Sunday, April 13, 2008

A Jinxed Trip, or Why I Have No Pictures from Chicago Quilt Festival

The intention was simple: a blend of family time and quilt show. I would drive to Evanston Thursday, visit the twins, and then take the short drive over to Rosemont for the Chicago Quilt Festival early Friday morning, maybe even returning Saturday if the show was good before driving home. Without going into detail, I'll just say that I had car trouble Thursday, and before 10 a.m. Friday morning I learned that my car would need $1800 (yes, that's right) worth of repair before being picked up that afternoon. So I took my "free" loaner and drove over, now late enough that a full scale traffic jam was blocking River Road and the Convention Center parking garage. After spending a half hour in that mess, and another 15 minutes taking the elevator, lining up for the $11 parking ticket, making the long, long walk through corridors leading to the convention center, and paying the $10 entrance fee, I was feeling quite a bit poorer and in a very bad mood. It was now lunch time; in the car breakdown confusion, I had forgotten my lunch, so that meant more lines, and more money spent on overpriced, unhealthy, and tasteless food. Finally the quilts! But I was now at the far side of the exhibit hall, separated from the quilts by 500 vendors and thousands of quilters clogging the aisles as they searched for the perfect pattern or kit. So I decided to work through the vendors on my way back to the quilts. Some aisles were totally impassable; others were merely claustrophobic.

I managed to spend more money (cheerfully this time) at the Wonderfil booth, met some friends, and finally got to the quilts. No camera! It was also a casualty of the car situation, having been left in the wrong bag when I changed vehicles. I can't say anything much about the exhibit either; it's all a blur. Whether this means that the quilts were forgettable, or that I was so tired and fed up that nothing would have impressed me, I don't know. You can go to this link and see for yourself. I left, picked up my repaired car, drove back to Evanston, and needless to say did not return to Rosemont Saturday morning! All in all, I should have spent more time with family, and less with quilts.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a disapointing trip. I dont think i will be going to any quilts shows this year. last year I was horrified at how crowded the retail section was compared to the actual quilt display. In the past I had worked through the retail section to get to the quilts - last year I went straight to the quilts. I still spent money on the stands, because i got all inspired to try some new things, but I felt that paying $25 for parking/entry was a bit steep for what turned out to be essentially a shopping trip (the stalls seem to be the same each time, id rather support the local shops, and anything they dont stock i can get over the net).all in all an expensive and rather disapointing day, which I dont think I'll repeat soon. (sorry to rant in your comments - i should write my own post on this!)

Deb Geyer said...

So sorry to hear about the jinxed trip!! What a disappointment. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the show either, after all that.

allie aller said...

What a drag.
I looked at the quilts online and there were some nice ones...but with so much hassle and $ to get there, and too many folks to contend with...a jinxed trip sounds like a fair description.
Hope the twins were good, though!

*karendianne. said...

This was NOT the "Trip to Bountiful" we know that. Sheesh I'm sorry.

Somehow with your supersonic determination you still went and made a day of it. I like that about you. I'm more of a "bag it and take me home now" kind of gal so I admire you.

Granny Fran said...

What a shame, but thanks for the link to the show. I saw some I wish I could see in person, but I don't deal well with those kinds of hassles anymore.