Catching up…

Back in the second week of June I was determined to keep up to date but once again the days have got away from me and I find myself with untold stories and far too many pictures to include in one post.

I will start at Riverwalk Quilters on June 10th where we were holding our 18th Anniversary meeting. We celebrated with a School House evening. Six of our own members demonstrated their talents and taught us something new.

Sandy D. showed us how to paper piece…

Sandy A. taught us how to make table runners from striped fabric using a sixty degree ruler,

and Kathy demonstrated her favorite dimensional bow tie blocks.

That was just the half of it! Linda, Cheryl and Susan also showed their skills but I didn’t get pictures of them!! It was a good evening. Next month we are looking forward to a return visit from Jane Sassaman.

Next morning I was up early to get to Deb’s before 8 ready to set off for the NQA show in Columbus, Ohio. Together with Mary Jane and Celeste we made good time, including a stop at Quilt Quarters in Carmel, Indiana on the way.

Even with other stops, and losing an hour, we made it to Columbus in good time for dinner. Here’s the view from the front of the Hyatt. It’s a fine looking city.

Next morning we ventured on to the show floor. I managed to make it round the vendors and the quilts in about 3 hours. I did look at all the quilts but I must admit I did not stop in every booth. Maybe I am getting more sensible or maybe I am just getting old but I am ever mindful of how much stuff I already have! NQA shows are non-juried so the first 400 applications are accepted. It makes for an interesting show with all levels of technical skill represented. The top place ribbons went to quilts I had seen before including Sharon Schamber’s Crimson Promises quilt which took Best of Show.

Anyway, we had a side trip planned to Waynesville for the afternoon. Deb was back behind the wheel for the 70 mile trip (each way) to the Fabric Shack.

We all managed to find something we needed and then we were back in the car bound for Columbus and another meal…

After dinner we gathered to compare our shopping. Here is my day’s haul.

There are Marcia Derse‘s new solids, some South African fabrics to go with my embroideries, a Moda Summersville layer cake and jelly roll, a Stitch in Color charm pack and co-ordinating fabrics, a Christmas pattern, some African paper beads, titanium sewing machine needles and a glitzy name tag holder ready for future shows!! I have plans for everything I bought… we shall see if they come to pass?

Friday morning we went back to the show floor for a couple of hours. I went to a lecture on Lunn Artisan batiks. I do now understand why all those beautiful batiks are so expensive… I might not like the price but I can at least appreciate the skill and time that goes into creating them.

We had a lot more luggage to take home than we had brought with us…

Those bags do not all belong to me but we did get help taking everything to the car! We met up with lots of traffic once we got closer to Chicago so I was able to finish the scarf I had been knitting … I decided it was too short so I pulled it all out and even had time to start all over again, this time with less stitches!!

Saturday morning it was time to get back to work. Inspired by the quilts we has seen in Columbus I was ready for my Machine Quilting 2 class at Pieceful Heart Fabrics. The ladies had a fun 5 hours getting to grips with the  mysterious link between foot pressure and hand movement…

At least I got a smile for the camera from Kathy,

but Roberta was concentrating hard…

I hope all the students have been practicing since the class. Practice does make perfect after all!!

A busy week! I will try and catch up on the rest of June soon.