Posts Tagged ‘Quilt Show’

Bloomington, Indiana


Friday, March 5th, 2010

Welcome to Bloomington, Indiana! If you are within driving distance, you must add this annual show to your calendar! The town of Bloomington is charming – built around a court house square, the shops and restaurants lure you into their cozy establishments. Bloomington is home to Indiana University, and is culturally diverse.

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: 2010 Bloomington, IN
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox

Highlights on this trip are dining each evening with fellow teacher friends. The first night four of us went to a great restaurant/pub called the Irish Lion.  PHOTOS  It is an old building, beautifully preserved, as if you walked into a honest-to-goodness Irish tavern. We dined on corned beef and cabbage, beef pie and other specialties.

Workshops the first day – Thursday – went well. Mine was a Quick & Easy Broken Star without Y seams. It was a 1-day class, and the students progressed well. Our classroom wall space was not good for mounting design walls, so I regret I didn’t take photos during class! Classmate John finished his quilt top (roughly 70″ square) and plans to piece the small broken stars (12 of them) to create a border and increase it to bed-size.

Last night we dined at Farm Bloomington restaurant facing Courthouse Square. Chef Daniel Orr’s culinary skills are world-reknown. The restaurant is very eclectic inside, with artistic divisions between dining areas such as quilts, farm implements, and salvaged everyday antiques. The General Manager gave us a tour of the two-story restaurant, including the cellar. It is a wild collection of ephemera from bygone days, wall murals, small private rooms with Christmas lights strung merrily.

Six of us sat in a private high-walled circular booth right near the kitchen, just near the wall adorned with an antique bedpan collection!  We ordered a variety of dishes, and our enthusiasm encouraged the chef, who plied us with additional tasty treats. “Here, try this – complements of the chef!”  I ordered the Bitter Orange Glazed Hoosier Duckling with Sautéed Pumpkin and Honey Glazed Chestnuts. WOW was it tasty!  Other highlights: we tried a Minty Green Pea Guacamole (unusual, creamy, chilled, slightly sweet) and the intriguing Three Floyds Gumballhead (which turned out to be a beer!).

The highlight of the evening, aside from our converstaion and “tales from the road”, was seeing musician/songwriter John Mellancamp and his lady companion, who passed through the restaurant and ate in a quiet area within sight of our table.

I hope to see the quilts at the show today, and will post a message  if I can take a few photos! My workshop begins in less than an hour, so I must run! Today I am teaching the strip-pieced Variable Hunter Star – although this design looks very traditional, the fabric choices determine the finished project.

Road to California Quilt Show


Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Tomorrow will be a big day! I am heading up the road to Ontario, California! What is in ONTARIO, you ask? The big Road to California Quilt Show, of course! No, I am not teaching! WHOOPEEEE! I get to be “one of the girls” and attend a workshop with Melinda Bula.  Her work is lovely, and I am only taking a 1 day workshop to learn her technique.

The Ontario Convention Center is a big beautiful place with a view of the nearby San Gabriel Mountain range (on a clear day). We are predicted to have rain so it might be stormy. See you there!

January 15th   FOLLOW  UP!   The workshop with Melinda was relaxing and creative play time! I enjoyed the day away, and the quilts at the show were PHENOMENAL. The dense quilting was particularly amazing – I feel like an amateur compared with these master quilters! Click on both slideshows for a peek at Road to California, and Melinda’s work on YouTube.

 

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: 2010 Road to California

Autograph Party – Book Signing


Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Quick Star Quilts Book Signing

Mark your calendars! The participants for Quick Star Quilts & Beyond will be signing the book for all customers at Quilter’s Paradise in Escondido, CA.

What:  Author & Artist Book signing

Where: Quilter’s Paradise in Escondido, CA  map

1451 Montiel Rd # 140
Escondido, CA 92026
(760) 738-9677

When: Sunday, March 8, 2008    from    1 pm -4 pm

Additional Activity:  5th San Diego Quilter’s Run – a multi-shop “hop” with special prizes

See the quilts from Quick Star Quilts & Beyond on display, and meet the artists who created them! Many of the artists will be present to sign your book!