Thursday I drove about 3 hours to speak and do a trunk show for an evening guild and then do an all day Friday Topsy Turvy Nine Patch class. When I leave home, there’s a little apprehension. I wonder if that will always be there or if after a while, I’ll feel more confident. I’m mostly apprehensive because you never know when there may be scary bridges along the way. I had looked at mapquest and google earth and felt pretty confident there was nothing I couldn’t cross but then I got to an intersection and GPS told me to go a different way from what mapquest had said. I hesitated a second and saw a “road construction ahead” sign on the way mapquest would have taken me and I went with the GPS directions. Then . . panic struck! I didn’t check to see if there were any bridges along this way. Either way took me along curvy, narrow, uphill and downhill roads. I was certain that past the next bend in the road would be a bridge and I’d have to turn around, and go home! I kept looking at GPS because it will show blue on the screen for water. Try driving those curvy, winding, narrow roads with one eye on the road and one eye on the GPS screen! Finally . . there it was . . my fears were real . . a big billboard that said “White Water Rafting! Turn right after crossing the river . . 2 miles ahead!” Two miles was an eternity. I pulled into a parking lot and let every one else pass me so I could go slow (with my eyes closed) across the bridge. Turned out to be a very small bridge . . about 3 car lengths and not a problem but dang it, I was scared!
Once I got on the interstate, I knew there were no big bridges so now it was time to think about (1) what if they don’t like me or my presentation? and (2) what if the quilter I’m staying with doesn’t like me?
Everything was perfect, as it always is. The lady I was staying was great and we had fun together. We stayed up and talked til midnight and I think we’ll be friends for a long time. She’s offered for me to come back and visit and we’ll hit lots of area quilt shops. Hmmm, maybe she didn’t like me . . doesn’t she know I’m trying to bust this stash!
The quilt group seemed to like me too. They bought my book like it was the last quilt book on earth! I was so pleased!
Our Friday class went great. I think everyone enjoyed it and I hope to see lots of finished Topsy Turvy Nine Patch quilts in the next few weeks.
Here are a few pictures from the class. As always, you can click on the pictures to get larger views.
The lady who made these first blocks apparently struggled with her fabric choices and bought enough fabric to make several quilts before deciding which fabric to use. I like her way of thinking!
These were pretty and real close to the colors I used in my first TTNP.
This lady went right to work and got lots accomplished. The green was from her stash and was perfect for these flowery looking blocks.
These blocks were so pretty and didn’t photograph well. She used a black, kinda looked like a Fairy Frost but wasn’t, lavender for the background and then her nine patches were all purple. They look way too blue in the picture.
The lady who made these blocks is such a nice lady! She’s a breast cancer survivor and has such a great attitude. Here quilt is going to have a very retro look.
And these two! Look how busy they look. Every time they saw the camera, it was time to look busy.
When the camera was put away, this is what they did — chat, chat, chat and giggle!
They had way too much fun and that’s what it’s really all about!