This past weekend, before I ran (mostly) the 4K and before I got bit by the dog, I went to a quilt show with my mom. I wasn’t sure she would feel up to it, though she has been getting healthier and stronger and able to do more and more over the last few months, but went ahead and scheduled my visit to coincide with the show in case she did. I figured this would be a good outing to try since it was pretty close to her house, so we could get back there quickly if she got too tired (we could also get to any of her doctors’ offices or hospitals she’s familiar with if need be). As it turned out, Mom was having a really good day on Friday, and not only went to the show but got around under her own power. She did have to take some long breaks, but fortunately the show had a very nice area with comfy chairs for her to sit in.

The show was the inaugural Greater Chicago Quilt Exposition, and it was very nice. The competition section had quilts from something like 10 or 12 countries, including places like Norway and Brazil that I don’t often get a chance to see quilts from, and there were a bunch of special exhibits to look at as well. The aisles were nice and wide, so it was easy to see stuff and move around. The vendor who sells the antique button jewelry that comprises most of my earring collection and most of Mom’s watch collection was there, and she and my mom caught up with each other like old friends, which I guess in a way they are. When we were going to the NQA show every year, we’d always stop at this vendor and she and Mom would have long conversations while I looked at all the trays of earrings. Same thing happened Friday, there was just more to talk about since we hadn’t seen the vendor since Spring IQF in 2005.

I took lots of pictures; we bought a 2 gig card for the new camera, so why not. The battery held up admirably, which was good, because I don’t have a spare; the old one took AA’s so it was easier to have those on hand. I’m not quite used to the camera yet; some of the shots are a bit blurry, and I accidentally made a short movie of one of the quilts (not very exciting, that bit of cinema). Ah well, I’ll learn. I’ve put two sets with my favorites up at Flickr: competition quilts and special exhibits.