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It’s high season for spring quilt shows! I attended the San Francisco Quilters Guild Show last weekend and what an amazing show it was. I got see the 2023 show with Joe Cunningham as the Guest Artist and I remembered the fabulous venue and great quilts, so I was keen to see this year’s show. The guild itself is 250+ strong. The SFQG show was held at the Event Center of St. Mary’s Cathedral. The Cathedral and grounds takes up an entire block in one of the most lovely areas of the city. This is the best venue I…
This show never disappoints. The Yuba-Sutter Valley Quilt Guild‘s show is always worth the drive. This year’s show held some lovely surprises. I include way too many photos below; I just could not edit out. Whenever I attend a show, I usually get about 20 min in and then start chatting with people and losing track of what quilts I got photos of. I know I missed some. Although I have comments in my little head for each quilt, it would take too much time. A few need comments to explain what is not obvious: There were 3 quilts…
I did a lousy job with photos and this post will probably not reflect the absolutely joyful, inspiring and fabulous time I spent teaching at Empty Spools. I’ll do my best, but I took zero photos of in-class time. I make the seminar essentially what I am going to call “Assisted Independent Study”. I added a bit of structure by having something to start every morning and afternoon: a topic of discussion, a quilt and the lessons learned from it, lessons on a variety of fills and/or learning new techniques. Then I circulated through the room for the rest of…
NOTE: I also posted a finish this week in another post you’ll find here. Two weeks ago I attended the two-day Quilt Judge Training School and received my certificate. Yippeee! I’ve been interested in quilt judging for some time. I have volunteered in the judging room of my guild, the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild, on 6 occasions over the years and totally enjoyed the experience. The first time I volunteered, I said that it was like a Master’s degree in quilting in a day! My guild hires 4 excellent judges for our annual show. We have had some…
NOTE: I also posted a article on attending a quilt judge school this week in another post you’ll find here. It’s always a JOY to finish a piece. This one has been in the works since 2022 and has had quite the journey. I’m going to start out with the finished quilt: I don’t yet have a title. It was inspired by a previous quilt I made as a fundraiser sponsored by Pokey Bolton to support food for Ukraine (see below). I did a deep dive into researching Ukrainian design and drew this original composition. I do not consider…
NOTE: I will probably miss another 2 weeks of both blog posts and newsletters. I will be in judge training next week and Empty Spools the following week. I’ll be baaaack! It is an exceptionally busy year. ALSO: I’ve got two posts this week; you can view my post on my visit to the Valley Oaks Quilt Guild in Tulare, CA, here. It took me a while to get this post together; here at the larger quilts from the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild Show. I wish I had the time to write something about each. There were some…
NOTE: I will probably miss another 2 weeks of both blog posts and newsletters. I will be in judge training next week and Empty Spools the following week. I’ll be baaaack! It is an exceptionally busy year. ALSO: I’ve got two posts this week; you can view my post on the Large Quilt Room of my guild’s show here. I visited the Valley Oaks Quilt Guild in Tulare, CA last week and had a bang up time! Tulare is right next to Visalia; I kind of think of them as twin cities. I had never been to that area…
NOTE: I have another short post this week on my trip to El Paso. I am so proud of my guild, the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild! Our show was absolutely spectacular this year and showed off all of the talent we have. There is a lot that goes on before the show: intake, set up, and Preview Party. I will include photos of the Fashion Show and Small Quilt Room in this post also. Don’t laugh; quilters need nutrition on intake/judging day! We have intake down to a science, with a well-honed protocol for submittals: Once all items…
NOTE: I have another post this week on my guild’s show. This is a short post about my recent trip to El Paso. The Lyon family has a tradition of gathering in El Paso in late January. Hubby was raised in El Paso and my now departed in-laws were always kind and supportive to me, so El Paso holds a soft spot in my heart. It may not be the prettiest city, but I find El Pasoans to be friendly and helpful. We were visiting to spread the ashes of my Sister-in-Law, so there was a bit of a…
NOTE: I may not be able to get a newsletter out this Saturday. Next week is going to be tricky also since it is my guild’s show. I’ll be back as soon as I can. What, you don’t get my newsletter??? My newsletter goes out once a week (usually), on Sat morning, 9 AM PST. It includes a link to my weekly blog post, a Quilt of the Week, a snort laugh and usually a few more articles about other artists or something interesting. I know my readers enjoy it because I have an almost 2/3 open rate! If…