All is well today.....

Another day with hospital procedures.  Everything went smooth - I wore my slippers - they have a hard sole on them so no extra pair of shoes/slippers to worry about.  Got registered, where again, they asked me a million times to verify my name, address and all that.

I did trick the admittance girl because I had left my drug allergy alert bracelet on from the previous day.  She had to zip off to the printer to get the labels and when she came back to put on the bracelet, she said "did I put that on you already?"   I should have had fun with it and said YES.  

Then I went upstairs to the surgery clinic.  Met up with someone that I know.  She is a volunteer at the surgery clinic - I didn't know that!  We didn't really have time to chat - she was marshalling people in to get their gowns on.  And can you believe - when I went to find my housecoat, I realized that I don't have one!  I had two of them which I never wore any more so I had given them both away.  Didn't remember that detail and hadn't missed them until now! Marched off to M's room and there was a fluffy robe for me.  Had a hood and sparkles - I felt like a girlie boxing champ except it was white!  But it worked.

Then I had to wait until it was my turn.  And here's my beef yet again.  Everyone in those chairs (OK - 90% of the people in those chairs regardless of their age had their face buried in a screen.  Three family members with a teenage boy - all with their own phones and all buried in them. A mother and a young daughter (about 7), both of them buried in a screen. And then there is a ridiculous TV blaring the news and no one is listening. Can't wear scents, can't smoke (that's a good thing),  so what about banning unnecessary noise.  I'm there with my magazine and I can't focus for the damn DISTRACTING TV!!!!!

At last my name is called and in I go to another waiting area.  Well be darned if I didn't meet a customer of mine there.  I knew she worked there, but it never even crossed my mind that I would meet her!   We had a little chat and then more waiting. At last saw the anesthesiologist- fastest and easiest way to go - a general.  I think they want them in and out ASAP.  Spinal takes too long to recover.  Shoot - I wanted to hear/see what they say.  Then the surgical nurse comes by.  And they are always asking me the same questions - what drug allergies, what knee is being cut!     Got a big black X on my knee.

Now I had a lot of time to contemplate the world as I was sitting there - thankfully there was no TV in this second waiting room.

So I started to look at what the nurses were wearing on their feet.

A lot of them had a shoe that looked like this.

Calzuro shoes

And if you want to know more information about them - check out this link.    Did you know that you can sterilize them in the autoclav, disinfect with bleach or machine wash.  Very practical if you are in surgery.  I wonder how comfy they are?  Maybe I need a pair of orange ones for trade shows.


Lots of people had running shoes which aren't that easy to clearn.   Anyway - in case you are wondering - here's an article I found on the best footwear for sugery.

I'm still waiting for my surgeon to appear when I hear clump, clump, clump coming down the hall.  Hmmmm - must be the janitor?   Nope - that would be MY SURGEON wearing a big tall pair of green rubber boots.   Wait a minute - I'm just have a knee scope.  How messy is this supposed to get????   I swear they looked like this.  They were tall and green!!!!

Green wellies

When at last, I was escorted into the operating room about 11:30 AM, I asked about the boots and he said he couldn't play ninja with them on. They made too much noise.

They asked me again - which knee which I didn't hear  - I was too busy looking around and they laughed when I was confused as they said, they hadn't even given me any drugs yet!

But I passed those two questions, they gave me an IV and then the drugs and next thing I knew, I was waking up on the other side.  It was 12:05.  I know - stupidly observant!   They had put a tube down my throat and it hurt, and I really wanted to go back to sleep.  But I saw Shirley and waved to her and then proceeded to chat to the nurse beside me for 20 minutes about quilting and cycling and they kicked me out to the surgical day-care. I was wide away by this time.

I must say that when I first woke, my knee was killing me.  Couldn't move it, it hurt and oh boy - this is not going to be good.   However 20 minutes later, I got out of the bed on my own and into the recliner chair where I had to wait a bit more.  Then I got dressed on my own and wheeled downstairs and into the car - it was 1:30!   How is that for efficiency?

Let's just say that I won't be driving my car today but I think that is mostly because of the stupid tensor bandage they have on my knee to help prevent swelling. It comes off tomorrow.  I didn't take pain killers - good grief - it's not that bad, but I did take some Advil to help with inflammation.   I'm good today, had a good night. I feel great as a matter of fact which is good because I was planning to work all weekend.

Now before you go off on a tangent - my goal is to work for one hour, put the leg up and ice for an hour and why not nap at the same time.  Then back to work.  I've got two days of that and hope by then to get in the car and drive to work on Monday.  And yes - part of the rehab - cycling!   I might try to go to the gym on Monday for a 5 minute bike ride on a safe stationery bike.  I'll see how things progress over the weekend.

Anyway - life is good.   The torn meniscus was reparied - it only tore on the outside which I guess is a good thing and there is arthritis in the knee as the surgeon predicted from my area of pain.  I did see him after the surguery, but not to chat about the specific results.  I'll see him later this week to get the scoop on that.

Well since I've now been up for a couple of hours, I'd better get that leg up.   And someone better get up to get me a Tim's!

Have a great day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Quilt show season is upon us.....

I had the pleasure of having a pre-view of the Oakville Quilter's Guild Show yesterday.

Check out the link above - the show opens this morning (Friday) at 10 AM.


You see I was asked to pick their Best of Show quilt.  Originally I was supposed to do it this morning, but that didn't happen because of "the procedure".   I spent two hours wandering around the show - there are some very beautiful quilts, there are some very creative quilts. They are all sizes, shapes and colors.

It is one thing to appreciate all the quilts, but when given the task of finding the "Best in Show" - that is a very difficult task.  What does best in show mean anyway?  So I looked at the quilts and at first, I didn't read the cards that went with them.  Many members I don't  know, some I do. I didn't want that to influence my decision.

As I had a first look at the show, I wrote down about 10 quilts that really excited me.  And not because they were orange or that they matched my style!  No - I wanted to be completely objective.  I wanted to give that ribbon to a quilt that was deserving, not a quilt that I personally liked, although I hoped that it would be both.

In case you are wondering - here are the questions I asked myself:

1. How much of the quilt was done by the maker themself?  Did they do the quilting?  If you have someone long arm your quilt (and many times, the long armers are told "do what you want with the quilt") -  that shouldn't get a Best in Show ribbon.  Quilting is very important on a quilt and needs to be chosen carefully.
2. Did the maker use a pattern or did they create something on their own?  Again - while there is nothing wrong with using a pattern, the more input the owner gave to the creation of a piece, the more meaning that ribbon will have to the maker. 
3. Workmanship -
1. is the quilting the same density over all
2. does the quilt hang straight
3. are the corners of the binding stitched down
4. is the binding the same width on the front and the back
5. is the quilting neat and appropriate
6. quality of applique stitches (if apropriate)
7. quality of points and intersections (if appropriate)

After using that criteria, which eliminated my favourite quilt, I was down to two quilts. Both were beautiful, but I had to choose.

At that point, I added a fourth question.  The fabric.  While the workmanship in one quilt was exquisite, one of the fabrics just wasn't up to snuff - it had a totally different "feel"  (not touch, but style) from the rest of the quilt and I chose the other one.

I was there for TWO hours!!!!!

So do you want to see the one I chose???   It shouldn't be an issue - the show opens this morning and people who were there last night saw me place the ribbon on the quilt and they were going to call the owner.

A Song of Fire and Ice

Machine quilting detail

Machine quilting detail

I think the quilt isi very worthy of Best in Show.  I would highly recommend that you go and check it out.  Yes - I know this one had a touch of orange, but that didn't even come into play with the decision, although the orange does give it a bit of pop.

Here's an assignement for you.  Go to the show - take your camera.  There are loads of great quilting and you'll get a lot of ideas.  I did - I took a lot of pictures.  There are great vendors, there is a fabulous member's boutique and there is a raffle quilt.  It's red and white so if you win - I want it to add to my red/white quilt collection.

The red/white raffle quilt

Enjoy the show.  It's well worth a visit.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!

The procedure....

If you're not into medical stuff - you can skip this post.  Check out the second post of today with some info about quilt shows.

Today's the day!  My little procedure.  It's nothing more than a scope on my knee. But the hassles to get this done. Actually, I can't complain because everything has gone fast and smooth.  It's just the process. Now don't get me wrong - I like processes. They are important and are usually put in place to prevent screw-ups, make people more efficient and all that good stuff.

But you know from the hospital process that somewhere along the way that the wrong patient got the wrong meds or the wrong operation.  Here's is the process.  You go to Patient registration.  They read you all the information in your computer file. Yes - that is all correct.  Then they print out the information onto a bracelet. Is this information correct?  YES.  Then they print labels for the paperwork. Are these correct? YES.

Next upstairs to the pre-op clinic.  The check-in desk asks the same questions. Actually, she asked me if they had asked me down stairs if the information was correct.  By this time, I'm starting to have self doubts.  What if I missed something?  What if I said YES, when in fact, they forgot the "i" in my last name?   I think I did get asked to verify my birthday and then was asked to sit in the waiting area.  My appointment was at 12:30 and I sat down about 12:15 (after doing all the preliminary stuff).  I wasn't going to screw this up after comletely missing the appointment the day before. There were about a dozen other people waiting in the area and can you believe that I was called promptly on the dot of 12:30!!!!!   Another woman stood up when my name was called, but the nurse quickly reassured her that it wasn't her turn!   How that happened - I have no idea.  And did you know that the nurses are NOT allowed to call your complete name?  Nope - just first name.

Then the nurse proceeded to ask me the same questions.  Is this your signature - she asked me that for every signature in the paperwork.  She also asked me what meds/supplements I'm taking. NONE I responded to which she said, I was her new best patient!   I did note that my blood pressure was much higher than it normally is - 123 over 90. For me - that's out of the ball park by a long shot!   Even the doctor mentioned the last time about how low my blood pressure was.  Anyway - we went through all the stuff and then onto the blood work.  I HATE getting the bloodwork done.  I even told them that this was going to be worse than the procedure.  While it wasn't bad - it hurt and my arm hurt the rest of the day. Matter of fact, it still hurts and I'm NOT looking forward to having a stupid IV in my hand.  I HATE HATE HATE that with a passion.

As for anesthesia - I didn't have the pleasure of chatting with the anesthesiologist - that will be this morning. The procedure will take 20 minutes - at 11 AM, but I have to be there for 9 AM.  Anyway - they are recommending a general.  Seriously???  My Dad had his knee replaced with a spinal.  All that banging and hammering - my Dad loved it!   I had a scist taken off my hand years ago and only a local to my entire arm and it was fine.   Seriously - just freeze the damn knee and get this over with.  And here's the stupid part - if you have a general, you have to stay there for two hours after the procedure. If you have a spinal, you have to stay for three hours. They need to make sure you can pee.

Well - I guess we'll see what happens when I get there and don't forget the housecoat and slippers. Seriously, why not just go dressed in a housecoat and slippers - it would make the entire process a whole lot easier.

Speaking of that, when I was out walking the dogs this morning in the forest, I ran into a woman that I used to work with many many years ago in sales.  She lives around the corner from me and we see each other from time to time.  She is usually running.  There I am looking elegant as ever in my pink sewing PJs and a bright orange jacket with rubber boots.  Pretty attractive sight I'm sure!!! What the heck - it's good for a laugh and seriously?  I couldn't care less.   Nancy is running in the marathon this weekend - her first.  I was supposed to be volunteering as I've done for a number of years, but I've got a good excuse to get out of it.  It's a lot of hard work and they need more men schlepping tables around.  They wait until the last minute to find volunteers and there are never enough.  Plus getting volunteers for anything is getting harder and harder these days. And the weather is supposed to be crappy.   Thank god for the medical system!

On that note - I - oh shoot - I can't even have breakfast and I'm thirsty and I'm hungry.  They might want to use that general - just to keep me quiet.  I'm taking a book because if they expect me to stay in bed for three hours after the spinal (if that's what I have) and have nothing to do - I'll die of boredom!!!

Make sure you check out my other post this morning about quilt shows!!!!

Have a great day!!!!!

What can I say..............

Remember how I got on the highway when I was supposed to be going to the gym?  Well, it gets better.  I got home last night and around 8 PM, the phone rang. I didn't make it to the phone, but there were some VM, so I decided to check.  AH - that would be the hospital telling me that I'm late for my 8 AM appointment (they called at 9:30 AM) and then another call from the surgeon's office to tell me they have rescheduled that pre-op to 12:15 today.  If I don't go - no surgery.  DUH!!!   How could I forget something like this???  Well - I took the phone call for the appointment two weeks ago. Wrote it in my book, but did NOT write it in my calendar.  Since I didn't do that, I didn't internalize this.  For some reason, I was still waiting for them to call me.   I'm such an idiot.  So that messes up my day today. And why were they calling my home phone????   I MUST do call forward on that home phone. 

My plan was to get to work early and I left the house at 7:11 AM.  But it took over one hour to get to work - why???   There are no accidents - just stupid drivers.  And my one beef is the number of cars with ONE driver that take the HOV lanes.  This morning, there were two cars pulled over by the OPP.  They were very close to each other and it was surprising how many other single drivers decided to drive in that lane since the cops were already tied up!   People are just arrogant!   They need to police this with cameras and their VISA should be charged ON THE SPOT!   

OK - I'm done with my rant!

Getting stuck in traffic isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but you do get lots of thinking time. Like dreaming of what you would do if you won the lottery since the next jack-pot for one of them is $34 Million.  But I like my job and so - would I quit?  Hmm - that would be a tough question. 

Despite the fact that I put my FitBit on at 7:00 PM last night, I still managed to get 2,300 steps in before I hit the bed at 10 PM.  Whew - no wonder I'm tired these days!

I managed to get the customer quilt done - it was a huge T-shirt quilt.  But not just an ordinary T-shirt quilt.  No - there was a 3-D logo on it that I had to work around. 

3-D logo to work around on T-shirt quilt

So I made a series of squiggles on my pattern.............

Squiggles on my pattern

I know - that looks insane, but I was able to decipher that and then stitch it out (without looking at the quilt - just followed the pattern) and then it was done!

Stitched around the 3-D logo

Customer quilt - DONE

But not before I had a mild panic attack about the thread.  I grabbed a darker grey neutral for the thread.  I finished the first spool - had to hunt for the second and this is how much was left as I started the last row on the quilt.

Is there enough thread to finish?

Just  enough!

Phew - that big quilt came off and I have one more smallish customer quilt that needs to be done and then it's going to be heads down on stuff for Spring Quilt Market.  I have three of them sitting by the machine waiting for me to get started.  Let's just say that it's going to be a busy weekend.  So much for cycling, but it's supposed to rain this weekend?  Did I hear that or did my brain hear what it wanted to hear?

On that note - I'm now trying to cram an entire day's worth of work into two hours.


OH - and have a look at the new collections that are up on Northcott's web page - in particular this one for Canadian Sesquicentennial.   And also this page with the fabrics.   It is going to be loads of fun!!!!!

Have a great day!

Ciao!

Quilting Designs

It's been a silly morning so far. I got up a few minutes early, decided to get myself to the gym for spin class on time and things were looking up. Until I took the entrance ramp onto the highway instead of keeping straight on the road.  Oh yeah!   Fortunately, the next exit isn't that far away and while I was late for class, it was only by five minutes.

I arrive in the locker room and well - this is so silly, it's pathetic.  But Claire was there and she usually takes the locker beneath me, but we never arrive at the same time.  So I took a different locker - no big deal, but I like routine!  It all worked out - no worries, but I laughed after I had "got lost" on the way to the gym.

Then I'm sitting on the bike, sweating my little heart out and realized that I don't have my FitBit on. Good grief - I remember that it was loose last night and I was so tired, I couldn't even snap it back on properly so it fell off in bed.  A quick text home and yep - there is the FitBit in bed!  How will I know how many steps I take today?  Yesterday was another monumental day for me - over 14,000 and YES - I was in the office all day.

Make good progress on the giant quilt on the long arm which is a good thing because some of the stuff for Spring Quilt Market arrived and well - it's going to be fun and games for the next three weeks to get everything done.  I'm not sure that I even want to look at the schedule - I'm just going to do what I can, hire out what we can't get done and that's just the way it's going to be.  There isn't going to be any panicking because that does nothing.

I know I've been remiss in getting photos on the blog - it takes a wee bit of time to edit them and well - time is a pretty precious commodity these days.

Here are a couple more pictures from QuiltCon.  I took these because of the quilting - notice how simple the quilting is.  We all need to get over the fact that everything needs to be super duper quilted.

Straight lines 

While the lines, in fact, are curvy, they are done one line at a time - that is simple to do. And everyone tells me they can't quilt a straight line?  Well, this quilt looks awesome with those NON-straight lines.

The quilting in this picture is a bit more involved, but again, no marking - the seam lines are the marks and it looks awesome.

More continuous lines of quilting

This next one is very heavily quilted - I would say if you are a beginner - this is NOT for you!  But I love the modern feel to the double wedding ring.

Modern double wedding ring

And this gorgeous quilt which I want to make (and it will happen sooner rather than later)  is quilted with STRAIGHT lines.

Lion by Violet Craft

By the way - I love everything that Violet Craft does.  Shoot - just remembered that I did not look for the elephant pattern when I was in Paducah.  Oh well - next show!


Lately, the traffic has been stupid.  Major slow downs and there is NO apparent reason.  It drives me nuts and it has taken me one hour each morning this week to get to work.  Can't wait until the next location of LifeTime Athletic opens up.  It is about 5 minutes away from work.  I can zip there early in the morning, NO traffic.  Do my workout and then get to work early.  Then hopefully I can zip home a bit early so that I can get something done at night!

On that note - I've got a crazy day and a TO DO list that doesn't seem to get shorter despite the fact that I actually get things accomplished in a day.

Have an awesome day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

Too much stuff

Sorry, I didn't get to the blog yesterday. So much to catch up on at the office, there literally wasn't time to do any extraneous things like writing a blog.

My FitBit buzzed at 10,000 steps sometime right after work - oh yes - when I was on my way to the library.  Had to get home, walk the dogs and then load a quilt on the long arm. By the time I went to bed, my legs were aching. Wow - over 16,000 steps in one day.  Haven't done that in a long time and after standing for so many days, my legs were going - WHOA! STOP!

I also spent some time tidying up the studio.  It was a mess. I'll edit the pictures tonight so you can see exactly what I mean.  I needed to get some batting prepped for the quilt I loaded and literally the cutting table and the ironing board were FULL! And so was the floor.  It looks much better now, but I know why they say to get rid of stuff.  It takes a LOT of time to maintain  your stuff and if you have too much or not enough space to store it - it can take over your life.

And then let's not forget about the massive thunderstorm last night with major thunder and lightning. So bad that my girls were up and a bit distraught.  So then I was up and once the storm passed, my brain was going a hundred miles a minute and I couldn't get back to sleep.

What does one do when you can't get back to sleep?  You get up and work - that's what!  I'm working  on the Riley Blake (SHHHHHH!!!!) challenge for the Modern Quilt Guild.   Yes at 3 AM, I'm slicing and dicing fabric and having a blast.  By the way - I'm not a traitor - it's a good thing to work with competitor's fabric.  It makes you more knowledgeable.   Trust me - I check out the competition all the time.

It was fun to get back to our walks through the forest.  Spring is actually on the way despite the temperature.  There is GREEN stuff in the forest! And I see buds on the trilliums.

OK - that's it for today.  My TO DO list is long and I've got to get started.

Have an awesome day!!!!!


Ciao!

Paducah Day Four

Good morning.  Greetings from Louisville, Kentucky!  Home of the Kentucky Derby which takes place in two weeks.  Apparently, the next two weeks are crazy as they build up to that 2-minute race!  The main bridge was blocked off last night as we were getting to our hotel, but thankfully our hotel was on the right side of the bridge and we had the GPS to guide us past that detour as the highways leading to the bridge were blocked for a massive fireworks display.  We watched the display on TV in the bar as we ate dinner.

The last day of Paducah!  Funny how we use the word Paducah - while it is a town in the middle of Kentucky, it is also a mecca for quilters.  The aisles were much quieter today than the previous days. But we still managed to get people to sign up for our newsletter and we still had giveaways. Quilters love giveaways.

Patti and I managed to get out a bit on separate occasions, but with a steady trickle of people still coming by - our goal was to capture them! I did buy two more things from the booth next door to Northcott - a couple of cute bag patterns. While there are many shops here, there are also a lot of companies that only do shows.  Wow- that's a lot of hard work - setting up, standing all day and then tearing the booth down at the end of the show.

And it can be dangerous as well. As I was returning our cart to the loading dock area, a rather large man was running down the dock with a large cart that he was trying to control and well - I envisioned a disaster. He did manage to get control of the cart before it rammed into the side of a van that was parked at the bottom, but stuff fell off the cart.  Ah - I've learned over the years that it's best to back down those ramps or you are going to be in trouble!  He just got incredibly lucky or he was very strong to stop that cart - I think he was desperate and adrenaline kicked in and he had momentary, super-human strength to stop that cart.

We said our farewells to some familiar faces whom we'll see again next month at Salt Lake City, we said our farewells to the new friends we made at the booths next to us and then we were tearing down.

It took 45 minutes to get everything down and packed into boxes and then an additional 15 minutes and we had everything in the two cars and we were off. The back seat of Patti's car is a tad full, but we managed to get everything in that was to go back to the office so that is good. Rich went home with a much lighter vehicle!  Of course - we handed out a lot of giveaways so that emptied a box or two as well.

It was about a 3-hour drive to Louisville and we chatted up a storm. I have to say that I'm about chatted out!  Can you imagine that!  Patti regaled me with stories of the history of Northcott and it was fun to listen how the company has evolved over the many years of its' existence.

We have a long drive ahead of us today.  Guessing it will be about 10 hours in total so I don't expect to get home until dinner time or shortly after. Now who was it that said that travel was fun?  I enjoy the shows, I enjoy meeting the people, but the long days and the traveling to and from - well they are tiring!  Oh my god - could I be getting old?  Would I want to give it up?  Of course not!  The fun definitely outweighs the tiredness.

I was pretty stiff when I got out of the car last night, I can't imagine what I'll be like tonight! Better have a cane ready for me when I arrive home!

We went into the Central Time Zone on our way from Atlanta to Paducah which helped with our timing since we had a late start that first morning.  Somewhere along the way yesterday, we switched back into the Eastern Time Zone.  It was good that it happened last night - I would hate to be on the road today and thinking we will arrive at 6 when in fact, we will arrive at 7.

Oh yes - it was hilarious to watch people pack up yesterday.  I was sitting in the hotel lobby having my breakfast and people were trying to shove all their packages into their vehicles.  Vans with luggage carriers on top and I'm guessing they were packed full.  The backs of vans were jammed with stuff - it was great fun to watch!  It would appear that instead of going to the show and leaving on Friday after the show, that many stayed the night and then headed out on Saturday morning.

No pictures today - I did take a few and I'll get them posted this week coming up.

Have a great day!

Ciao!

Paducah - Day Three

It's the last day of Paducah for 2016.  As much fun as it's been, I'll be glad to get on the road later today. This seriously is the MECCA of quilting.  I'm not sure how big this show is compared to Festival in Houston - it's just that Houston is a huge city compared to Paducah and therefore having all these extra people doesn't seem out of place.  But here in Paducah with all the buses, people wandering from venue to venue or they can take the shuttle bus - well - it's just totally different and a load of fun!

We got to the venue early yesterday and thanks to a vendor badge, I could get in to see the main part of the quilts while it was closed to the public. Yeah as I had 40 minutes to quickly walk the aisles. Some amazing quilts and fun to see some "old" favorites as some of these quilts were in Houston, some in QuiltCon, some in Lancaster and now here in Paducah.

I snapped a pile of pictures. There were quite a few medallion style quilts and the quilting is over the top. The modern quilts have NO quilting on them compared to the quilting on these quilts. People have spent HOURS on these quilts - OK - more like days to quilt some of them. Bright colors, fabulous designs and quite a nice show from that perspective.

I didn't find the show was as busy as I was anticipating  (yesterday). Don't get me wrong - the aisles are packed, our booth is packed almost all the time, it's just they are spread out everywhere.  I think the first day was still the busiest day. I would have to say that we've accomplished our mission here.  People come into our booth gushing about our fabric hoping that we have some for sale. But everyone who comes in goes away with something and that makes them happy.

I have some pictures on my phone and I'll have to share them with you when I get them loaded up. Let's just say that we had fun!  We weren't afraid to ask people for their pictures!

Thankfully the show closes at four today.  Standing for 9 hours and being UP the entire time is very hard work. Around four my feet and legs were about ready to cave. I'm not sure how Patti can stay standing the entire time. I don't mind to be on my feet, but I need to be walking around so from time to time, I did zip out here or there just to get moving!

And I broke down and bought a couple of things.  Someone who had been in our booth on a previous day stopped by to tell me that there were license plates for sale in one of the booths in the main hall. We'd been chatting about license plates the day before and she remembered and came back to tell me.  Now that was very sweet of her.  I popped up and bought all three plates - one from last year - what's one more plate to add to the pile!  And then each of the two plate styles from this year.  OH, what the heck!

After the show closed, Rich and I ran around trying to find a copy of the latest issue of Modern Patchwork which was just released.  Northcott has an ad in the magazine using my quilt that I made for QuiltCon.  How exciting is that!  There is a massive bookstore here in town - called Books a Million and at first, we didn't spot it and then yeah! - there it was.  This place was HUGE.

Sorry, this next picture is sideways - but there is my quilt called Uptown. You can get the pattern as a free download on Northcott website. And that's my couch in the picture - it's still in pieces after our trip home from QuiltCon - I  must reassemble it.  I love it so I don't have to dump my stuff on the floor.

The Northcott ad with my quilt called Uptown and my couch!!!!

While we were scouring the magazines, we had a surprise.  We had this most energetic, enthusiastic lady visit our booth and well - no story will do justice to her.  I had to take a picture and when we arrived at the bookstore, there she was.  She remembered Rich's name and well - you just had to be there. She was a lot of fun!

Rich and our best contestant of the day

Back to the hotel to regroup for dinner which we shared with Susan Claire from NEW ZEALAND. What a fun night we had - I'm sure Rich was a little bored as we did talk quilting for a great part of the evening. However, he may have learned just how silly and obsessed we are. And if Susan had her way, I'd be in her car tonight winging my way to Salt Lake City with her instead of returning home.  Oh my - she is wicked!  We even devised a plan that I could "quilt as you go" by taking Patti's sewing machine with us and getting my quilts prepped for Spring Market. Somehow, I don't think that would fly very well with the office, but it was tempting.

Susan, Patti, and Rich

We went out to Texas Roadhouse once again and they had a board at the front for quilter's to sign where they were from.  The picture above has Susan, Patti and Rich standing next to the board. Actually, there were two boards.

We had the sweetest server last night.  She kept making a mistake about Susan's drink, but because she was so sweet - you had to just love her.

Susan and Payton Raney

On that note, I must gather up all my belongings from this giant suite and get it all packed in my suitcase.  I'm not a spreader when it comes to hotel rooms as I'm afraid of leaving something behind.

Have a great day!

Ciao!!!!

Paducah - Day Two

Let's start off with a correction.  Susan Claire would be mortified if she saw that I wrote she was from Australia.    She is from NEW ZEALAND and there is a big difference.  She even corrected me when I spoke to her - I can't remember things!   Anyway - I changed it on my blog post from yesterday.  Susan Claire of Town and Country - 365 Day challenge is from NEW ZEALAND!!!!

Town and Country - 365 Block a Day quilt by Susan Claire

I learned a valuable lesson last night.  It is not a good idea to mix beer, brownies and very stimulating conversation until 11 PM.  I could not sleep.  Not so much from the beer and the brownies but from the conversation. Essentially we had a planning session for future shows over dinner. It was super productive - this kind of planning session is way better than any in-office planning session and hopefully we can have more of them - meetings and shows!  That's not to say that we didn't talk shop at the previous dinners, but this one was intense!

We went to Pizza Hut for dinner and we closed that restaurant at 9 PM. Came back to the hotel - no - we're not ready to stop yet. So off to a local bar and we closed that place at 10 PM. This time back to the hotel for good and sat in the lounge for another hour and finally up to bed at 11 PM.  Patti took notes, but I have more ideas to add to the mix after that sleepless night!  ACK - it's going to be a long day!!!

Yesterday was a repeat of the first day.  I didn't think it was as busy as the first day, but then it's so hard to judge. I think we had a steadier stream of people for longer in the day, but not always as fast and furious as the previous day.  Doesn't matter - I said my demo a thousand times or so it seems. So here is a question for you - what gets you excited at a quilt show?  Free stuff - patterns and/or fabric? Playing simple games? Looking at quilts, shopping?  Of course - we are a bit of an odd ball since we are NOT selling anything. Anytime you want to chat about quilt show stuff - let me know - I'd love to hear it!

We stopped at the grocery store for sandwiches again - I have to say, they were awfully slow this morning and we waited almost a half hour for those sandwiches!  I think today, we're going to try the food tents at the event. Just for a change.  Managed to get out for a quick lunch and while I needed to get back to the booth, I did take a fast run around of the floor above us.  There were quilts there, but I didn't even stop to look at them. I very quickly checked out the vendors and back to our booth.  Even at the end of the day - there wasn't much time and let's not forget that we're there not just to promote Northcott, but to support the vendors selling Northcott, check out patterns and ideas for future shows/events which leaves very little time for personal shopping.

Did have some interesting conversations with people. Marti Michell was wandering the aisles late in the day and I spoke to her and she ended up staying in our booth for 15 minutes. Rich and I had to leave to chat to one vendor.  Vanessa from Crafty Gemini came by (I had already seen her at her booth upstairs). I saw Ricky Tims in the parking lot, but he doesn't know me from a hole in the ground, but I said HI anyway.

Vanessa - The Crafty Gemini  

I caught her in action at her booth.  See the gray/black quilt on the left and the blue/white quilt behind her?   Those were the two quilts she made for her QuiltCon demos with Northcott fabrics.


Let's see - the more you come to these shows, the more you can name drop!  A young girl came by our booth and gosh - I knew her face.  Then it clicked - she was a winner that I met in Houston.  Her quilt won in Lancaster and again here in Paducah. Her name is Angela Petrocelli.  She won second here at the show.

LARGE WALL QUILTS: Home Machine Quilted sponsored by Baby Lock USA
1ST #505 VICTORY, Colette Dumont, Saint-Romain, Quebec, Canada
2ND #522 WHY NOT?, Angela Petrocelli, Prescott Valley, AZ
3RD #525 OSCAR THE GREAT, Nancy Sterett Martin and Karen Sistek, Owensboro, KY
HM #526 BLUE PLATE SPECIAL, Susan Stewart, Pittsburg, KS

Why Not? by Angela Petrocelli

The luminosity in this quilt is absolutely stunning.  What is equally stunning is that Angela is NOT a quilter and this is her first quilt. I chatted with her and her mother at great length - well 15 minutes. Lovely people and I think we will see much more of Angela in the future.

To be fair - here are the winners in the group category - our friends from Waterloo.   I will have to get a picture of the quilt since I don't have one and not sure where to find it on the internet.

GROUP QUILTS: sponsored by Innova
1ST #903 THE BOTANICAL GARDENS OF BALBOA PARK, Bobbin Buddies, San Diego, CA
2ND #909 SPIRIT OF SEDONA, Mavericks Ladies, Mesa, AZ
3RD #904 VINTAGE BLOCKS—TOSSED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, Jane V. Cole & Quilters, Waynesville, NC
HM #906 SLICES OF MARKET LIFE, It’s Been A Slice, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada


Met another lady who we saw at Quiltcon. Her quilt didn't win at QuiltCon, but it won here.  I couldn't remember what her quilt looked like and she had a small sample in her bag!  AH - now I remembered her quilt!!!  Her name is Cassandra Ireland Beaver and her quilt won first place here

LARGE WALL QUILTS: Modern Quilts sponsored by Statler Stitcher
1ST #802 THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS, Cassandra Ireland Beaver, Urbana, OH
2ND #815 FACETS, Christa Watson, Las Vegas, NV
3RD #805 BIG LOVE, Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill, Woodbridge, CT
HM #811 CELESTIAL ORBS, Sylvia Schaefer, Athens, GA

The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts by Cassandra Ireland Beaver

 
I remembered this quilt from QuiltCon because of the colored thread she used to quilt it.

And then I was chatting to a lady and she had a yellow ribbon on her badge.  What is that?  Ah a sponsor.  Then I really looked at her name badge - oh my god - this is Katja from Katja's Quilt Shop in Kamloops.  She wrote a book and she's the one who has this crazy project - the millifiore quilt that everyone is going ga-ga about.  Shirley and I chatted about it in Lancaster.  Hey Shirley - were your ears burning - we were talking about you yesterday!!!!

Me and Katja - two orange junkies!

Her case for her phone is bright orange!  I'm stuck with a boring old black Otterbox!

The New Hexagon by Katja Marek

The Millefiore quilt

Wow - that's a lot of name dropping.  Of course, I saw Susan again yesterday - Susan from NEW ZEALAND!

I think I'm going to buy the back issues of Modern Quilts and Modern Patchwork that are at the next booth over - I was going to order them and would have had to pay shipping so now I can get them and not pay shipping.  Sad - but why not buy something that I was going to buy anyway!  Seriously - I do not need to buy fabic and I can get some of the other things cheaper through work.  I'm OK with that!!!!

On that note - I guess I had better check e-mail before the show and hopefully we can get in to see some of the quilts before the show opens today.

Have a great day!

Ciao!