58:57.577
<v Brandy>Are you ready?

00:58:57.967 --> 00:58:58.327
<v Brandy>Sure.

00:58:59.286 --> 00:59:02.496
<v Brandy>What is your favorite tool or notion in quilting?

00:59:03.016 --> 00:59:03.137
<v Brandy>I

00:59:03.239 --> 00:59:05.449
<v Elizabeth>don't really like it, but I have to like it.

00:59:05.449 --> 00:59:06.349
<v Elizabeth>It's my seam ripper.

00:59:06.949 --> 00:59:07.280
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:59:07.340 --> 00:59:09.349
<v Brandy>It's good to be best friends with your seam ripper, right?

00:59:09.355 --> 00:59:09.590
<v Brandy>Yep.

00:59:09.739 --> 00:59:09.949
<v Brandy>Gotta

00:59:09.949 --> 00:59:10.789
<v Elizabeth>always have one handy.

00:59:11.255 --> 00:59:11.764
<v Elizabeth>Okay.

00:59:11.815 --> 00:59:16.855
<v Brandy>Do you have any kind of reward system for the team, some kind of celebration, anything like that?

00:59:17.605 --> 00:59:25.525
<v Elizabeth>We do typically get together Monday night and have dinner together, regal each other with tales perhaps that we've not yet told from the days proceeding.

00:59:26.784 --> 00:59:30.804
<v Brandy>Do you have any weird, funny, or crazy quilt con moments?

00:59:31.974 --> 00:59:32.545
<v Elizabeth>Always.

00:59:32.704 --> 00:59:40.715
<v Elizabeth>The one that stands out largest in my memory was this one time when someone drove their motorized scooter into the registration desks.

00:59:40.894 --> 00:59:48.605
<v Elizabeth>She was trying so hard to find the brake and she found the, the gas instead and just rammed right into the registration desk.

00:59:48.815 --> 00:59:49.985
<v Elizabeth>No one was hurt.

00:59:50.255 --> 00:59:52.744
<v Elizabeth>The registration desk was a little dented, but it was fine.

00:59:53.304 --> 00:59:55.764
<v Elizabeth>But yes, absolute hysteria.

00:59:56.094 --> 00:59:56.304
<v Brandy>Yeah.

00:59:56.934 --> 01:00:01.105
<v Brandy>On the team, who is a presidential history buff, that

01:00:01.110 --> 01:00:03.775
<v Elizabeth>would be Karen Cooper, our executive director.

01:00:03.775 --> 01:00:03.835
<v Elizabeth>I.

01:00:04.224 --> 01:00:04.494
<v Elizabeth>She

01:00:04.494 --> 01:00:05.304
<v Brandy>is so sweet.

01:00:05.304 --> 01:00:10.675
<v Brandy>I met her again, I bumped into her again at Squa, at the SQUA conference in Toronto this year.

01:00:11.005 --> 01:00:18.206
<v Brandy>And we were actually talking about having you on the podcast and I said, oh, you know, did you know that Elizabeth was gonna be on the PO podcast?

01:00:18.206 --> 01:00:22.106
<v Brandy>And she said, oh yes, they tell me everything because I don't like surprises.

01:00:22.496 --> 01:00:22.947
<v Brandy>Yes,

01:00:23.007 --> 01:00:23.726
<v Elizabeth>this is true.

01:00:23.967 --> 01:00:26.757
<v Elizabeth>Karen is definitely not someone we will ever plan a surprise party for.

01:00:27.476 --> 01:00:27.746
<v Brandy>Okay.

01:00:27.746 --> 01:00:29.726
<v Brandy>So she's the presidential history buff.

01:00:30.036 --> 01:00:33.637
<v Brandy>Who is most likely to be prepared in the event of an emergency?

01:00:34.583 --> 01:00:35.032
<v Brandy>Well,

01:00:35.182 --> 01:00:38.902
<v Elizabeth>if, if not me, it would have to be Jessica.

01:00:39.802 --> 01:00:41.302
<v Elizabeth>Jessica is always prepared.

01:00:41.603 --> 01:00:41.932
<v Brandy>Okay.

01:00:41.932 --> 01:00:45.563
<v Brandy>And who had a former life as a Lula Rowe consultant?

01:00:45.949 --> 01:00:46.670
<v Elizabeth>That would be Kelsey.

01:00:47.210 --> 01:00:48.650
<v Elizabeth>Kelsey, our events assistant.

01:00:48.739 --> 01:00:49.250
<v Elizabeth>Yes.

01:00:49.489 --> 01:00:55.260
<v Elizabeth>Also a former horse barrel riding champion, which is wild.

01:00:55.889 --> 01:00:56.760
<v Elizabeth>Kelsey has lived.

01:00:57.750 --> 01:01:01.889
<v Brandy>Now, if you don't know what we're talking about with LuLaRoe, you can find that documentary on Netflix.

01:01:01.889 --> 01:01:03.360
<v Brandy>It's rather fascinating.

01:01:03.809 --> 01:01:04.079
<v Brandy>Okay.

01:01:04.079 --> 01:01:11.219
<v Brandy>Is there anything that you do, Elizabeth, to prep a new hire on your staff team for the challenges of Quilt Con?

01:01:12.489 --> 01:01:13.690
<v Elizabeth>There's a couple of different things.

01:01:13.690 --> 01:01:32.469
<v Elizabeth>It seems like we, one thing that we do, When we bring in a new hire, almost always is give them some sort of customer service test where we give them usually a real live email that we've received that's been truly challenging to handle and give them the opportunity to try to write a response.

01:01:32.710 --> 01:01:36.699
<v Elizabeth>If there's any particulars they need to know, factually speaking, we'll always provide them.

01:01:36.699 --> 01:01:46.690
<v Elizabeth>But seeing how they handle a challenging email is often a really good barometer in terms of how well they'll handle the challenges of being on site at an event.

01:01:47.019 --> 01:01:48.250
<v Brandy>Yeah, that's a great test.

01:01:48.519 --> 01:01:52.599
<v Brandy>Okay, and who is always adopted by pets and not the other way around?

01:01:53.860 --> 01:01:58.840
<v Elizabeth>Oh, that would be Amanda Amanda's she is such a pet lover.

01:01:58.840 --> 01:02:06.070
<v Elizabeth>She's volunteered at shelters over the years and she is definitely the heart of gold when it comes to pets.

01:02:06.670 --> 01:02:07.030
<v Brandy>Okay.

01:02:07.030 --> 01:02:11.980
<v Brandy>And one of my favorite questions in the lightning round is, do you have any furry friends in the studio?

01:02:13.179 --> 01:02:17.710
<v Elizabeth>I do, but I kicked them out of the studio today because they are a little noisy.

01:02:18.010 --> 01:02:23.800
<v Elizabeth>I have a cat George, who is in the process of switching to wet food and is not a fan of it.

01:02:23.800 --> 01:02:24.940
<v Elizabeth>So he's meowing a lot.

01:02:25.719 --> 01:02:26.889
<v Elizabeth>And I have two dogs.

01:02:26.889 --> 01:02:29.949
<v Elizabeth>I have Maximus who is almost nine.

01:02:29.949 --> 01:02:33.099
<v Elizabeth>He's a golden doodle and Poppy, who is a.

01:02:33.730 --> 01:02:35.230
<v Elizabeth>I just read what her breed is called.

01:02:35.230 --> 01:02:38.800
<v Elizabeth>She has a lab pointer mix and it has some cutesy name like pointer door.

01:02:38.829 --> 01:02:39.429
<v Elizabeth>Oh, that's what it is.

01:02:39.429 --> 01:02:40.570
<v Elizabeth>I think a pointer door.

01:02:40.809 --> 01:02:42.099
<v Brandy>Oh, that sounds really cute.

01:02:42.105 --> 01:02:47.079
<v Brandy>And I'm surprised by George because usually when you switch to moist food, they like it better.

01:02:47.619 --> 01:02:52.809
<v Elizabeth>He is, is trying to steal the dog's food at this point because it is dry.

01:02:53.110 --> 01:02:59.590
<v Elizabeth>He in fact last night got into a little bit of a tussle with Maximus because he was trying to take Maximus food.

01:03:00.369 --> 01:03:00.820
<v Elizabeth>So funny.

01:03:01.519 --> 01:03:03.889
<v Elizabeth>We do have some other staffers we didn't quite talk about.

01:03:03.889 --> 01:03:13.449
<v Elizabeth>So, we have Darcy Reed who as our digital experience manager, you would never picture with a giant garden and backyard chickens.

01:03:13.449 --> 01:03:18.820
<v Elizabeth>But that's Darcy for you managing both the backyard and the digital experiences at her house.

01:03:19.840 --> 01:03:24.610
<v Elizabeth>We've also got Jennifer Fisher, who, this is one of my favorite things about her.

01:03:24.820 --> 01:03:25.480
<v Elizabeth>It's so funny.

01:03:25.659 --> 01:03:25.869
<v Elizabeth>It is.

01:03:25.869 --> 01:03:29.739
<v Elizabeth>So Jen too, she was a bowling coach for two years.

01:03:30.804 --> 01:03:34.541
<v Elizabeth>Even though she can't bowl uh, Jen is the ultimate cheerleader.

01:03:34.541 --> 01:03:36.701
<v Elizabeth>So this totally jives with her personality.

01:03:36.791 --> 01:03:40.541
<v Elizabeth>She is always, always willing to cheer people on and encourage them.

01:03:40.541 --> 01:03:45.670
<v Elizabeth>So I can absolutely picture her coaching bowlers without bowling herself a hundred percent.

01:03:46.360 --> 01:03:47.891
<v Elizabeth>And let's see here.

01:03:48.731 --> 01:03:51.201
<v Elizabeth>Oh, and our newest addition to the team Isabelle.

01:03:51.541 --> 01:03:57.181
<v Elizabeth>She Not only has done marathons, but she also used to host a quilting.

01:03:57.541 --> 01:04:02.490
<v Elizabeth>I think we decided, we called it a vlog or a video cast type thing.

01:04:02.681 --> 01:04:05.411
<v Elizabeth>Called the Scant quarter Hour a couple years ago.

01:04:05.416 --> 01:04:06.670
<v Elizabeth>So you may remember her from that.

01:04:07.240 --> 01:04:08.471
<v Brandy>The scant quarter hour.

01:04:08.471 --> 01:04:09.190
<v Brandy>That's so great.

01:04:09.581 --> 01:04:12.130
<v Brandy>Well, that's such a nice little glimpse of the team.

01:04:12.340 --> 01:04:14.771
<v Brandy>Thank you so much for braving the lightning round robin.

01:04:15.460 --> 01:04:24.371
<v Brandy>So I've mentioned the website@ww.quiltcon.com where we can find everything about the 2024 event and the history as well.

01:04:24.371 --> 01:04:24.460
<v Brandy>Mm-hmm.

01:04:24.467 --> 01:04:29.320
<v Brandy>But where's the best place for quilters to connect and engage in the fun on social

01:04:30.851 --> 01:04:31.010
<v Elizabeth>media?

01:04:31.016 --> 01:04:35.860
<v Elizabeth>Well, we are at the M Q G T H E M Q G on Instagram.

01:04:36.460 --> 01:04:39.940
<v Elizabeth>You can also find the Modern Quilt Guild on Facebook.

01:04:40.210 --> 01:04:44.681
<v Elizabeth>We are not currently active on Twitter or any other social media platforms.

01:04:45.115 --> 01:04:49.436
<v Elizabeth>And you can find me on Instagram at, don't Call me Betsy.

01:04:49.885 --> 01:04:50.576
<v Elizabeth>All one word.

01:04:50.635 --> 01:04:51.655
<v Elizabeth>No apostrophes.

01:04:51.945 --> 01:04:52.306
<v Brandy>Okay.

01:04:52.306 --> 01:04:54.885
<v Brandy>And there's also the hashtag, which is mm-hmm.

01:04:54.885 --> 01:04:56.235
<v Brandy>Simply Quilt con.

01:04:56.505 --> 01:05:04.485
<v Brandy>There are dozens of hashtags that go around every year in relation to Quilt Con, but the official hashtag is just hashtag quilt con.

01:05:05.056 --> 01:05:05.206
<v Brandy>Yes.

01:05:05.492 --> 01:05:10.713
<v Brandy>Now as we wrap up, Elizabeth, what do you want quilters to take away most from our conversation today?

01:05:11.913 --> 01:05:12.632
<v Brandy>Well,

01:05:12.632 --> 01:05:19.862
<v Elizabeth>hopefully the thing that they take away is that they are going to be making their plans to attend Quilt Con 2024, because it is not to be missed.

01:05:20.463 --> 01:05:23.132
<v Brandy>Elizabeth, it has been such a pleasure to have you on the show.

01:05:23.132 --> 01:05:29.043
<v Brandy>Thank you for sharing the story of Quilt Con and your story, and I cannot wait to see you again at the show.

01:05:29.672 --> 01:05:30.302
<v Elizabeth>Absolutely.

01:05:30.302 --> 01:05:31.563
<v Elizabeth>Looking forward to seeing you as well.

01:05:32.822 --> 01:05:35.012
<v Brandy>So that was my show with Elizabeth Dax.

01:05:35.492 --> 01:05:42.722
<v Brandy>I've said this many times before that I really enjoy everything about this quilt show, including of course the fresh, modern aesthetic.

01:05:43.023 --> 01:05:49.753
<v Brandy>But something I think that sets Quilt Con apart from other quilt shows I've attended are the speakers and the topics.

01:05:50.552 --> 01:05:55.682
<v Brandy>I always walk away having learned something new that leaves me wanting to continue the discussion.

01:05:56.163 --> 01:06:02.762
<v Brandy>And something that the M Q G staff does that I admire is it strives to always be better.

01:06:03.063 --> 01:06:12.782
<v Brandy>I sat down with executive director Karen Cooper in the Quilter on Fire Podcast lounge in the OIS O booth at Quilt Con 2023 for a quick interview.

01:06:13.083 --> 01:06:21.362
<v Brandy>And afterwards I quickly just told her of one of my followers on Instagram, had commented on the color coding for the show passes.

01:06:21.572 --> 01:06:23.432
<v Brandy>There was, you know, the red, yellow, green, I.

01:06:24.182 --> 01:06:26.972
<v Brandy>Show your level of comfort with human contact.

01:06:27.032 --> 01:06:34.023
<v Brandy>You know, hugs or no hugs, and that comment said that the colors wouldn't work for her because she's colorblind.

01:06:34.353 --> 01:06:41.762
<v Brandy>Well, Karen quickly scribbled that in her notebook to see if she could come up with a solution like adding symbols or something for the next year.

01:06:41.943 --> 01:06:49.382
<v Brandy>My point is this team has a vision and a mission with the M Q G and they work hard to set the bar high and reach for it.

01:06:49.983 --> 01:06:57.182
<v Brandy>I am thrilled to have had this opportunity to have Elizabeth Dexon on the show for a special Quilt Con 2024 episode.

01:06:57.663 --> 01:07:03.572
<v Brandy>And my goodness, if you plan to come to the show in 2024, please swing by the Aliso booth.

01:07:03.722 --> 01:07:07.802
<v Brandy>Define me again in the podcast lounge for a chance to be on the show.

01:07:08.222 --> 01:07:11.432
<v Brandy>I really enjoyed sharing everything quilt on with you today.

01:07:11.793 --> 01:07:12.572
<v Brandy>We'll see you there.

01:07:13.682 --> 01:07:17.402
<v Brandy>Now, before you go, do you have a Quilty Biz and you advertise?

01:07:17.552 --> 01:07:22.443
<v Brandy>If you wanna reach out to Quilters podcast advertising might just be the perfect thing for you.

01:07:22.833 --> 01:07:28.172
<v Brandy>At a fraction of the cost of magazine or Facebook ads Quilter On Fire podcast ads.

01:07:28.172 --> 01:07:33.932
<v Brandy>Reach thousands of quilters and stay up online available to the listener for the life of the podcast.

01:07:34.202 --> 01:07:39.362
<v Brandy>Email me at brandy@quilteronfire.com to plan your next advertisement today.

01:07:41.034 --> 01:07:43.945
<v Brandy>Calling all quilters and textile lovers.

01:07:44.094 --> 01:07:47.695
<v Brandy>Discover the wonders of Japan with the quilter on fire.

01:07:48.085 --> 01:07:51.144
<v Brandy>May 15th to 26th, 2024.

01:07:51.324 --> 01:08:05.425
<v Brandy>This 12 day tour includes four hands-on workshops, use zen painting using stencils, roquette soup painting with wax resist shibori with wood clamps in a matsu where Shibori began.

01:08:05.824 --> 01:08:28.265
<v Brandy>And then Shibori again at the Shabo Museum In Kyoto, you will see museum collections of Japan's finest crafts, including the famous Kubota Kimono collection textile centers with hundreds of fabric shops, a traditional Japanese town discover beautiful old fabrics and samples of sashiko and boro.

01:08:28.654 --> 01:08:33.784
<v Brandy>Enjoy a night at an Anson Hotel with views of iconic Mount Fuji.

01:08:34.185 --> 01:08:41.055
<v Brandy>You will be inspired by Japan's Gardens, markets shrines, and sites of cultural significance.

01:08:41.414 --> 01:08:47.835
<v Brandy>From Tokyo to Kyoto, we'll dive into the world of Japanese quilts, culture and lifestyle.

01:08:48.255 --> 01:08:58.095
<v Brandy>Go to opulent quilt journeys.com or call Judy at+1 877-235-3767 to book your spot today.

01:08:59.176 --> 01:09:01.756
<v Brandy>Thank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire podcast.

01:09:02.056 --> 01:09:06.856
<v Brandy>Until next time, dream big and have fun in the studio with the quilter on fire.