Hi Quilters,
Quilting Cousin just posted a wonderful story about how her DH is comfortable in his own skin while attending quilting events. It brought to mind a story I wrote about 4 years ago when Paul and I traveled over to Ontario for the Road to California show. Sorry this is so long...I actually wrote 2 stories on that trip because we were at the show for three days. This note just covers about half of the visit.
Written 1/24/2007:
Paul and I had a great time at the Road to California quilt show. This was our first show together. In fact, it was Paul's first show ever and my first big show. I had been to only a few smaller ones ever. Thought I'd share a little of what we saw and experienced with you.
First, we met our LA quilter, Cotie, in person. And it was a real treat. Her pal Nancy was there too and the 4 of us hung out at the show together on Friday. We had a blast.
Secondly, the quilts were SOOOOO beautiful in person. Pictures don't do masterpieces like these justice no matter how good the photos are. I can honestly say that I liked every quilt I saw too--even the scary one that had demon eyes and even the ones that used muted and monochromatic tones.
Here are just a few of our experiences:
When we first walked in the big hall, there was Deb K's quilt. Yep, right in front! A crowd bunched around it like bees on honey. While we were waiting for the crowd to thin, I struck up a conversation with a white-gloved lady who was telling me about the quilt in the adjacent booth. Well, she was so sweet and told me how you did not necessarily have to design your own pattern to put a quilt in a show. We talked for about 5 minutes and she offered me her card. Holy crap! I almost fell over when I read the name Barbara Dieges. I couldn't help it and just blurted out, "my lord, you're famous! Why just a few days ago I was on your website looking at your crocus wreath block". She beamed and then I got her autograph. Paul thought I was insane.
OK, so now we are back at Deb K's booth and the lady behind the tape tells me that the name of Deb's quilt is "Illuminata" and that it won the best of color award. She had the name of the quilt wrong, but it did not matter to me because I knew Deb and I was so excited about her prize. I blurted out "I know Deb from my internet club and have one of her patterns". The lady just looked the other way ignoring me. I was intent on getting a picture of Deb's quilt and was about to take it when a little lady muscled in ahead of me with her camera. I decided not to drop kick her (remember, we're in the front of the show with all the people streaming in like ants). I raised my camera and got my picture anyway--this is where being tall comes in handy.
We then walked down the first aisle where the quilts were right out in the open (no security tape like what was in front of Deb's). I saw Paul from the corner of my eye rush towards a particularly bright specimen and I caught him just before he laid his paws on this beautiful hand-dyed creation. I heard Cotie gasp too but we blocked him in time. Honestly I know exactly how he felt about touching the quilts. I wanted so badly to feel every one of them, but I knew if I did, some huge hammer would come out of the ceiling and beat me to a bloody stump or in the very least, there would be a person on the loud speaker publicly threatening me for my offense.
There was a huge tent that was set up for vendor overflow and there were a good number of exhibitors in that tent. Cheryl Phillips' booth was right at the door as we walked in, so Paul blurts out "hey, there's one of those round bordellos that kicked your $#@! " (yep, he always gets the name wrong despite me correcting him at least a hundred times--I think it's Freudian myself, but whatever). Thank God Cheryl didn't hear Paul, but Cheryl's husband did and he just started laughing along with a few other customers. I should have run out of there right then, but I didn't because Paul asked Mr. Phillips to show him the "Color Wheel" pattern and drew me into the conversation immediately. We ended up getting a another book and Cheryl autographed it.
OK, so I know this is long, but just 1 more. While we were in that same big tent, we walked by Eleanor Burn's booth. And OH MY GOSH, there Eleanor was in the flesh! She was demonstrating and a huge crowd had gathered. Paul said in a voice that was too loud "I need to get out of here because a lot of these ladies smell" (some did have on too much perfume). Eleanor stopped for a moment and I just held my breath waiting for a reaction. This time I pretended I was not with Paul and stared at him like the other ladies until I made my get away. I really wanted to watch Eleanor a bit longer, but I did what I had to do to preserve a little dignity.
We had taken an almost empty suitcase which really came in handy. We got some great patterns, awsome fabrics, and lovely pictures. Most importantly, we carried away some great experiences and learnings from many kind quilters (some famous and some not) who were willing to share--I know the memories will last a long time.
I hope everybody has the opportunity to view beautiful quilts and meet quilting legends at a major show like the one in Calif. What an experience! And if you did go to the show, please share your experiences.
Hugs, Mary