A friend and I joined a group bus tour from near her home in Ohio over to the AQS quilt show in Lancaster, PA. There were several stops along the way to see the sights in Pennsylvania on the way to the quilt show and back. We particularly enjoyed a tour of Amish country with a knowledgeable guide who was from the area.
Quilt on display at an Amish shop
We agreed that the best thing about the bus trip was not having to drive ourselves, though that also meant that we weren’t able to set our own itinerary. We both decided we won’t be doing another bus trip. However, it was great to get to spend time together, so we enjoyed the trip overall.
Here are a few favorites from the AQS-Lancaster show, which was wonderful.
This first was my favorite from the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) exhibit:
Grasshopper Path by Paola Machetta
And I especially liked this quilt in the special exhibit of quilts from Ukraine:
The Italian Town Near the Sea by Natalia Matviyenko
There were, as usual, many wonderful quilts in the AQS contest. Here are a few of those I loved.
With my recent interest in ethnic fabrics, I was interested to see this quilt. There’s a lot of wonderful hand work in this quilt, and it was quilted on her home machine.
Corroboree–A Festival Gathering by Ann Horton
The next quilt was made from a pattern published by the Modern Quilt Guild. I like how the pantograph quilting contributes to the design.
Singularity Ombre made by Elaine Rae Mackey
The symmetry of this next one appealed to me, and she quilted it on her home machine.
20 To Life by Robin Thomas
I love the graphic quality of this next one, though I wish it weren’t quilted so heavily. I realize dense quilting is “in” at the moment, but in this case I think it detracts from the overall design.
Releasing Joy by Patricia Caldwell
I loved this next quilt with its strong colors and diagonal lines.
Simple Switchbacks by Kathy Tolbert
Another graphic quilt that caught my eye:
Ohio Star Reverb by Linda Selby
I don’t think any of my choices above were big winners, but there’s a post with actual professional photos of those here, and they are well worth seeing!
Zippy Quilts 
Thanks for the virtual ‘bus ride’ trip to PA & the AQS show. Looks like a great trip! I agree about the too dense quilting on the piece, ‘Releasing Joy’. In many ways the feel of the title conflicts with the tightness & confinement of the actual piece due to that density. Kindof a subliminal type of response, I know!
The purple card trick quilt with rounded corners hanging in front of the Amish shop is my fav non-quilt show piece.
Hi Laura! There were lots of beautiful Amish quilts, many of them made from commercial, rather than traditional Amish, patterns. Go figure. And thanks for agreeing with me on that dense quilting. In general I’ll be glad when that goes out of fashion.
First, thank you again for posting in this large font! I’m really appreciating the size, and that you’re using black text when several other bloggers I follow are using gray text. Second, it’s wonderful that you were able to attend a quilt show of such caliber. I understand the pros and cons of riding a bus, and looking on the pro side, you doubtlessly had wonderful chatty time with your friend. As for the quilts you shared, I sure enjoy seeing them. I have to smile about Paola’s “Grasshopper Path” quilt, as I am a HUGE fan of her work. Just two weeks ago I gave a virtual presentation to Paola (in Italy) and other members of the “Beyond Borders” chapter of the MQG. It was delightful seeing her again (we met at Raleigh QuiltCon), and I continue to be a fan of her designs. Looking at the quilts you shared, I find it’s always interesting to see the variety of designs quilters come up with.
If only I thought I really could control the font!
Some lovely quilts. Though I have to say I am not a big fan of bus trips either. Nice to have someone organise the day but I am too used to my independence 🙂
Yes, want to do it my way!
You curated a wonderful selection of quilts to show us from the show! I really like the Ukraine one and the Singularity Ombre – people are so creative. How nice to pop over to Lancaster, PA. hope to return there someday it was awesome place.
Thanks. Yes, Lancaster was a fun place to visit.
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What a feast of quilts. Thank you for sharing the delights of your journey
And thank you for visiting and commenting 😀
Such wonderfully unusual quilts! Thanks for the photos.
Hi Nann! I thought of you recently because the chapter of AAUW to which I belonged many years ago just celebrated its 50th anniversary. (No, I was NOT there at the beginning!) My desktop computer blocks your blog–who knows why!–but I try to read it on my iPad. Thanks for reading and commenting.