Ann Arbor, MI–Day 2!

The guild in Ann Arbor has THE BEST place to meet, hands down!

They are lucky to have the use of a community college ---with a huge auditorium with comfy stadium seating for guild meetings and lectures, class rooms for workshops and a gorgeous atrium to set up all their various stations. 

And even better – they have a different shop each month come and set up a vendors mall, right there in the atrium!

I walked around meeting and greeting and getting to know some of the quilters.  This place was awesome!  See these three happy quilters in front of the “FREE!” table?!  I had a very hard time keeping myself from snatching up any of these goodies full of ideas and inspiration, but being as the basement re-do means I am cleaning out book shelves and going through a magazine back stock of about 5 years, I didn’t want to add any more to “THAT” pile at home --- but still --- it was tempting!

This group does a phenominal amount of philanthropy work – focusing on sending close to 300 quilts a year to an organization called Safe House.  Click HERE for more info.  I just happened to be there when they were collecting the quilts to give, and representatives of Safe House were there to receive them.  The stories that were told were so inspiring I felt like I could just pack up  my quilts and go home.  THIS is where my heart is.  THIS is where it all started for me, with making comfort quilts for others.  I saw hundreds of quilts marched across that stage last Saturday, and my heart was so full!

Tables were set up in the atrium with kits and fabrics and ideas for making more Safe House quilts ---members give graciously to the Safe House tables, and then sew graciously from what is provided, and the results are well worth it!  ((Bring a UFO, swap it out for someone else’s and FINISH IT for Safe House!))

Here is where a shop set up all along one wall of the atrium, hanging samples and everything – there were BOLTS galore here!  There was a whole lot of shopping going on!

Lisa’s Hexies in Progress!

I met Lisa while meeting and greeting ---the time before the meeting starts is a great time to talk to other quilters, and anyone stitching ANYTHING draws me near!  Love the big chunky size of her hexies – perfect with those bold modern florals!

Because this was a lecture day ---our workshop was in the afternoon after lunch.  We did Texas Braid ---and accomplished quite a lot in 4 hours!

		Texas Braid, Ann Arbor 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I want to take a moment to wish EACH of you in the States a Happy and Warm Thanksgiving!

And for those of you outside of the states and in ----I’m so grateful for all of you for all the joy you’ve added to my life.

Much love from my family to yours!!