Mountains of Scraps!

So here it is Sunday morning, and my time in Arlington Heights is drawing to a close!

I can't believe how fast the time has flown, and I haven't had a chance to sit and type a blog post until now!

Thursday's lecture was amazing. I had a couple special guests come to see me, my mom's first cousin Verlon, and his lovely wife Pearl. I've never seen a cuter couple in my life! I knew I liked Verlon when I met him for the first time the week of Grandpa's funeral, and this time it was wonderful to extend the extended family even farther, and get to spend time with his wife!

I think they were amazed at how INVOLVED we quilters are! I'm sure they thought, when I invited them to the guild meeting, that we were all going to be a bunch of little blue haired old ladies just sitting around a sun bonnet sue quilt in the frame! SURPRISE!!! :cD

There were close to 250 people at the meeting, and the quilters ranged in ALL ages. Some traveled as far as 6 hours away or more to get here. Show and tell was phenomenal, and I think that Verlon and Pearl got a good eyeful of what we quilters are about! I had to explain to them how quilting is every bit as much about community and giving as it is about bedcovers :c) It really IS a life choice, a life style, a commitment.

It was also fun to tell him during my lecture something that I thought of that I bet he didn't even know. He and my mother share the same grandmother. *I* have inherited that grandmother, my great-grandma Manuel's black singer sewing machine. So I told the audience how this special machine came to be in my possession, and he was fascinated that such an object as a sewing machine can be a definite family tie through generations. Isn't that great?

On to Friday's workshop.....



Arlington Hts IL Scrappy Mt Majesties 2010

Little slide show of the blast we had making Scrappy Mountain Majesties blocks from 8.5" squares! I dearly love seeing what people bring in, their color schemes, the stories behind their old fabrics and who/where they came from. I love that fabric has memory...especially if the piece you are using is the left overs from some long ago project for someone you love. It just holds all those feelings and sentiments. Our old fabrics are a link to our past, of where we were when, of what we were doing, of what things were like. It's a trigger for sights and sounds and smells and memories.

As you flip through the slide show, pay special attention to the one pic with the TINY PINK BLOCK!! One of the students had to try it in 1/2 size, and ended up with a mountain block that was only 4" tall, and would finish at 3.5" tall. ADORABLE! (Now I've got all kinds of ideas for doing something like this as a border....someone stop me before it gets too insane!)

If you have paid attention to the weather channel or news over the past couple of days you might have come across details of this huge storm that even blew out windows in the sears tower. It was quite the storm!

We were ending class close to 3:30pm and I got a phone call from one of the guild ladies saying that everyone who lived close might want to head home a bit early because this storm was approaching. Those who lived west were advised to stay until it passed. We were in the Arlington Heights library, and figured that we were in as safe a place as any. You could hear the rain and the wind hit the building, but there were no windows where we were, so we had no idea how bad it was out there.

When we finally left...the power was out in all the surrounding areas. There were trees and lines down, traffic lights were out..it was a complete mess! I'm just so grateful that we were all okay.

It also turns out that a shop that was 2 blocks up from my hotel was struck by lightning and burned down!! More storms later that night...it was a real mess.

My hostesses who have been taking care of me are still without power at their homes and may be for a couple more days...I'm just grateful that we are all okay physically (and that we unplugged all our machines so none of THEM blew up either! Priorities, you know?!)

Okay kiddos...time for me to pack this up and get the rest of my bags organized and head HOME! This girl is on the go again, and I'll post more about the rest of the trip when I get back to NC!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there....