If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium

As a traveling quilting teacher, I have occasionally woken up with that "where am I?" feeling. But, I can say, if the wallpaper features candy kisses...



...you are probably at Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA, and the event is the Quilt Odyssey. I was very pleased to be on the teaching staff for the 10th anniversary event in July 2009. If you've never been, it is a very nice event. The vendor area has something for everyone but is not overwhelming. There is a very nice quilt show and the class participants were very enthusiastic.

In addition, I got to have a fun dinner and catch up with Jennifer and Dave Kay who were vending. For several years Jennifer was one of my most productive sewing associates. She also frequently traveled with Stacy and me to shows. She and Dave now manufacture Homesteader mid-arm quilting machines and have a very nice computer controlling unit, adaptable to any mid or long arm machine. Here we are with one of the Homesteader machines:



I got to say "Hi" to Chuck Myers. Here he is with one of the Aurifil displays:



Marje was not in the booth. I call Chuck and Marje the Johnny Appleseeds of Aurifil thread. For several years, they have travelled the country doing quilt shows and carrying the full line of Aurifil thread. They have undoubtedly been the first people to introduce many quilters to the wonders of using Aurifil Make cotton threads as well as Aurifil's wonderful wool thread. In full disclosure, as they say on the TV news shows, I am the US Spokesperson for Aurifil, so I especially appreciate their efforts!

I Adore the Art of Barbara Lavallee

Around 10 years ago, Richard and I went on a quilters cruise to Alaska for the first time. I taught on a cruise sponsored by Dee Lynn and Audrey Waite, who also run Quilt Camp in the Pines in Flagstaff, AZ, each summer and quilting in the Desert in Phoenix each January. On that trip to Alaska, I was introduced to the charming art of Barbara Lavallee. I can't look at her work without smiling.

Fast forward to this past summer when I was thrilled to be one of the Featured Artists on the Quilt Camp at Sea Alaska Cruise. Yes, it was during the summer (June 29 - July 5) but who cares that I'm just getting around to some of the stories! It was a perfect trip for our 50th wedding anniversary celebration and our entire family went.

Here Richard and I are enjoying the sun on the desk as we had a glorious day cruising Glacier Bay.

When I read about our first stop in port, I was very pleased to see that Barbara Lavallee would be at Changing Tides quilt shop in Juneau to meet quilters and sign books. It turns out that Jan Nardone, the owner of Changing Tides, has been responsible for making Barbara's designs available in cross stitch and quilt patterns. For more info see www.alaskastitching.com.

On my first trip to Alaska all of my Barbara Lavallee purchases were paper, so I was really pleased to be able to buy fabric items. Here is one of the quilts made from Barbara's designs hanging at the store.


After getting my purchases signed, I asked for a picture with these two lovely and talented ladies. Left to right are Jan, Barbara and me. As we chatted, I discovered Barbara is just as charming as she is talented.



There were over 125 people in our group. Because of tight schedules, I didn't even get to visit with all of the teachers, but here I am with JoAnne Gordon. She was teaching hand applique and loves Aurifil Mako 50/2 so much that she winds bobbins and gives them as handouts in class.



The Barbara Lavallee wallhanging project that JoAnne is holding was very appropriately her class project on the cruise. It's called Eskimo Yo-Yo. If I have my story correct, JoAnne makes many of the original applique designs for photography of the Barbara Lavallee patterns.

Another one of my favorite artists is the painter Rebecca Barker, who was the other featured artist on the cruise. Rebecca's very appealing "quiltscapes" are frequently transformed into calendars, greeting cards and jigsaw puzzles, and I am a frequent purchase of them. It was very nice to get to talk with her. Visit her Website to see why I love her work. www.barkerquiltscapes.com

Shopping in Arnhem

I had part of Saturday off, so Sonja and I walked and shopped in the city of Arnhem, where we were staying. I got a kick out of seeing the little Smart cars. We have some in the U.S., but they have always been more popular in Europe. Here is Sonja next to a vehicle that is really designed for city living, especially for the handicapped. It is so cute, and would be perfect in our American golf cart communities. Bicycles are more popular in European cities, too. There were dozens of bikes parked across the street.

It was sale day everywhere in Arnhem. Two store windows really caught my attention - mannequins had been dressed in shopping bags! They were eloquent. And they made me think it could have been a challenge on the Project Runway TV show, to create a garment out of shopping bags!

Then it was back to business, and quilting. Some of you may know that I am the U.S. spokesperson for Aurifil thread. Since I was in Holland, and Rhinetex distributes Aurifil thread, Elena Gregotti and her assistant Davide Moro flew up for a meeting. We usually get together in the States when they are over for Quilt Market, but that is always so hectic.

Now that this wonderful Italian-made thread is readily available in the U.S., I use the Mako Cotton 50/2 exclusively for piecing. Some people believe in piecing with a scant quarter-inch seam allowance; I think this is because they are using a coarse, thick thread. I say, use Aurifil and sew an actual quarter-inch seam allowance - your patchwork will be flatter and much nicer to quilt. This thread is virtually lint-free, and you can also get more on the bobbin. I love it!