Thirty-two guilds belong to TAQG. If you are a member of any of the member guilds, you can attend Rally Day for free. As you arrive, you receive a goody bag little gifties from all the guilds.
I arrived as the event was beginning and the guilds were setting up their raffle quilts. Two long halls had raffle quilts displaced on both sides. It was the next best thing to a quilt show.
I really liked this sampler quilt from the Allen Quilter's Guild.
And this one, called Home Tweet Home, from the Cotton Patch Guild.
Here's a detail photo from Home Tweet Home. Yes, there was definitely no shortage of eye candy , nor opportunities to buy chances to win beautiful quilts of every style and colorway.
Sharon Schamber, the speaker of the day, also brought patterns and instructional DVDs to sell, so there was also ample opportunity to shop.
Another part of the event was a miniature quilt silent auction. There were some great miniature quilts.
(click any of the photos for larger versions)
The main event were the presentations by Sharon Schamber before and after lunch and the hundreds of door prizes–I came home with a couple of books and some Halloween-themed FQs.
Despite some forgotten cables and some technical difficulties, Sharon and her husband, Gene, did a great job of sharing quilts and stories and information about color and quilting. My photos were taken quite far from the stage and mostly serve to trigger my memories of the event–there certainly are better photos to be found elsewhere of most of these well known quilts.
The quiltholders in yellow shirts were from the Irving Guild. The quilters from Fort Worth were in red T-shirts. Another guild had great turquoise embroidered shirts. It was fun to see everyone wearing their colors. The Dallas Guild doesn't have shirts. "It's too big," I was told. I think we need to fix that, or make yoyo pins or wear bandanas or *something* for next year.
4 comments:
Ooo I really like the setting and blocks on that sampler quilt! Very pretty! (Also re early post on the weather, I can sympathize -- up at 3 am because of thunderstorms waking us.)
Great quilts, thanks for sharing. I love the whimsy of the birdhouses, and the sampler is stunning!
It was incredible to see 20-30 amazing and delightfully different guild raffle quilts all in one place. I didn't know what to expect from "Rally Day," especially when I heard there was no quilt show and no vendors, but this was really a great day and Sharon Schamber and her husband Gene were very informative and entertaining. I'm already to go back next year.
As you have been experiencing the wonders of Texas, it has made me recall my years in Dallas. I really loved it, but wasn't doing much quilting then. It was the early 80's and there were no long arm quilters to finish your quilt and I've never liked hand quilting. I recently discovered 2 tops that I made during that era and of course they need to be quilted!
One of the quilt shops here in Las Vegas has 2 long arm machines that you can learn to use and then rent time on. Next week Tuesday, I will take my all day class to learn to use the machines and then get started on the 6 or so tops that are ready to go! I'm really excited and hope I like using the machines.
Again, congrats on your job and thanks for posting the rally photos!
Gail
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