A Magical Weekend

Sorry to have disappeared for a bit, but I've been on the road, teaching and taking care of family things. I wanted to drop in a share a bit about what I've been up to. My trip to Colorado was simply magical. The whole weekend was about quilts and quilters...two of my very favorite things. The trip started out with a visit to the Fancy Tiger in Denver. What a store...beautiful, inspirational and the most fabulous teaching space I've ever seen. It's a must visit if you're in the Denver area.

I did a book signing and trunk show of my quilts.  We spread the quilts on the table, draped them on the floor and hung them on walls.

...and people came and we talked quilts.  Thanks to Jaime, Amber and all the staff of the store.  They were terrific and made me feel like part of the Fancy Tiger family.

I didn't think it could get better than Friday, but then there was Saturday.  Tara, chef, quilter and innkeeper at at bed and breakfast in Fort Collins, and Angela, owner of Mama Said Sew, another amazing fabric store, put on a quilt themed dinner to honor me and celebrate the book, "Quilting Modern."  These women went above and beyond with personal touches and created an extraordinary celebration of the quilting community.

The event was all about thoughtful touches like these....handmade pincushions that were our placecards with the signature line from the book, "Break free, go bold!"  Each made using techniques in the book.

The quilts were on racks and placed on the grass forming a quilty path through the yard.  The trees, flowers, and trickling water created a magical backdrop for the dinner.

and each place had a handmade placemat, again each made using techniques in the book.  We all got to take ours home and not only were they placemats, they were actually place"cases".  At home the placemats turn into pillows.  How creative and cool is that?!

The centerpieces for the table were glass cylinders filled with river rock, topped with succulents.  The rocks represented the pebble quilting on the cover of the book.  Details like that touched my heart and made the evening an event that I will never forget.  The quilt-themed menu (which was creative and delicious), the people, and the atmosphere, made for a nearly perfect evening.  The only thing that would have made the evening perfect is if Katie would have been there.  We missed her!

Tara and Angela even hired a professional photographer to capture the evening.  I hope you will be seeing her pictures soon, so you can get a complete picture of this amazing evening.

If that wasn't enough I spent Sunday and Monday taping "The Quilt Show" in Boulder.  Another experience that I never imagined I would have.  Not only did I get to work with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, Jean Wells was taping as well and I had the opportunity to have lunch with her.  Lunch with an idol is a pretty cool thing.  Shelly, the producer, Lilo, Adele....all amazing women (and the great crew) made my experience a positive one.

I wouldn't have had this weekend without my friend Penny.  You may all know her by her blog, Sewtakeahike.  Penny and I have been online friends for years and Penny was the spark that ignited this whole experience.  She connected me with Jaime, Amber, Angela, and Tara and helped make this all happen.  Not only did she make the connections, she graciously invited me to stay with her and she was my chauffeur for the weekend.  It was the first time we'd met in person and I have to say I'm so happy we did.  I think we cemented our friendship in a way that you can't do online.  Penny and I had so much in common it was sort of scary...coffee, collecting Danish modern enamelware...we even have the same galvanized trash cans and now we have matching slippers courtesy of Penny's amazing skill at paper piecing and her creative mind!

I had another blind date in Colorado.  Jenny, another online friend, came to the event at the Fancy Tiger in Denver and when she found out I was going to be in Boulder, suggested that I give her a call.  I did, and like Penny, she made me feel welcome in Boulder and we shared a dinner where we talked quilts and got to know each other better.

The weekend reinforced for me that I joined the right community.  The community of quilters is the place to be and I'm damn proud to be a part of it.