Late Thursday I arrived back home from my trip to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Guild in Fort Collins, CO. They are a great group and I had a wonderful time there; they took great care of me! The two day “Coneflowers” workshop was a lot of fun for all of us, I think. Some beautiful work was started and I hope to get finished photos to share with you!

Yesterday I had another commitment so I don’t even have all of the quilts put away yet – that is on the agenda for today.

Bad news arrived while I was gone – “Longhorn Splashdown” was not accepted to go to Houston this fall. This will be the first time that my work has been rejected there, and since they send their cattle up here to get fat, it’s not very nice of them not to take one back!!! Oh well, it will go somewhere else, I hope.Click on Longhorn in the side bar to see a photo.

Wow, it’s been a week since my last post – times flies!!

I was really working hard to finish the Longhorn before my trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, but that didn’t happen. I still have just the “splash” to finish. With Mother’s Day in there, I had to quit and get the quilts organized on Saturday to pack Sunday evening for an early start on Monday.

Monday turned out to be a stormy, rainy day so the drive was NOT fun. That kind of torrential downpour that makes you want to stop and have a gooey dessert and wait it out. But there was not time for that so I just pressed on. I had a lunch date and a personal tour of the International Quilt Study Center/Museum planned. Fortunately about an hour and a half into the trip the rain cleared and I was only a few minutes late.

I had a wonderful time in Lincoln. What an amazing resource they have there in the Quilt Museum! The guild was warm and friendly; an inspiration with all of the activities and public service projects they have planned. The Coneflowers workshop was full, with a waiting list and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Some really beautiful works were started.

Yesterday was spent putting quilts away and dealing with inventory and book keeping for the trip, shipping orders and generally wrapping up loose ends. Today I will get my suitcase unpacked and hopefully back to normal – whatever that is! Since we’ve had so much rain, I hope it can include some weed pulling!!

Yesterday’s post ended rather abruptly as I hit “publish” instead of “edit”! I wanted to insert this photo from the Jungen exhibit which was a HUGE red quilty thing composed of  mostly clothing, everything from parkas to sheer dresses and even stuffed toys, everything red and texturey all sewn together.This photo shows only a small portion which by itself would be bed quilt size so the whole thing was gigantic.

After Chocolate World we went to a quilt shop – and, yes, I did buy more fabric! Then off to one of the markets that seem to be common in the area – like big indoor farmer’s markets, only more permanent. Wonderful selections of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, baked goods, etc. Also places to purchase lunch, so we did. YUM! In the afternoon we had an appointment to visit the State Museum of PA to see some of the very old quilts that are stored in acid free boxes and wraps, and kept in cold storage. Rose volunteers there so we had a nice visit with the curator before spending some time alone with the wonderful quilts. What an amazing opportunity!

On the way to the airport in Baltimore on Saturday, we stopped off at another market where they were having an auction of Amish furniture and quilts, garden items and other things, but it turned out to be new, not antique, so didn’t hold our attention too long. We spent more time on the inside looking at the booths and furniture there, and having lunch. By then it was time to head out for the airport and a detour caused us to have to take a really scenic route, through the rolling hills and farmland. Sorry, I didn’t take photos, but just enjoyed it!

The flight home was uneventful, which is a GOOD thing!! Now I am still catching up and getting back into the swing of things here at home. There were orders to fill and ship, things to put away, so much to do – and I have new ideas and plans swirling in my head.

It was a great trip!! Rose gave me an unexpected treat- lunch and the afternoon in Washington, D.C., hoping to see the famous cherry blossoms, but we were a week too early, though there were a lot of other blooming trees and daffodils out. We couldn’t get very close to the Capitol, they were assembling a motorcade,

so we walked over to the U.S. Botanic Garden and enjoyed the hundreds of orchids on display as well as all of the other exhibits inside the Conservatory – it was pretty cold and windy outside so the tropical atmosphere felt nice!

After that we went to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian which was very impressive! A special exhibit on display there is art by Brian Jungen who make things out of common items like this Whale skeleton made out of those cheap white plastic lawn chairs.

It was getting late but we managed to squeeze in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as well, where I really enjoyed seeing the Gems and Minerals and the Hope Diamond.

Then it was time to catch the train back to where we had left the car which for this country girl was an adventure in itself!!

The AQS show in Lancaster was the main reason for the trip, but the next morning we went to the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) facility where Rose volunteers every Wed and helped with preparations for the big annual quilt sale which will be later this week. I hand sewed sleeves on a couple of wall hangings, cut a bunch of 5.5″ squares and started the marking of a large quilt. After lunch we toured the facility where they are hard at work preparing things to send to Haiti and other disaster sites round the world. Then we had a little show and tell where I showed some of my work. I do think they enjoyed seeing something very different from what they are used to, these ladies are wonderful hand quilters, doing traditional work.

By late afternoon we had to leave and head out to the show for a quick look around before grabbing something to eat and finding the venue for the evening lecture by Karen Stone. When we found “Burlingame Fire” we discovered that it had a Third Place ribbon!! That’s always pretty cool!

The show was on three floors of the Convention Center, downtown and this is it’s first year. There are things that will need tweaking, but all in all, it went well. Some areas were poorly lit and there could have been better signage/information as to where things were. Parking was far away and you needed to take the free shuttle buses back and forth. The vendors were mixed in with the displays and I managed to spend some of my money and return home with a heavier bag, though I did not find the “rock” fabrics I was looking for.

By Friday we had seen everything we needed to at the show, so we spent that day running around. Visited Hershey’s Chocolate World for the factory tour- yum!

More tomorrow!

It’s Spring? Hard to tell with the 6″ of snow we got Saturday that caused our road to drift shut again! But with a little luck that will be the last snow for this season. The Hellebore White Lady bloomed anyway and has at least one more bud to come.

This is it’s first year for me and it is pretty cool to get flowers in the snow. The Snowdrops that started in January are still hanging in there, all 6 that I planted bloomed so I’m hoping they multiply for next year.

Last week when it was in the 60′s I walked around and saw that most of what I planted last fall is coming up.

I leave very early tomorrow morning to fly out to PA for the AQS-Lancaster show, so this will probably be my last post until next Sunday.

I flew home from Atlanta on Wednesday and it’s good to be home. Thursday was spent unpacking, putting away, doing paperwork and general catch up. Yesterday I had to get up early for my annual physical Dr.’s appointment, then to the bank, the library, etc. In the afternoon I got the outside house plants ready to come inside and the gladiola corms dug because we are in for some killing frosts. Busy, busy!

The GA trip was good. I experienced the best and the worst of weather there, as I was there during the horrible flooding. I saw the torrential rain but I personally did not see any flooding where I was. When the rain cleared it was just perfect! Beautiful fall weather with no humidity and comfortable temperatures.

I visited with four different quilt guilds in the area, doing “Easy Design Play” and “Coneflowers”workshops and presenting programs which were well attended and fun. Many new Coneflowers wall hangings were started and Show and Tell at the last meeting included four finished tops from the earlier workshops already finished!! Too many photos to show but if anyone sends me a finished jpg I’ll share!

In between working, I got to visit some quilt shops, tour points of interest including the gala re-opening of the Carter Center which coincided with the celebration of his 85th birthday, so Jimmy, his wife, extended family and dignitaries were there.

There was lots of security of course, including these guys, a bomb sniffing dog and men in dark suits and sunglasses scanning the crowd.

We got to tour the museum and have lunch there.

This is a view from the grounds from the hill where General Sherman watched the burning of Atlanta.

One day I met with a friend and we had lunch at her favorite Chinese restaurant and then spent some time in a large oriental grocery store. So many exotic choices- what fun!! Thanks, Robin!

Today is the first day of Quilt Market in Houston and for the first time in over ten years I am not there. It’s sad to miss it as Rose and I always have such a good time in Houston but this year it was not to be.  I do have works on display there though, and there is always next year!

Now that I am home I look forward to getting back to a routine and sewing again. It’s been a long time since I created anything new.

Today I move from Athens to Marietta. There has been devastating flooding around Atlanta but not here where I am, though it has rained buckets!

Yesterday we had the “Coneflowers” workshop which is always fun. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so there will be no photos this time unless someone sends me a jpg later. I think everyone did a great job and most importantly, had fun.

I don’t know if I will have access to a computer at the Marriott – the nicer hotels seem to think everyone brings their own computers – so if you don’t hear from me, that’s probably why!

Here I am in rainy Georgia on a strange to me PC so everything is a bit of a challenge. There will be no photos from here, probably.

My flight was delayed causing some concern for the person meeting me but it all worked out in the end. One bag was overwieght by 12 ounces, but the lovely lady in KC passed it so for me, that almost balanced out the delay!

Here in Georgia I am staying with a very nice family who have made me feel right at home. We’ve had one workshop already “Easy Design Play”, and tomorrow we will have the Coneflowers Picture Piecing one. So I have today “off” and thought I would see if I can post something here.

Rose in PA emailed me with the news that “Packrat Palace” won Best Wallhanging at PA National this year!! I think the theme was No Place Like Home so that probably helped!

I also got news that both of my entries to KS Paint KS were accepted to the Topeka Art Guild’s open contest and exhibit.

And just before I left I delivered three pieces to the Take Kansas Home program – they will be offered for sale in the facility on I-70 in Goodland – so if you are ever traveling accross KS check it out!

Some of you have been wondering where I have been -Arizona – that’s where! We flew out Thursday for a quick trip to attend a family wedding – home again on Monday. It was great to see folks we hadn’t seen in a long while. Besides the wedding we went to Taliesin West and Casa Grande Indian Ruins.  Since visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water in PA, I couldn’t be that close and not check out Taliesin West, but in comparison, it was not so good.  Of course tour guides make a big difference and we didn’t get a very good one. I have always been interested in the ancient cultures so I did enjoy Casa Grande more.

Home again on Monday and now the concentration is on getting everything together for my next trip – GA on Friday. Starting with clothes, I emptied the suitcase and started laundry. Load the machine and start water running into the sink for a few handwashables.  While that’s filling off to the other room to take care of something else, totally forgetting the sink and not remembering until the entire utility room is flooded along with the two bathrooms on either side and the hall carpet.   Let this be a lesson to you. After a certain age multi tasking may NOT save you time. In spite of wet vac, dehumidifier and fans the carpet is still wet.

Good news though– I was totally thrilled and very honored to have my Yellow Headed Blackbird in the SAQA auction snapped up in the first few seconds by none other than my good friend Del!  She seriously wanted it and I’m glad she got it!

I returned home yesterday from a quick trip to Oklahoma to do a guild program. The skies were overcast most of the time except for when I needed to get out of the car to check into my hotel and again when I needed to meet my hostess for dinner at which time it really dumped!. After waiting for the rain to abate for about 15 minutes I finally braved the elements for a quick dash into the restaurant where I arrived quite soaked in spite of my umbrella. Thankfully it cleared before we had to leave and unload the quilts!

On the way I stopped at a rest stop to eat my lunch, parked in front of this sign which was not exactly the best lunchtime reading!

And you thought it was hard to find a good place to stop while traveling?

This shot of the Kansas prairie is probably not all that different from what those1871 travelers saw. it’s unusually green for late August due to all of the rain we’ve had this year. Great skies!