The Good, the Bad, and the Rocky

I got a box of rocks from my parents today.

In their defense, I asked them for it. In fact it was a box with rocks and all of my goodies from the Craftsy Instructor Summit. I didn't have room in my suitcase for all of it.

There were sponsor booths with some great freebies for the instructors. This kind of thing makes me giddy and anxious at the same time. Clearly they are there to work with Craftsy peeps. (There's not a big enough group of us fabriholics to justify the idea of selling to us.) But to say, "Can I have some of that, please?" is an awkward thing for me.

I don't like having any strings attached to freebies and will speak my mind about the good and bad of any product as I see it. I think most of you can see that in my reviews. Now, if they say, "Here, take this." I'll take it. Craftsy gave us a bag full of little goodies at registration, which is where most of these things came from.

I was tickled to get quite a few solid fabrics since they're pretty easy for me to use as samples for free motion quilting. I like Kona of course, but the Cotton Couture feels really, really nice. Almost like a sateen. I bet it'll show of the texture of quilting quite well. I haven't opened that pack of white from Boundless Fabrics, but charm squares of all one solid color? That's handy!

Here's why I wanted that box of rocks! I've seen some beautiful painted, Zentangled, and even crocheted rocks on the web and I wanted to do some of my own. I think I need more practice. I did find that the Sakura Souffle pen worked better on the rock than the paint pen. Virginia doesn't have many nearby places where I can get such nice river rocks. But my parents now live in Pueblo and there were plenty there where we went to walk. Thanks Mom!

Now if only I could actually get around to some quilting! Life has gotten a bit crazy with several things that I want and need to do. The timing is awful, so I'm doing the best I can on several fronts. I hate being this busy, but these things are needful.

If you read my newsletter, you'll know I didn't deliver on my idea of a reoccurring blog link party to share ruler work designs, projects, and progress. I'm still very excited about this, but I didn't get home due to flight delays until after the date I should have posted it. We'll do it instead the second Wednesday of February, so get your pieces ready to share. There are still a lot of folks who can't imagine holding a ruler and moving the quilt under the machine and I want to show them that not only is it possible, but that it's also easier than it sounds once you try it!

Where's Amy?

Remember those "Where's Waldo?" pictures? Here's a pic of all the Craftsy Instructors and some Craftsy team members I was hanging out with this past weekend. Can you find me?

I've been a bit quiet the last few days mainly due to leaving my laptop cord at my friend's house in Charlotte. Severe rationing has been enacted as I wait for it to arrive in the mail.

Could be worse: I could have left it somewhere and lost it forever. Those cords aren't cheap. Even more wonderful was spending a few precious hours with my quilting BFF instead of sleeping/stewing at the Charlotte airport while waiting for my flight home to be rescheduled for the next day.

Thanks Robin!

Gotta go....

Fun With Craftsy's Fabulous Instructors

While my family is snowed in with about 12 inches of snow in Virginia, I am out in Denver, nearly snow free, at a gathering of Craftsy Instructors.I am also about 300 feet away from where the Denver Broncos are sleeping before the big game. They're just past a polite guard down the hall from my hotel room. I haven't seen them though and other than guessing from their size I wouldn't recognize them anyway.

Instead, I have been meeting quilting celebrities, learning about using Facebook, editing photos for better pictures of my work, and getting to know some really fabulous folk.

Proof positive that a dimly lit pub for the meet and greet isn't the best place for photos. I'll try to edit this one later when I've got a bit more time, but pictured are (L-R) Donna Thomas, Lori Kennedy, Mimi Dietrich, Barb Eichmeier, Alex Veronelli (Aurifil is an event sponsor), me peeking around, and Kelly Ashton. (my instructor links to some of their classes are included.)

To sort of compensate for that awful picture, here's a shot of the Arkansas river and dam near my parents' home in Pueblo CO.

I'll be back soon with better pics and more quilty goodness. There's no place like home, even if I am having a good trip. If your in the big snow fall, stay warm and safe.

Waves and Feathers

As the mid-Atlantic area of the US braces for a huge snow storm, I hopped a plane and ran off! Actually, I'm visiting my parents in Pueblo Colorado, where ironically there's very little snow. Then I will be attending a special conference for Craftsy instructors. I'm looking forward to meeting a whole bunch of talented folks.

I showed the back of my Poured Out 2 quilt a few days ago and I've gotten several requests to see the front from some of my newer readers. This quilt is incredibly hard to photograph!

This was a very personal quilt for me, done to process the emotional roller coaster I was on while my husband had cancer and I was struggling with a newborn who would never sleep. Thankfully he's cancer free and that baby finally learned to sleep through the night and is now a sweet 6 year old.

If you are in the path of the storm, I wish you warmth and safety.