Pacific International Quilt Festival

Wow! is putting it mildly. If you have never attended one of these shows, you must make every effort to attend next year. In fact, plan on spending a couple of days because one cannot possibly see everything in just one day. Leave your husbands home and go with a group of your girlfriends. There were over 800 quilts and garments on exhibit. There were lots of classes to take, lectures to listen and learn, and of course, vendors to tempt with wonderful stuff after you have been inspired from seeing the quilts. You will be on overload when you walk out of the convention center.

I wish I could post more photos, but there is a limit. Perhaps these photos will provide the incentive to attend next year.

Places to See in Arizona

If you are in Phoenix, you must visit the Musical Instrument Museum. Plan to spend a full day there. There are instruments from every country in the world there. Go to http://www.themim.org/ for more information. The above photos are of me and my sister-in-law Becci in front of the museum and the other is one of the 2008 drums used at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Bejing.

If you are near Tucson, take a short 40 mile drive south on I-19 to the historic town of Tubac. This town was established in 1752 as a Spanish presidio (fort), now the site of the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. Of course I went there for the shopping! One can spend a full day meandering the streets lined with over 100 gift shops, art galleries, and artist studios. You can visit online at http://www.tubacaz.com/

On the way to Tubac, if you are thirsty, stop in the town of Amado at the Longhorn Bar and Grill.

From Palm Trees & Ocean to Cactus & Desert

I am here in Buckeye, Arizona for a few days before heading on to Tucson. Buckeye is a little retirement community outside of Phoenix. My brother-in-law and his wife moved here from Santa Rosa after he retired from teaching.

It was so exciting to see Yertle again. She is the family tortise who the vet says is approximately 100 years old. She has been with the family for over 60 years. Yertle lived with me in Fresno for nearly 25 years.

Santa Barbara Quilt Show

The featured artist for the show is Norah McMeeking, author of Bella Bella Quilts: Stunning Designs from Italian Mosaics. I have posted only a few of her many beautiful quilts that are on display here at the show. You can see more of her quilts by going to http://www.bellabellaquilts.com/

September Events

I will be a vendor at the following shows. If you are in the area, please stop by my booth. I would love to meet you.

Bay Area Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival
Sept. 16th - 18th
San Mateo County Event Center
2495 S. Delaware St.
San Mateo, CA 94403
for more information go to: www.rustybarn.com

Harvest of Colors
Coastal Quilter's Guild
Sept. 25th - 26th
Earl Warren Showgrounds
3400 Calle Real
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
for more information go to www.coastalquilters.org

Tucson Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival
Sept. 30th - Oct. 2nd
Tucson Expo Center
3750 E. Irvington Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85714
for more information go to www.rustybarn.com

National Sewing Month

September is National Sewing Month so dust off your sewing machine, oil up the gears, put in a new needle, and start sewing! It seems like I haven't sewn in a while but I have been spending a large chunk of my time uploading my soon-to-be-website! I have forgotten how time consuming this whole process can be, especially when I am working with a new company and I have so many new products to enter. I can't believe it has been a year since I shut my former website down. Well, my goal is to get the website up and running in a couple of weeks.

Ridge Quilter's Guild Show

The above photos are just a few of the many quilts that were displayed at the show. These just happen to catch my eye. The bottom photo is of me and my friend Sharon.

How can I put it nicely.....the quilts were nice and the members were very nice. Would I do this show again...probably not. I suppose I will have to blame it on the economy. I don't think people realize how much time and effort goes into setting up a booth for a show. Also, it's my personal feeling that Guild members need to support the vendors. The booth fee that we as vendors pay enables the Guild to hold their show. It's our money that pays for the facility. The lesson here is that you have to take the good with the bad. Even though the show was not profitable, I was able to see a new part of our State that I probably would never have seen if it hadn't been for the show. I was able to network with other vendors, visit with vendors/friends that do a lot of the same shows and meet new vendors.

One great thing about today was that I was able to visit with my long time friend, Sharon who lives in Grass Valley. We worked together at Quilter's Paradise in Clovis, CA many moons ago. Seeing her made it all worth the trip!