Quilt by Jaqueline Skarritt from Kalamazoo, MI, Lost and Found, at the AQS Show, Lancaster, PA

Everyone was enjoying a couple of balmy days (well, for this time of year in Lancaster) and then the temperature plummeted to about 19 degrees. It did climb up to about 33, I think and allegedly will blow on through tonight. My South Florida blood was not really prepared for the sudden change. With that said, the American Quilter Society (AQS) Show seems to be going smoothly with quilts that range from beautiful to complex to whimsical and it’s exciting to have so many quilters gathered in one spot. Well, one place since the displays are on three separate floors. I actually haven’t made it into the third floor displays yet and will do that tomorrow. The trip in yesterday was fairly routine, but I was pretty tired by the time I arrived at the hotel and found my way around the basic layout. Today was author demonstration at noon, then round table with three other authors at 4:30.

The author demonstration is a bit intriguing because as a fiction writer, what does one demonstrate? I have a display of the four towns that are the primary building blocks for the town of Wallington, then a list of Helen Crowder’s quilting circle members, and a few characteristics of the town and I talk about how I “create” the books much in the same way that the how-to quilters make the quilts that their books are about.

The quilt shown above is one that is in the running (popular votes) in the modern quilt category. They aren’t having the levels of contests that they apparently do at other shows.  I should be able to spend more time among the quilts tomorrow and will try to capture different styles.