QuiltCon is happening over at the Austin Convention Center this weekend. The conference includes workshops, lectures, and discussion panels all related to quilting, but the public can just browse the exhibition floor for $10 a day.This was my first quilt show. My own sewing experience basically ended with Home Ec in 10th grade (not counting the sewing machine that I never used until the night before selling it at our downsizing garage sale). I first wandered around the QuiltCon vendor booths. I admired the colorful fabrics and threads. I watched a demonstration on cutting quilt squares and learned about fabric organization from the inventor of the Fabric Organizer. I observed that sewing machine technology has come a long way since my high school days. Quilting machines are quite impressive. The woman in this picture told me that she was sorry to be hogging the machine, but she was totally addicted. I replied, that’s OK, I’m just pretending to be a quilter today. I later checked the price of quilting machines—they start around $10,000. She might want to consider taking up a cheaper addiction. The event also featured a juried quilt show. Now that I am an expert on quilting, I must say that I was in complete agreement with the judges’ choice for Best in Show. Although this quilt does not photograph as well as some of the others, the design and color combinations were stunning. Awards were given in categories such as Handwork, Minimalist Design, Use of Negative Space, and Modern Traditionalism. Here are some of the other quilts which I admired: