The Chicago Quilt Show...
As I was getting up at 4am, Friday morning, I was wondering, "Why?" I have never gone to a quilt show without Sarah. And who's idea do you think it was to go to those? Sarah's. So I guess I decided to go to this one just to prove that I could do it by myself. And I might actually enjoy it... you never know. So I got on the bus at 5:30am and rode the 4 hours to Chicago. I decided to do the vendors first, as it seemed everyone else was crowding into the exhibit hall. Found some goodies, I'll post them, later. Then I went into the quilt show and was enjoying the traditional quilts and finding the art quilts... interesting. They had the aisles set up so you walked through art quilts then traditional, then back to the art ones and then traditional again. It was kinda nice and kept things from blurring all together. About a 1/3rd of the way through the exhibit, I looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. My jaw dropped to the floor and I grabbed the lady's arm beside me and said, "I know this quilt!! This is my uncle's quilt!" She looked confused and said, "Your uncle made a quilt like this?" NONONO!!! This is his quilt!! I was so tickled to see it there. I found the posting that said, yes, the quilt was made by Gregory Leighton of Perrysburg, Ohio. My mom's twin sister's husband. He had sent me some pictures of the blocks as he was working on them, but I didn't know that he had finished it and it had been quilted- and such a beautiful quilting job! (Thought I'd remember the quilter's name, but after getting in at 2am, my brain is even mushier than usual.) I didn't tell him I was going to the show- I live a lot closer to Ohio than to Illinois. What a wonderful surprise it was. I took lots of pictures and kept telling everyone who stopped to look at it, "My uncle made this quilt!" Isn't it gorgeous? A beautiful, maverick quilt! Entirely hand-pieced. The far right corner isn't in shadow, it's just the way he placed the darks. The lady I was with said she was surprised that I had recognized it, but how could I not? It is very distinctive looking- it's just so Greg! The block is a very old pattern, but the fabrics are mostly hand-dyed. He loves the hand-dyed and uses grey as a neutral instead of the more traditional cream. l love it, love it, love it!! It was worth getting up at 4am just to get to see it hanging there among all the other beautiful quilts! When we returned to the bus that evening, I found my friend Martin and his wife Sharon and I started to tell them of my exciting news- then Martin says, "The one called "Fish Chowder?" Yes, yes!! He remembered it, and thought it was great also. He said to be sure to tell Greg how much they liked it and they even remembered the name. How cool is that? I bet Sarah would have recognized it, too. Well, I need a nap. I just wanted to share my thrilling news.