The Virtual Houston Quilt Festival – my view
It has been a very eventful week, but there aren’t a lot of photos to support that! It was the week of the virtual Houston Quilt Festival and it was a jam-packed:
I am not going to show a lot of screen shots because to me, they pretty much all look alike. I was a panelist for both of the Machine Quilting Forums, presenting on Cutwork as well as an overview of free motion quilting. Each Forum had close to 500 attendees! If it were held in-person the limit is (I think) 150. Now you see why Forum fills early every year!
I regretfully have no evidence of the keynote speech that I gave on opening night of Festival. What. An. Honor! I spoke passionately about “Quilting is a Contact Sport!”, how quilters are a powerful force and how we are a generous and caring community.
I worked really hard and long on that speech and I hope it was well received. I couldn’t tell, it was just me and my computer, in my home. There were almost 1800 attendees, so I guess that was a good sign! I have never spoken to a crowd that large before and I estimate that there were attendees from at least 10 countries?
It was not recorded (my decision) and there were no questions and answers (again, my decision)at the end. I honestly did not think there would be any questions – that was probably not the best call. So, all of a sudden, poof, it was gone. Forever. It’s just such a weird feeling! This was a huge accomplishment and honor for me and it hardly exists on the internet.
Again, no actual screen shots because it would have been inappropriate, but I also took classes and lectures. I learned Precision Piecing from the Best, Philippa Naylor (UK). Wow, I had no idea how much care went into true precision piecing. And pins!! I learned some nifty tricks too.
I also took Intense Free Motion Quilting from Claudia Pfeil (Germany). It was jam packed with ideas for fills and backgrounds, with a 27 page handout! Claudia is a long armer and I hadn’t realized how deliberately long armers avoided stops and starts. I guess that’s because most long armers work for-hire; time is money and stops take time. It was an interesting perspective.
I also took a wonderful lecture from Sue Nickels. It was both a retrospective of her work as well as a trunk show of her considerable collection of historical pieces. It was very interesting and Sue is so dog gone charming.
Then wow, the dynamo of Kimberly Einmo with a plethora of clever ideas for setting up your creative space. She had great ideas for maker spaces from tiny to luxurious. She too is incredibly charming and has a fantastic space to work in.
I also took a lecture from Cindy Seitz-Krug of 20 tips for better machine quilting. I like to hear from others in my field; I learn from their perspective and their presentation approach. Cindy is both knowledgeable and confident and just oozes charisma. It helps me to see how I appear compared to others. I have created a list of “suggested improvements” for myself as a result of watching all of these presenters.
I have yet to view “Quilt by Committee” with 3 Handi Quilters Educators, which I look forward to.
My Perspective on this year’s Festival
A general note about this year’s virtual Houston Quilt Festival. Yes, there were glitches. Most presentations had some sort of minor glitch, a few had major ones. As teachers in a virtual world, there are soooo many things we cannot control! Most students were patient with this fact. We can’t control storms and your internet speed and “new” formats.
There was a lot of confusion about simply getting to view classes. The manner of entry was different from any other virtual Festival I’ve attended. It’s hard to tell what the issue was. It was different, but I did what their directions told me to and got in. I feel badly for those who had difficulty viewing their choices.
For me, as an instructor, it was gold to me! I NEVER get to take these classes because, well, I’m teaching. The in-person show is extremely intense. I average 20 – 30,000 steps a day and I’m in the red zone and orange zone on my FitBit for much of the day.
I got to take condensed classes, front row seat, at home – wahoo! I LOVED the Master Class format which was a 90-minute lecture/demo. You got all the meat, no fluff. This was a unique approach to virtual quilt classes and I think it was a huge hit. Even if you were not impressed with the content or instructor, you paid a mere $20 to view them. You didn’t devote an entire expensive day at Houston and pay over $100 on a subject/technique that ultimately did not interest you. I hope they keep some version of this online Festival!
The show side of things was a little awkward to me. The quilts had to be viewed via PDF due to some sort of computer issue so it was kind of difficult to maneuver through. Seeing quilts online with any show is okay, it just does not excite me. In the end, online viewing of a quilt show leaves a lot to be desired, no one can help that. I felt that the Education side of Festival was fabulous and the show side, not so much.
From my view, the virtual Festival was fabulous! I have been invited to and committed to next year’s (hopefully) in-person Festival and I can’t wait! I MISS people, the random interactions, seeing my friends from all over the world, seeing the quilts in-person and the the mystique/charisma that IS Festival. I want to see the quilts in front of me and relish that feeling of being absolutely surrounded by beauty and wonder. Let’s hope!
And that’s not all that happened this week. In my family, between Hubby and I, we have NINE birthday/anniversaries, from early Nov to first few days of Dec. Mine is the last event in that string. I have put this same banner up for 30 years. Every single year, when it gets to my birthday, at the end, I am pretty much over it. I DO NOT want cake, a big celebration, no. Just leave me alone is pretty much how I feel, not in a bitter way, but I’m just simply done by that point. I don’t put my birthday all over the internet for bad people to see. Let’s just say I celebrated my birthday this year with 1,800 other people. And with California in lockdown, dinner was something I scarfed down after my lecture. And it was a good night!
Maybe next year will be a bit more festive and calm! It’s all good, it’s been a wild ride and a wild ride beats a painful or sad or worry-filled ride. I have many, many blessings and truly, you who read my blog are one of them. I appreciate and treasure every comment and reader. Thank you!
I’ll be linking up to:
I agree with most of your comments. This was a great learning experience. As it happened I took many of the same courses you did and both learned and confirmed what I’ve learned in the past. I am so sorry you did not allow recording or questions. Recordings can be made; they don’t need to be posted. I do hope next year will again include a virtual component!
Unfortunately I missed your opening talk. But I did sign up late for some classes. I really enjoyed the first machine quilting panel. I still have precision piecing to look at before it expires. Haven’t looked at the quilts or vendors yet but we have until March to view them so I’ll still see them. I do hope that they continue to offer some kind of classes virtually in the future. The one time I made it there I spent mostly every day looking at quilts, attending the short little demos and briefly going to vendors. No time for classes ☹️ And I was there for the whole entire time! Though I found after day 1 that I needed to take a mid afternoon break to put up my feet. So I am glad I attended and it was one of your posts that spurred me to action. So thank you.
You must look at the quilts too! I’m glad you “went” to the show. And yes, at the real show, you need “feet up” time, every day!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the VFQ. I am a Jenny Facebook follower and attended the event per your recommendation. Most large events like this I have been unable to attend due to work, family obligations and other financial priorities for my children’s eduction.
I enrolled in multiple classes for a total of $80. The class taught by Katie PM was fantastic. She moved along quickly and I was able to rewatch the recorded version and pause as I completed her fun assignments. My technical problem was addressed after a few minute wait through the help services.
This virtual event was a fantastic opportunity for me. Your discussion opening night was an inspirational start to a fantastic event. Many Thanks!
Oh Catherine that makes me so happy! I’m glad you enjoyed the show and were able to take advantage of this unique year. Thank you for your kind comments, and for reading!
I really enjoyed your keynote speech, Jenny! The show as a whole was as well-done as I suppose it could have been, and there were advantages in being able to watch the classes on our own timetable. However, nothing beats the in-person show, so I’m also hoping for the best for next year.
Thank you Sandy! I enjoyed the virtual show and yet hope for an in-person show in 2021. Fingers crossed!
I listened to your speech at VQF … you have a very pleasant speaking voice. :) I enjoyed the talk a LOT – so true, too.
:) Linda
Oh thank you Linda! That made my day!!
Agree with you about Festival! Classes were great – we were in three together – Philippa Naylor, Claudia Pfeil and Sue Nickels- all were great. Philippa’s pinning technique may have changed my life and caused a quick Amazon purchase of those blue and yellow ones. Claudia’s was totally inspiring!
The Show side not so much. Unconscionable that a day and a half into the show I could still not see the quilts and I had three in the show! I would have expected that Quilt Festival with its great experience to have tested it before hand. If they do this again, another vendor for the computer visuals, please! The fact that registrant’s emails were supplied to the vendors and used for spam emails was not cool, either. After a bunch of complaints that got stopped. And finally,
Vendor malls online just don’t work. That’s what I miss .
I hope we can all go to an in person show soon…
Oh we are birds of a feather Sally! The Festival people went in a new direction with this show and it was unlike any other virtual show. I think there were some kinks to work out of the new format. I know it was disappointing the first few days of the show side of things. They will be up until March though. Oh I miss in-person vendors too! I want to touch and put fabrics next to each other, etc. I so feel for the vendors. I suspect many of our favorite vendors may not make it until next year. Let’s hope for 2021!
That is so cool that you did it – but so wierd that it just Poofed!
Yeah, this new virtual world has some surprises!
I had signed up for 1 class and your lecture on Day 1, and enjoyed both so much that I ended up taking 13. I’ve watched some of those class recordings over and over to grasp and notate the details (Phillipa Naylor, Claudia Pheil, Cindy Grisdela), and noted several other teachers I’d like to learn more from (Cindy Seitz-Krug in that list). After seeing you, Jenny, in the opener and the second Forum, I signed up for your newsletter and plan to use other means to learn more from you. I’d say that you don’t need to worry about upping your game, you got it already going on. You are clear and informative, engaged me (got the charm factor yourself), and your joy in quilting and teaching is infectious. Re the show, LOVE the virtual classes, and I very much hope this become standard addition to live classes. There were three that were a quilting-life version of life changing for me….who knew that I was likely born to be an improv quilter, or that I might well prefer to start a new quilt by playing with fabric rather with a fully realized design! Still working thru the quilt show and exhibitions, and appreciate I’ve got months to look at them again. Do miss getting to view detail up close, but they can’t do much about that. Preferred when they had the show and exhibition quilts loaded each as a separate pdf, as I could download and save a photo of a quilt I found inspirational (with proper attribution of the maker in my caption). I didn’t at all like that viewers choice was only from the “Best of” selections. I’d planned to attend the show/workshops this year for the first time (now that I’m retired), and look forward to the live experience next year. I too really love to stand in front of favorites and get to check out details, take pictures, gab with strangers about what I’m seeing, and pet fabric live in the vendor booths. And I bet Amazon is wondering what’s up with the run on those Clover pins…I bought 2 boxes:) And then there was the Cherrywood hand-dyed fabric (my bank account wishes I’d not discovered that). Sorry for being so verbose, but the show was just so exciting for me.
Lynne that is such an awesome post! I am thrilled that you embraced the Houston show and got so much in return. You made great choices in events, I hope you are inspired to make something wonderful! Thank you for your encouraging comments. I hope to see you in person, at an event!
I really appreciate your feedback about attending a virtual show, both from an instructor/presenter perspective as well as from a student’s point of view. I didn’t participate in the virtual Houston festival (and attending the event in person is still on my bucket list). But I did reluctantly sign up for a handful of lectures and ONE workshop during Virtual QuiltCon 2021. The workshop is on quilt photography, though. I am so OVER living my life through device screens and the idea of taking a workshop in complete social isolation, with interruptions from feuding teenagers and barking dogs and no instructor feedback, no social interaction with other quilters… It just makes me sad and I couldn’t bring myself to sign up for any of the hands-on sewing workshops, even though some of the instructors were offering classes that I would have signed up for in a heartbeat if I could attend in person! Happy “meh” birthday to you, O Woman of Mystery! One more observation: All of the effort and preparation you describe going into preparing your speech, then delivering it by computer with no feedback from your audience, and then POOF it’s gone, reminds me of what it’s like to prepare a really challenging piece of music for a worship service. Even back when everyone went to church to worship in person, there’s not much indication of whether you did well or not because Lutherans don’t applaud or even smile at you during church, and then afterwards they tell you “nice job” or “thank you for serving today” out of politeness. And of course the song is over after 3 minutes, with nothing enduring to show for all of that hard work. I think that’s part of the appeal to me of quilt making: A quilt is still there after I’ve finished making it. I can say “Look, I made something!” Happy holidays to you and your family!
Interesting perspective Rebecca Grace. I’m not complaining but yes – hard to tell how you did and the performance is poof, gone. It was my choice to not have it recorded as it would affect future bookings. I do want to encourage you about online classes though. We DO interact, we DO get instructor feedback (it is rarely lecture style), you still ask questions and the instructor will mute those who forget to mute (we all do). It can be a lovely experience, really! I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your experience with an online class. In fact, I predict that you will be pleased!