AQS Daytona Beach, 2020

This was my first time to teach at AQS Daytona Beach and I had a blast! I have not been to that part of Florida before and I found it to be genuinely friendly and laid-back. The influence of the car is felt pretty much everywhere. The accent was seriously southern and the food that I had outside of the Hilton was fabulous. The barbecue next to the convention center was some of the best ever. Walking around the city was a delight.

It was a real challenge to pare down to one checked bag! By necessity I flew Delta and really missed Southwest’s 2 bags free policy.

You are never far from the influence of the car in Daytona Beach since it is the scene of the Daytona 500. Just walking around you will hear a bubba-bubba rumbling of some pimped-out car. The boardwalk has these signs that commemorate each major race:

They used to hold the race ON the beach!

The view from my oceanfront room was fabulous day and night:

The venue itself was great – wide open spaces with lots of light.

Every time I went up and down the stairs it made me feel like I was going to experience vertigo! This was a very optically BUSY carpet.

I ate lunch at the venue each day and just plopped myself down at a table with others. You gotta love the people you meet at shows; you never know who you might meet:

This was a Small World Moment. I am friends with Barbara Black who is kind of the gatekeeper for the Education Dept at Houston. Barbara has been a volunteer for what, 30-ish years? You might find that name very familiar as she makes the Block of the Month for The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims as well as a very popular teacher and blogger.

I plopped down with Jo Anne Miller and Brenda Miller from Alabama. They go all bananas over OMG, you’re Jenny Lyon and all that, which of course is incredibly flattering. And then come to find out they are in Barbara Black’s small group! You’ll see later that they both had quilts in the show and will also hang in Paducah, a first time for both. It was a joyful moment for all three of us. Small world, no?

I plopped down with Carole one lunch. Look at her paper-pieced lanyard!

And isn’t this just fun?

This was a dream venue for me. At the smaller shows I get to know the other teachers, and the classroom setting is more intimate. AQS takes really good care of their teachers and I truly felt embraced by the AQS people. I won’t drop names but I had such a lovely chance to get to know new friends and teachers and catch up with old friends and teachers. It filled my heart.

My classes went fabulously well. They all filled except 2 spots. The enthusiasm was very high and I was surprised that students knew me in Florida, but they did! I forgot to take but a few photos.

I am sorry to admit that I forget which class this was, but you can see how spacious and well-lighted the room was and how happy my students were. It was a joy. I was in a Janome room for 3 of 4 classes and half of the machines were the new M-7’s with that huge throat and students were gaga over that. One day I got to be in my beloved BERNINA room, where I felt right at home and the machines purred all day.

I did take photos in my Feathers Four Ways class. I am here to tell you everyone can do feathers! This is work by first-time feathers and one student brand spankin’ new to free motion quilting!

I’m guessing that some major quilters choose to debut their newest work at Daytona Beach. AQS DB is quickly followed by Lancaster and Paducah, so you ship your quilts once and (if juried in) it will show at all 3 shows. Let’s look at some quilts.

Monstrous Attacker, Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga

Fly Up Into the Sky, Sangha Bhak

Detail, Fly Up Into the Sky, Sangha Bhak

Full Blown, Nancy Sterett Martin

Detail, Full Blown, Nancy Sterett Martin

Coastal Overlook, Ellen Lindner

Venus, Rosani Ganc; one of my favs!

Detail, Venus, Rosani Ganc

Logscape, Karen Eckmeier

Detail, Logscape, Karen Eckmeier

West to East – Watching Their Back, Kim Borowy

Missouri Barn, LeAnn Hileman; in person the detail on this was amazing.

Song Kwang Sa Temple, Mikyung Jang

Detail, Song Kwang Sa Temple, Mikyung Jang

Alley Garden, Christina McCann

Rose and Jason, Kestrel Michaud. This piece is stunning. It is digitally cut with thousands of pieces. I got to meet and chat with fellow SAQA artist Kestrel. She’s a delight!

The Attic, Maria van Buel

Spring Thing, Claudia Scheja. Such a joyful quilt!

The Value of Violet, Margaret Solomon Gunn

Detail, The Value of Violet, Margaret Solomon Gunn

The Crossing, Linda Roy

Detail, The Crossing, Linda Roy. Unbelievable, exquisite detail.

Train to Nowhere, Cheryl L. See

Black is Beautiful, Maria Reuter. Wish I had taken a detail shot of all the beautiful detail work on this.

Serendipity, Kyra Reps. This stopped me in my tracks. Loved this amazing piece.

Serendipity, Kyra Reps. Yeah, like those tiny dots were maybe 1/8″ if I remember correctly.

Jo Anne’s Halo, Brenda’s Halo. You met them earlier in the post. How cute is this, hanging side-by-side? Their version of Sue Garman’s Halo Medallion.

A Glorious May Morning, Lynne S. Dalmeyer-Hartman

Summer Dream, Eunsuk Lee. Ribbonless!

Detail, Summer Dream, Eunsuk Lee

Ruffled Roses, Barbara Black

From the Inside Out, Catherine Butterworth. Oh I wish I’d gone back and taken another photo plus detail shots. This quilt was exquisite, unique fabric choices, beautiful quilting, lovely design. Might have won Judge’s Choice were I a judge.

Glittering Pains (Around 50 Years Old), Eunjco An

Oh Be Joyful!, Cindy Seitz-Krug

Susan Cleveland had a special exhibit of her work. Her work is exquisite, divine, precise and you just feel her sense of humor as you look at it. Much of her work is very recognizable so I chose an older piece to show here:

Star Spangled Banner, Susan Cleveland

Detail, Star Spangled Banner, Susan Cleveland. Her details are so delightful. Doesn’t that just make you smile?

I got to hang out with the Florida SAQA people and see the debut of the latest exhibit, Aloft. I’ll be posting about that next week. I hope you enjoyed the AQS Daytona Beach show! I’ll post on Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday too so check out the good links there too.