17,000 quilters expected to descend on Ontario this weekend

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Needle crafts like knitting and sewing have been officially embraced by the artsy, hipster set -- but there’s something about quilting that still sounds decidedly granny-ish. Still, attendees at the 15th annual Road to California Quilters Conference and Showcase this weekend might beg to differ with that assessment.

Conference organizer Carolyn Reese is expecting 17,000 people to attend -- up a bit from previous years. ‘Quilting is a big home industry right now,’ she said. ‘A lot of women are doing this to make money, and they are making good money.’ She insisted quilting has become decidedly un-granny-like. ‘It’s unbelievable what’s going on in the quilting world,’ she said. ‘There are quilts that look like art paintings, landscapes, portraits. Quilters are becoming more artistic. You could really call them fiber artists.’

Another trend in quilting? Home versions of commercial longarm quilting machines. This year, for the first time, the conference is offering classes on how to buy a longarm machine, how to use it, and perhaps most importantly, how to fix it.

Although the show is geared toward quilters (there’s a section of the website dedicated to ‘Activities for Your Traveling Companion’), Reese said that anyone with an open mind about quilts would probably enjoy it. ‘I’m what you call a traditionalist,’ she said, ‘but we have ladies out there who are making quilts with tigers on them, and last year we had a likeness of Elvis.’

-- Deborah Netburn