Paducah was wonderful!!! If there's anyone that hasn't gone to a national quilt show I strongly encourage you to go---they are fantastic! Every imaginable pattern, book, fabric, gadget, you name it, it's there. The bad thing for me was that I didn't get to "do" near all of it. We did get to Carson Park where Eleanor Burns has a fabric tent and a pattern barn, the Quilt in a Day store downtown, Hancocks of Paducah and the huge "bubble" outside the convention center. 6 hours just isn't a long enough time. One of these days I'm going to drive down and stay 2 or 3 days. I got some fabulous fabric, a couple of books, a couple of patterns and an Aunt Becky hand quilting aide. Today I'm off to a weekend painting retreat. Enjoy.

Please let me know about the Aunt Becky, I've been considering getting one of these and was wondering if it was as easy to use as it shows. In, otherwords, am I coordinated enough to use this? :lol:

Okay, it may be awhile before I use it, then again it may be next week, who knows! :lol:

would love to see some pics.

Am also waiting to hear about the Aunt Becky. I have a hard time adjusting to new things. Since I am a self taught quilter I didn't know I was supposed to use a thinble. I made a lot of holes in my fingernails. It took me a few months to get the hang of a thimble.

I know what you mean, when I first started using a thimble since it felt like my finger had a bandaid on it I would use a different (unprotected) part of my finger.

Don't forget we want to see pics of the show and your new goodies :mrgreen: Also did you see/meet any board members ?

I haven't used the Aunt Becky for a long time now, but when I was quilting straight lines I could get quite uniform stitches, but doing curves I always had some long and some short stitches. It's like everything it takes alot of practice so don't give up on it if you really want to quilt by hand for long periods of time.

Okay, what is an Aunt Becky. I love to handquilt but have never heard of this.

It (aunt becky) is a metal finger covering for the underneath finger, used for hand quilting. It protects your finger and helps you make more even stitches and stitch faster. I have not been able to use it, maybe I haven't worked at it enough. I have been able to use a quilters spoon, in the same way, and it does help me make more even stitches, some faster, and protects my fingers.