Rebel Park Quilt Presentation

What a wonderful gathering of quilters! On Saturday I made the short trip to Rebel State Commemorative Area to do 2 quilt programs. The first program was "Improving Your Quilt-Making Skills: A Quilt Police Report", and the second was "Dealing With UFOs". There were about 20 area quilters present and we had a great time visiting and talking about quilts. I'm hoping they each gained some useful information from the presentation and also made some new quilting friends... that is my favorite part about doing presentations. Aren't quilters just the NICEST, FRIENDLIEST people? (Please ignore the mouth-wide-open pose... I guess I was talking so fast that each picture DD snapped had my mouth open!)

Here is part of the wonderful group... quilting friends were from the West LA area and East TX. DD is sitting on the front, far-right side in the blue jacket. She has only been quilting for about 1 year now (I did not think she was EVER going to be bitten by the quilt bug, but it finally got her!).

And here is the rest of the group.

We all also enjoyed a presentation by Mary Gregory on how to make Cathedral Windows blocks. She did an excellent job (Thanks, Mrs. Mary!) and even I am now convinced that I could (and may actually start one) do this. I must admit, my first one was anything but lovely... the Type A person that I am (about quilting only... wish I could be a little more Type A about housework!) really wanted an iron to press those little squares before stitching them down.

It is a lot of fun to share quilting knowledge, and I ALWAYS learn something new from the people I am supposed to be teaching!

Now here is a bright spot in my day... this lovely azalea was sent by a dear friend to DH and I when his dad passed week-before-last. It sits at a window in the "bread room" with the wood stove. (Please ignore the spider webs between the 2 windows... IMPOSSIBLE to get to without disassembling the window! And also see the TYPE A statement 2 paragraphs above.)

It really does fill my heart with joy each time I pass by and see this wonderful sight! Although it is a reminder of the sadness of a loved one's passing, it also shows me that the beautiful memories of him are there... we just have to look for them. Soon the grieving and pain will diminish, and memories of his laughter, sense of humor, funny happenings on the farm... these will be nearer. I am looking forward to the day that the good memories pop into my mind before the memories of the last several weeks.

Now I will go "quilt till I wilt", as I am about 2 weeks behind on my quilting schedule.

Have a wonderful day, and look for something around you that fills your heart with joy, like this azalea did mine!

Kat