Thoughts from Santa Clara

It’s Monday morning in Santa Clara. My bags are packed and I’ll be leaving to go to the airport soon. I’ve been here for six nights and just been too busy (and tired at the end of the day) to get to my computer…

It’s time!

I arrived late Tuesday evening so it was a few hours before I got to look out of my hotel window and see what there was to see.Palm trees and mountains in the background suggest that I was along way from the Midwest 🙂

Remember the butterfly I showed you last time? Here it is on a Kantha style stitched background, along with its friend the elephant…They came with me because (drum roll please) I am to be one of the teachers at Camp Saddlebrook, (near Tampa), October18 -22. The  details aren’t up on the Stitches website just yet, other than the dates… I’ll let you know when registration is open. It’ll be a three day retreat with 15 hours of class time for a full Exploration of Folk Art Stitching with me!! There will be three other teachers from the world of knitting in luxury surroundings. Sounds like fun?

So the two pieces got to hang out in the Stitches booth as a little taster of what is to come later in the year.

I have been in Santa Clara to do more than look out of the window…

The last four days have been the 2019 edition of Stitches West! a giant fiber arts convention. I kept being told how big it was going to be… It was BIG.

I was booked to be the stitching teacher, introducing the knitters, crocheters and weavers to the wonderful world beyond yarn. Ten classes in four days. Now you know why I’ve been tired in the evenings?

I didn’t take a lot of pictures but perhaps these will give you an idea.

Collaborative learning,Knitted accessories galore,
Camera and projector for a close up view,Not just for old ladies ( I count myself in that group!) by any stretch of the imagination.By Sunday afternoon I had seen several students multiple times. Cheryl won the prize for five classes with me.

And she’s still smiling!That’s her needle woven needlecase she’s holding. She had collected a lot of needles in all those classes.

Meanwhile the hotel foyer was constantly a hive of activity, knitting needles clicking, projects growing!No pictures of the Market where there were 14 aisles of vendors and  the Playground where free demos took place each day. I fit in two Folk Art embroidery demos. (note to self… remember a needle and scissors when you are scheduled to stitch… there might not always be an audience member with one in her bag)

A very good time. And just like that it’s all over.

Meanwhile…

QuiltCon was happening in Nashville!

And the ultra exciting news…

Random Hexagons by the Block won first place in the small quilt category!! 🙂 🙂

Lauren went to say hi and sent back this picture.The ribbon is nearly as big as the quilt. (They are 3/4″ hexagons on a 30″ x 35″ quilt. )

To say I’m thrilled doesn’t describe it. I just got goosebumps again, typing this. I am very grateful to my fourth grade teacher who made me pull my stitches out until they were as good as I could get!

If you are interested you can see all the QuiltCon winners here.

So, it’s been a good week. Time to go home. I’m going to visit the Appleseed Quilters in Fort Wayne, Indiana next week. It might not sound as glamorous as a trip to California, but the adventure continues apace!