The Journey of a Laugh-Time

I was so busy having a fun-filled 5 days with friends at QuiltCon that I forgot to blog.  I also forgot to Instagram, Facebook and Flickr!  Oh, what a fun-filled journey.    

 Four of us set out early Wednesday last, stopping along the way to visit with other QuiltCon travelers.   Our first food stop was about 45 minutes out of town!   After lunch,  we found Sew What....a quilt shop in Palestine, Texas, where I made my first fabric purchase of the trip

 before boogieing on in to Austin, where in spite of the traffic, we hit the road running Thursday morning and continued non-stop eating and shopping and laughing until arriving back home after dark last night......and I think this would be considered a run-on sentence, don't you? 

We did a huge amount of shopping Thursday before enjoying the Austin night life at The Mohawk where the Moda Party had a sell-out crowd.  It was standing room only until we found a table to sit and enjoy the crowd and music.  A great evening together, laughing 'til we cried (and more) while sharing events of the day. 

I had the pleasure of visiting with a Yoshiko Jinzenji and having her sign two pieces of her fabric I purchased.    She is a most beautiful and talented quilt artist and her work continues to inspire me. 

And, who wouldn't want to get a temporary tattoo....especially if it's a Michael Miller block pattern. 

Beth Rowan of Rock Paper Scissors had a most informative demo - sew many substrates.  There's more than quilter's cotton out there.  There is also voile and silk, wool and corduroy, linen and home dec, of course, as well as double gauze and jersey.  Not only did Beth have sample quilts made using each substrate, but she also advised on what batting to use for each type fabric.  Great information!

 I had just purchased a Malka Dubrawsky layer cake and charm pack when I saw her chatting with another QuiltCon shopper.  Too late to get Malka's signature on a piece of her fabric.   She's one of my favorite fabric designers for Moda and she's commonly known in blog world as A Stitch In Dye.

Oh, and the most talented lady when it comes to using scraps.  Victoria Findlay Wolfe gave us a few tips to sewing great curves during her demonstration.    Love following Victoria's blog.   It's so fun to watch her take a traditional quilt block and make it into a very modern one that still has as much warmth as one of her grandmother's blocks. 

 

She also autographed my tote spotlighting her quilt "A Summer's Day".  Interesting that the tote was made from recycled plastic water bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

I came home with some screen printing knowhow after spending three hours with Celina Mancurti in her workshop. 

 

 

and here's a couple of out-takes from her class.....

 

my apron that I screen printed the green bird onto and got Celina's signature for the memory.  It was a fun workshop. 

 

 

And some of the fabric that followed me home!

 

 

 

Leaving a good time is never easy....nor is the packing it all in! The loot was packed in from every angle and  I can assure you that the four of us were more crowded after QuiltCon than before.  It was a journey of a laugh-time and memories were made.