Lots To Tell

Well, there's a big difference between Alaska and Visalia, believe you me. They may have 24 hour daylight, but we've got 24 hour heat. I took this picture at 11pm. If you can't read the mercury, it was 94 the night we got home. Toasty.

I was taken to a new-to-me quilt store in Alaska, and came home with this little bit of yardage for my collection. ooh ahh. (I may have brought it home, but it's not all destined for my stash.)

You're probably wondering about the state of my sewing room. As of Tuesday, this is what it looked like. These cabinets are ready to hold my stash. (Or part of it.)

This one is waiting to hold tools and whathaveyou.

Same with the one in the back corner. The table is waiting for its top.

The doors are on, and the drawers are functional.

I have to say that I don't do waiting well. I never have. I was in the last throws of trying to finish my Hoffman Challenge, and not having a place to sew made me a very unhappy camper. Philippians 4:12 aside, I may be able to do all things, but sometimes I don't WANT to do all things, and on Tuesday, all I wanted was a place to sew that was not in my kitchen. I must say that I may have exhibited a bit of ungodly behavior as I went about finishing my Hoffman.

I had to bring my machine, my embroidery accessories, my cutting equipment, and everything else out here to make and attach binding, make and attach a sleeve, and make and attach a label.

I will also admit that I may have made a scene when I realized that all entry forms were to be completed online this year - my internet access was inaccessible until late Thursday. Kinko's saved me on that one.

I finished my quilt, and it was received by the deadline. My bad news (for everyone interested) is that in my anxiety to get it to Colorado on time, I neglected to take a photograph of the finished project. Oops. Trust me. It's finished! :)

Yesterday I hopped a bus for Long Beach, to see the Quilt Festival. ooh, aah, those people really do know how to put on a quilt show!!!

I usually do not take pictures at shows, but I've had many people ask me what kinds of quilts that I like. I loved this "poppy" quilt, with the mini-Dresden plate flowers. It was delightful!

This "Triple 4-Patch" also caught my eye. Being a big fan of the Double 4-Patch, I may have to try this some time.

While in Long Beach, I had the chance to meet up with Kay, who I met through this blog. She lives in Bakersfield, and is also a cat-loving quilter. Good times!

Here is Kay in front of one of her quilts. "Sunny With A Chance of Roses" was included in the CA Award-winning Traditional Quilts exhibit. Her other quilt was in the West Coast Wonders exhibit. Somehow I missed getting a picture of that one.

I was raring to go when it came to the vendors, which is highly unusual for me. This was my favorite vendor yesterday, I've been looking for beads for a LONG time. It's SO much better to buy beads I can see, than trying to make a selection online!!

These are my pretties, purchased in her booth.

I also found a booth featuring handmade glass buttons. I bought these, along with the blurry little clear glass heart charms. At 50% off, I was sure I'll find a use for them.

There was another booth, "Georgia Stewart Clothing," that had fantastic quilted jackets and all kinds of fun garb. I don't know if it was because I was cold (silly, to be cold in CA in July!), but I came home with this fun jacket. Such a deal, such a deal! I couldn't pass it up.

My last picture from Long Beach is this one. Pete talked about quilting while he was fishing, it's the least I could do...I'll think about cows while I'm at the quilt show!!

Finally, today should be the last day of work on the sewing room. The carpenter is here and so is the table top. I can't wait to see how it looks. Even without the table top, the room looked spectacular.

My toes are tingling with excitement. I might just be moving in tonight. Be still, my beating heart!!!