So, what do a bunch of geeks (and one feisty old lady) do on a sunny Saturday? Believe it or not, we all abandoned our homes full of various devices connected with Cat5e cable, and went to a quilt show.

The show in question was called “Four Score and Seven Quilts Ago,” and while a good portion of the quilts were newly constructed, using the very latest in quilting machines from Baby Lock (which, by the way, were seriously cool, and if I had $5,000 to spend on a sewing machine, one would have come home with me, just to “have”), many were also antiques, and others were made in memory of relatives who had been conductors on the underground railroad.

There was an informal debate among us all day, about whether or not using a computer to make a quilt was “cheating.” Ms. Feisty thought it was, the rest of us took milder stances, ultimately agreeing that it was the act of quilting, rather than the method, that was important, though I think we all have great respect for the women who did – and do – still hand-piece, and hand-sew all their squares.

In addition to a display of quilts, which ranged from the cute to the questionable, from the truly awesome to the incredibly frightening (orange and neon yellow in an “ugly fabric quilt”) – my favorite was a wholecloth quilt that was white on white and looked like the inside of an ornate tray ceiling – there were vendors, including a stall selling hand-painted batik. I bought my mother a collection of batik quilt squares with brightly colored fish, because she’ll appreciate it.

She wasn’t with me at the show, but she was very present in my mind when we were there.