Quilting Bee Cool

To quilters, crafters, voyeurs, whatever: the International Quilt Festival has landed in Rosemont for the weekend. The Donald E. Stevens Convention Center is bustling with activity at this very moment, as the festival previewed last night and was officially opened this morning. The festival is actually not just for quilters, but other textile artists as well; the theory being that those who are crafty in one capacity will be interested by another.

Over 1,000 quilts will be on display, featuring designs inspired by themes like nature, architecture, and cultural identity. Or perhaps this alone will needle you into going: an eight-by-sixteen foot recreation of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, comprised of tiny individual pieces of fabric – one square inch apiece.

The festival is also stuffed with class offerings, workshops, mini-lectures, and demonstrations by craft experts, plus around 250 vendors specializing in fabrics, stencils, patterns, yarn, beads, and fabric paint. Volunteers from Chicago-area quilt guilds will also be on hand to teach and chat about the art of quilting at the hands-on Learn to Quilt booth.

A three day pass to the festival is $25, or $10 for a single-day ticket. Weather will be crappy this weekend ... that’s all we are sayin’.

Donald E. Stephens Center, April 11 & 12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., $10-$25, children 10 and under free

Image via Quilt Festival website