Iowa Dreaming

This past week I had my first ever trip to Iowa. I flew into Des Moines with high hopes and all of them were most excessively, exceeded. I was greeted by Pat,

from the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild and from that moment until the time when I was dropped off at the airport by giddy-as-school-girls Cinda & Joyce the laughter and conversation never seemed to stop.

One of my favorite things to do when I travel is find and experience 'local' stuff and there was no disappointment in this part of my trip either. The first night - after visiting the lovely Creekside quilt store, Pat & I were joined by the members of her small group (in CA we call them friendship groups) at a local favorite Living Farm for great food and lots of quilt talk.

Tuesday I presented two lectures to the guild members -- 1st was my trunk show -- which is always fun, for there is nothing like sharing quilt stories & the quilts themselves. Then, during the evening lecture that things got a little 'different' for me.

This is when I got to experience a 'new' first -- the first time I have heard the tornado warning sirens go off and headed for shelter at the place we were meeting. It took a bit of time, but the meeting started in the sheltering room and I did get to present my 'Organized Quilter' upstairs with the sounds of heavy rain making us all feel glad we were inside, rather than outside.

On Wed & Thur I presented two workshops, BUT just after everyone got settled into sewing on Wed and I started to take a few pictures the camera ran out of juice. You can get the jist of it from the few photos I do get to share with you.

All in all -- I can not wait to go back to Iowa and get more time to explore.

Sunrise In Lakeport, CA

Had an incredible visit to Lakeport, CA where I had a chance to meet and present to the Ladies of the Lake Quilt Guild --- So much fun!  Hope you enjoy the sunrise photos....

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Sunset Discovery Book:Nothern California

I'm Back -- Tales From Valley Quilters

Boy it seems like such a long time since I had a chance to share with you about what's been going on. Travel starting a week ago last Sunday took me to into the San Fernando Valley just north of Los Angeles for a visit with two quilting guilds there. Over the week I gave three 1-day workshops, all my Fast-Piece Applique and in total I had just over 50 students. All's I have to say is WHAT FUN! I do love teaching this workshop for everyone goes home with a piece almost done, usually just in need of embellishments, but even better, they go home knowing a new, fun and definitely easy technique to sew curves, circles and all the funky shapes they can think up. And boy, I've never seen two pieces even remotely alike. The folks in the SF guilds came up with some great stuff, too! One class seem hooked on spirals, and in another faces and people popped up. The construction method lends itself to almost anything and we saw a lot. The folks pix's I'm sharing here were from the first group-- and as photos come in I'll try to share them here. The lecture selected at these guilds was The Organized Quilter. Always a January favorite, with everyone figuring out just where to store all those holiday decorations and gifts they may have gotten. We use a bit of quilter's magic during this presentation and everyone has a chance to share ideas on how to save time, and become Stuff Masters. There are always new ideas being shared, so no one goes home without a mental note or two. I always take time to remind everyone that it's important to not only set a goal but to share it out LOUD with someone, so there was definitely some great quilt goals being shared!

Do you have a favorite way to store your fabric, thread or tools?
I'd love to have you share them here and I'll make sure they get added to my booklet on the Organized Quilter that is currently being revised and is soon to be available as an eBook.

Please Share!
or As we said during our meetings last week... AbraCadabra....Help us get those quilts made!

Having fun -- and ready to stitch,
~Rose