Let's just say that my new found information on my phone has been most helpful and I was hoping to test out transferring photos this morning. Alas the internet connection has thwarted my efforts, but only temporarily. I have to do some more work on the Wi-Fi transfer of the photos. My phone doesn't seem to want to find my laptop or I didn't give it enough time. No worries - e-mail works just fine.
Still, I'm super happy that I know how to do some of the cool things that I can do on my phone so reading this book has been a great exercise so far. I wonder how much more I could learn if I actually read more books like this or the instructions??
There is so much NEW going to be announced at this convention. NEW this, and NEW that. If I told you - well, I can't. Not yet!!! That should all be announced on Monday. The only thing I can tell you because it's already out there is that there is a NEW Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 2. And oh my - it's pretty spiffy.
I found out that there's a walking trail near the hotel. So I had time to kill before breakfast yesterday and I took myself and my camera (I mean my phone) for a walk. The trail starts just at the end of the hotel. The hotel is 3 or 4 stories high, but it's LONG. Ask me how I know as my room is 66 (out of 84) and it starts at 01 at the elevator! But I take the stairs - god forbid that I would wait for the elevator. Thank goodness I'm a fast walker. I think I've got the entire place nailed down - I know how to get from A to B.
Unfortunatly some of us have to switch hotels in a couple of days. Half of this hotel is under renovation and it didn't get completed on time. So the staff gets moved out and the dealers get moved in. A bit of a nuisance, but the other hotel is very close and is much closer to the geocache that I NEED to get while I'm in Arizona. That'll make Ronda and Laura jealous, although Ronda may have an Arizona geocache. Not sure about that.
The walk was amazing - the length was 2.5 miles which was a perfect walk in the morning. I walked all the way to the end and then back again. Less than 1 hour. And that was stopping for loads of photos. I don't need to take photos this morning. It's an interpretive trail so there was all kinds of information along the trail. I took pictures of all the plants and the info boards.
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| Start of the trail |
There are two main Native American tribes that live in this area. The Pima and the Maricopa. Did you know that they grow cotton in this area. Now if you're a quilter - think about it - Pima and cotton. Yep - this is where PIMA cotton comes from. Who knew???? The things you laern when out on the trail.
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| PIMA cotton comes from this area |
I was a little hesitant to strike out when I saw the sign alerting us to be on the lookout for wildlife - like rattlesnakes, bobcats, coyotes and scorpions. At one point, the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see anything even with my sunglasses on. The only wildlife I saw was a jackrabbit! It was a beautiful walk.
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| Danger alert!!! |
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| Sunrise in the desert |
I should say that I started out with my fleece jacket on and pants. It's cool in the morning - OK - it was 18 C. I know compared to back home that that's HOT, but it was cool. Remember, I like to be toasty warm. Well, when that sun came up, the jacket came off. It doesn't take long for the temperature to rise when the sun is out. I had pants on as well. This morning, I'm going to tough the first part of the walk with no jacket and shorts. Then I'll be totally comfortable on the way back.
So what did we do all day yesterday? We learned all the amazing projects and topics that we're going to teach next year. Holy - some of these educators are so darned creative! I'll be making those up in December to get ready for the upcoming year. Yeah!!!!
We also helped stuff bags and assemble kits for the attendees that are coming on Sunday.
I'm not a picky eater, but holy - the portion sizes here are HUGE. One plate is enough for two people - easy. It's such a waste. I had soup and a small salad last night with shrimp. I'm not sure what it was, but it didn't sit well with me and I couldn't digest it very well. I'm feeling much better now, but holy. The one meal I eat fairly healthy and it doesn't like me! I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked because of that small detail, but I'll be just fine1!!!
The educators had to make a challenge for the convention. We had access to certain embroidery designs and a theme of organic, we had to make something. If you watched the video in the link for the DESIGNER EPIC 2 above, you understand the whole organic theme. Holy - that took a little bit of thought to come up with an idea, but I'm happy with the one that I made. We get to reveal them this morning to the other educators and then they will be whisked away to be put on display for the dealers to vote.
I needed a small piece of string to finish my project off and I had forgotten to pack one. So I went to the hotel check-in to see if they could find me some. Not in the bell closet. She was going to wait for this morning to ask the purchasing department. I doubt they would have some, but could she check the kitchen - they're bound to have some string. As I was waiting, I was looking at all the artwork - there is tons of it in the hotel. I saw some string balls but I thought it would be highly frowned upon if I scooped a piece of string for my project. Luckily, the kitchen had string!!!
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| String art |
Here's a quilt with wild horses on it that I found on one of the walls. Apparently, there's still a huge herd of wild horses that roam not far from here. Well, in the Wild Horse Pass which is a ways away but still in the area.
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| Small quilt as part of the hotel artwork |
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| Information on the horse quilt |
It's going to be interesting to see how the others interpreted the challenge. That's one of the reasons why I love challenges. To me, the BEST way to learn something or to grow or to encourage your creative side to come out is to participate in a challenge. I've given you the links to several upcoming challenges for the Canadian Quilter's Association. One of them is a postcard, the other is the Trendtex challenge. Seriously - you should think about participating. If you want, I'd be happy to run a lecture on how to tackle a challenge. It's so much fun. Trust me - I've made some duds in my time and I've also been quite successful in my challenges. Each time I finish is a win for me as I'm bound to have learned something.
So think about that!!!!! The postcard challenge should be super easy. It's really just making a postcard. Hey - I could have a post card class at my house. They used to be all the rage and they are so darn easy. I'm making up a list of classes that I'm holding at my house so if there's something that you want to learn - let me know.
I'm going to see if I can connect to the internet to bring over some pictures. Just hang tight!
Oh - here's a picture from my balcony last night. The quality of the S10 phone as a camera - well in some cases, it beats my full-fledged digital SLR. I know!!!!
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| View from the balcony |
OK -- still have 20 minutes before sunrise, but I'm going to ready to go the minute it starts to get light. I figure the snakes and scorpions won't be out until it gets warm. Coyotes and bobcats?? well - I'll just yell a lot!!!
Have a super day!!!!!
Ciao!!!
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