Visiting Colorado-The Quilting Council and Family

It was a fun week! I visited with my Sister and Brother-in-law in Morrison for a few days before spending time with the Colorado Quilting Council. CQC is not a guild, but state-wide organization that focuses on “preserving the heritage of quilting, to be a source of information and inspiration, and to encourage a high standard of excellence in quilting and related arts”. They meet in different locations around the state and bring in top-notch teachers so I was thrilled to be invited. Because of the nature of their organization, there was an abundance of talent in the room and the vibe was lively and upbeat.

My first few days were “visiting days” so I did not do a lot of sightseeing. The weather was beautiful right up until my lecture. I’m glad I arrived several days early as I was tired and winded for the first two days due to the “mile high” altitude.

We did drive out to Red Rocks before it began to rain. What a beautiful spot! There was a concert that night so we could not enter the stadium area.

What a vista! I call this kind of scene “visible geology”!

Spring had just hit its peak and there was abundant beauty right in the neighborhood:

Love those sedum nestled in there.

More sedum.

I don’t know the tree type, but these were odd pods/seeds/whatever.

It’s easy to figure out directions here-look for the mountains! Even I could respond to “head west until you hit the stop sign…”.

I was pleased with a packed room! Coloradoans are not fazed by a little rain, unlike my California peeps:-) I was well-received by a friendly, engaged and excited bunch of men and women.

I do love it when the audience runs up to fondle, view closer, ask questions. It’s not an ego thing-we quilters have the privilege of holding and sharing beauty with our hands. Sharing beauty-that’s what I do!

Ellen was my Program Chair and she took exceptionally good care of me-thoughtful and pro-active, it was a delight to work with her. And Lea McComas came to the lecture and I got to chat with her!

This piece was exquisite in person. Lea is a master of thread painting.

Lea has created and organized an exhibit called the Border Wall Quilt Project. From her site: “We’re building a wall that brings people together, to talk about building a wall that keeps people apart. Creativity is welcome; social discourse is encouraged!” She is looking for 8″ x 16″ bricks for the wall and hopes that it will be accepted into the Houston show this fall. The bricks submitted so far represent different sides of this issue.

She truly is looking to explore this issue and welcomes input from both sides. Won’t you consider making a brick and submitting by July 31st?

My class the next day was full! I love it when that happens–my class yields a profit to the guild and I love teaching to a full class. We met in a fabulous local shop, The Golden Quilt Company and we were treated well. There was a lot of high-end talent in this group of ladies.The classroom space was generous and well-lighted and we got to working on our “Start with a square” quilts.

I cover a variety of motifs, as the group requests them, so it’s different every time I teach this class-love that.

First time feathers!!

First time ribbon candy!

A perfectly lovely fern!

My sister sits on the Board of the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, a premiere museum in Golden. We visited the museum after my lecture and lunch. The bi-annual Men’s Exhibit was up, which was a treat. I will write about that in another post.

As I checked out of my motel, Baby Rabbit came out to say good-bye and wish me a pleasant trip home.

Zeke definitely knew that I had been spending time with Tommy and Spencer, but he was able to forgive me…

It was wonderful to be home after 6 days away. Zeke was happy to see me despite my dalliance with Other Dogs. Hubby was too but he doesn’t lick my face like Zeke does:-/

I’ll be posting on Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday-check out all the links!