I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve had so much fun! When I first came up with the idea to write a book, I had several purposes/reasons in mind. First, I had friends who kept asking for my patterns and wanting to make the quilts I was making – simple to make but they didn’t always look like they were simple to make. Fun things to do with simple blocks. Second, and probably more important to me, I wanted to be invited to travel and teach and sign books and meet other quilters.
Vicky first asked me in probably September of last year if I would consider coming to the Road to California show to sign books for Ginger’s Quilt Shoppe. I immediately said yes and then I thought of how I hate to fly, I didn’t know how to get to the Kansas City airport, I didn’t know if there were any bridges I had to cross to get to the airport . . maybe I should’ve said no but I had already said yes. By the way, there’s a little bridge and I actually didn’t even know when I crossed it. The KC airport was a piece of cake and probably the easiest big airport I’ve ever used.
Before I get into all the acknowledgments, thanks to Vince and Chad for making do without me. Vince is pretty ok most of the time with me leaving home for a week at a time. I know it isn’t a huge deal but it is an inconvenience for Vince to have to deal with Speck (who is just a little spoiled and set in his ways and his schedule and Vince’s schedule don’t mesh so well), find vittles around the house since there are so few places to eat out . . you know . . just the day to day household chores that can’t wait til I get home. Thanks Vince for being . . what’s the word . . I’m not going to say he’s happy or gracious about it but he does do it so . . thanks!
I’ll be forever thankful to Vicky and Ginger for having invited me out here. As much as I love quilting, I doubt I’d ever have made the trip to California for this show without having received their invitations. So, thanks Vicky and Ginger.
Vicky has been so very nice – picking me up at the airport, hauling me around town, feeding me, sharing her home and sweet dachshund with me. It’s hard to have a guest in the house for a week.
Ginger’s shop is great – lots of the type fabrics I like (oh, wait . . there are very few fabrics I don’t like!). I don’t think I’ve ever met nicer people than Ginger and staff – especially Jane and Linda. Jane did some hauling me around too so a big thank you to Jane!
OK. That’s how I got here. About the show – The Road to California show was all I expected it to be and more. I didn’t get much time to walk around and spend money (that’s a good thing!) but the quilts were beautiful, I heard there were 130 vendors, the aisles were wide enough that for the most part, it wasn’t impossible to walk around. This show rates right up there with my favorites.
Besides meeting Vicky (did you know that she and I had been internet friends for at least 5 years, had grown up within a few miles of each other, and had never met in real life?), I met other friends that I had known through the internet. I’m not even going to try to list them all so don’t feel bad if your name isn’t here but I met fellow bloggers:
Marlene – We’ve also been internet friends for probably 5 years. Vicky had told me how sweet Marlene is and she was right.
Karen – Karen and I had a good laugh! She has a daughter about Chad’s age and one day on her blog, or in a comment to me, she mentioned that her daughter liked to cook. I wrote her back and asked if her daughter was reasonsible, mature, planned to make a good living for herself and if so, did she need a husband because Chad needs a wife who can support him. When she walked up to me, she introduced herself but I wasn’t quite making a connection. Then she mentioned that she had a blog and said “my daugher is . . .” and I was thinking that was the name of her blog and then I remembered our conversation about Chad needing a mature, responsible wife! 🙂
Carol – I’ve done a few quilts for Carol and it was so nice to get to meet her.
Beth – I didn’t get to do more than say HI but thanks for stopping by. Wish we’d had a few more minute to chat.
Sharon – I’d heard so much about Sharon and it was nice to get to meet her too.
Then, there were these crazy girls in the A-1 longarm booth! More of my “friends” from online that I’d never met. Suzanne and Lynn. Suzanne has at least two longarm books – Meandering Magic and More Meandering Magic. I have both of them and highly recommend them! Lynn is an A-1 longarm dealer and she was so funny. I had a just a few minutes to spend with her a couple of times each day and she had me laughing so hard every time I was around here.
We were trying to be serious in the A-1 booth but I don’t think that was possible with Lynn around.
Many people are apprehensive about trying the longarms while at the shows. I know the feeling! I’d never tried the A-1 and wanted to try it. I was scared to death and I use my Millennium almost every day. I have always said that if I didn’t have a Millennium, I’d have an A-1 simply because of the good things I hear about them. Now that I’ve had a test drive, I can say with certainty that this is a great machine and I wouldn’t mind having an A-1 at all.
And, here’s where I spent four days. In my little corner signing books. We thought we had enough books but we ran out on Saturday morning. How cool is that?
Thanks again to Vicky and Ginger for this opportunity!
