Report from Sioux City

Thanks to the great ladies in Sioux City, Iowa for a great sewing weekend!  First I got a friendly welcome from this fellow during my layover in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Once in Iowa, I was surrounded by quilters, so you know I had a grand time!  The quilt conference was at a local hospital.  The venue was so nice.  There was a nice, open room for vendors and good size rooms for classes.  On Saturday I taught two classes.  The first one was from my Simply Charming Seasons Book.  The ladies made either the snowman or the snowflake.  Several ladies got the center of their quilts done in the 3 hour class! 

After lunch the class was on the pattern Pinwheel Flowers from my Simply Charming Circles book.  One lady made a baby quilt size.  She finished the quilt in the three hour class!  Many others got the centers of their twin size quilt almost done. 

 After supper, I gave a trunk show.  Then I went home with intentions to get some work done, but I pretty much went right to sleep. 

The next day my fabulous hostess drove me to church (I love visiting new congregations when I travel!) and picked me up in time for lunch and a third class.  This class was from my Simply Charming Collection.  The quilt was the Charming Lonestar.  This is a favorite!  This one takes a minute or two or three to figure out how you are going to organize your fabrics, but after you start sewing it is FAST -- even though you square up your blocks! 

After supper I went right to bed.  It was about 8:30.  Gotta love days when you are busy doing something you love.  I suggested that the ladies show their quilts at their next guild meeting and send me some pictures since I was so busy having fun that I didn't take any. 

I guess I am a terrible photographer.  This is what I ended up with:

I stayed downtown near the art building.  There were statues scattered here and there.  I was planning to take a walk around town Saturday morning, but it turned out cold and foggy so I only made it one block.

This gas station was on the way to the hospital.  It took me by surprise.

The gas station is closed.  Right after it closed, someone switched the prices around as a joke.  I laughed.

And I got a picture of a necklace that my friend made me for the trip.  They just opened an etsy shop.

AND I finally took pictures of my fabric for the Layer Cake Quilt Along, so I should be getting that posted tomorrow!

My Bags are Packed

John Denver is on my list of all time favorite singers.  Although the only part of his song that applies is the first part, "All my bags are packed.  I'm ready to go. . . ."  I'm getting excited to travel this weekend to the great state of Iowa! 

Why Iowa?  Well, I will be teaching three quilt classes in Sioux City and giving a trunk show at their quilt show.  If you happen to live near there, you can email the president of the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild, June DeVries, at augjunebug {at} aol.com for more information. 

Here's a little piece of trivia about Iowa that you may or may not not know.  Sometimes people get it mixed up with Idaho.  During high school I moved from Idaho to Maryland and many of my friends couldn't remember if I was from Idaho or Iowa.  Now take me, for example, I would get Iowa mixed up with Ohio.  They are closer in proximity and closer in size and their names both have 4 letters.  It seems much more logical to confuse Iowa and Ohio than to confuse Iowa and Idaho. 

But I am not confused as to my destination because we drove through Sioux City on our way home from Paducah, Kentucky this year and stop at a gorgeous Louis and Clark monument that overlooked the city.  I am looking forward to heading their again. 

Oh, one correction to my original statement.  All my bags are not packed, but my quilts are packed, and that is really what is important here.

If you are in the area, come on by.  I would love to say hello!