Quilt Show

Last Saturday was the quilt show in Des Moines. Julie http://joetulipsquilts.blogspot.com/ and I had made plans several weeks ago to attend the quilt show. Last year, her mom came with us. The three of us had a blast. This year, her mom was unable to go with us........ I guess she was on a cruise or something. I can't imagine it being as much fun as the quilt show........ :) As we were leaving Titonka, we saw a glorious sunrise to the east...

Several miles south of town, this was what we saw...

. One thing I wanted to do at the quilt show was look at sewing machines. My intention was simply to look at them. Really - it was. I have a little Kenmore seweing machine that I bought just over a year ago......It does a great job, but it has limitations. I would say it has outdone itself in the $99 sewing machine department. But there are certain things you just can't do with it. Like free motion quilt. It is not designed to let you lower the feed dog, which is really quite important if you want to free motion quilt.

So, we made the rounds....looking at all the lovely fabric........ all the neat patterns.......

I had a list of the sewing machines I wanted to look at.

First up was the Husqvarna/Viking. I just love the way that name rolls off the tongue...... Husqvarna.........

Keep in mind that I really had no idea the prices of the sewing machines I was looking for. Most of these sewing machines are only available from the dealers, and you don't usually find prices for them online or anything. So, I was looking at the Husqvarna Sapphire. I had read about it online, and it sounded like a nice machine. Again, I really had no intention of buying a sewing machine..... but then I asked the price. When she told me how much it was, I almost said, "Really? Is that all?" Not that it was "cheap" by any means, but I really had no idea what to expect, and It was a lot less then I was expecting her to say.

I was almost ready to buy it, but I wanted to look around first. I hope that lady at the Husqvarna booth isn't still waiting for me.......

Next we found the Baby Lock booth. I had seen an ad in a quilt magazine for the Melody.... It sounded like a nice machine, with lots of features I would want. We were also asked to try out a serger at this booth, to help make fleece blankets that would be donated to the Methodist Hospital.

So, while Julie played with the serger, I tried out the "Melody". As the rep from Baby Lock was demonstrating the machine, I was thinking, "There is no way I'll be able to afford this." It had even more features, but more important to me, it came will all the extra "feet" I wanted. I wouldn't need to pay extra for them like I would with the first machine. Finally I just asked her the price. Much to my surprise, it was the same price as the first machine, and if I would buy the demo model, they would take $75 off. I pretty much knew at that point that I would be going home with that sewing machine! But I also knew that there were 2 more sewing machine booths that I wanted to look at.

So, next we hit the Janome booth. Sorry..... no picture. Their reps were all quite busy, so we didn't get a demonstration. But, I did see a price, as they had a "show special". Just as I figured, the one I was interested in there, the Janome 7700, was out of my price range. From there, we hit the Bernina booth. I basically knew before I got there that I could not afford the Bernina I wanted. I do have a Bernina....... my mom's old model from 1955. It does still sew, but it is very slow...... and it is definitely not a quilting machine. The lady at the Bernina booth was very nice. She was doing some quilting, and we watched her. She made it look so easy. The main reason I would want a Bernina for quilting, is for the stitch regulator. But of course that comes at a price. With the quilting machines starting at $2000, I knew I wouldn't be taking one of them home.......

So, back to the Baby Lock booth we went.


And here is "Melody" at home.......



Needless to say, I didn't get much other stuff at the quilt show. Just some fabric, a pattern for an "argyle" quilt, and some wonderful cotton rope to make some placemats or something like that. I really wanted to find the "Dream On" fabric. It's a Moda fabric - Urban Chiks. I found it at the "Quilted Forest" booth...... our friends over in Forest City had it, but I want all the way to Des Moines to buy it! That cute cowboy print is also a Moda fabric- one that I had not seen before. I thought i would make a cute baby boy quilt someday.

Anyhow, I think I've blogged on long enough........:)