Mostly May!

What happened to May? I guess I got busy… I prepared my pictures to write a blog post a few weeks ago, but then I didn’t do it…

I’m actually starting with the last weekend in April. I had thought I would drive down to Paducah for Quilt Week this year but when that didn’t happen it seemed like a great opportunity to see who might be willing to come to town to celebrate Steve’s birthday…

It turned out that there were quite a few takers and our quiet weekend didn’t stay that way for very long.

Ruby keeps a hammock here ready for her to relax with a book. That didn’t work out too well!

Who’s the tallest now? I’m still just a hair taller than Ruby… as long as the soles on my shoes are thicker than the ones she’s wearing, but she’s definitely taller than these two aunties!

I can get used to us being our age but how did our youngest child get to be 36?!!

I’m not sure Steve will ever really be ready to grow up.

Fun family times and then we needed to get to the airport for a flight to New Orleans and the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo out at Lake Ponchartrain. Steve came with me on my companion pass. He can work remotely and I get to take an extra bag for free!!

I had four full days of classes, starting with an all-day walking foot class.

Then we put the feed dogs down for free motion quilting.

Back to the walking foot!

An actual picture with me in it 🙂

That same class posing for the camera!!

There were some handwork classes too but I forgot to take pictures in those…

It wouldn’t be New Orleans without a cocktail (or two). We walked to a local Mexican restaurant a couple of evenings.

And we finally got beignets at the airport before we flew home!! They were frying them there. They were hot and fresh with plenty of powdered sugar.

The only shopping I did was a little fair trade unicorn, made in Nepal and purchased from Global Artisans. Richard is finally back in the USA and was in the booth with Cay. It was very good to catch up.

I was tired after all those classes but no sooner was I home than I was zooming around the country.

Here are some of the members of the Cumberland Valley Quilters from Franklin, Tennessee at the end of an all day walking foot class.

And this is what it looked like at my end after we said goodbye and I took my laptop and phone off the desk!

I did go back in and clear up because I taught the same class to the East Bay Heritage Quilters of Oakland, California the next week.

Here’s the desk, all ready apart from my phone which I was using to take the picture. It fits into that big clamp at the front, for a desk top view! There’s another camera by the sewing machine and a Logitech Brio perched on the display for me to talk to.

I had three lectures and three 6 hour workshops via Zoom in the three weeks I was home and then we were back in the car for another family party!

Sarah turned 40 and graduated from college (and James had had a “real” birthday on February 29th).

Here’s Friday night at the table for those able to make it to the far reaches of Wisconsin in time for dinner…

Nobody was counting how many people appeared on Saturday. I’m sure there were over the legal limit of passengers in this car…

We drove home through storms on Sunday afternoon. Apple maps decided to change our route due to a tornado warning. I was glad Steve was at the wheel.

It was still May!!

I put the Triad Modern Quilt Guild on my calendar back in January 2023 when I had Lee Chappell Monroe and her mom in my class at Road to California. Ann met me at the Raleigh Durham airport for the drive down to Winston Salem for one of my funnest work assignments ever!

Here are the guild at their evening meeting. The air conditioning wasn’t working as we took our trip around the world together but everyone was still smiling at the end.

I taught my Dorset Feather needle case the next day WITH a Dorset button. I think some stitchers just enjoyed socializing but Tiffany finished her project completely, so it can be done?

I spent a lovely day with Laura at Old Salem on the Thursday before flying home again. I’ve already had an email from one of the ladies who is also a member of another local guild so perhaps I’ll get to go to North Carolina again before too long! And there is always QuiltCon in Raleigh in 2026?

And… thinking ahead to quilt shows in my future. Registration just opened for AQS members for QuiltWeek in Lancaster in September. I have a full schedule of walking foot classes and hand work planned. I am pleased to see that I already have lots of students signed up, but there is still some room in all of my workshops, so if you plan on being in the area why not take a look at the website? Here’s the link