The Lancaster Deadline is Approaching!

2011 is the second year for the AQS Quilt Show and Contest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The 2010 show was amazing, and 2011 will only be better!

Have you entered your quilt for the Lancaster show? Just 6-1/2 weeks remain until the contest entry deadline. With more than  $44,000 in prize money to be won across 5 categories and 5 overall awards including the $10,000 Best of Show, you could be one of those winners.

Send in your entries before November 5, 2011 – you don’t want to miss out on this one! If you have any questions about entering your quilt or completing the entry form, contact Erin Ulrich, Contest Coordinator, at erinulrich@AQSquilt.com or 270-898-7903, ext. 174.

We are excited to be coming back to Lancaster and we can’t wait to see your quilt entries, so send them in now!

P.S.: If you haven't made your plans yet to attend the AQS Quilt Show at the Lancaster County Convention Center, March 16 - 19, 2011, you can click here to make your hotel reservations online or call 1-800-PA-DUTCH (800-723-8824). The Lancaster Registration Guide is at the printer and will be available online soon. You can order a printed copy of the Registration Guide by clicking HERE.

Planning for AQS Quilt Show in Lancaster, PA

Plans are underway for many months prior to the AQS Quilt Shows. Last week Terry Guill and I traveled to Lancaster for a planning meeting. We like to stay at different hotels and eat at different restaurants so we can report our experiences to you.

We stayed at the new Cork Factory Hotel, located about seven blocks from the Lancaster County Convention Center. This restoration turned a cork factory into a modern hotel with a lot of charm.

The hotel room had tall ceilings, a comfy chair, flat screen television, and a nice big shower with plenty of hot water. We also enjoyed having dinner in the Cork and Cap Restaurant at the hotel featuring homemade breads, butter, pasta, lots of fresh vegetables, and they make a great steak too.

After we finished our meetings one afternoon, we went for a buggy ride at Aaron and Jessica's. What a great way to see the countryside. Our ride started by going through a covered bridge; did you know that Lancaster County has 27 covered bridges? Watch as you ride along the roads there and you'll spot several near Lancaster.

 

See the beautiful well-kept gardens and homes along the way - hardly a blade of grass out of place.

It was very pieceful to clip, clop along while seeing farm after farm in this Amish community.

You can make your hotel reservations now for the 2011 AQS Quilt Show - Lancaster that will be held March 16 - 19, 2011 at the Lancaster County Convention Center. You can book your room online or by calling 1-800-723-8824 option 1.

This year we will have one central parking lot with shuttle service to streamline both parking and getting you to/from the parking lot and the convention center. Final details will be available soon.

The Registration Guide will be available in October.

Kudos to our Lancaster Volunteer Quilters

Congratulations to Beth Bigler, Vicki Bowman and Jeanne Riley of the Red Rose Quilters Guild, who coordinated the volunteers who assisted with the AQS Quilt Show held in March at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, PA. It takes many hands to produce a show as large as the AQS Quilt Show, and the quilters in the area provided more than 1,000 hours during this 2010 event. This was the largest event ever held in the city of Lancaster and these quilters helped blaze the way to holding other large events in this new convention center.

Recently the Lancaster New Era newspaper recognized the quilters with the Red Rose Award. Congratulations quilters! This is a well-deserved honor.

The Lancaster Show is Open!

Quilters from across the U.S. and around the world are visiting Lancaster, PA, for the AQS Quilt Show, March 24 - 27, 2010. The show runs Wednesday through Saturday.

Here is a pictoral view of what's happening at the show...

The sun rose on a beautiful opening day for the show.

The show opened with the Ribbon Cutting by Christopher Barrett, CEO of the PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau; Mayor Richard Gray; and AQS President Meredith Schroeder.

Quilters waiting for the doors to open

Quilts, vendors, and show souvenirs are at the Lancaster County Convention Center

Shop until you drop is what's happening in the Merchant Mall. There are quilts and vendors in Freedom Hall on Level E, in the Commonwealth Ballroom on Level 2, and Heritage Ballroom on Level 3 in the Lancaster County Convention Center/Marriott at Penn Square complex.

And there are even more vendors at the Liberty Place Conference Center - just catch the FREE shuttle bus in the front of the Penn Square Grille at the Marriott.

And you'll see more quilts at Liberty Place Conference Center too, including these quilts from the Amish Influences exhibit by Sharon Norbutas and Klaudeen Hansen.

Don't miss The Slice of Life quilts by the Coastal Quilt Artists at Liberty Place too.

The Show is open 9 to 6 Thursday and Friday, and 9 to 5 on Saturday. The show is NOT open on Sunday.

Come see the beautiful quilts in the beautiful Lancaster County Convention Center/Marriott at Penn Square at the very first AQS Quilt Show in Lancaster, PA.

The winners' list and photos of the prizewinning quilts are now on the AQS Web site.

Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director - writing to you from the show!

Lancaster Registration is Now Open!

Registration is now OPEN for the AQS Quilt Show & Contest in Lancaster, PA, March 24 - 27, 2010. If you ordered a printed registration guide, it was mailed yesterday (10/21/09). You can also print a copy of the registration guide from our Web site.

Here is the link for the Lancaster registration site: http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/lancaster/2010/general_info/ .To navigate, click on one of the buttons related to the information you need: General Information, Contests, Registration, Vendors, or Teachers. You can register by U.S. Mail (just print and complete the registration form and mail it to us with your payment), by fax with credit card payment (270-898-1173), online with credit card payment, and by telephone (270-898-7903) beginning on November 3, 2009. As a reminder, you can only register for yourself online; if you need to register for additional people, call the AQS Show Office at 270-898-7903.

The show will be held at the Lancaster County Convention Center (LCCC – 3 East Vine Street) and Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square (headquarters hotel at 25 S. Queen St.), with quilt exhibits and vendors in Freedom Hall, the Commonwealth Ballroom, and the Heritage Ballroom. Additional special quilt exhibits and vendors will be located at Liberty Place Theatre & Conference Center (313 W. Liberty St.), a short shuttle ride away. Classrooms will be at the convention center, and more classrooms and the lecture hall will be across the street in Southern Market Center – all are located in downtown Lancaster. The Spring Quilt Blossom Festival is an AQS-sanctioned event and is located at the Continental Inn, Route 30 (2285 Lincoln Hwy E).

Quilt Contest: You can submit entries for the quilt contest now too. The deadline for submitting quilt entries is December 1...there are five categories:
Bed Quilts: A-Pieced
Bed Quilts: B-Appliqué
Wall Quilts: C-Wall Quilts
Wall Quilts: D-Pictorial Quilts
Special Category: E-Grand Geometrics - Created the Amish Way

Lodging: Now is the time to book your hotel room. Shuttle service will be provided complimentary to all attendees staying at AQS-approved lodging properties who booked through the Passkey reservation system. You can book online by visiting https://resweb.passkey.com/go/quilting, or by calling 1-800-PA Dutch (800-723-8824) for housing assistance.

Come enjoy the pastoral scenery in Amish country, hundreds of quilts, and a quilter's shopping paradise in the Merchant Mall. Make your plans today!

Photo credit: www.discoverlancasterpa.com / Terry Ross

New AQS Quilt Show, Lancaster, PA

March 24 - 27, 2010 will be the dates for the newest AQS Quilt Show & Contest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The AQS staff is busy selecting classes and special events for this new show. We plan to have the Registration Guide finished in late September (see below to order a printed copy of the Guide).

Below is the news release about this new event:

AQS Announces New Show for 2010

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Becomes 4th AQS Show
by Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director

Paducah, Kentucky – August 20, 2009: Today AQS President Meredith Schroeder announced plans for the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) to hold a fourth quilt show in 2010.

AQS will produce a new show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 24 – 27, 2010, at the new Lancaster County Convention Center. The AQS Quilt Show & Contest – Lancaster will feature a quilt contest with $44,000 in cash awards. A special category in the contest is Grand Geometrics – Created the Amish Way. “We are pleased to bring an AQS Quilt Show to Lancaster and the southeastern Pennsylvania area, and to provide another opportunity for quilters to enter our contests and be recognized for their artistry,” stated Schroeder. AQS has signed a three-year agreement to hold this event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“We’re thrilled at the prospect of welcoming the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) and one of this country’s top quilting shows to the new Lancaster County Convention Center (LCCC),” remarked Josh Nowak, director of sales & marketing with the LCCC.

“We can’t think of a better setting for the AQS Quilt Show & Contest than Lancaster County – home to a rich quilting heritage within our Amish community, and where this art form continues to thrive today,” said Christopher Barrett, president and CEO of the PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The 2010 AQS Quilt Show presents an undeniably alluring opportunity for local and national quilters alike to share their creative process and outcomes, in a setting recognized worldwide for its beautifully manicured quilt of farms and fields.”

AQS also holds events in Paducah, Kentucky (pending for 2010); Knoxville, Tennessee (July 14 – 17, 2010); and Des Moines, Iowa (October 6 – 9, 2010).

Contest rules are available on the AQS Web site, www.AmericanQuilter.com. Registration guides for each show will be available online as soon as they are completed. To order a printed registration guide, send $2.00 for each guide to: AQS, Attn: (name of show) Registration Guide, PO Box 3290, Paducah, KY 42002-3290.

In addition to the AQS Web site and the AQS Blogs (AQS Quilt News, AQS Publishing, and American Quilter magazine), quilters can now become a fan of AQS on Facebook, and follow AQS on Twitter. The AQS quilting community grows again!

For lodging and general information on American Quilter’s Society shows, go to www.AmericanQuilter.com, or call 270-898-7903. Tour groups can contact Marcelle Cashon or Laura Davis for information on booking charter tours by calling 270-898-7903.
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