My local quilt shop hosted a bus tour to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago over the weekend. My friends Karen and Milah joined me and we had a great time. It is always inspiring to see what insanity talent there is out there in the quilting world. The time and effort it would take to make some of these is mind boggling. This next one was so beautifully hand quilted it took my breath away. And the needle turn appliqué was perfection. This one was the show-stopper for me. I appreciate the talent it takes to make an art quilt, but it has never really been a thing for me. I prefer the traditional style of quilting. Yet, even I have to admit that these next two are just freaking amazing. As for my personal tastes, I like the following the most. I can't help it. I like the simpler traditional quilts. This one proved you can make a beautiful quilt with very simple quilting. Again, more simple quilting in the next one. The riot of color here makes this look complicated but it is really a simple design. This next one borders on insane only because of the tiny scale of the pieces. A simple nine patch will win me over every time. But if I could only pick one to take home with me it would have been this one. I love it so much I'm adding it to my to-do list. The maker did a block exchange and then tied it all together. I think I'll try doing the same. I came home inspired to get all my unfinished tops quilted so I can start on new projects. I set up an assembly line to machine quilt all the small quilts I have had hanging on the design wall. I even tried setting up my antique hand-quilting frame to work on a larger quilt, but the darn thing is too big for any of the small rooms in this house. It is a little too hot now days to work with a hoop in my lap so that one will have to keep waiting.