ABQ at Quilt Canada in Ottawa

First time for ABQ at this quilt show

Quilt Canada took place mid-June in Ottawa, Ontario at the EC Centre and I was there selling for the very first time.

The set-up

It was a gorgeous day when dozens of vendors arrived to set up our booths. It took sister-in-law Kathy and I a full day to drive to Ottawa and another day to set up the booth and stock it with all the patterns, hardware, zippers, bag samples, and other goodies we bring along to shows.

At every show we seem to cram more into our allotted 10′ x 15′ space, rearranging to best accommodate the flow of traffic.

There was barely room for us to maneuver about the booth when the show opened.

Busy quilt show

There were about 5,000 dedicated quilt enthusiasts in attendance. That’s a lot of quilters!

One glitch in the system, that thankfully did not affect us, was that many vendors were unable to connect to their payment servers. Our nearby neighbours along with many others were reduced to waving their payment devices in the air trying to get a connection for each sale. Having run into this problem in the past, we could certainly sympathize with their predicament.

I saw some ABQ bags!

Many of you were carrying bags made with my ABQ patterns.

I got most of your names but it got so busy that I gave up taking names. You all know who you are!

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Quilts on display

I was chatting to some of the attendees over lunch one afternoon and one of the ladies mentioned that she thought there were far fewer quilts on display at the show. I agreed.

Later on after the show, when I was looking at facebook images, I found out that I had completely missed a section of the display. Drat. I hope there weren’t too many of us that dimwitted or distracted.

But I did see lots of terrific quilts. Here are a few spied by ladies I know that were hanging in the show…

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But all too soon the show was over and after having packed up and loaded the van in a torrential rainstorm we were dripping wet and ready for a little R & R time.

The day after the show

The next day my twin grandkids, living in Ottawa, celebrated their first birthday. They had quite a crowd at the party watching them as they ground, munched and smeared chocolate cupcakes into their highchairs, their hands and faces. A little even got eaten!

It’s a good thing it was a fine sunny day and the party could take place outside. Certainly, the ants got their share of those most excellent birthday treats!

Finally, a treat for us

I had promised my hardworking sister-in-law Kathy a special treat after the show. We stayed on an extra day and traveled to Quebec.

Gatineau Park

First, we drove over to the nearby Gatineau Park and took a leisurely stroll on the Sugar Bush Trail. The air was fresh and sweet. After being in a convention center for 6 days it was delightful to get out into the sunshine.

Then we drove over to the nearby Mackenzie King Estate – part of Gatineau Park. We toured the cottages and Moorside – the summer home of Prime Minister King. He lived there from 1927 – 1943.

Moorside

While visiting, Kathy and I also enjoyed High Tea at Moorside overlooking the gardens and ruins while we sipped and indulged.

Nordik Spa

Then we drove to the main event. A visit to Nordik Spa in nearby Chelsea, QC.

There we soaked in hot and cold pools, had salt scrubs, enjoyed saunas both steamy and dry, lazily read our books in chaise lounge chairs (hence the sunburns), had a lovely meal and a late night massage.

By the time we emerged from our massage, the sun was down and the moon was just coming up over the infinity pool with a view of Gatineau and Ottawa in the distance.

It was utter bliss sliding into that warm pool and watching the stars appear. We followed that with a nightcap of fancy coffee and blueberry tea. We’ve now returned home refreshed and rejuvenated.