And They Came Prepared!!

I have to tell you I was mercilessly teased by the Brandon group after my post regarding how much STUFF we take to class with us! I was so worried I had offended some…but I am so the same way! We have to bring it ALL because what if there is something we don’t bring and we find out we needed it all along? It’s always better to bring it all, and bring too much, than not enough, right? RIGHT!!

So…..for a 6 hour small wall hanging class, how much fabric do YOU bring? I think this Quilter was right on the money with her wheelie cart loaded with four huge bins of scraps and crumbs….it’s all about the variety you know? But still….I’m not sure how many of these tubs actually got opened up and pawed through! :cD

One gal said she read my blog and decided to leave some of her stuff at home. Did I shame her into it? I hope not…and I hope what she needed was not IN the bins that she left at home!

We just need our stuff. To be surrounded by it. To be able to dig through it. And sometimes, simply to know it is there, even if we don’t open that box or bag at all.

I had to laugh out loud at one comment that was given toward the end of the day:

Nancy: "It's all YOUR fault!"

Me: "MY fault? Why?"

Nancy: "I've worked really hard at getting Claudia to let this stuff GO, convincing her we can't save it ALL...and you've RE-corrupted her!!"

We just have to have it all, no explanation needed! :cD

My own sewing this trip has been much the same. I brought two quilts to bind. Have I sat at them yet? Nope.

I’ve been on the road since last Thursday. I have sewn ONE evening out of 4. ONE. And I am hauling this stuff hotel to hotel to hotel! But you know what? If I decide to, if the mood hits…it’s here. And it’s ready.

My only dread is not being able to find an available luggage cart to haul it all BACK to the car in one trip…lol!

We had a lovely lovely fast paced time for yesterday's workshop! I hope you will enjoy the slideshow of the projects in progress!

		Love Shack Workshop, Brandon FL 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’ll be in Sebring until Thursday when I move on to Lakeland! Bring it on……….let’s keep quilting!

Hello, Tuesday!

How did it GET to be Tuesday already? I’m not quite sure, but let’s just say that Sunday, as a day off, flew by while I enjoyed the Florida sunshine and surroundings!

The street scene you see here is of Ybor City, where we went for dinner Sunday evening...that part of this post continues further down the page, so continue reading!

I missed a whole day of posting yesterday ((Monday)) as I was just NOT here to write!

Could be I just NEEDED a time out for this?

I took some time out Sunday afternoon for a massage – and though it sounds blissful, and mostly was…my main objective was some deep tissue work because of a knot in my right hamstring that has been causing me issues. It really bothered me after my walk/jog Sunday morning…and I just didn’t want to deal with it the rest of this week, so I planned myself a visit. I have a membership to the Massage Envy in Winston Salem, and what I like about it is that I can visit any massage envy anywhere, so it works with my travels. The therapist was great…even if she did bring me to the point of tears a time or two! It’s 2 days later now, and I can really feel the difference.

It’s like this…..our cars need oil changes, lubes and filters, tires rotated, etc to keep running. Our bodies need the same. You gotta take care of it to keep it functional. I use my body hard. It’s not just about pampering, but maintaining function as well!

I chose THIS location in St Petersburg, because it was only 4 miles from THIS:

White sands, gorgeous aqua blue ocean, dark blue sky…..and a bit of room just for me to do this:

Are you tired of seeing my legs?!? I planned this so beach time happened between 4-6 pm when the sun is not so intense. I can’t do more than 2 hours….I don’t EVER sit still for that long! But I read my kindle, I dipped into the ocean and out again….read some more…got really HOT…and went way deep swimming! It really was nice.

Sunday evening I had a dinner date with Bev and her hubby! We went out to Tampa’s Ybor City and walked the historic streets before enjoying our dinner at a Greek place….

Look at these hexagon sidewalks!!

Some of them even have names and dedications on them, so you can purchase your own little part of the sidewalk and say what you want to say. There were quotes, inscriptions, names and dates, and memorials for loved ones long gone. Some of the sidewalks had white on black..and others:

Black on white!! I think you can see the name and date on this one….lower left hand corner.

It was a very fun place! We dipped into the Columbia restaurant for refreshments and to look around! The décor was beautiful!

You have to walk through….just to see the tile work inside, it was incredible! The Columbia was established in 1905 and has quite the history in this area.

We eventually ended up at our Greek Place…the Acropolis Taverna! We walked right in to find a couple of guys who were playing Greek music and supplying just the right ambiance. The food was terrific, and we were also entertained by THIS lovely……do you know how hard it is to get a picture of a belly dancer that is NOT blurry? LOL!!

Almost got the skirt in motion there! Maybe we should try it one more time!

It was just really fun, and the food was great! After this big adventure – the massage, the beach, the trip out to Ybor City for dinner…I was asleep by 10:30pm!! Which was really okay….I had to be up for a Love Shack workshop, followed by dinner out, followed by an evening lecture…..and I needed my sleep!

I’ve still got pics of the workshop to edit down….that will have to wait til next post! And this morning I’m moving on to Sebring for my 1pm lecture there…time to pack up the hotel room and move on to the next town!

Virginia Bound in Brandon!

I have had a wonderful time here in Brandon with the Piecemakers Quilt Guild! It was just the most fun day! Everyone had MORE fabric than they knew what to do with – not that this is a problem, but it always cracks me up because I’m the same way….6 hour class? No problem, let’s pack enough stuff to keep me busy for 6 days at least.

It’s TRUE!

We pack as much stuff in our cars for a one day workshop as we would for a summer week away. And with good reason, right? We NEED our stuff! Better to have too much than not enough, and I loved seeing the creative mess in progress around each work station!

Do you like the picture of this Tree? This was taken on our walk to lunch. I *KNOW* technically that the moss is a parasite. It’s dirty, it has bugs in it….but I LOVE IT! I just feel so “in another world” when I am down south where the moss DOES grow on the trees. Combine mossy trees with some of these and I’m a happy girl!

Palm trees = Paradise. That’s just the way it is!

So with no further ado –How bout some slide show?

		Virginia Bound, Brandon FL 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After a lovely dinner at the home of one of the board members…along with the whole board…((This was so nice! Thanks for arranging this for me!)) I came back to the hotel room, got into jammies, sewed my brains out while watching more NCIS on USA until about….oh….midnight. Such a decadent life, isn’t it?!

I predict there will be MORE of this tonight…and tomorrow? It’s the busiest day of this trip. We are doing a “Love Shack” workshop in the daytime, and topping it off with an evening lecture/trunkshow……whoopie!