Is it crazy to do a one-day trip to another country just to go to a quilt show? Even if it is the biggest show in Europe? Even if it may be my only opportunity?
Apparently I decided it was not crazy, or at least not crazy enough to pass it by. It helped to remember all the times I would fly cross-country, or even from the States to Canada for a one day business trip. If I’d do it for money, why not do it for an adventure?
As it turns out, you can get from Dublin Ireland to Birmingham England and back pretty easily if you don’t mind standing in a lot of lines and getting on and off small planes via outdoor air stairs.
There were over 1,200 quilts on display and 200 vendors, not to mention all of the workshops and lectures happening. I can’t image going for all four days, as so many people do. Way too much stimulation for me. Plus there’s only so much shopping for fabric that I don’t need I can resist.
I you are a quilter, I don’t have to say any more. If you aren’t, there might be more to this little hobby than you realize. There are about 10 million quilters in the United States and the diversity of the art they produce will blow your mind.
Want some eye candy? You can browse the winners of the 17 categories of prizewinners on this link.
The one below is by a woman named Allison James, and was one of my favorites.
I’ve had a series of small world situations since I moved to Dublin, and there were more in Birmingham. I ran in to a woman I had met at my first quilt guild meeting in Dublin, a woman who has lived in Ireland for over 30 years but grew up in my home town. Even stranger, a woman who lives in Scandanavia but has family in the small Alabama town where my in-laws live and my husband went to community college.
I don’t track my steps that day, but I bet if I did I would be pretty impressed with myself.