Quilt Show Countdown: The Preview Party

Is the Preview Party the end of the countdown or the beginning of the show?
I'm not sure, but it's a wonderful event...the best time to see the quilts and take some photos. There were two tables with hot hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and a fabulous display of Pat Styring's quilts.
The Prime Osborne Convention Center (Jacksonville ,FL) is the remodeled central train station from years ago, so it has some interesting areas. This was the main lobby at the front of the building, and it's a lovely place with huge windows and beautiful light.

But who cares about all that when there's a quilt show to see? Right inside the door, once again, are the tables for the "seven sister guilds" that work together to put on QuiltFest. Behind each table is the guild's raffle quilt, so the show is the last opportunity to sell tickets, as all the quilt drawings are the last day of the show.
I am so pleased that I remembered to put my sticky return address labels in my purse...no strenuous work filling in those tickets for me!

Here's the Quilters Walk with about 70 baskets of goodies. They are assembled and donated by guilds, individuals and businesses. You can buy 50 tickets for $5 and put as many as you like in a drawing for whichever baskets you like. This is a huge fundraiser, with the money going to educational grants for the guilds.
A brief stop at my guild's table!

But I know what you really want to see is the Best of Show, so here it is:

"Aunt Mimi's Flower Garden" by Elsie Campbell of Dodge City, Kansas.
I was alerted by faithful Patchwork Pie reader AnotherPat that this quilt was discussed in depth on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson & Ricky Tims (visit Pat at Another Patch by AnotherPat ).
The quilting is perfection, with a variety of motifs, and the applique work is incredible. It was done by machine, even though everyone was saying it was done by hand! All the curved bias work is nice and round and the binding is set off with a tiny piping.
This IS what wins the big awards: many techniques done very well!The design is actually alternating blocks set on point, but if you didn't know that you'd never guess it. On the applique flower blocks here, the small flowers are in the corners (where the green bias touches) , and the seam goes along those feathered quilt motifs....you'd never see it if you weren't looking very close!
Here's a view from the back, which is all white. The colors you see are from the fabric on the front...it must have a very thin/light batting.

There will be time to show more quilts later, but this one is very special. It is "Mail Call" by Julie Mainor, and owned by Cherry-Cherry:
The light colors & values invite a more careful look, and the emotion begins to pour out of this piece.

Though I'm sure those who arrived when the party started were pleased, but the food wasn't very hot or plentiful by the time we got there. Rita had a great idea! When the party was over and we'd seen all the quilts, we headed out to an upscale restaurant called b.b.'s and had some fabulous dessert!
Now that's what I call a great Girl's Night Out, complete with some fancy plate art!