How cool was QuiltCon 2018?  Barbara Brackman made the trip from Missouri to California to check it out.

Moda was there as an Exhibitor, showcasing Vanessa Christenson of V & Co. and her Ombrés - the Ombré Basics and the new Ombré Confetti Metallic.

Vanessa was there - she was busy sharing her love and ombré expertise.

The Moda QuiltCon Crew - Vanessa, Josh Dunn and Amy Matheny - a super-rep and veteran of three QuiltCons.

One of our favorite quilts in the show was made with Vanessa'sOmbré Basics.

Singularity by Jenn Nevitt of Fort Worth, Texas.  If you are a Member of the Modern Quilt Guild, this pattern is available as the January 2017 Quilt of the Month.

Kaari Meng of French General was at QuiltCon as an Exhibitor - a very busy exhibitor sharing her love of all kinds of hand-work.

Hand-work!  It's big at QuiltCon.  I heard it from Moda's Hand-Quilting Special Correspondent - Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson - that there was more hand-quilting at QuiltCon than at almost any show she's been to.

Desert Garden by Jennifer Emry of Arlington, Virginia - Improvisation Category.  This quilt also features plaids and stripes, printed corduroy, reproduction prints and wovens.

Alabama Cityscape by Sheri Schumacher of Auburn, Alabama - Handwork Category.

Blue Jean Butterflies by Charlotte Noll of Lauderhill, Florida - Improvisation Category.

Log Cabin Sketch by Mary Elizabeth Kinch of Toronto, Ontario Canada - Small Quilts Category.  Mixing hand applique and machine-quilting, this quilt measured less than 18" square.

Going Up by Stephanie Skardal of Clemmons, North Carolina.  Made with 1/2" finished strips in a white solid and blue chambray-texture was machine-pieced and machine-quilted.  This graphically striking quilt was chosen as Best In Show by the judges - Moda Fabrics sponsored the Best in Show prize.

Shine a Light by Hillary Goodwin of Auburn, California - Piecing Category.  From the spectacular color palette to the perfectly-chosen machine-quilting, this quilt showed the impact of using only solids.

Serendipity II by Sarah Hibbert of Hatfield, Herts United Kingdom - Small Quilts Category.  The creative mix of prints and substrates, and the stunning color palette made this quilt a favorite of many.

Hourglass Quilt by Tara Faughnan of Oakland, California - Modern Traditionalism category.

Infinité IV by Sophie Zaugg of Le Sentier, Switzerland - Improvisation Category.

Happy Dance by Sandra Kaye of Jacksonville, Florida.  This quilt won by Best Machine Quilting award for Frameless Machines - that's like a domestic home machine where the quilt moves but the needle doesn't.  (A long-arm quilt machine is the reverse - a stationary quilt and moving needle.)

Just Around the Corner by Sarah Atlee of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Improvisation Category.  Improvisational blocks were assembled in a quilt-as-you-go manner - machine pieced and machine-quilted.

Northern Obsession by Christine Perrigo of Erie, Colorado - Quilting Challenge Category.  This category was sponsored by American Patchwork & Quilting's Flying Geese Quilt Challenge.  Machine-pieced and machine-quilted on a frame - such as long-arm machine - with matchstick quilting in different color threads.  Designed to prove the concept that a limited but balanced mixture of reds and off-whites could create a rich, complex composition.

Positive:Negative by Lorena UriARTe of Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia - Piecing.  Bias alert - this is one of my favorite quilts.  Machine-pieced in an improvisational style and machine-quilted on a frameless machine, this quilt explores negative space in a literal sense.  It is comprised of 729 - 2" blocks.

As glorious, varied and unique as the quilts are, one of the best aspects of QuiltCon is the energy.  While there are many Southern California quilters attending, there are also quilters who traveled to Pasadena from almost every other state, and from Europe, Australia and Asia.  They come to hang with like-minded modern quilters and make new friends, others travel with friends or make the trip to meet up with them.

And a few surprise friends by being there for a big event... like the first official book-signing for a long-awaited "first book".

This is Kay and Lissa - you know Lissa as ModaLissa and the Director of Marketing for Moda.  Kay is a dear friend - she flew in from Florida with Lissa's daughter, Jillian, to surprise her on Saturday morning.

This friend flew in from Colorado and probably helped with the surprise.

This is Alison - a quilt-shop owner and long-time bestie.

(More about Oh, Scrap! next week.)

A huge Thank You to the Modern Quilt Guild - it's Staff, Officers, Directors and Board, and the many awesome Volunteers and Members for an outstanding show and a really good time.  Well done!

QuiltCon 2019 will be held in Nashville, Tennessee - February 21-24.  (And then rumor has it that it will be in Austin, Texas in February 2020.  Fingers crossed.)

So what's not to love?  Amazing, provocative and interesting quilts.  A variety of classes teaching everything from quilt design to photography, binding techniques to visible mending, and machine-quilting to surface printing.  Terrific vendors and exhibitors sharing the latest, greatest, coolest and most useful quilty-stuff.  (Shop?  Moi.  Maybe.)

And friends.  New and old.

Nashville.  I hope we'll see you there.