Things just keep rolling in... conference, Mother in Law visit, fairs (I had to work booths for my office), a two-day class, blankets, my job, organizing a conference for work...I just go from one to the next. Trying to hang on to the tail of a jaguar is what it feels like some days!
Conference
Project Linus Conference was at the end of June. First I'll say I planned to write a bit every day about what was going on. However . . . I didn't take my laptop, I took my Nook. It has virtual keyboard and those are not really 'typeable' - it's more 'hunt and peck'. I'm definitely more of a typist - virtual keyboards do not allow me any speed at all, and even with fairly small fingers I'm always getting the wrong key. So I tried the business center at the hotel - that wouldn't allow me into some of what I tried to get into (security, of course) so eventually, I just gave up.
Anywho......Conference was in Philadelphia this year - first time a significant distance away from PLHQ. I was kindof jazzed about the different location as I've never been to Philadelphia - I'll get to see the Liberty Bell! Well... for those who might also have this hope... make sure you get there before 5 p.m. because that's when they tuck it in for the night. I got to look at it through a glass window. A bit disappointing to say the least. People EVERYWHERE... and they close everything up. As we were walking around (I was with another coordinator and her husband and a past coordinator/now HQ assistant) we tripped over this after hours, Bell to Bell tour. It was great! They pick about 5 things to show you there at 'Independence Square' tell you the story plus a little more info. The woman who led ours (all by volunteer so a different guide every night) was a fabulous guide and included some great stories. Much better than just meandering around reading placards. Heading back to the hotel, we made a wrong turn, went over a bridge and ended up in New Jersey. Interesting thing... going into New Jersey, the bridge is free... but to LEAVE New Jersey... you have a pay a toll. I guess that's their plan for keeping some residents in the state?!?!?!
I also got to see Valley Forge. I'm not exactly sure what I pictured this being like prior to seeing it, but the thoughts were more like a campsite next to a river. For those who've never been there... it is a huge, sprawling, beautiful area on the top of a hill. Tremendous view of the valley below.
Also went to Lancaster County (I think...) and to a couple of Amish quilt shops. AMAZING prices... on the low side! In the one, you could also get candy as well as a variety of herbs, spices and grains! I had a pretzel from the very first pretzel factory in the new world. Yes, it is a relatively small business that is still in business!
Okay... that's pretty much it for the touristy side of the trip. Conference was really packed with some great ideas. EXPO had so many fun, easy (but intricate looking!) quilt blocks... Marsha, Cindy and I are going to have a tough time picking out just 8 or 9 for our block of the month. Because EXPO was an extra day, I was able to squeeze in an extra class as well... a great way to do a blanket, back and binding all at the same time! One of the classes I took was 'Ugly Fabric Workshop'. That was interesting! In all the classes I've taken before, I've learned to sort by color... as we all did in May. Well, this instructor had a different approach - she sorts by seasons. Brights for spring, warms for summer, jewel tones for autumn, and muteds for winter. As I thought about our bins and bins of small pieces of fabric, I thought she could be on to something here - you aren't going to look for a springtime yellow in an quilt predominately autumn jewels. I'm not sure if there is a way to work this into our sorting scheme or not... but I think it is worth giving some thought.
Other classes were quilts with tipped pinwheels, a shaker ladder, and just a fun, easy striped, alternating block quilt. Again... lots of fun ideas!
Our banquet speaker was a woman who used to give tours at Valley Forge. I swear, if every history teacher could tell the stories of the past like she can... there is not a kid out there who would not know every detail. She was incredibly captivating. Every eye was on her the whole time. She spoke about the women and children who were at Valley Forge - again, something I didn't ever really think about. So interesting!!!!
Friday was more presentations, and among those was one from Quilting Treasures. They have gained the license to create some fabric using the Peanuts characters. They are also a company that wants to give back. Knowing at least a little about Project Linus, they decided this was where they wanted to help. So they came up with a line of fabrics that are just FUN...and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of these fabrics will go to Project Linus. I was so taken listening to them... you could tell they want to help Project Linus as much as each of us does. Very heartwarming! I am told The Bernina Silver Thimble and Quilt-A-Way in Great Falls, Creative Stitches in Shelby and Ben Frankin Crafts (I think) in Havre will be carrying these fabrics. I was told this by a sales rep, and I don't know her area of coverage. So if I didn't mention your favorite quilt shop, be sure to ask them about it. I know The Bernina Silver Thimble got their shipment in just last Thursday... so cute!!!! They are also planning to add some fleece and possibly some flannel to the collection.
Part of the Quilting Treasures presentation was on creating fabric. To start, I'll say they also create the VIP lines of fabric for places like JoAnn's. Interestingly... both these VIP lines and their quilt shop lines start with the same raw, blank fabric. It is in the inking, and color setting, and further processing that the difference (and costs) come into play.
We also saw the quilts that will be included in a new book written by our president and vice-president, Carol Babbitt and Mary Balagna. It is filled with 20 quilts and patterns, stories from Project Linus, how you can help, etc. It will be coming out in October I believe. The Bernina Silver Thimble may carry some...that's still being looked into at this time.
Saturday night was our final event - another banquet (and let me just say the food was phenomenal the whole time!!!) We heard a couple of presentations that were tissue-required. It started off with a video of kids seeing their solider parent come home... some were also spouses. One of the presentations was on Pocket Hugs. This is something that the daughter of our vice-president kicked into gear in her area. The were having a deployment of soldiers in their area, so I think it was one of her church groups who created some fleece blankets for the kids. And remember those little squares cut from the corner? They took one of these, and cut some mini fringe around the sides. When the blanket was given to the kids of the soldiers being deployed, this mini blanket, this Pocket Hug was given to the soldier allowing them both to hold onto part of the same blanket while they were apart. The second presentation was from the coordinator who does our Fallen Soldier project. She and her husband look every day to find if any soldiers have been killed, if they have a family and if they have kids or maybe siblings. She then contacts the area coordinator to see if they can get blankets to those kids/siblings. She gave the statistics and while we haven't reached every single one, we have reached as many as we possibly could and that number is in the thousands. And yes, our local chapter has contributed to this cause as well. Both wonderful presentations.
Oh yeah! At the end of the Saturday banquet, they have the drawing for the conference coordinator's prizes - there were four this year -a yarn shopping spree...a collection of 250 fat quarters...$500 for your chapter account...and a sewing/embroidery machine. I won the machine!!! Brother has some embroidery designs that can only be used with their machines - I think - designs like Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, lots of Disney things...etc, so I might make some of those for quilt kits!
As our conference was in Philadelphia, our theme was 'Making History' and the quilt challenge fabrics were a blue with white stars and a red/white/blue with flags. Mine is hanging up in The Bernina Silver Thimble, if you'd like to see it.
Blanket Bees
We are fast approaching our first Blanket Bee! Marsha,Cindy and I will meet next week to come up with our plan for the year. The plan is still to have them the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Moose Lodge. I'm trying to reconfirm that with Jeff, their administrator, but I don't see any problems at this time. We might get bumped to another room the first month or two during their Farmer's Market, but otherwise we should be good to go.
We did have a Bee at The Sewing Palace Bernina in Helena in July. Several ladies came out and we created some really cool jelly roll quilts! I've scheduled another one there in September and still another in December! I'm torn between hoping for more snow this year - as we are really going to need it after last year - and hoping for easy driving roads. We'll see what we get. I'll try to schedule another one or two later in the winter or early spring.
Well, I think that's enough for now. I'll wrap up and send another next week after Cindy and Marsha and I make some decisions. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again!!!
gina
