I am on the email newsletter list for one of the quilt shops in the area and in it was a mention of a quilt show where they were going to be vending. I went right to the Broward Quilt Expo (BQE) web site www.BrowardQuiltExpo.com and saw that the show was going to be the next weekend! I called my mom and we made plans to go to the show, with an added plus of attending a fantastic lecture by Sharyn Craig the night before. Sharyn as always was terrific and showed us a trunk show of her quilts complimenting her lecture on "Sets Education." We were also able to be spectators at the announcement of awards for the show. Each winner was given her check and a wonderful pin/ribbon to wear that was a beautiful 3 D flower made by one of the guild members, Holly Harrington. Each of the award winning quilts we saw the next day also had a fantastic flower ribbon hanging on them.

The morning after the lecture my mother and I were off to the quilt show. The War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale was filled to the brim with wonderful quilts. This show is presented by the Coral Springs Quilters, Inc., the East Sunrise Quilters, the Southern Star Quilt Guild, and the West Broward Quilters Guild every two years. There were quilts, classes, quilts, lectures, quilts, vendors, an auction, and more quilts.

The show was hung so the quilts were readily visible and accessible so you could see up close and personal the techniques used on each quilt. This was particularly great for us, as I was pushing my mom in a wheelchair (she has some back trouble and can only walk for a short time). We could get very close to the quilts, and there was also a wide aisle in-between rows for maneuvering. The only thing we wished was that there was a little better lighting in a few places.

We chose to vote for our favorite mini quilt in the mini quilt auction area. They were to have a live auction Sunday with these 57 mini quilts. We wished we could be there for the auction, but other activities prevented us from doing that. Mom claimed her door prize; her program was a lucky one with a special stamp inside. We viewed all the quilts, and then of course went shopping to the vendors, which were numerous (but not too many….can there ever be too many??? I don’t think so!) and varied. There were also raffle quilts in the lobby made by each of the guilds. I guess I must not have won a quilt, because I haven't received a phone call. Oh, darn!

We took pictures of some quilts that especially appealed to us. Not all of these won ribbons, but we loved them! One of the group quilts was called "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions." It was made by the Eight Misbehavin’ Bee (Love that name!) The Bee includes Melinda Wright, Amy Anderson, Pam Curie, Pat Hardy, Lou Gandy, Claudia Jackson, Vivian Rowe, and Karen Shelton. On the quilt were several ladies standing in various positions and with various clothes and hats on them. They were pondering where to go to their next quilt show. There was a sign with arrows pointing to Houston, Paducah, and Sisters. Around the edge of the quilt was a border made of high-heeled shoes of various fun fabrics. I have to wonder where they decided to go?

Many of the quilts were machined quilted and done very, very well. It is a joy to see how creative they have become, and how much of an art those machine quilted quilts are. There were some very fine hand quilted quilts in the show, but in our busy world we have found out that machine quilting gets our quilts done and on the bed or the wall for us all to enjoy instead of in our UFO (Unfinished Objects) pile.

Bernadette Mayer was the Best Of Show winner with her wonderful quilt "Crotons". It also received a First Place ribbon in the category of Innovative Design. She was a big winner going home with four ribbons! We saw her get her awards the night before, and she was there at the quilt show with her flower pin/ribbons on. Bernadette was definitely beaming! She was also the designer of the show logo that was on the pins, shirts, and tote bags we were able to buy. What a talented lady she is! One of her quilts "Shoe Flakes" was a terrific Hawaiian style appliqué small quilt. Each of the "shoe" flakes was designed incorporating the shape of shoes. It was fun for us to try and find the shoes in the quilt.

Going to the Broward Quilt Expo was the best Spring Break I ever had!!!! The beach just doesn't have the allure that it did before we became quilters!